WEBVTT - Bobbi Brown: Redefining Success One Venture at a Time 0:00:00.720 --> 0:00:02.160 Hi, sheep Pivots listeners. 0:00:02.240 --> 0:00:04.600 I'm so excited to share with you that we've been 0:00:04.640 --> 0:00:08.080 nominated for the second year in a row for Signal 0:00:08.119 --> 0:00:13.039 Awards Listener's choice for Most Inspirational Episode for this season's 0:00:13.080 --> 0:00:17.480 episode with Ukrainian refugee Tetiana Podle. But in order to win, 0:00:17.840 --> 0:00:21.040 we need your vote. To vote for our episode, visit 0:00:21.079 --> 0:00:24.600 the link in our Instagram bio at sheep Pivots the Podcast, 0:00:25.160 --> 0:00:28.040 or search for sheep Pivots when you go to vote 0:00:28.040 --> 0:00:32.960 dot Signal Award dot com. Tetiana story is truly incredible. 0:00:33.479 --> 0:00:37.120 As a Ukrainian refugee, she's dedicated herself to volunteering in 0:00:37.159 --> 0:00:40.159 the war, and her story starts long before she was 0:00:40.240 --> 0:00:44.040 even born as she recalls the experiences of her grandparents 0:00:44.360 --> 0:00:47.879 in a post Soviet Ukraine. She carries us through an 0:00:47.920 --> 0:00:50.640 emotional retelling of how she went back to her home 0:00:50.680 --> 0:00:53.840 country just weeks after the war, started to care for 0:00:53.880 --> 0:00:58.520 her family and eventually leading a grassroots effort to transport 0:00:58.600 --> 0:01:01.360 supplies to her father's U unit on the front lines. 0:01:02.120 --> 0:01:05.679 It is truly an amazing episode, so please vote and 0:01:05.720 --> 0:01:20.360 share it with your friends. Welcome to she Pivots the Podcast. 0:01:20.400 --> 0:01:23.200 Where we talk with women who dared to pivot out 0:01:23.280 --> 0:01:27.200 of one career and into something new and explore how 0:01:27.200 --> 0:01:29.800 their personal lives impacted these decisions. 0:01:30.360 --> 0:01:32.840 I'm your host, Emily Tish Sussman. 0:01:36.400 --> 0:01:36.720 Today. 0:01:36.720 --> 0:01:40.880 I'm thrilled to be sharing our live she Pivots recording. 0:01:40.920 --> 0:01:45.600 We did this summer with the phenomenal Bobby Brown. You 0:01:45.800 --> 0:01:49.800 know that Bobby Brown in full transparency. Bobby has been 0:01:49.880 --> 0:01:52.680 a long time dream guest of mine. Okay, I know 0:01:52.800 --> 0:01:55.600 I say that a lot, but her pivots always fascinated me. 0:01:56.040 --> 0:01:59.960 From building a massive beauty empire to recently founding Joe 0:02:00.240 --> 0:02:02.960 Road Beauty, I wanted to know if the pivot into 0:02:03.000 --> 0:02:05.840 something smaller felt more fulfilling. 0:02:06.720 --> 0:02:09.600 So a quick refresh before we hop into the episode. 0:02:10.000 --> 0:02:13.520 Bobby founded and built the now household beauty brand Bobby 0:02:13.520 --> 0:02:16.160 Brown in the nineties and sold it to Estey Lauter 0:02:16.280 --> 0:02:20.480 shortly after and signed the infamous non compete clause that 0:02:20.600 --> 0:02:25.840 prevented her from starting another beauty brand for twenty five years. 0:02:26.160 --> 0:02:28.480 So she stayed on with the company for over twenty 0:02:28.600 --> 0:02:32.280 years and built it into a billion dollar brand. Then, 0:02:32.360 --> 0:02:35.320 almost twenty five years to the day after she signed 0:02:35.320 --> 0:02:39.120 her non compete. She launched her own brand again, Jones 0:02:39.240 --> 0:02:42.960 Road Beauty. She also started a handful of other ventures 0:02:42.960 --> 0:02:46.200 over the years, like Just Bobby dot com, a digital 0:02:46.280 --> 0:02:50.240 editorial content site, The George, a thirty one room boutique 0:02:50.280 --> 0:02:54.160 hotel in Montclair, and two podcasts, The Important Things and 0:02:54.240 --> 0:02:56.760 Beyond the Beauty. I want to take a moment to 0:02:56.760 --> 0:02:59.440 say thank you to the Church, our local center for 0:02:59.480 --> 0:03:03.040 the arts, creativitying community, for hosting us. This was truly 0:03:03.240 --> 0:03:06.560 the perfect backdrop for a She Pivots live recording. 