Speaker 1: I first met Tan France behind the scenes. I think
Speaker 1: I was on a TV show. He was a guest
Speaker 1: on another show, and I literally just turned around. I
Speaker 1: had watched him on TV for years, and I just
Speaker 1: turned around to this beautiful man with his beautiful hair,
Speaker 1: introduced myself and asked for photos. And he could not
Speaker 1: have been any nicer. And for some reason, there's been
Speaker 1: some weird connection between us. But we don't get to
Speaker 1: talk a lot. But I'm really excited that he said
Speaker 1: yes to be on this podcast because I have so
Speaker 1: many questions. He's so interesting and such a wonderful man.
Speaker 1: So here's my conversation with Tan. Friends. Hello, Oh my god,
Speaker 1: you're such a beautiful man. That is very kind of you.
Speaker 1: I don't know if I can accept that compliment, but
Speaker 1: I appreciate you very much. And is this your bedroom?
Speaker 1: Mom saying this is my bedroom in my Salt Lake house. Yeah.
Speaker 1: First of all, let's just start. Why are you in
Speaker 1: Salt Lake? Why? Um? You know, for so many reasons.
Speaker 1: Have you ever First off, have you ever been Salt Lake? Um?
Speaker 1: I don't think so. I've gone. I've followed my husband's
Speaker 1: skiing in Utah, but that's not where is that. That
Speaker 1: was probaly Park City, which is about I've been to
Speaker 1: Park City, so Utah. In my opinion, it's the most
Speaker 1: beautiful landscape. And I've visited here seventeen years ago. I
Speaker 1: was in m I was in New York living for
Speaker 1: a short time. My housemate was from Utah asked me
Speaker 1: if I wanted to come here. I'd never heard of it,
Speaker 1: quite frankly, Utah or Salt Lake is definitely not one
Speaker 1: of the places that people get excited about in England,
Speaker 1: and so I've never heard about it, and so I
Speaker 1: was open to experiencing something new. So I came here,
Speaker 1: fell in love with the place, and I just kept
Speaker 1: returning and the finally I moved here. Wow, that's it's
Speaker 1: just it's it's you know, I just fegued you'd be
Speaker 1: in the Hollywood Hills. Yeah, that or something that is that.
Speaker 1: It's very part time, but every time I have time off, Honestly, Bobby,
Speaker 1: all I want to do is come home to Salt Lake.
Speaker 1: My favorite people could not be kinder. And I don't
Speaker 1: know how deep you want to go, but I'm just
Speaker 1: going to give you the real real. You have a
Speaker 1: brown daughter in law, daughter in law South I do.
Speaker 1: And now I have a brown granddaughter who she's a Gendiangendian.
Speaker 1: Yeah one week one week ago. Oh my gosh, congratulation.
Speaker 1: That's amazing. Things, that's amazing. I've got a half South Asian,
Speaker 1: half white sun also or child also. Anyway, So I
Speaker 1: when I got here, there was something about being South
Speaker 1: Asian in Utah compared to England. In England, South Asians
Speaker 1: were treated like second citizens and probably still are actually
Speaker 1: still off and we were kind of the undateable, so
Speaker 1: you wouldn't really take us home to see the family
Speaker 1: and so um. And so then I came to Utah
Speaker 1: and weirdly, the first night I was here, I was
Speaker 1: asked out twice, and I thought, well, I'm desirable here.
Speaker 1: They don't know where I'm from and therefore they don't
Speaker 1: know what to apply to me, and so they don't
Speaker 1: have to be racist and they just he is being
Speaker 1: exotic and so yeah, that's There's so much. There's so
Speaker 1: many reasons why ale of Utah, but that's one of
Speaker 1: them is I was treated as an equal here, which
Speaker 1: was really beautiful. Well, and it's and you know, being
Speaker 1: uh a gay British Pakistanian in Utah. You would think
Speaker 1: you would just be like stand out and people say,
Speaker 1: who are you? Yes? Have you ever seen anyone else
Speaker 1: like you? Very few no, No South Asian gay men
Speaker 1: they probably are, but that one, um and very few
Speaker 1: brown gay men Mocy white. However, when I moved here,
Speaker 1: when I first started coming here seventeen years ago, there
Speaker 1: was no diversity. It definitely has gotten better over the
Speaker 1: last for decades UM. But with the gay community, I
Speaker 1: think this is the case in general. I don't think
Speaker 1: I would have done well twenty years ago. Seventeen years ago,
Speaker 1: it was definitely on the gay websites it was no Asians,
Speaker 1: no whatever, no one or whatever. And I was definitely
Speaker 1: one of those no thank you, And so yeah, it was.
Speaker 1: It was interesting dating here, really interesting. Wow. Wow. And
Speaker 1: and your son, I mean, I've not seen what he
Speaker 1: looks like because you always put those like like those
Speaker 1: faces on. I'm going to show you a lady, not
Speaker 1: for camera. Oh my god, he looks so beautiful. He
Speaker 1: looks like you. That's very kind. I see everybody else
Speaker 1: thinks he looks likely. I don't see it myself, but
Speaker 1: I do think he's beautiful, absolutely beautiful. He is beautiful.
Speaker 1: But he looks he's a brown boy. Yeah, he looks
Speaker 1: like you. He definitely looks more brown than he does.
