Reinventing Yourself featuring Fashion Designer Maria Cornejo

She is an amazing, amazing designer and someone that I wear all the time. And we're on the TED stage in fact, and that's how she and I know each other because I were an outfit I bought up the sample sale on TED stage and she and I became friends after that. Well, I'm really looking for ward to meeting her because I really don't know anything about her. I know her clothes, I know you know, we've been in the same circles, but we have never actually met.

I know. I find that so crazy because I feel like you're going to be fast friends and have a ton in common. So let's get started. Excited to talk to Maria. Hi, Maria, nice to meet you. Hi, Bobby. Nice to finally meet you. I know, all these years we have never ever ever been in any of these places, and we've had so many parallel you know, career things. Yeah,

and a lot of friends. We have friends in comments, which is nice, you know, but it's sort of like we're all I feel like I'm always just busy doing stuff and keeping quite a monastic life most of the time. Not glamorous at all. Oh, come on, it's all glamorous when you look back and you see all the things you've done and what you've produced, and who you are and and and who you were. Come on, it's very glamorous. You're doing what you want to be doing, isn't that correct? Yes,

you know, I'm surprised it's not. You know, I don't do what I want to do every single day. Really, what would you rather do? Um? Garden? Okay, okay, hang out with my friends? You know? You know the fashion the fashion schedule is quite you know, you know, it's very forlorn, and you know, it's just like constantly like

you're own three different seasons at the same time. I mean, I had to be reminded, you know what the spring, summer collection was about, because I've already gone through another three different ones since then, So it's just like I feel like I'm going Maria lives in the future. I live. You know, this is one of the things that I don't like about what I do is that I am never in the present, and so that's one of my biggest things that you know, it's I get to enjoy

the clothes when I'm not designing. So I like to travel because when I get to be that woman. I like to go out once in a while because I get to be that woman. I'm also time a bit like a mechanic. But but I think possibly if you would stop and realize that if anyone would look at what you do and your day to day existence, people would kill to have this fulfilled life of creativity and business. So I think, you know, of course, I'm very lucky and blessed. I've been able to create my own environment

at working environment. I know that for sure. I was never a corporate person, so yes, and I've wanted to have a working environment that was good and that I wanted to come to work every day. So there's so many questions I have to ask. But you've been you've been designing clothes for how many years? Well, I'm fifty nine now, so I'm so much older than you are. Really. Yeah, but your hair dog, so you either die. Yeah, I

do dye my hair. Absolutely. I am sixty four and maybe by the time this podcast comes out, I might be sixty. So I'll be designing since I was twenty one. So that is let's do the math. That is a long time, right. But but you are also so known for so many things, but one of them is sustainability. Yeah, and you did that before it was a word. Yes, You're like the o G of I love that I

should have that well be called boy. I always called Bobby the o G of inclusive beauty, and I think of you as the o G of sustainability and fashion and that you're doing it. Like Bobby said before, it was cool before everybody was talking about it. Um, it was just always something that you did. I feel like, yeah, I think since I started in New York and ninety I moved to in n six and I started the store Slash Creative Space in and I had had a six year old, my daughter being was not thirty and

my son's twenty four. He was eight months old and after working for big commercial companies, I saw the amount waste and it just really shot me and I just thought, this is what we are doing to the planet, and this is what my kids are inheriting. And I felt really responsible, you know. And I've always thought, you know, my parents are real socialists and stuff, and I sort

of fucked them off by going to do fashion. My dad thought I should have been a doctor or something more worthwhile, but I always thought that, you know, as a fashion designer we sort of sort of political. You can influence the people around you in a small way. You can't make big shifts, but even little shifts as

something amount to something eventually. So what are the some of the things that that you do that's probably not accessible to people that buy your clothes, Like, what are some of the things, Well, we only produced on the man, We never overproduced, we produced locally on the collection. We I think pretty much most seasons, most of the fabrics

at eco or sustainable or up cycled. We do a small network project with Bolivian Corp with of women, indigenous women, and you know, we we try, and I always say, try and make a good decision wherever possible. Let's you know, make the right decision because everything is cast and effect

and you know, and we are responsible ultimately. Yeah. And I feel like one of the things that you've done really well is um like sort of moderate your growth, Like where most lines are such pressure to get bigger, bigger, bigger, and you seem like you've been really intentional about how you've grown over the past twenty some years and how you grow on the line, when you've expanded, when you know what stories you've gone into, that sort of thing,

and so that you're not overproducing. Yeah. And it's also you know, trying to produce things that are well designed that will have longer than a season. And it's not about trends, you know. I think I always like the idea of loans of things being kept and passed on, and I think if something is well designed, it should last longer than a season. And what I has been the biggest change in your business since the pandemic, the biggest change, Oh my god. I mean we've you know, survival,