0:03:07.280 --> 0:03:12.880 Let's jump right in. My name is Sherry Pasparella. 0:03:12.960 --> 0:03:16.320 I am the executive director of the Church, on behalf 0:03:16.360 --> 0:03:19.400 of myself and our lovely board and all of our 0:03:19.440 --> 0:03:26.120 team would like to welcome you warmly here today. I 0:03:26.160 --> 0:03:28.200 was thinking a lot about the ways in which she 0:03:28.320 --> 0:03:32.000 Pivots and the idea of empowered and empowering women connects 0:03:32.040 --> 0:03:34.680 with the spirit of creativity, which is what we do here. 0:03:35.080 --> 0:03:40.400 And I think Emily and Bobby embody the notion of 0:03:40.440 --> 0:03:45.160 a contemporary creative woman as somebody who's able to define 0:03:45.200 --> 0:03:48.800 on their own terms how their voice and vision can 0:03:48.840 --> 0:03:52.800 exist in the world. I'm very pleased to introduce you 0:03:52.880 --> 0:03:57.320 guys all to the lovely and awesome Emily Tish Assessman. 0:04:00.160 --> 0:04:03.520 So thank you so much for joining this live podcast 0:04:03.600 --> 0:04:05.720 of she Pivots. I was just chatting with Bobby in 0:04:05.760 --> 0:04:08.440 the back before. We've only done a handful of them. 0:04:08.600 --> 0:04:12.720 So we've done. We've interviewed live on stage Stacy London 0:04:12.760 --> 0:04:16.200 from What Not to Where, Robin Arzon from Pelotony launched 0:04:16.200 --> 0:04:20.120 her book, and Vice President Kamala Harris and today Bobby Brown. 0:04:21.400 --> 0:04:24.599 So I spent about fifteen years as a political strategist 0:04:24.720 --> 0:04:28.320 working in Washington on federal policy, and then I had 0:04:28.360 --> 0:04:30.480 three kids in three and a half years and went 0:04:30.520 --> 0:04:31.719 into a global pandemic. 0:04:32.040 --> 0:04:33.280 And you know what you can't do. 0:04:33.240 --> 0:04:34.560 With three kids in three and a half years in 0:04:34.600 --> 0:04:38.560 a global pandemic anything at all, And you definitely can't 0:04:38.560 --> 0:04:41.600 work on an upcoming presidential campaign which will determine basically 0:04:41.640 --> 0:04:44.799 the next wave of your political future. So I saw 0:04:44.880 --> 0:04:47.560 my career falling apart before me, and it. 0:04:47.520 --> 0:04:48.800 Was out of my control. 0:04:49.000 --> 0:04:51.280 So when Cherry and I were chatting about we could 0:04:51.320 --> 0:04:54.800 potentially do together, she's so generous and said, well, who 0:04:54.800 --> 0:04:55.640 were your dream guests? 0:04:55.640 --> 0:04:56.839 Maybe we can try to get them. 0:04:57.240 --> 0:04:59.480 The next thing I said is that I've actually always 0:04:59.480 --> 0:05:03.080 wanted to of you, Bobby Brown, because she exemplifies for 0:05:03.200 --> 0:05:06.400 me this idea that you can have a vision of success, 0:05:06.400 --> 0:05:09.480 of what looks like success having a big business, and 0:05:09.520 --> 0:05:11.080 I'm going to assume a little bit here, but maybe 0:05:11.080 --> 0:05:14.760 finding a different kind of happiness potentially more in changing 0:05:14.760 --> 0:05:17.480 your version of success with the business that she has 0:05:17.520 --> 0:05:20.640 now in so many other ventures. So the church as 0:05:20.640 --> 0:05:24.000 a cultural center is the perfect place to have this conversation. 0:05:24.440 --> 0:05:26.880 I'm a full time resident here. Bobby is also a 0:05:26.920 --> 0:05:29.520 part time resident here. This is the first place that 0:05:29.560 --> 0:05:31.960 we have found community. This is the place that we 0:05:32.000 --> 0:05:34.200 have chosen to raise our family. So it also feels 0:05:34.200 --> 0:05:35.720 a lot of pressure that we're actually in our own 0:05:35.760 --> 0:05:36.440 community here. 0:05:36.680 --> 0:05:38.280 We were just chatting that before. 