Speaker 1: Why I thought, you know, you never known with a
Speaker 1: mixed rays child what would be I assumed he would
Speaker 1: it was quite white or just Mediterranean. He definitely looks
Speaker 1: wow wow. So how how has fatherhood changed you? You know,
Speaker 1: you know this. It's gonna sound strange considering this Sherman,
Speaker 1: But anyone who's listening, who has ever seen Queer Eye,
Speaker 1: they will know. Up to a year and a half ago,
Speaker 1: I only ever cried twice. We there were five seasons out,
Speaker 1: technically six we did a special season in Japan, so
Speaker 1: technically six seasons. I only ever cried twice. And I
Speaker 1: got it together real quick. I am very typically British,
Speaker 1: which means I don't emote much. And then it wasn't
Speaker 1: even when we heard my son, but we were just
Speaker 1: expecting my son. I became such an emotional person. I
Speaker 1: will cry at the drop of a hat if something
Speaker 1: emotional has happened, especially if it comes to children. I
Speaker 1: am just so it's become a much more empathetic, compassionate,
Speaker 1: emotional person um and it has dictated how I lived
Speaker 1: my life a lot more clauses. Um, I say no
Speaker 1: to a lot more than I ever did before, so
Speaker 1: I could be at home little more often. So yeah,
Speaker 1: it has really changed me in so many ways. Well,
Speaker 1: it's funny that you say that you say no to
Speaker 1: a lot, because you say yes to a lot too.
Speaker 1: You're doing so many amazing things and your career has,
Speaker 1: like you know, has just like exploded. I'll never forget
Speaker 1: when I ran into in the UK. You were doing
Speaker 1: the show with my Brain and what's her name? The
Speaker 1: beautiful Girl? Was it not your co host Alexi Chuan
Speaker 1: Alexa Alexa Chun? Yes, yes, so that was Now what
Speaker 1: show was that? That wasn't show called Next in Fashion? Right? Okay,
Speaker 1: so but your first show was Queer. I was that
Speaker 1: she was queer? Is that what put you on the map? Yeah.
Speaker 1: So I had never auditioned for anything I was. I
Speaker 1: had no just an entertainment I got. So I had
Speaker 1: my own businesses. I was thankfully quite successful at that
Speaker 1: and I retired, um quite young age. I was thirty two,
Speaker 1: and somebody at Netflix found out through well somebody who
Speaker 1: was looking to cast for this show at Netflix found
Speaker 1: out and said, well, you must be free and available
Speaker 1: then um and so they did all they could to
Speaker 1: make me audition for this show. UM and so I
Speaker 1: never planned on being an entertainer. That was not what
Speaker 1: I thought was going to be my life. UM and
Speaker 1: I had not audition over over what was Skype at
Speaker 1: the time, and it went incredibly well. I thought, Okay,
Speaker 1: that's it. That was my taste of what it must
Speaker 1: be like to audition for something. UM and I never
Speaker 1: thought in a million years that I would then go
Speaker 1: out for a physical chemistry test, which was an audition,
Speaker 1: and then I got the job. So within three weeks
Speaker 1: I had gone from living a very regular a life
Speaker 1: um to being an entertain Wow, but the fashion has
Speaker 1: been your life, Like, that's what you did before? And
Speaker 1: is that what you studied in college and university? Yes? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I studied in college and I was very excited to
Speaker 1: be a designer. It was it was what I thought
Speaker 1: was going to be the rest of my life. UM.
Speaker 1: I come from a really strict Asian family, which means
Speaker 1: that you are a doctor or a lawyer. That are
Speaker 1: usually the only two options. I knew that that was
Speaker 1: definitely not for me. I was not I was academic,
Speaker 1: well naturally academic. I always did well in school, but
Speaker 1: I didn't care to try because I just didn't enjoy academia.
Speaker 1: Because I always knew what I wanted from such a
Speaker 1: young age, tobab Me, I was that kid who I
Speaker 1: think some people are just destined to be who they become.
Speaker 1: And as a kid, I from the age of seven
Speaker 1: or eight, I remember so distinctly wanting to choose what
Speaker 1: my mom will wanted to choose what my sister's well,
Speaker 1: and they had sories in the house and I would
Speaker 1: use those stories on them to create something that wasn't
Speaker 1: a sorry, like create a skirt and a top just
Speaker 1: I wanted. I wanted to make them feel beautiful. My
Speaker 1: family is very Muslim, which we usually wear modest clothing,
Speaker 1: especially around others. They would wear clothes that would cover
Speaker 1: up their more fashionable close than me, and so I
Speaker 1: really wanted them to feel beautiful always and so well.
Speaker 1: As I got older, I learned how to set my
Speaker 1: my granddad's factory. I became a very very very proficient
Speaker 1: so a um and so by the time I hit
Speaker 1: college age, I actually could create something very skillfully as
Speaker 1: if it was going to be sold in a retail store.
Speaker 1: And so my passion for wanting to just make my
Speaker 1: mom feel beautiful and my sisters feel beautiful. I never
Speaker 1: realized was going to turn into what I now do.
Speaker 1: And I also thought if I do that, it was
Speaker 1: just going to be as a designer. I will create
Speaker 1: a brand, I will design clothes for somebody and hope
Speaker 1: that my audience will like it. I never realized that
Speaker 1: it would. I would do it familiar And how supportive
Speaker 1: was your very strict family when they found out your
Speaker 1: choices in your life style? Um? Not super supportive. Not surprisingly,
Speaker 1: I think everyone just thought it was a joke in
Speaker 1: a phase like oh ha ha, yeah, you'll do it
Speaker 1: for a year at college when you're realizing I'm not
Speaker 1: going to make any money, And that was always the dig,
Speaker 1: like you're gonna be broke. They saw it as a
Speaker 1: starving artist. Basically, yes, you make really passionate about it,
Speaker 1: but will it pay for a family? And back in
Speaker 1: the day, I wasn't out, and so my family just
Speaker 1: assumed I would have a wife and children and how
Speaker 1: could I possibly support them when I'm an artist? And
Speaker 1: so I think for the majority of my early twenties,
Speaker 1: late teen, daily twenties, it was convincing my family that
Speaker 1: I can I will find a way to make money
Speaker 1: from this. I can build a living out of this,
Speaker 1: and so I will never forget the conversation I have
Speaker 1: with my mom. So, my my dad passed away when
Speaker 1: I was thirteen, and my mom was the one who
Speaker 1: was trying to make sure that her final child and
Speaker 1: the youngest you lived up to what my father wanted. Um.