I mean, everybody, you know, the teams stretched. Then I mean we're all like figuring out how Um. I think the first year was easier than this year because this year is there's no PvP loans. We're still in omicron land. You know, people are also exhausted. You know, everybody's been working really hard and we've all been on survival mode, and there's a point that everybody is sort of a

breaking point. And and you know, for me as the head of whatever it is, keeping that energy up and trying to you know, go hey, here we go again, guys, you know, and it's like, you know, and everybody's like yeah, And you find that across the industry. I suspected around the board of the c FDA, right, yeah, I think, yeah, the board of the CFDA and women n y C. And are you seeing that across the board of all

New York. I'm seeing it with everybody. I'm everywhere. I think everybody's just worn out, and I think everybody is exhausted, and everybody's gone through a lot of personal things as well, not only COVID, but I think, you know, everybody's going through a lot of stuff. And yeah, there's the one person that's got tons of money in the stock marketing. They've done really well, but most people already struggling, and they're struggling to make sense of why they're doing what

they're doing, and you know, it's it's tough. And you've also had some personal changed, haven't you during this time? Yes, I mean I split up with my husband of thirty one years four years ago. I got divorced last September. I bought a house, gotline et cetera. X actually moved. I mean, within the space of two months, I had got divorced, I bought a new house, I had line disease, and I was just like spinning. You know, there was

a lot going on. But you know, I always try how I grew up from background my parents were political refugees, and I always sort of try and look on the bright side and sort of take myself up. And I have my capacity for self petty is very short because I don't have that luxury. I don't have a mother. My mother died when I was fourteen. My dad died when he was fifty five, so and I was pregnant

with my son. So I just my thing has always been like, Okay, breathe, reconfigure, remain fluid, and let's figure out what the next steps are. But it's it's it's tough. It's tough, you know, I mean, I'm going to see my daughter this weekend. And because I'm sort of at the point of she was like, ah, and she said, and she's important, said I'm just come here and I said yeah, because I was going to go to max Sar.

She's in Portugal and she's going to have a baby, and so it's going to be a grandmother in June. Is that your first? Yes? Yes, how exciting. Yes, it's really exciting, so, you know, And I was gonna go on a little holiday on my own, but then I chickened that because I thought, I really don't want to be on my own line now. Mhm. I need I need a hug, I need a cuddle. I'm single, you know, it's not like I haven't exacting. I haven't been dating. I mean I literally I was telling my son. I

was joking about it. I said, I'm practically a virgin. I said, I've already ever been with your dad since I was twenty five. And he said, he said mom, And I said yes. I said, it's not very sexy for you to live with your mom, but it's not very sexy for me either. COVID, where where is your son? He's in New York and you know, and things. You know, even though we're divorced, we're still friends. You know, I'm married my best friend, so we'll always be friends and

will always be family. And it's just it's a new fact. You know. We had dinner last night, which it's sort of reconfiguring what our family looks like again. But we don't we're not together. I think the pandemic for a lot of people is about reinvention, and you know, what you do with the information and how you proceed. And it sounds like you're kind of going through just figuring it out. But you know this this podcast, the reason we're doing it is because we find that everyone's in

this situation right now. And and you know, it's called the important things, and so of course the important things are your family. You've said that you know you love your work. Yes, I love I love being creative. I love my team. I love the conversation. You know, it kept me going through my divorce in the last four years. If I hadn't had my team around me, I would

have fallen into a pile and died, you know. And to be honest, to sort of have, you know, especially when or an empty nest as you probably love, Bobby, Um, your whole sense of reason for doing things is either your children or your marriage. And you know, and then all of a sudden, like your children are not there, your marriage is not there. So what what keeps you going? What motivates you? And for me, it was sustainability on

my team. Can you talk about that more, because that's I think that's really interesting because I think, you know, like what Bobby was saying, the the idea of reconfiguration, of reinvention um, there's a theme that she and I talked about a lot just in our conversations over the past few years. But then the pandemic sort of brought it all to ahead of Now everybody's going through it and thinking about what really matters to them in a

deeper way. And I think one of the reasons we wanted to have you on is because of your background and being refugee and sort of all the things that you've been through in your life and then hitting this this time that's sort of testing your resilience again, and I feel like you've navigated that very elegantly, you know,

very admirably. I don't know, I think people don't people all see me when I have built downs, you know, and I do have them in private usually, but like everybody, you know, I have days I feel sorry for myself when I pressed into tears, when somebody says something to me. I think it's just normal, it's human. And what do you do? What do you do or who do you call when you have those moments? Um? I have a few really really close friends. I can cry tony their

a way. I just learned to self soothe and meditate and you know, and look at my plant and just think, Okay, this shall pass. And you know it's a moment that you're going through and you sort of, Um, you have to know how to hold yourself because you have Like I said, I don't have. I called my sister. She gets annoyed with me. She's in English. I always calling her. I don't have a mother, so she's like the next his thing. I love that we all have sisters. Wait

are we all baby sisters? I'm the older. Yeah, you're the older, Maria? Are you the younger? The older? Um? The second one, the second I am the youngest. If you can't tell, you probably already figured that out. My sister calls me Forrest Gump because The way I get rid of my stress and stuff is like walking. I walk, even like stupid things like this morning, I had a ton of stuff to bring into work, like an outfit lunch.