0:05:38.600 --> 0:05:43.360 But so I'm so excited to bring up the incredible 0:05:43.960 --> 0:05:51.880 Bobby Brown. Bobby, your resume is long, extensive. We'll get 0:05:51.880 --> 0:05:54.960 to some great highlights. Why don't we just start every interview? 0:05:55.360 --> 0:05:56.680 What is your name and what do you do? 0:05:57.240 --> 0:05:59.760 My name is Bobby Brown. It's always a weird thing. 0:05:59.839 --> 0:06:03.440 I'm a makeup artist. That's what I think of myself. 0:06:03.480 --> 0:06:07.600 I'm a makeup artist. I'm a serial entrepreneur, I'm a wife, 0:06:08.040 --> 0:06:11.000 I am a mother, and I am a grandmother. 0:06:11.800 --> 0:06:13.800 So let's go back. Let's start from the beginning. We're 0:06:13.800 --> 0:06:15.600 going to do a little chronological here. Then we're going 0:06:15.640 --> 0:06:17.680 to get more interesting. But I want to start back 0:06:17.680 --> 0:06:20.000 to when you were a teenager and you decided to 0:06:20.040 --> 0:06:21.960 go well, you didn't know that you were going into. 0:06:21.720 --> 0:06:24.240 Makeup, but you loved it. What was it about makeup 0:06:24.440 --> 0:06:25.240 that drew you in? 0:06:25.960 --> 0:06:26.120 You know? 0:06:26.520 --> 0:06:26.839 I was. 0:06:27.520 --> 0:06:30.640 I had gone to two colleges, didn't like either of them. 0:06:30.920 --> 0:06:32.880 Told my mom I wanted to drop out. I thought 0:06:32.880 --> 0:06:36.799 it was really boring. It was really boring, it wasn't interesting. 0:06:37.160 --> 0:06:39.159 And she said, you can't. You have to go to school. 0:06:39.160 --> 0:06:40.599 And I said, but I don't know what I want 0:06:40.640 --> 0:06:42.839 to do. She said, forget what you want to do 0:06:42.920 --> 0:06:45.000 for a living. If today's your birthday, you could do anything. 0:06:45.040 --> 0:06:47.039 What would you want to do. I could have said 0:06:47.080 --> 0:06:49.600 go to Paris. I could have said, you know, eat brownies. 0:06:49.920 --> 0:06:51.760 I said, I want to go to Marshall Fields and 0:06:51.760 --> 0:06:54.039 play with makeup. She said, why don't you be a 0:06:54.040 --> 0:06:56.839 makeup artist? And I said, all right, I'll find a 0:06:56.880 --> 0:06:59.479 college that will allow me to do makeup. And I 0:06:59.480 --> 0:07:02.599 found em they didn't have makeup, but they had a 0:07:02.640 --> 0:07:06.200 degree called an interdisciplinary degree where you could make your 0:07:06.240 --> 0:07:10.720 own major. I still don't know what inter interdisciplinary means, 0:07:10.760 --> 0:07:12.800 but I made up my major and I figured I 0:07:12.880 --> 0:07:14.080 learned how to be an entrepreneur. 0:07:14.800 --> 0:07:16.600 Well, you have said that when you were when you 0:07:16.640 --> 0:07:18.520 were younger, when you were a teenager, that you thought 0:07:18.560 --> 0:07:19.760 you would always be. 0:07:19.800 --> 0:07:21.240 A teacher and a mother. 0:07:21.800 --> 0:07:24.360 Do you feel like you continuously kept coming back to 0:07:24.400 --> 0:07:26.960 that throughout your career or do you feel like you 0:07:27.040 --> 0:07:28.840 went on different paths. 0:07:29.160 --> 0:07:31.600 I have been a teacher and a mother, and so 0:07:31.680 --> 0:07:34.800 I have accomplished that, and you know, and I also 0:07:35.080 --> 0:07:39.200 have accomplished way more than I ever dreamed or thought possible. 