The Exchanges

Q And, and while you were working on this degree, You started to have doubts about whether you wanted to pursue it?

A I did. You know, I love psychology, but I just wasn't sure, you know, part of our job, um, you know, or requirements as, um, a graduate student was counseling the undergrads, um, at Columbia, and so I would be sitting, you know, counseling them, listening, you know, doing sessions with them one-on-one, and I would find myself, you know, drifting off, thinking, About different things. And, you know, that's the exact wrong thing to be doing when you're sitting with a therapist or a counselor. And I'd be thinking, then I, you know, click myself back in and, you know, give some advice or feedback and, um, you know, reiterate what they were saying so they, you know, recognize that I was listening to them. Um, but I was thinking, gosh, I do not want to do this with my life. I don't want to do this, but I'm really far down this path. So, um,

AI assessment note: “I did. You know, I love psychology, but I just wasn't sure”

Q It's for 18 bucks, right? So, so I'm thinking, like, The, the idea, and you're, you're, you're trying to figure out where to take your marketing dollars, and presumably you don't have tens of thousands to spend, right? Maybe, maybe you have a 10, 20, 30,000 to spend, or, or not even that much.

A Yes. I would definitely go to QVC for sure. I think this could be great, especially with, um, you know, I was saying that don't sweat it. I think that applies to so many different times in life. Like, Rush is coming up right now, um, and I think, like, don't sweat it. Like, that's obviously college age, so you got this. Someone that's going through an interview process, like, Send it to, like, your girlfriend, your best friends, whatever, like, it's like a good luck thing. Um, you know, for, like, cheer tryouts, the same thing. Bridal is coming up. It's like, I know you were saying you're, like, excited because you can see a market for activewear, but when you niche yourself so far down, it can make it very difficult, too.

AI assessment note: “I would definitely go to QVC for sure.”

Q In Binghamton, right? And, and when you got there, um, What do you think you wanted to do?

A I didn't know. I'll be honest. My sister went there first, so my, my one sister went to Georgetown, my other sister went to Cornell, and then my older sister went to Binghamton, and I visited her, and classic, met a boy, um, at a party, and was like, okay, I'm just gonna go there, and of course I got there, and I was like, hey, it's me, and he was like, who are you? I don't even know who you are. I don't even remember you, and of course I was crushed, but it was a very good early lesson. Um, and then, yeah, and then I was up in Binghamton where it was really, really cold for a couple years, but I finished college quick. I actually did college in two and a half years, and so I graduated, and my sister was already, older sister was already living in the city, going to law school.

AI assessment note: “I didn't know. I'll be honest.”

Q But you didn't know what? You didn't know specifically what that would be.

A I didn't know exactly, but like, in my heart, I really wanted to start a makeup company, but I knew that my parents wouldn't think that that was, like, reputable enough, you know, since I was a little girl. Um, you know, I'd always, like, play with my mom's makeup, and, you know, she was beautiful, and I would, you know, make my own, like, you know, cheek stain in, like, the bathtub with, like, shaving cream and, like, you know, cough syrup or, like, chalk or whatever I had, and I would take, like, lipstick and put it on my sisters and, like, their holly hobby dolls, and it was something I always loved, right? And my mom used to, like, you know, make us do these egg white masks, and Homemade candles, and face masks, and things like that, and soaps. My sisters and I had, like, you know, acne or pimples. You would, like, you know, mix, like, turmeric, or an aloe vera, and like, you know.

AI assessment note: “I didn't know exactly, but like, in my heart, I really wanted to start a makeup company”

Q What company did he work for? Or firm?

A He worked for Keith, Keith Rhett and Woods, and they were amazing after. I mean, they really were. They're such a good company to like, you know, I didn't have kids. Unfortunately, I wish I did. Um, but, you know, my best friend was pregnant with, um, Mark's best friend from the firm. She was a week pregnant with his baby. Um, her husband, she was a week pregnant. Um, and they were just so good to all of the, um, You know, all of the, the widows and then the surviving children and families. So I became her kind of, Brent was his name. So like, I was with her and, you know, when she had her C-section and I mean, it was, it was, it was a tough, you know, I went with her to spread his ashes on Seal Beach in California and, um.

AI assessment note: “He worked for Keith, Keith Rhett and Woods”

Q Wait, where? Did you go to, like, a U-Haul? Okay.

A It was insane. It was so insane. I've never in my life done this, but I was like, what am I gonna do? What am I gonna do? And, um, Everyone from the company came, you know, came over, and I got family, and everybody loaded up as much as they could. We definitely didn't get everything, um, but we got as much as we could, and then literally the next day, the doors were padlocked, because Estee Lauder, L'Oreal, they all manufactured there, and they made products for, like, you know, Bobby Brown and tons of company, tons of companies, you know, because they own them, and they couldn't get Any of their stuff for a year, and talk about expiration dates, right? Like, makeup expires. It all went bad. So we would have gone bankrupt. Bankrupt at that point. And all of our bank loans were personally guaranteeing, um, guaranteed, like, by us. So, like, you know, including, like, our house. So, you know, private equity was going to be taking some chips off the table, sure, but, like, also making sure that we didn't lose our house. And remember, I said that Scott was an accountant, and so, like, at the time, he would sit and, like, figure it out all the time, like, um, and, you know, Where we were kind of like numbers wise, because I was just like, we were out of money. Um, we get really close to being bankrupt if our retailers didn't pay us or if our suppliers didn't supply us. Like, you kn…

AI assessment note: “Everyone from the company came... and everybody loaded up as much as they could.”

Q And how quickly before competitors jumped on that idea?

A I mean, it took time, actually, which was pretty great back then. I feel like not everybody copied everybody back then, which is, which is lovely. Um, I don't know. And I felt like I was constantly moving back then. It was like, okay, what's the next cool idea? What's the next fun thing? Um, Um, I was always trying to, like, you know, really, like, be different and think outside the box, but, you know, I think back to my QVC days, and while it wasn't sexy, I mean, QVC saved us, because it just helped us grow. When you think about catapulting to another, like, level of sales, um, you know, you can go on, especially in QIV, like, holiday time, and do, like, 23,000 dollars a minute.

AI assessment note: “I mean, it took time, actually, which was pretty great back then.”