You know, I prepared my very healthy lunch and everything my smoothie and you know it's always and I was going to take an uber but then I thought, I just need those three blocks from my house to the subway station just to breathe the air, look at the park and just feel like human being before the day starts and you feel like you're going crazy. And what

was in your smoothie? In my smoothie, Oh my god, I'm Charlie gave me her nutrition is who is amazing and she's you know, so my smoothie had blueberries, strawberries, but nanas, spinache, berlina collagen, um, golji berries, almonds and what else something like it. I hope a little bit of water, a bit of apple juice as well. Who's the nutritionist you've been holding up? His name is Chris. No, I'm not holding out. He's amazing. He's called Chris Gabriel

and I met him about a year ago. Um, my doctor, I was having surgery and my doctor introduced me to him to prepare for surgery, and my surgeon introduced me to him, and he was so lovely, and I did I would say like eight percent of what he told me, because it's it's it's a lot. It's a lot, like he really. But I have to tell you, I went into the surgery feeling physically as well as I could, and I came out and I think I recovered a lot quicker because I was following his advice immediately after.

But then I got COVID and I stopped. And then I gifted Maria the rest of my sessions because I was I was being very noncompliant. But he's really into activated pumpkin seeds and that was like his big thing. Um So he was always having met activated pumpkin c which is the habit I still have. And he was really into blueberries, what else goji berries, as you mentioned, Maria, But what is he not into? I judge a nutritions

by what they're not into. If someone tells me don't drink coffee, I leave, And if someone says don't drink vodka, I leave, I also leave. You know, what he was good about is that he and Maria I'm sure you found this too. It's he was really good about almost like just adding in more things as opposed to telling you a bunch of things you can't do. It was just like adding these good habits and then the idea of sort of crowding out some of the other things

because you'll be more stated with whatever you're doing. But we were both doing it because I mean I was doing it because of a surgery like pre surgery thing. But I was surprised my like n y U surgeon help me to do it. So Maria going to jump into day to day habits? Can you take us through sort of a mundane day? How do you balance what you have to do with what you love to do? Uh? While I get up, I do make myself a cup of green tea since I'm not allowed to have so

much black tea. I used to have like three cups of black team if I even had any food, because I'm not a morning person for food. I usually like to eat around eleven, uh, because of you know, I feel myself out with tea and coffee and I'm never really hungry that earlier. I sort of get hungry eleven. But with Christopher, he got me onto, like you know, in order to take supplements and things and you know,

healing from the lime. Um. He got me into like eating early and having these movies and yeah, so it was so I do my smoothie, I take my green tea, I clean cat poop, I feed the cats. It like you know, usual mom stuff, you know, pick up stuff, but tidy up. I try and figure out what I'm

doing for the day. I look at my calendar three times because two different calendars, because they're not thinking on things keep moving around, and so I always feel a little bit like you know, and sometimes I do, like if I wake up early enough, I do like a half an hour yoga class on online, you know, like just done. What's your favorite class? What kind of yoga? I just like, I mean, it sounds terrible. It's Adrian. She's on YouTube and she's great because she does these

little classes that could be anything. You can just press play and it could be anything from eleven minutes for stress or twenty minutes for stretching, and it's it's not I don't have to feel guilty, you know what I mean. I just it is on YouTube and I do Peelatics once a week with somebody that I know sky and that is one on one most of the time. And then about the rest of your day. Do you eat lunch? Yes, I always eat lunch because they I call it hungry.