0:07:39.520 --> 0:07:41.560 I mean, never in a million years would I have 0:07:41.640 --> 0:07:45.000 thought that I have experienced and accomplished what I have. 0:07:45.120 --> 0:07:47.120 And if there was a crystal ball that said this 0:07:47.160 --> 0:07:49.280 is going to be your life, I would have said, no, 0:07:49.400 --> 0:07:54.240 thank you seriously. Yeah, it's a lot. I love it, 0:07:54.520 --> 0:07:57.920 but you know, my what really defines me is not 0:07:58.280 --> 0:08:01.120 work and success, even though it's amazing what I've been 0:08:01.120 --> 0:08:03.880 able to accomplish, but it's being a wife, a mother, 0:08:04.040 --> 0:08:07.800 and a friend. Like my dear friends are here and like, honestly, 0:08:07.880 --> 0:08:11.240 like that makes me choke up, because that's what matters. 0:08:12.040 --> 0:08:13.880 What did you think your life was going to look like? 0:08:13.920 --> 0:08:15.360 You say, you know, you weren't really sure, But what 0:08:15.400 --> 0:08:16.640 did you think it was going to look like? 0:08:16.760 --> 0:08:18.720 I mean, I thought I would live in the suburbs 0:08:18.800 --> 0:08:21.880 and marry a Jewish guy. I did both of those things, 0:08:23.640 --> 0:08:25.960 you know, I thought I would I don't know, work 0:08:26.000 --> 0:08:28.360 in a I don't know, a department store. I don't know. 0:08:28.400 --> 0:08:31.240 I never thought. I don't think about things before I 0:08:31.280 --> 0:08:34.240 do it. I know that sounds really weird. I'm just like, oh, 0:08:34.320 --> 0:08:38.439 that sounds interesting, that looks interesting, and I just dive. 0:08:38.200 --> 0:08:40.160 In and dive in. 0:08:40.320 --> 0:08:40.800 She did. 0:08:41.280 --> 0:08:43.560 It was the nineties and Bobby saw a gap in 0:08:43.600 --> 0:08:46.760 the makeup industry and decided to fill it by going 0:08:46.880 --> 0:08:50.800 against the mainstream trends and releasing a makeup brand with 0:08:51.000 --> 0:08:55.200 neutral tones. It took off and became the household name 0:08:55.240 --> 0:08:59.640 for accessible and natural makeup. What did success look like 0:08:59.679 --> 0:09:02.160 to you at that point? Like, what were you trying 0:09:02.240 --> 0:09:02.880 to get to? 0:09:03.600 --> 0:09:05.480 Well, I was trying to be able to pay my 0:09:05.520 --> 0:09:08.400 four hundred dollars rent. That was by far the number 0:09:08.440 --> 0:09:11.760 one thing, seriously, and you know, my father for a 0:09:11.800 --> 0:09:15.360 graduation from college, gave me my rent for a year, 0:09:16.120 --> 0:09:18.120 and I'll never forget. I called him up and he 0:09:18.120 --> 0:09:19.760 gave me a credit card. He said, you have two 0:09:19.840 --> 0:09:21.880 hundred and fifty dollars to spend on this credit card. 0:09:22.280 --> 0:09:24.960 And I said okay, and I could never ever do it. 0:09:25.000 --> 0:09:27.199 And then I kept getting like I kept owing money, 0:09:27.200 --> 0:09:29.960 and so the interest built up, and I called my dad. 0:09:30.000 --> 0:09:33.080 I said, Dad, I cannot figure out how to like 0:09:33.160 --> 0:09:35.440 figure out how to save money, how to pay this off. 0:09:35.440 --> 0:09:38.040 He said, stop, just go find a way to make 0:09:38.040 --> 0:09:40.200 more money. I said okay, and I hung up the 0:09:40.200 --> 0:09:42.280 phone and I put an ad in the village voice. 0:09:42.600 --> 0:09:45.200 Someone called me to do makeup. It was a guy. 0:09:45.720 --> 0:09:49.000 It's another story I'll say for another time. Remind me later. 0:09:49.080 --> 0:09:50.040 It was quite something. 0:09:50.920 --> 0:09:53.040 You did an interview on one of your podcasts with 0:09:53.120 --> 0:09:57.400 Mickey Drexler from the fashion industry, and you talked in 0:09:57.400 --> 0:10:00.440 that interview a lot about work ethic and asking where 0:10:00.440 --> 0:10:03.280 you thought his came from. So I'm going to flip 0:10:03.360 --> 0:10:05.559 that question to you. What do you think your work 0:10:05.600 --> 0:10:07.679 ethic looks like and where do you think it came from? 0:10:08.000 --> 0:10:11.920 Well being from Chicago yay. Everybody like we're you know, 0:10:11.960 --> 0:10:16.960 