Speaker 1: And so she was so incredibly disappointed when I told
Speaker 1: her that I wanted to make clothes for a living.
Speaker 1: I design clothes for a living, and I was an
Speaker 1: interesting sixteen seventeen year old. I told my mom very confidently.
Speaker 1: I said, look, I know that your other children, my siblings,
Speaker 1: if I love very much academic and have good jobs,
Speaker 1: like conservatively good jobs. Um, but I promise you, if
Speaker 1: you give me the freedom to do this, I swear
Speaker 1: I will work so hard that I will become your
Speaker 1: most successful child. And I won't I won't sponder this opportunity.
Speaker 1: I won't behave like an idiot. I will work to
Speaker 1: create something incredible so that I'm not the punchline for
Speaker 1: you family affairs. Because we are we're a really tight
Speaker 1: knit community, theation community I've got over a hundred family
Speaker 1: members within a couple of miles um to my mom,
Speaker 1: and so I know how important it is to not
Speaker 1: feel shame and to make sure that you don't embarrass
Speaker 1: the community. And so my point to my mom was
Speaker 1: always just I've always been reliable. As you know, son,
Speaker 1: I's always a good boy. I will be a good boy.
Speaker 1: I will be responsible. Just give me the freedom to
Speaker 1: do it my way. And I promised, how I will
Speaker 1: make you proud, um. And so it took a few years,
Speaker 1: but finally she could see that I wasn't just selling
Speaker 1: printed T shirts out the back of my car. She
Speaker 1: finally when I purchased my first home, I think she
Speaker 1: finally realized, Oh, you're not just doing something that I
Speaker 1: consider a joke. You're doing something she's respectable. And how
Speaker 1: was she when you told her that you are getting
Speaker 1: you know, actually weirdly, Okay, the first few minutes, we're
Speaker 1: really shocking to her. So I came out to my
Speaker 1: sister and my brother before I came out to her mom, um,
Speaker 1: and so they helped me get through this um. And
Speaker 1: so I told her, actually she found out she found
Speaker 1: a picture that she was not going to find and
Speaker 1: thankissing my boyfriend UM, and so under my bed on
Speaker 1: my bed at her house. I had long since moved
Speaker 1: out of her home, but I had a bunch of
Speaker 1: botombs under my bed that were all locked, and she
Speaker 1: decided to break them up and because just wanted to
Speaker 1: see what her Asian kids are doing. That's what Asian
Speaker 1: parents do. This is no such thing as privacy. You
Speaker 1: can have whatever you want. That's your child. And so
Speaker 1: she broke in and she's so just one picture was
Speaker 1: so innocent, was giving my boyfriend a peck on my lips. Um,
Speaker 1: And she was mortified. And she spoke to my brother
Speaker 1: and sister saying, that's it. He can't ever come home.
Speaker 1: We are done. He can't. He can't be a part
Speaker 1: of the family. So I called her, UM, and I said,
Speaker 1: I heard what you saw, and I hear what you said, Um,
Speaker 1: And that's fine. However, you're about to lose, so do
Speaker 1: she You're about to lose the best memory. I'm the
Speaker 1: glue that holds your family together every time the fight.
Speaker 1: I'm the one who steps in. I don't let your
Speaker 1: your children fight. I don't know you fight with your siblings.
Speaker 1: And I've always been a grandma like I've ever since
Speaker 1: I was a team I've always been incredibly mature at
Speaker 1: that age for such a young person. If there was
Speaker 1: a fight in the family, I would always go on
Speaker 1: media and make sure that there was no drama between them,
Speaker 1: between family, especially grandma. Why do you say grandma not grandpa? Oh,
Speaker 1: Because in my culture is always a grandma that solves
Speaker 1: the drama between their family. Always the grandpa's just kind
Speaker 1: of stared at it and pretend it's not it. Just
Speaker 1: so yeah, I was. I was always that person. And
Speaker 1: so I said, look what you're about to lose, in
Speaker 1: my opinion, the best member who will make sure that
Speaker 1: you still have a family in fifty years. If you
Speaker 1: want to let that go, fine, what I just want
Speaker 1: you to understand you will you will actually lose me
Speaker 1: if you if you decide to do this. And she
Speaker 1: was like, okay, you're You're right, I don't want to
Speaker 1: lose you. You will always my son. And I said,
Speaker 1: other than that, other than me being gay, I've never
Speaker 1: ever do anything that should make you feel negatively towards me.
Speaker 1: I've been a good son. I've taken care of you
Speaker 1: at every turn. I've taken care of you, even though
Speaker 1: at times others didn't. Do you really want me, of
Speaker 1: all your kids to leave? Um? And so we had
Speaker 1: a really honest conversation, probably the first virtually honest conversation
Speaker 1: I had, saying, what do you want for your life? Mom?
