HILLSDALE — When life gave Gian Marco Heilmann lemons, he made Meyer lemon rosemary jam.
The Swiss filmmaker said an unexpected divorce forced him to look inward. Guided by what he describes as a “gut feeling,” he ultimately purchased the small-batch jam company Les Collines and set out on an entirely new career path.
Now Heilmann is working to rebrand and expand the business while preserving its local roots and commitment to organic, minimally processed ingredients.
“When I walked in here for the first time, I knew this would be my next thing,” Heilmann said of HGS Home and Chef in Hillsdale, a teaching kitchen located in a historic 1870s house where Les Collines products are produced.
With virtually no experience in food preparation, the opportunity to purchase a well-established jam and jelly company didn’t make sense on paper. But he went with his instinct.
“I took the courage and went against the stream,” he said.
Gian Marco Heilman pipes fresh jam into jars.Photo by Aly Morrissey
Born and raised in Zurich, Heilmann spent years working in media production, a career that took him to Munich, Stockholm, Budapest and Kazakhstan. At one point, Heilmann logged 120 travel days in a single year – an experience he described as both exciting and tiring.
The creative side of filmmaking drew him in, eventually leading him to pursue a master’s degree in fine arts and directing in Los Angeles.
“My goal was to learn the Hollywood way of filmmaking and bring that back to Switzerland because that would make me a rather unique player in the market,” Heilmann said.
He eventually returned to the United States after meeting and falling in love with his now ex-wife, helping open an upscale retail business in Millerton. When the marriage later ended, he said the experience forced him to reassess his life.
“It was really tough for me, but I got on my own journey of cleaning up my mental and emotional world, and that has been fantastic,” Heilmann said.
Looking for a new direction, he explored several possible ventures before stumbling upon the opportunity to purchase Les Collines from previous owner Brigid Dorsey.
Once he committed, Heilmann didn’t waste any time. He worked closely with Dorsey in the kitchen for around four months, learning the art and science of making jam, jelly and marmalade. He hired a business coach with experience in packaged goods and began refining the production process through trial and error.
One of his most memorable lessons came early on.
“I forgot to taste the batch,” Heilmann said, smiling as he remembered an entire batch of Meyer lemon rosemary jam.
He woke up at 3 a.m. with the realization and rushed to check the batch the next day. It wasn’t sweet enough. Nearly fifty jars of jam had to be thrown away.
The mistake, however, became an important turning point.
For Heilmann, premium quality is nonnegotiable. Today, every batch is carefully measured using pH and Brix testing to ensure consistent flavor and sugar levels.
“If we don’t hit the target, it’s garbage,” he said.
Authenticity is equally important to him.
“I want to educate customers that organic, unprocessed food can taste great too,” Heilmann said.
A batch of Les Collines jam.Photo by Aly Morrissey
As the company grows, Heilmann said maintaining that philosophy will remain central to the brand.
His first employee shares a similar story of unexpected change.
Emily Redmond joined Les Collines as a production manager after losing her job at the North East Community Center’s Early Learning Program (ELP) in November 2025, just prior to its abrupt, permanent closure.
In her role as Director of the ELP, Redmond had earned a commercial kitchen handling certification – a credential she never expected to use again.
Now she oversees jam production and has quickly mastered the process.
The connection between the two came through Heilmann’s children, who attended the ELP. When he needed someone to help manage production, Redmond immediately came to mind.
“My criteria for hiring are very simple,” Heilmann said. “I need someone with a good attitude who is willing to learn.” Redmond, he said, ticks both those boxes and then some.
Just like Heilmann, Redmond said she never imagined working for a jam company.
“I was throwing it out into the universe that something was going to come up and be the thing I needed when I needed it,” she said. “Life brings you where you need to be sometimes.”
Looking ahead, Heilmann hopes to first establish Les Collines as a strong standalone brand, then eventually grow an overarching premium food company centered on leadership, innovation and authenticity.
“Back in the day, preserving was a necessity,” Heilmann said. “Now we want to make it into an art form.”
Les Collines products are available online at
lescollines.shop, at local general stores and at farmers markets throughout the region, with hopes to soon expand into grocery stores.
Heavy stone garden ornaments, a specialty of Judy Milne Antiques from Kingston, at Trade Secrets 2025.
Van Ginhoven points to towers of boxes containing event programs, various ribbons, elegant decor and stacks of magazines, all in preparation for the event.
Project SAGE will celebrate its 26th year hosting Trade Secrets, but it’s so much more than a garden event.
“It’s a fundraiser for domestic violence prevention and intervention,” van Ginhoven said. “Anybody who attends knows they’re supporting a really meaningful and important cause.”
The fundraiser accounts for at least 30 percent of the organization’s overall budget, she said, and attracts around 3,000 people from across the region each year, creating an unmatched opportunity for Project SAGE to share its mission and generate support.
The event, though expensive to produce, generates enough income to significantly support Project SAGE’s direct services and prevention services.
Officials said a wave of new underwriters have emerged this year.
“We’re very grateful, because we live in a time when funding is uncertain,” van Ginhoven said.
Hundreds of copies of the annual Trade Secrets guide sat at Project SAGE headquarters, ready for distribution at the event. The book doubles as a domestic violence resource, complete with warning signs, myth-busting information and scripts for difficult conversations.
Volunteers will be present throughout the event to connect with community members. Each volunteer must be certified as a domestic violence counselor in order to work with Project SAGE.
