Valerie grew up in Enniskerry and Rathfarnham with her parents Michael and Margaret, brother Philip and sisters Bernie, Patricia and Gillian. A former Miss Ireland, she also sang, and was a member of the Dooleys. She was the high-profile manager of Lillie's for 13 years, and left last year.

Valerie lives in Kildare with her partner, Denis Flannelly, and son Josh (4).

Elaine grew up in Kinsealy, with her parents, Frances and Hugh, and like Valerie, she has three sisters, Alison, Louise and Gemma, and a brother, Hugh, who is also her twin. Elaine worked in Lillie's through her degree course in Economics and German, and her postgraduate studies in PR. She worked as a hostess in Lillie's, and also did PR in-house.

Elaine and Valerie's company, Ro-Ro Consultancy, is a PR, marketing and celebrity management consultancy, specialising in the entertainment, fashion, health and beauty and hospitality industries. They are both currently busy working on the Smart Telecom TVNow Awards, which will be held on 29 April.

Elaine on Valerie When I first started working in Lillie's, I knew Valerie by reputation . . . everybody knew who she was! I was a bit daunted at first because she had this strict hostess/ manager image, and I never would have imagined really that we'd have become the friends that we are today. As I got to know Valerie, I quickly saw the human, soft, funloving side to her. We began to work on various projects in-house, and we quickly realised that, apart from having a lot in common in terms of personality, we also had skills that went very well together.

We are both very energy-driven, and neither of us is driven by money. My mum Frances works with us too, and we'd be lost without her. Valerie is extremely passionate about her work, and she's really creative.

We have very complementary skills and work very well together. I am both motivated and inspired by her and she's a fantastic friend. Valerie is a working mother, and I really admire the way she manages to do everything so well.

Her worst quality is probably that she can be a bit impatient when she gets frustrated, but it's really only because she is so passionate about her work. I think she'd agree that I probably represent the softer side of the business.

We've had so many great times together, and so many funny moments. We were invited to Stringfellows recently, and we were trying to be so business-like, but we were giggling at each other and quite shocked at it all . . . I was afraid to look at Valerie because I knew exactly what she was thinking. We have met so many famous people over the years that nothing really fazes us, but this was a completely new world to us.

Valerie is absolutely one of my very best friends, and she is someone I could go to immediately if I had a problem. She is so loyal to me and very discerning, and I can trust her with anything. We could both talk until the cows come home. It's great to have a friendship like it in the industry that we're in, which can be very fickle. She's also one of the few people who knows absolutely everything about me!

As a friend, Valerie is like family to me and I'm fiercely protective and proud of my family! I believe it's our mutual respect for each other that keeps us strong, but most importantly, our ability to have a good laugh and hope for the best when the going gets tough!

Valerie on Elaine Elaine and her brother Hugh both worked in the Library in Lillie's, and they were really popular. Elaine became a hostess after that, and she was really easy to get on with, and always had a smile for everyone.

People started approaching us over the years to do parties and launches, and as the years went on, we organised all the big events in Lillie's . . . after-show parties, premieres, end of world tours etcetera. We really had it down pat as a team, so we decided we should get together and do more of it. We set up our own company, RoRo Consulting, which is a combination of both our surnames, Roe and Roddy.

Elaine is a very organised person and very diligent, and she's really good at her job. We work really well together, although she has to kick my backside to get me to do my share of the admin side.

I feel like Elaine's my sister, because I know her so well, and she's a fantastic friend . . . she epitomises what every friend should be. She's always there for me, and if I have any troubles or worries, Elaine is on the end of the phone or on my doorstep. I dump everything on her, and she can step back and tell me objectively what's wrong and what's right. I think we both wind each other up a bit though, because if I get upset, she gets upset too. She's one of the most genuine and loyal people you could ever meet. She's quite cautious about who she goes out with, probably because of all that she has seen working in Lillie's for so long, but she's also a bit more tolerant than me.

I've been around a bit longer than Elaine, and I would be very protective of her . . . I want the perfect man for her!

During all the years of standing at the door of Lillie's, I was always seeing girls walking up Grafton Street in their bare feet after a night out, carrying their shoes, and I used to say it was disgraceful . . . I could never understand what possessed them. But then Elaine and I were working on the Pink Lady Apples party last year and I had bought these really high Terry de Haviland shoes and was working in them all day and night.

After the launch, I had about seven blisters on my feet, and I was in agony. Elaine was in the same situation, so we found ourselves walking up Grafton Street to the Westbury at the end of the night in our bare feet, in stitches laughing at the state of us!