Speaker 1: And Aunt? I are part of that? Haven't I joined
Speaker 1: everything you've asked for, even though yes, I didn't have
Speaker 1: the career that you expected. Yes, I moved to America,
Speaker 1: which is not what an Asian will ever wants, is
Speaker 1: to put a son to remove away on the child
Speaker 1: my way. Other than that, I've been a good son
Speaker 1: to you. Do you really want to disown me? Um?
Speaker 1: And she was really good about it. She was like, no,
Speaker 1: I was shocked and not to set. Of course, I
Speaker 1: could never live my life without your youngest. It was beautiful,
Speaker 1: it was peutful, and so since then that I mean,
Speaker 1: it was literally an hour of weirdness. And we went
Speaker 1: right back. And she must be so thrilled to be
Speaker 1: a grandma to your son. She's obsessed. Um. So I
Speaker 1: brought my family out from England, all nineteen and my
Speaker 1: immediate to uh l a place and none of them
Speaker 1: have ever been to America. Um. So this was the
Speaker 1: first time in the United States. UM. And they all
Speaker 1: stayed for twelve days. UM. And it was a lot,
Speaker 1: but it's very Asian to have that roof, so it
Speaker 1: wasn't bizarre to us. UM. And so they all got
Speaker 1: to spend time with my son. At that point, he
Speaker 1: was just over six months old, UM, sorry, just under
Speaker 1: six months old, UM, And they had the most amazing
Speaker 1: time with him. It was weird having a child with
Speaker 1: them not being with him regularly because ordinarily, when one
Speaker 1: of us has a kid, our families in and out
Speaker 1: of our homes multiple times a days. We'll all used
Speaker 1: to live so close to each other. So I was
Speaker 1: the only one of the extended family who's ever had
Speaker 1: a child, and you've for meet that child for once,
Speaker 1: and so they made up for last time. Yeah, my
Speaker 1: mother loves him. Yeah, it must be hard that she's
Speaker 1: so far away, but it's you probably do these facetimes
Speaker 1: with her right a lot. Yeah. I mean she just
Speaker 1: drive me in saying the last couple of weeks. My
Speaker 1: mom has a wildly active social life, which drives the nuts. Um.
Speaker 1: She hangs out with it. She's got two older sisters
Speaker 1: and she's always out of the house. I've become her
Speaker 1: times I've had to say you need to be in
Speaker 1: at a certain time, don't be out all day? Why
Speaker 1: you were more again? Um? And so finally I had
Speaker 1: it out with a few days ago, saying I've tried
Speaker 1: to call you three times this week and you've not
Speaker 1: answer my call once. I just need you to answer. Uh.
Speaker 1: Beat that. So I want to just dive a little
Speaker 1: bit into your career because that's a white how people
Speaker 1: know you, and you know, I know you thought you
Speaker 1: were going to retire at one point. I saw that
Speaker 1: on the notes, but clear clearly that didn't happen. So
Speaker 1: Queer I now is in their fifth season? Is that no? Actually,
Speaker 1: so now we are. We just wrapped us seventh season,
Speaker 1: but we've technically got eight, so there's a mini season
Speaker 1: on on Netflix, which is in Japan, so technically we
Speaker 1: shot Okay, wow, that's incredible. So you're you're right now
Speaker 1: you're done with this? Because didn't you just sign on
Speaker 1: to a new show that's going to be filmed out
Speaker 1: of the UK? I did, so, Actually I have not
Speaker 1: done quere I couere I still definitely a thing. Um.
Speaker 1: And also this is a total brag. Pubby but I'm
Speaker 1: gonna do it. We made history at the end is
Speaker 1: three weeks ago we have won more more awards at
Speaker 1: the Emmys for unscripted than any show in history and consecuted.
Speaker 1: So we were now a history, which is wonderful. So yes,
Speaker 1: we're not getting anywhere anytime soon. Um. And then I
Speaker 1: and then I have another show which you've seen with
Speaker 1: the like to Jump or you know of with the
Speaker 1: like what. I just finished season two of that in
Speaker 1: the spring and my co host is now Gigi Headid,
Speaker 1: who I love very was one of my closest friends. Um.
Speaker 1: So that was magical. And then um, then very soon
Speaker 1: I leave for the UK to shoot say yes to
Speaker 1: the dress? Um, so say yes to the dress. It's
Speaker 1: been Can I tell you a bit about so they
Speaker 1: asked if I would join, and that was very particular
Speaker 1: about a group, particular about what I will say yes
Speaker 1: to on TV in particular, I want to cultivate a
Speaker 1: and kind of brand. Um. And I'm still one of
Speaker 1: the very few South Asians in entertainment and definitely one
Speaker 1: of the very very few queer South Asians and queer
Speaker 1: South Asian Muslims, and so I feel real responsibility to
Speaker 1: make sure that I'm not just making white tv UM
Speaker 1: and I make sure and I keep that at the
Speaker 1: forefront of my mind every time I decide whether I
Speaker 1: want to do a show or not. Thankly, I'm in
Speaker 1: a very problem position where we get offered a fair
Speaker 1: amount and the majority of the stuff I say no to.
Speaker 1: UM And this one excited me because they said, what
Speaker 1: would you do if you if you were to bring
Speaker 1: back say yes to the dress? And I've always thought
Speaker 1: says was wonderful. It's been going on for years. It's
Speaker 1: a very very successful show for TLC and now Discovery
Speaker 1: plus UM it's one of the biggest shows that they've
Speaker 1: never done, but they haven't shot it for a few years. UM.
Speaker 1: And so my concern all my request was this, you
Speaker 1: when you book me, are you hiring me for something?
Speaker 1: There's a reason why your booking meat. If you want
Speaker 1: to hire anybody else, they will do it their way.