we're Midwestern people, like we're solid people. I watched my grandparents' work. 0:10:17.000 --> 0:10:19.880 I watched my parents' work. Everybody worked hard to get 0:10:19.880 --> 0:10:22.640 where they were, and I watched Papa Sam build all 0:10:22.679 --> 0:10:26.360 his businesses, not realizing I was learning. Honestly, most of 0:10:26.360 --> 0:10:28.960 the things I learned about now I know it's called 0:10:29.000 --> 0:10:32.319 marketing and pr I learned from watching Papa Sam. How 0:10:32.320 --> 0:10:35.480 he treated people, what were their businesses. I mean, his 0:10:35.559 --> 0:10:38.320 last business was a car salesman. He was known as 0:10:38.360 --> 0:10:41.559 Cadillac Sam in Chicago, and he was on the side 0:10:41.600 --> 0:10:44.200 of buildings, and you know, he had a lot of 0:10:44.520 --> 0:10:47.240 famous people. He was five two I think. I don't 0:10:47.240 --> 0:10:50.040 think he was five to five, Papa Sam. And you 0:10:50.080 --> 0:10:54.040 know he sold cars to al Capone and Meyer Lansky 0:10:54.200 --> 0:10:57.880 and you know, and the best story Papa Sam ever 0:10:57.960 --> 0:10:59.760 told me is one day he was in his car 0:10:59.840 --> 0:11:03.120 dealership and some guy walked in with an overcoat and 0:11:03.160 --> 0:11:05.160 two bags. He looked like he was a homeless guy. 0:11:05.600 --> 0:11:07.760 No one would go wait on this guy. So Papa 0:11:07.800 --> 0:11:10.000 went over and said, hey, doc, how you doing. And 0:11:10.040 --> 0:11:11.679 the guy said, I want to buy a car. And 0:11:11.720 --> 0:11:13.440 Papa said, all right, let me show you. The guy 0:11:13.600 --> 0:11:16.760 had bags of cash and bought a car just like that. 0:11:17.360 --> 0:11:20.760 And so you never know what someone you know, what 0:11:20.800 --> 0:11:24.040 their background is until you really, you know, give someone 0:11:24.080 --> 0:11:26.920 the time. I mean, honestly, some of the most successful 0:11:27.040 --> 0:11:30.120 people you would never know they were that successful. And 0:11:30.400 --> 0:11:32.040 you know, look, i was the one that would walk 0:11:32.040 --> 0:11:34.960 around Barney's with a backpack and I'd be followed and 0:11:35.000 --> 0:11:38.280 I'm like, Okay, I'm wearing sneakers or clogs or whatever, 0:11:38.320 --> 0:11:41.000 and it's like, yeah, I'm not going to steal anything, guys. 0:11:41.080 --> 0:11:43.199 So and now that look would be very chic. 0:11:43.760 --> 0:11:48.640 Now it's finally back. Yes, fanny packs and backpacks and clogs. 0:11:48.760 --> 0:11:51.120 You know, I'm happy you led the way. I'm telling 0:11:51.160 --> 0:11:52.040 him you definitely did. 0:11:52.600 --> 0:11:55.200 So. You started Bobby Brown Cosmetics because you were mixing 0:11:55.200 --> 0:11:57.920 your own on set. You found a partner at the 0:11:57.960 --> 0:12:01.000 beginning of that partnership. How even you started with the partner, 0:12:01.040 --> 0:12:03.640 How did you decide to launch the line under your name? 0:12:04.280 --> 0:12:07.560 Well, I didn't really decide to launch the line under 0:12:07.600 --> 0:12:10.680 my name. So I met a chemist and I asked 0:12:10.760 --> 0:12:13.400 him what he did, and it was at Keel's Pharmacy 0:12:14.040 --> 0:12:16.920 and he told me he makes lipsticks on the side. 0:12:16.960 --> 0:12:19.280 I said, I've always wanted to make a lipstick that 0:12:19.440 --> 0:12:22.760 wasn't dry, wasn't grease. He didn't smell, it just looked 0:12:22.800 --> 0:12:24.600 like lips. He's like, I could do it for you. 0:12:25.040 --> 0:12:27.840 So he did and I after sending it back a 0:12:27.880 --> 0:12:30.640 couple times with changes, we had a deal that we 0:12:30.679 --> 0:12:33.199 would sell it and he would get seven fifty. I 0:12:33.240 --> 0:12:35.839 would get seven fifty. I would have to sell it, 0:12:36.000 --> 0:12:37.880 you know. He would give it to me, and I 0:12:37.920 --> 0:12:39.920 thought it was the greatest thing. I thought, everyone's going 0:12:40.000 --> 0:12:42.880 to love this lipstick. Then I realize everyone has different 0:12:42.880 --> 0:12:46.880 color lips number one and some people like red, some 0:12:47.040 --> 0:12:50.560 like pink, so I thought of ten colors. He said, okay, great. 