“It means they can help us drive clients, move clients, take them to appointments or the grocery store,” van Ginhoven said.
Project SAGE officials said education about domestic violence should start early. The organization has developed a comprehensive curriculum spanning early childhood through grade 12 and visits schools throughout the region. The class of 2026 will be the first graduating class at Housatonic Valley Regional High School to have received all four years of training from Project SAGE.
Martha Stewart signing her new book at Trade Secrets 2025.Christine Bates
The organization’s partnerships extend throughout the region and include on-site training in schools and nonprofit organizations, including the Sharon Playhouse. Community support also goes directly to Project SAGE, including a recently donated array of colorful gift bags bearing positing affirmations and filled with toiletries and basic necessities from students at the Frederick Gunn School in Washington, Connecticut.
The people who visit Project SAGE have often left uncomfortable or dangerous situations and leave without any belongings.
“Some of them have nothing,” van Ginhoven said. “They just show up because they had the courage to leave.”
Project SAGE staff say many referrals come through local hospitals, police and sister agencies.
The organization serves people in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York.
With the stress of event planning mounting, van Ginhoven spent a “previous life” preparing for this exact moment. She spent 30 working at the intersection of arts and activism, having co-founded WAM Theatre, a Lenox-based organization focused on stories and issues affecting those who self-identify as women and girls. During her tenure, WAM donated $100,000 to 25 local and global organizations working toward gender equity in areas such as girls’ education, teen pregnancy prevention, gender-based violence, sexual trafficking awareness and midwife training.
“I love the adrenaline of putting on a show,” van Ginhoven said with a laugh. With the help of volunteers and organizers, she said she isn’t bothered by the stress.
“The show will go on,” she said.
Caroline Kinsolving and Gary Capozzielo at home in Salisbury with their dogs, Petruchio and Beatrice
“We met during the pandemic, a bleak time,” Kinsolving said. “On our first date, we met at The Hickory Stick Bookshop and walked outside six feet apart. We fell in love.”
They lived in a tiny studio near Averill Farm in Washington, Connecticut.
“He played his violin, I worked on my lines, we walked the dog, and suddenly we were circling each other perfectly,” Capozziello said with a laugh. “When I told her I was a violinist, she mentioned ‘Appalachian Spring’ by Aaron Copland. I sent her a recording of me playing it, and it became our song.”
“For our wedding, we wanted all our friends and family out in the field listening to that music,” Kinsolving said. Capozziello’s friends from Orchestra New England performed the piece at their wedding.
“Circus Fire,” written by Connecticut’s own Jacques Lamarre and directed by Jared Mezzocchi, is a multimedia world-premiere tribute to the Hartford Circus Fire. On July 6, 1944, the big top of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus caught fire, killing 167 and injuring 700 in Connecticut’s worst fire disaster.
Capozziello, who grew up in Fairfield, began: “I came from very limited means, though my parents gave me the kind of support that mattered most. I had a hard time in school. My music teachers, noticing my knack for music, kept me in school.” As he became a teenager, he realized how demanding classical violin truly is. “I had the honor of playing in a master class for Isaac Stern when I was 18,” he said. “That was the wake-up call. He was relentless with my intonation, telling me I must ‘feel the fire in my belly.’”
At SUNY Purchase, he “met a wonderful violin teacher who taught me to play, study and practice five hours a day.” After studying at the New England Conservatory, Capozziello earned his doctorate from The Hartt School in 2018. He now teaches at The Hotchkiss School and performs with the Hartford Symphony.
He explained that his role as assistant concertmaster is the direct line between conductor and musicians, and that the orchestra is “a family dynamic, a democratic unit, truly a living, breathing organism.”
Caroline Kinsolving and Gary Capozzielo Jennifer Almquist
On May 2, Capozziello was soloist with Orchestra New England, performing the world premiere of Neely Bruce’s “Concerto for Violin,” along with “The River” by Jan Swafford and Aaron Copland’s “Appalachian Spring” at Battell Chapel at Yale.
“I care about bringing classical music into communities and spaces where people may not expect it,” said Capozziello.“Music is most powerful to me when it feels alive, humanand accessible, not distant or formal.”
For 20 years, Kinsolving has acted in film, television and theater in London, New York and Los Angeles. “I was first onstage at Washington Montessori School playing Peter Pan,” she said. “I improvised a line, got a laugh and liked the feeling.”
She enjoys performing Shakespeare. “I love Titania’s monologue because it speaks to our current climate crisis. Lady Macbeth surprised me. I fell in love with her while I was doing it. I could play those scenes forever; so much range and depth to explore,” she said.
Kinsolving added, “I love Shakespeare’s comedies for the fun and rhythm. I have loved Rosalind, Viola, Olivia, Helena and Kate, yet the top of my bucket list is Beatrice. Each character reflects a shade of my soul. Shakespeare had the brilliance to illuminate them. If I ever get a tattoo, it will be a list of their names.”
Kinsolving, whose parents, poet Susan Kinsolving and author William Kinsolving, live in Lakeville, studied at Milton Academy, universities in China, and Vassar College. Her theater training includes Stella Adler Studio of Acting, Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, Yale Drama Intensive and she is currently studying online through Juilliard.. She founded Theatre for Good, which donates its proceeds to charity.
Both artists are looking forward to June, when they will have more time to spend with their dogs.
Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.