Speaker 1: With me. I'm very particular about how I shoot and
Speaker 1: very particular about what I want to put out there
Speaker 1: in the world. And I know that that sounds sorry.
Speaker 1: And after four or five years, I've only been in
Speaker 1: this five years, but I've hit a point point in
Speaker 1: my life where I get to dictate this is what
Speaker 1: I will do and this is what I want to
Speaker 1: And so with this it's a case of I won't
Speaker 1: just dress white women in white wedding a dresses. That's
Speaker 1: not my brand at all. You can hire anyone out
Speaker 1: of the UK who's Caucasian and would possibly be fine
Speaker 1: with that. They're they're representing their people. I don't want that.
Speaker 1: If I do this, I want it to be incredibly diverse.
Speaker 1: I want to not do it out of a bridal story.
Speaker 1: I want to do it at a place where we
Speaker 1: can decide if you've got an Indian bribery of Indian
Speaker 1: dresses and we've got tired, We've got tired dress, We've
Speaker 1: got a Nigerian I've got Nigerian dresses. I want to
Speaker 1: what I've watched, um say you to the dress and
Speaker 1: thought this is a beautiful show. But I'm sure if
Speaker 1: I still watching should be thinking, yes, it's will lovely
Speaker 1: that all these white women dressing these white I want
Speaker 1: the fantasy too, um. And so I think I'm one
Speaker 1: of the very few people who get to demand that
Speaker 1: when you offered me a show, saying I'll do on
Speaker 1: these conditions and so I'm really excited about it. I'm
Speaker 1: really really to make my version of say yes, that's
Speaker 1: so cool. Well as as someone who has gotten to
Speaker 1: wear Indian dresses to my daughter in law's wedding and
Speaker 1: her baby shower. Like I just I love all the
Speaker 1: different cultures. I just did so much fun to be
Speaker 1: part of it. So yeah, and I was sure that.
Speaker 1: I mean again, it did soone, it was off for
Speaker 1: so many years, it did so many episodes. But I
Speaker 1: just think after a certain while, I've been thinking, Okay,
Speaker 1: it's a little white dress, give me the story. And
Speaker 1: when you travel to do this, does your husband and
Speaker 1: son come with you? Yeah. We just got back from
Speaker 1: New Orleans where we shot a lat season of where
Speaker 1: I we all traveled as a family. We were there
Speaker 1: for three months, um, and we all go to the
Speaker 1: UK together if I do more than a week or
Speaker 1: two maximum than the family troubles. And I noticed your
Speaker 1: husband took your last name. Is that or is that correct?
Speaker 1: Actually we both took each other's. So my husband is
Speaker 1: Rob Softer France and I'm Tanca. Okay, okay, yeah, no
Speaker 1: I like that because you don't usually see that. Yeah,
Speaker 1: in my opinion, it made it seemed like one of
Speaker 1: us was more important than the other, and we just
Speaker 1: feel like it was in the relationship, and with it
Speaker 1: being a gay marriage, we get to create our own rules.
Speaker 1: And so yeah, I love having able at all study
Speaker 1: And so what else haven't you done that you want
Speaker 1: to do besides your men's grooming line that I'm still
Speaker 1: you know, I'm ready for you when you decide you're
Speaker 1: coming out with the men's Come on, you don't have
Speaker 1: to do anything except hold a jar and everyone would
Speaker 1: buy it. I'm ready, but we believe me. I'm ready.
Speaker 1: I've been talking about doing it for a long time.
Speaker 1: We just never found So you and I start talking
Speaker 1: abou up. Yes, you mentioned it years ago, probably two years,
Speaker 1: and we never found that. We were going to do
Speaker 1: it at one point and it just didn't feel like
Speaker 1: the right thing at the time. Hopefully one day soon
Speaker 1: we'll find the right way to do it. I have
Speaker 1: my own brand of our tour, which I love, so yes,
Speaker 1: tell me about that, because I remember when it launched.
Speaker 1: There's so many beautiful pieces. Thank you. So it's seasonal.
Speaker 1: We only do it um well, we only really pushed
Speaker 1: it between November and February it's just two dns we
Speaker 1: do each year now, so yes, last year was our
Speaker 1: first year and this year we got dropped three and four.
Speaker 1: I think it's gorgeous this year actually, well the whole time.
Speaker 1: It's inspired by being British and being American and being
Speaker 1: South Asian and so the coast themselves are very tailored
Speaker 1: but ties into being British. UM, and we add embroidery
Speaker 1: which is very very complete Asian. This year we're adding
Speaker 1: do you know what couch babriack has many chance, Bobby,
Speaker 1: have you been seen that? Probably with little mirrors on
Speaker 1: the usually lots and embroidered around it. That's called clutch fabric.
Speaker 1: It's it's salvation very differently and at that way, I'm
Speaker 1: positive you saw a bunch of it but probably hadn't noticed.
Speaker 1: But it's very traditional for us UM and so on
Speaker 1: finding ways to add that to my brand also so
Speaker 1: people feel like they're getting a version of about where
Speaker 1: that is quite unique. UM. I work with my husband
Speaker 1: done creating the embroidery, so he will create the artwork
Speaker 1: that will then be embroidered onto the coats. UM. So
Speaker 1: it's called was him. My middle name is the scene.
Speaker 1: But it's spelled W A S H I M. And
Speaker 1: so we just broke up the middle name and called it.
Speaker 1: But it's a neutral. It's for men and women. We
Speaker 1: have men and women modeling the brand. I think it's gorgeous.