0:12:50.720 --> 0:12:53.040 He would send me makeup, you know, the lipsticks. I 0:12:53.080 --> 0:12:55.760 would sell it. My husband would run it to the 0:12:55.880 --> 0:12:58.840 store to mail it. And then it got really popular. 0:12:58.880 --> 0:13:00.840 We had to get my sister in to do the 0:13:00.960 --> 0:13:03.280 books because I don't know how to do that stuff. 0:13:03.320 --> 0:13:07.000 And then we had a business, and then it got 0:13:07.080 --> 0:13:11.960 serious and we got into Bergdorf. Not because I pitched Burgdorf, 0:13:12.000 --> 0:13:14.800 because we were invited to a party at someone's house 0:13:14.840 --> 0:13:16.720 and I asked her what she did and she was 0:13:16.920 --> 0:13:20.079 a cosmetics buyer at Bergdorf and that's how we launched 0:13:20.120 --> 0:13:23.080 Bergdorf Goodman and then we had to get a real lab. 0:13:23.200 --> 0:13:25.920 The seven fifty seven fifty in business didn't really work. 0:13:26.000 --> 0:13:27.720 It didn't really work out anymore. 0:13:28.160 --> 0:13:30.640 So at that point, did you decide this is my business, 0:13:30.679 --> 0:13:32.280 I'm going out with it and he didn't fit into 0:13:32.320 --> 0:13:35.400 it anymore. I am very interested in the idea in 0:13:35.640 --> 0:13:38.040 kind of coming back to this question about putting yourself 0:13:38.080 --> 0:13:40.480 on the brand, because right now people defining themselves as 0:13:40.520 --> 0:13:42.680 brands is the name of the game, Like that's the. 0:13:43.080 --> 0:13:44.280 I didn't know what a brand was. 0:13:44.320 --> 0:13:44.520 To me. 0:13:44.559 --> 0:13:47.000 A brand was Kleenex. Okay, I mean it's like that's 0:13:47.040 --> 0:13:49.240 a brand, Like all of a sudden, I'm a brand. 0:13:49.320 --> 0:13:52.199 But no, I mean I remember at the time learning 0:13:52.480 --> 0:13:55.240 that you can't this is not a normal business model. 0:13:55.280 --> 0:13:58.679 And this guy couldn't really understand that. So one day 0:13:58.679 --> 0:14:01.480 in an elevator, I smiled someone and I said what 0:14:01.520 --> 0:14:03.000 do you do? And she said, oh, I work at 0:14:03.000 --> 0:14:05.719 a cosmetics lab. I said, oh, I need someone to 0:14:05.800 --> 0:14:09.439 have a card and man a cosmetics in Long Island 0:14:09.520 --> 0:14:12.480 City and they made all the lipsticks. And that is 0:14:12.520 --> 0:14:13.960 the truth. Met him in an elevator. 0:14:14.400 --> 0:14:16.080 So the fact that you did launch it under your 0:14:16.080 --> 0:14:17.920 own lim and you said, now this is my business. 0:14:17.960 --> 0:14:19.840 How did your version of success? What was your version 0:14:19.840 --> 0:14:21.160 of success? At that point? 0:14:21.440 --> 0:14:25.960 I paid the rent, you know, my husband, and I like, look, 0:14:26.000 --> 0:14:29.520 I started this business not by myself. I couldn't have 0:14:29.560 --> 0:14:31.560 done it without him. He's sitting here and I don't 0:14:31.560 --> 0:14:34.760 want to embarrass him, but I'm really smart. And this 0:14:34.800 --> 0:14:37.240 is why I'm smart. I make sure I have someone 0:14:37.360 --> 0:14:41.120 around me that knows what I don't, and so, you know, besides, 0:14:41.720 --> 0:14:44.560 you know, he's just the smartest guy I know. He's 0:14:44.600 --> 0:14:47.720 also he always encouraged me and supported me and would 0:14:47.760 --> 0:14:50.040 tell me things like, don't worry, we can do this. 0:14:50.600 --> 0:14:52.880 Don't worry, we got this. You know where I come 0:14:52.880 --> 0:14:55.640 home and be like, she's doing this. Okay, calm down. 0:14:55.800 --> 0:14:57.760 We're not going to talk about this at ten o'clock 0:14:57.800 --> 0:15:00.400 at night. Okay, calm down, you'll be better in the morning. 