Speaker 1: I'm really I'm really proud of it, and it's the
Speaker 1: only way I'm wanting to design these days because having
Speaker 1: run there's a lot and I've got four shows that
Speaker 1: I work on so acutely busy all year, and the
Speaker 1: last thing I can handle it is a full brand
Speaker 1: or running a full brand right now. I understand that
Speaker 1: and think about sizes because I am a five foot tall,
Speaker 1: petite woman who it's really hard to find clothes you
Speaker 1: know that fit me. And I have friends that are
Speaker 1: large sized women and they have trouble, so you know,
Speaker 1: people don't think about body shape. Yeah with our brand, okay,
Speaker 1: we don have a petite maage. I will be honest. However,
Speaker 1: we when it comes to the actual sizing and the brand,
Speaker 1: the people that we have model models, well, the people
Speaker 1: that we have model is relatively diverse, um, which I
Speaker 1: was really proud of the amount of ethnicities represented. And
Speaker 1: body shapes is something we will continue to do always okay,
Speaker 1: well that I used. I used to own brands and
Speaker 1: one of them was to swim my brand and we
Speaker 1: never I don't remember every using any under a size mm.
Speaker 1: Really they're not the ones who have But then I
Speaker 1: mean that the supermodels, the ones who are TV TV,
Speaker 1: they're not buying the product. The design is gifting into them.
Speaker 1: We would we were designing for real of it. And
Speaker 1: tell me about the shirt you're wearing, because you know
Speaker 1: you have a very cool style and I've never seen Oh. Thanks,
Speaker 1: So this is a brand that no longer is this
Speaker 1: from the UK? I love an article stripe. It's a classic.
Speaker 1: I will also describe it. We are on a podcast,
Speaker 1: describe it. Oh you know, also showing this. Sorry, I'm
Speaker 1: wearing a nautical stripe. T is maybe in blue. It's
Speaker 1: got a beautiful vintage rose patch from a brand that
Speaker 1: used to exist called Canton co In, which was a
Speaker 1: heritage British brand. Yeah, because I love classic things that
Speaker 1: have a twist. Yeah yeah, yeah. And what I will
Speaker 1: say it got more difficult for me because of the
Speaker 1: job that I hold. I can't do classic as much.
Speaker 1: People expect you to push more. I think if I
Speaker 1: was dressed classic all the time, and I was guilty
Speaker 1: of this at the start. I really wanted to continue
Speaker 1: how I dressed, continue on with how AD dress, which
Speaker 1: was very classic, with the amount of people who said, oh,
Speaker 1: he plays it safe all the time, how is he
Speaker 1: the style guy? So you feel pressured to the anti
Speaker 1: what's your favorite men's sock? Yeah, I mean people don't.
Speaker 1: I mean I'm someone that believes you should have really
Speaker 1: good underwear and really good socks. Socks, Okay, I love.
Speaker 1: I hate to say this because it's a celebrity brand,
Speaker 1: but I think it's called Arthur Arthur George. Yeah, it
Speaker 1: is South the George. Rob Kardashian's brand is actually very good,
Speaker 1: very good. And then I if it's not that, I
Speaker 1: really love the J Crew suck always always um. And
Speaker 1: then when it comes to under one, very particular for men,
Speaker 1: there's a brand c d LP. I'm not affiliated with
Speaker 1: them in any way, but there are European brand I
Speaker 1: think from Scandinavia somewhere. In my opinion, c d LP
Speaker 1: has the best quality of ever ever had. Boxers are brief,
Speaker 1: both both and pajamas and ropes. They just all feel gorgeous.
Speaker 1: I don't want they're doing how they're doing it, but
Speaker 1: it's beautiful. Did you write that down? What's the name
Speaker 1: of it? Because I want to order the pajamas c
Speaker 1: D L P D LP Okay, I love them? How
Speaker 1: about that is very specific, but I mean I do
Speaker 1: love that pajamas to my favorite pajama place. Yeah, Bobby
Speaker 1: is called Sleepy Jokes pleepy jamas. Yes, I have a pair.
Speaker 1: They're very comfortable. I love that pajamas. So yeah. And
Speaker 1: I and I wear the Brooks Brothers men's pajamas. They're
Speaker 1: like the best. I almost look like your sheets and
Speaker 1: oh yeah those are really good. So what are what
Speaker 1: are some of your other brands? Like what do you
Speaker 1: have a gene brand that you love? I really like
Speaker 1: a brand called Closed, which I think you're yeah, um
Speaker 1: they're great. Um. And then T shirts there's a brand
Speaker 1: called Evelyne of Yeah yeah, um they're quality T shirts
Speaker 1: is great um and I love what they stand for. Um.
Speaker 1: So yeah, that's a brand I love very much. And
Speaker 1: then when it comes to what's the T shirt that
Speaker 1: I wear? The one from the UK I discovered to you,
Speaker 1: okay t shirt that I'm in love with is it
Speaker 1: called arkad No Son what is it called sun Spell.
Speaker 1: It's a very old brand, you know, sun Spell the
Speaker 1: best of T shirts. I now buy them in bulk.
Speaker 1: They're amazing. Okay, then I'm gonna be one more if
Speaker 1: you like. I don't know, but I'm going to give
Speaker 1: you a counter, a brand from the UK called Arquette.
Speaker 1: It's spelled like market but without the Okay, arkhead. Tell
Speaker 1: me a bit about your health and wellness, because you
Speaker 1: look incredibly healthy. Do you have a certain way that
Speaker 1: you eat? Oh gosh, Bobby, I wish I could say
Speaker 1: another thing what I was about to lie and say.
Speaker 1: I wish I could do better. I could, Everyone can
Speaker 1: do better. However, I here's my here's my balance. I
Speaker 1: eat well Monday to Friday. Mostly I don't have much
Speaker 1: fried food. Every now and then I'll have fries, but
Speaker 1: I will have just a few. But most people can.
Speaker 1: Monday and Friday a pretty down well nothing only Friday,
Speaker 1: nothing really processed um. And I cook a lot for
Speaker 1: myself on the weekend, and I think this is why
Speaker 1: my balance works and has been sustainable. On the weekends,
Speaker 1: I will enjoy what I want to enjoy. I don't
Speaker 1: go crazy crazy, but I will if I want something
Speaker 1: like pizza, I'll have pizza if I whatever I want,
Speaker 1: I will mostly have. Um. My only major weakness. I
Speaker 1: don't have any vices. I don't drink alcohol, I don't smoke.
Speaker 1: I don't do much that could hurt my body. However, Um,
Speaker 1: I've got a terrible sweet tooth, shocking like shockingly bad
Speaker 1: sweet tooth. Um. And so if my metabolism metabolism wasn't
Speaker 1: so intensely high, I probably would uh not be the
Speaker 1: way I am now because it doesn't My my physical
Speaker 1: appearance doesn't show you how badly I eat sweets. Wow.
Speaker 1: And you don't drink cartails at all? No, every now
Speaker 1: and then, Like many years ago, I would have a
Speaker 1: glass of champagne if I was off going at a party.
Speaker 1: But it's been many, many many, but at least fifteen years.
Speaker 1: My husband doesn't drink either. Um, So it's much easier
Speaker 1: to not drink in your partner doesn't drink um. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I don't have many actual vices other than actual sugar. Yeah.
Speaker 1: And I do work out. To be fair, I do
Speaker 1: work out a lot. I really like to keep in shape,
Speaker 1: and it's for my husband, really is, and if he
Speaker 1: feels the same way about me. We work out regularly,
Speaker 1: and it's not because I want to look a certain well.
Speaker 1: I don't want to look like in a Jonnis. I
Speaker 1: don't ever expect look like a muscle man. I just
Speaker 1: want to stay fit and healthy and active because we're
Speaker 1: very keen hikers. Um, we love to boulder like we're
Speaker 1: we're we have. We live a very active lifestyle here
Speaker 1: in Utah, and so I just want to be able
Speaker 1: to keep it as long as I can. And I
Speaker 1: want my husband to look at me and think yeah
Speaker 1: and yeah, and you want to feel good in your
Speaker 1: body too. I mean it's it's definitely. So I have
Speaker 1: another Utah question just because I read it on on
Speaker 1: the on the notes that you are the first person
Speaker 1: to design close for Mormons. Is that no, okay, no,
Speaker 1: Like I will, I was explained this, I think somebody
Speaker 1: else and I think that that information is sowhere but
Speaker 1: slight slightly accurate. So I did design clothing for woman women.
Speaker 1: They were my first three brands. However, I think well, no,
Speaker 1: I think I am. I was the first non woman
Speaker 1: to make clothing form woman women. So I started out
Speaker 1: in Utah working for a company about twelve thirteen years ago,
Speaker 1: and when I worked with this company, it was a
Speaker 1: modest clothing company UM and I didn't know what that
Speaker 1: was before I started working there. But in Utah, they
Speaker 1: weren't clothing brands. But I was I wanted to live
Speaker 1: here and be with my husband, so the only job
Speaker 1: I could find was working for this company. So I
Speaker 1: was a sales director of the company UM and I
Speaker 1: loved what they stood for. I loved what they did,
Speaker 1: but I didn't know of it beforehand. However, I worked
Speaker 1: in a fashion for a while. I understood many facets
Speaker 1: of the business, but I didn't know how to start
Speaker 1: a new business, a small business and build it from
Speaker 1: the ground up. And that's what they had achieved here.
Speaker 1: And they were selling the company. This was wonderful woman
Speaker 1: who was the owner. She was selling the company to
Speaker 1: a much much larger American business called jumpany UM and
Speaker 1: so that business was no longer. And so I asked,
Speaker 1: I was like, to you mind if I create my
Speaker 1: own version of a modest clothing company. I respect what
Speaker 1: you guys have done, but I really want to create
Speaker 1: a modest clothing where nobody would know it's modest clothing.
Speaker 1: Because this is absolutely going to create the work she did,
Speaker 1: and I'm not trying to be mean. However, her brand
Speaker 1: and her competitors brand, they just looked very homely, like
Speaker 1: the clothes look like almost as if somebody were living
Speaker 1: in amish Land. Like it was very say, when there's
Speaker 1: people walk down the streets, there they're wearing modest clothes,
Speaker 1: and I just thought, yes, I understand what you need
Speaker 1: to cover, but why can't it be beautiful, Like, why
Speaker 1: can't it just look stylish? And so I set out
Speaker 1: to create a modest brand for moment women that looked
Speaker 1: good enough to be worn around London and nobody would
Speaker 1: ever know that they were trying to cut their bodies.
Speaker 1: And so we did. And so I think that's why
Speaker 1: we saw such great success, don't in among The first
Speaker 1: two years were halacious, absolutely helicious. I started the business
Speaker 1: with my own money. I started the next to no
Speaker 1: money whatsoever. Well, then after a couple of years the
Speaker 1: business started to do really well, and I think it's
Speaker 1: because we were finally offering something that I just wasn't
Speaker 1: there for anybody out of that anybody else was doing.
Speaker 1: It was just nice clothes that just so happened to
Speaker 1: cover part of the body, and we had such a
Speaker 1: massive Jewish customer base who assumed we were a Jewish company.