0:15:00.800 --> 0:15:04.040 It's always important to have a partner. So we really 0:15:04.080 --> 0:15:05.880 we did it. We've done everything together. 0:15:06.840 --> 0:15:09.920 I think a key piece, whether someone's launching a business, 0:15:10.360 --> 0:15:13.800 making a change, even staying the course, is really who 0:15:13.840 --> 0:15:18.560 their personal kitchen cabinet is has yours stayed the same 0:15:18.760 --> 0:15:19.640 or has it changed? 0:15:19.760 --> 0:15:23.840 Oh? It's completely changed, completely changed. I mean, I you know, 0:15:23.840 --> 0:15:26.840 in this new brand, I don't have anyone from the 0:15:26.920 --> 0:15:28.240 old country. 0:15:30.240 --> 0:15:32.120 But so you sold pretty quickly. 0:15:32.760 --> 0:15:34.880 We sold I guess four and a half years after 0:15:34.880 --> 0:15:38.600 we launched. Yeah, yeah, wow, was right. We were thirty 0:15:38.640 --> 0:15:41.120 two years old. Thirty four years old. Again, I'm not 0:15:41.200 --> 0:15:43.920 good with numbers. I guess thirty four. But we had 0:15:43.920 --> 0:15:47.320 two kids only at the time, and yeah, we sold. 0:15:48.120 --> 0:15:50.160 Now, I feel like there's so much like a big 0:15:50.200 --> 0:15:55.000 decision to go from founder to collaborator to of what 0:15:55.080 --> 0:15:56.480 kind of investors you bring in? 0:15:56.600 --> 0:15:57.960 What was the decision for you? 0:15:58.240 --> 0:16:02.680 Well, there wasn't those words back then. The decision was 0:16:03.200 --> 0:16:06.960 Leonard Lotter called. And anyone that knows Leonard in this room, 0:16:07.000 --> 0:16:10.680 he's the most wonderful human being. And when he called 0:16:10.720 --> 0:16:12.960 and said, you're beating us in the stores, because we 0:16:12.960 --> 0:16:16.320 were beating ste Latter in the department stores, he said, 0:16:16.360 --> 0:16:19.240 we can't beat you anymore, so we want to buy you. 0:16:19.920 --> 0:16:23.320 And you know, there was some issues with partners that 0:16:23.360 --> 0:16:26.360 we had that we were not getting along with. That was, 0:16:26.520 --> 0:16:28.760 you know, a little rough and my husband and I 0:16:29.400 --> 0:16:32.320 you know, it was more money than we could have imagined. 0:16:32.640 --> 0:16:37.400 And we said, yes, you know, And honestly, when Leonard said, 0:16:37.440 --> 0:16:40.000 I know, I know that you know you're so amazing 0:16:40.040 --> 0:16:41.280 at what you do, but I know you don't want 0:16:41.320 --> 0:16:43.880 to spend your life doing the things you don't want 0:16:43.960 --> 0:16:45.840 to do. What if I promised you that you could 0:16:45.840 --> 0:16:47.760 do what you love and what you're good at, and 0:16:47.800 --> 0:16:48.960 I trusted him. 0:16:49.440 --> 0:16:51.280 I want to hop in here to provide a little 0:16:51.280 --> 0:16:54.320 context at this point. It was nineteen ninety five and 0:16:54.360 --> 0:16:56.960 the language around business acquisition and non. 0:16:56.840 --> 0:16:59.320 Compete clauses was new to Bobby. 0:16:59.000 --> 0:17:02.520 And quite honestly not part of the mainstream conversation as 0:17:02.520 --> 0:17:03.120 it is today. 0:17:03.920 --> 0:17:04.720 So did that. 0:17:04.680 --> 0:17:06.560 Feel like your version of success at that point that 0:17:06.600 --> 0:17:08.080 you could focus on the part you liked and not 0:17:08.160 --> 0:17:08.600 the part you. 0:17:08.520 --> 0:17:13.120 Didn't absolutely yes, yes, oh yes, And you know, and 0:17:13.200 --> 0:17:14.879 to be able to do things that you could not 0:17:14.960 --> 0:17:18.440 have imagined, you know, I mean, we sent our nieces 0:17:18.440 --> 0:17:20.520 and nephews to college and a few other people, so 0:17:20.560 --> 0:17:23.320 you got to do things that you know, that matter. 