Speaker 1: We had a massive Mustland custom base, but were a
Speaker 1: Mustland company. All these people that had been neglected by
Speaker 1: the fashion industry finally felt like and And the strange
Speaker 1: thing was, so I didn't what we call wholesale. For
Speaker 1: anyone listening who don't know what wholesale is, it's were
Speaker 1: we designed the product, We put the company's label in
Speaker 1: that product, and they sent us down and we did
Speaker 1: it for like some mud cloth, which was a mative
Speaker 1: retail online retail at the time. We did a Nordstrum project.
Speaker 1: And none of these people knew that we were catering
Speaker 1: to religious people. They just saw it as nice clothing.
Speaker 1: And so once we started the wholesale, we had all
Speaker 1: these businesses in New York and wherever who were a
Speaker 1: Jewish moment pop shop, I don't know, an Indian moment
Speaker 1: pop shop, a Hindu whatever. None of them realized that
Speaker 1: we weren't catering to them. We were catering for body studience.
Speaker 1: But they didn't just covered what that's that's really very cool. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I I just I couldn't even imagine. But there are
Speaker 1: so many similarities and all the different cultures that it
Speaker 1: really makes sense. And quite honestly, just to put that
Speaker 1: slightly more, if we knew that somebody really wanted something
Speaker 1: from us, Let's say an example, there was a Jewish
Speaker 1: store that would have purchased a lot if they loved
Speaker 1: one of the styles we had, and they knew that
Speaker 1: I just needed to raise the next cline slightly, so
Speaker 1: I'd covered the colophone. We did it. If they were
Speaker 1: ordering enough, we didn't. And so I think that's what
Speaker 1: made a successful Like what do you need? What does
Speaker 1: your girl all need to feel beautiful? And we'll get there.
Speaker 1: M m no. For um, you know, first of all,
Speaker 1: you're the most upp positive person. And before I ask
Speaker 1: you the last, before I feel, are you ever in
Speaker 1: a bad mood? Yes? So really so yeah I am, uh,
Speaker 1: but one would probably know that my version of bad
Speaker 1: mood is using not anyone's versional. I just go a
Speaker 1: little lighter than usual. But I'm you know, anyone who's
Speaker 1: listening will know who this is. My my Custmas, Anthony
Speaker 1: and Jonathan. I would watch their interviews. We all did
Speaker 1: separate interviews. We all continue to separate interviews. From different publications,
Speaker 1: and inevitably the interview always asked about the other co
Speaker 1: host on this show, and the one thing I hit
Speaker 1: them say a thousand times over is what you see
Speaker 1: with Tan is not an act. He's weirdly the peppiest
Speaker 1: person you'll ever meet. First in the morning, I just
Speaker 1: I don't know what. I'm so great for life in general.
Speaker 1: I just the luckiest boy in the world, and I
Speaker 1: just think, what am I going to moan about? Yeah? No,
Speaker 1: it's it's very evident you're one of those people that
Speaker 1: brings the energy into the room instead of sucks it out.
Speaker 1: So um. But so the last the last question that
Speaker 1: I asked everyone since this podcast is called The Important
Speaker 1: Things because I don't know, I couldn't think of anything else,
Speaker 1: but it's called the Important Things. If you could tell
Speaker 1: people listening one thing that they're going to remember out
Speaker 1: of your mouth, it's going to help them change their life,
Speaker 1: what would it be go into everything with intention when
Speaker 1: you are I've mentioned something of the spot on the show,
Speaker 1: but it's usually about clothes, but it's not just about clothes.
Speaker 1: What you put on your body, the way you treat
Speaker 1: a person, the way you are with your family, the
Speaker 1: way you are with your friends, the way you are
Speaker 1: at work really does dictate how you're perceived and how
Speaker 1: you will live out the rest of your life. Whether
Speaker 1: you're in my wild or a regular corporate world or
Speaker 1: your family. Go into it with the intention of just
Speaker 1: trying to be good and do good, and that will
Speaker 1: serve you well. But never a time in your life
Speaker 1: where you would have come across some major adiversity and
Speaker 1: you had to be the bigger person and you'd be
Speaker 1: good and be kind and you will regret it. Yes,
Speaker 1: you may think, gosh, I wish I had stood up
Speaker 1: myself and I wish I had told this person, Yeah,
Speaker 1: you can't treat me that way. However, long term, you
Speaker 1: look back thinking, I'm really glad I chose to be good.
Speaker 1: I'm really glad I chose to be kind. Um, So yeah,
Speaker 1: choose being decent at every turn in every situation. I
Speaker 1: love this and I hope that we cut that up
Speaker 1: and post that all over because that is an incredible advice.
Speaker 1: So thank you so much. Thank you so much for
Speaker 1: talking to me, Thank you for showing me your son,
Speaker 1: your bedroom, your teacher, your underwear, everything. So thanks, Yeah, Bobby,
Speaker 1: I was just gonna say this, you're an angel. I'd
Speaker 1: be following you for a while. You are, actually, I
Speaker 1: don't know if you realize it's the inspirational you've always
Speaker 1: see buddy, peppy and positive on your instead, you are
Speaker 1: a very inspirational lady. Thank you. When you're ready for
Speaker 1: the beauty talk, I'm telling you I I know exactly
Speaker 1: what you should, what you should do, and how you
Speaker 1: should do it. So call me anytime. Okay. I love that.
Speaker 1: I'm actually going to figure something out with you. I
Speaker 1: love that big hit. Thanks for listening. Follow us on
Speaker 1: social at The Important Things podcast on Instagram, and just
Speaker 1: Bobby Brown on TikTok. See you guys next time.