0:17:24.480 --> 0:17:27.119 What was the core piece of the business that you 0:17:27.960 --> 0:17:31.200 really wanted to maintain for yourself and what areas were 0:17:31.200 --> 0:17:33.320 you able to grow in because of this partnership. 0:17:33.480 --> 0:17:37.159 Well, I certainly am happy to never do hr, to 0:17:37.240 --> 0:17:42.159 never do finance, to never do operations, and you know, 0:17:42.240 --> 0:17:44.560 getting one thing to another place and where it goes. 0:17:44.680 --> 0:17:47.400 I don't care. I just I just like everything else. 0:17:47.480 --> 0:17:50.000 I like the product, I like the marketing, I like 0:17:50.040 --> 0:17:52.920 the messaging and the creative part of it. I care 0:17:53.000 --> 0:17:55.240 about those other things and I want to know about them, 0:17:55.240 --> 0:17:57.520 but I want someone else to deal with them. 0:17:58.119 --> 0:18:00.640 When you were entering that partnership, you end up staying 0:18:00.960 --> 0:18:02.000 with the company. 0:18:01.680 --> 0:18:02.760 Twenty two years. 0:18:03.320 --> 0:18:06.320 That is really unheard of. 0:18:06.560 --> 0:18:09.359 Yeah, when I hear that's what I hear, it's a 0:18:09.440 --> 0:18:10.040 long time. 0:18:10.880 --> 0:18:13.080 At the time, when you entered into the partnership, did 0:18:13.119 --> 0:18:14.919 you think that you would just say, Okay, great, this 0:18:15.000 --> 0:18:16.680 is it. I'll just stay with this forever or did 0:18:16.720 --> 0:18:17.760 you think what did you think? 0:18:17.880 --> 0:18:20.760 No, I don't remember how long our first contract was 0:18:20.840 --> 0:18:24.760 how many years, but four three, three years? So and 0:18:24.840 --> 0:18:28.800 we kept signing three years, two years, and I just 0:18:28.960 --> 0:18:31.720 I didn't know. And you know, Steve would always ask me, 0:18:31.840 --> 0:18:34.080 are you ready? And honestly, I went to work every 0:18:34.119 --> 0:18:38.320 day thinking I own the company, and I realized at 0:18:38.320 --> 0:18:42.840 the very end. I didn't because things changed for them too. 0:18:43.600 --> 0:18:47.640 Yeah, I think that are better known parts of your story. 0:18:47.680 --> 0:18:50.120 And this was the non compete? Right and how long 0:18:50.160 --> 0:18:50.439 it was? 0:18:50.720 --> 0:18:53.040 Yes? We my husband, I'll never forget he called and 0:18:53.080 --> 0:18:55.440 he said, all right, we have a deal. He said, 0:18:55.440 --> 0:18:57.240 there's only one thing. They want you to sign, a 0:18:57.280 --> 0:19:01.199 twenty five year non compete. Okay. I counted on my 0:19:01.280 --> 0:19:03.480 fingers at the time because I was I thought I 0:19:03.560 --> 0:19:05.280 was thirty two. I looked thirty two, but I was 0:19:05.280 --> 0:19:07.480 thirty five. I said, I'm not going to want to 0:19:07.480 --> 0:19:09.959 work on them in my sixties. Who cares? Let them 0:19:10.000 --> 0:19:13.840 have it? So we signed and I didn't think I 0:19:13.840 --> 0:19:16.720 would want to work in my sixties. And I launched 0:19:16.720 --> 0:19:19.080 this new brand at sixty two? Was that the right 0:19:19.119 --> 0:19:20.080 age you could do? 0:19:20.160 --> 0:19:26.160 The math Jones Road launched the month her non compete ended. 0:19:26.720 --> 0:19:29.159 One had to wonder if she had been waiting for 0:19:29.240 --> 0:19:33.840 this moment. Was there something specific that where you said, Okay, 0:19:33.920 --> 0:19:35.679 I'm done, because I do think this is, you know, 0:19:35.760 --> 0:19:37.320 like your big pivot, Like was there something that said 0:19:37.359 --> 0:19:38.840 that I'm done here? 0:19:39.040 --> 0:19:41.040