They know with me not to schedule a meeting at lunch time because I turned into the Tasmanian devil if I haven't eaten, because I don't have to eat. But when I have to eat, my I have a really fast metabolism, and I literally I get really hungry, like angry. Yeah, I think you need breakfast. Yeah, I eat breakfast. And when I eat breakfast a real like I am better during the day. No, but that's why I'm doing these movies now, and I've sort of got better at it,

so I'm sort of less. For me. It used to be my big meal was the evening because I could relax and not be eating in a rush. Like today, I made my lunch, but I'm sort of eating it between appointments and things, so to me, I don't find that very nutritious to eat in a rush. You know, what, what is your lunch? Well, today I had I made myself a beat salad with a rugula and time nuts

and goji berries, and pomegranate. And then last night I went to a book of a dinner and I had leftover fish, so I put it on top and with lemon juice and olive on makes me hungry. It sounds excellent. Do you do sweets at all? Do you have a sweet tooth? Well, I'm off a horror replacement now, so yes,

I'm I'm getting a sweet tooth. And I never used to have it, but I've been having like mandarins and stuff like that as soon as I love really bad English chocolate that is my It's bad, that's your, yes, And so luckily I can't get it everywhere, but I don't need it all the time, and i'd like, um, I love marines. M you know really, I don't like meringues and I love marines. I love them. I love marangs. Do you do both of you? Two? Yeah? But you

know what, you know why I don't eat them. So I went back to school after I left the corporate job, and I to degree as a health coach, and I learned that if you're meringues are sugar and eggs and white, there's no fat and no fiber. So what does that do with spikes? Your blood sugar like the second you eat it. It doesn't work for me, like you need like it would be better to take like one spoon of like a vanilla ice cream and walk away. But but you know not, none of those are good and

and and what about a cocktails? Are you a wine drinker? Well, last night I had a gin and tonic, which I love. The night before I had a glass of red wine. It depends on the mood, to be honest. But you're like, you like a drink, you drink with me. I don't like both of you. I like to drink, yes, but I don't. I don't. I don't drink every night. Yeah, I try and sort of do drinking on my social nights, which you know now during COVID ended up being like

social with myself. So I was drinking every night like everybody else. But that's not good. So so now I've sort of cut down. But it's just that was my My treat was a glass of wine or two glass of wine and night, you know, And that was I think we got a lot of us through COVID, but everybody started over drinking. I know, I know I had to cut back on wine because I was I mean, I would just like accidentally end up drinking like half

a bottle and not even realizing. That's why I moved to cocktails, so that I would only have one and then I would just keep adding like ice and water to it. But I was like I didn't even realize such like drinking and hanging out and suddenly I was like, oh my god, I have like it's really a problem. It's a lot of sugar. Yeah, it's terrible. I mean

I keep adding sparks. That's the thing about con says is good because you go ice and then you keep adding sparkling water in that exactly, so you make it last a lot longer, exactly. So I have I have a few more questions about your career and your business. You've spent a lot of time working with a bunch of celebrities and well known Like, what is the difference that you find dressing a celebrity dress regular women. Well, I think you know, it's it's not It's not like

I was dressing celebrities for the red carpet. I mean most of the time when we work with people that are well known, it is because they've come into the store. It's a very organic it's not working really, um, apart from a couple of people working with the stylists, most of the time they come in the store and they're like the collections. So it's it's sort of I think the celebrity or no celebrities, that regular women with the same body shape problems that we all have, you know.

I think it's um, the regular people, and that's sort of it's sort of interesting how insecure we all are, you know, no matter how famous, how we've all got the same issues. It is true. I mean we're all, you know, I think the whole point is we're all the same. Like we're all the same very much, yes and no, we're all very different shapes societies, but we all have similar securities. I mean literally, the most utiful women, they'll have insecurities that even like the ones that have

the amazing bodies, they all have like issues everybody. I mean, I think we're also critical on ourselves. You know. It's like I'm sitting here looking at my wrinkles as I'm talking to you. I thought we were going to do this audio, and I'm like, oh my god, we want worry. But I think one of the things that I love about your collection is a big fan of the brand. You know, obviously I were a ton of your stuff.

Is um, I've always said this to you that you design like a designer who loves women like you're it's not like you're punishing women's bodies into a shape that you think it should be. You're very democratic, accepting a Democrats. Yeah, but you know it is. It's like it's really everything flows without being from me. It's not like everything is a giant bag or anything like that. It's got a

lot of shape. But I can wear the same dress that my sister wears and potentially in the same size, and it looks very different on both of us, but it looks great on both of us. And that's I think really unusual from from a high end designer perspective, where it's not trying to squeeze you into a shape that your body may not want to go into at

this point. So there's something interesting about that. And I think also, you know what Bobby was sort of saying is the types of women that you dress I think are really interesting because it's quite a range of really smart, kind of badass women. That is my way of flattering myself. It's a good I know, yes, I've got a very very smart the clothes of only dress intelligent women, only smart, beautiful,

really cool women. Well, you know the thing is that asked for the size and tusivity for me when I started the store, in the collection one I had just her. I had an eight month old and a six and a half year old, and my body, like most women, changes sizes all the time to change. You know, you have your here is when you've had a child, when you've eaten too much, when you drank too much, when

you've had a holiday, when you're happy. When you said, you know, we're in constant plucks of sizes and if anything, now that I'm older, and you know, of course I don't have perios anymore, and I don't you know, I don't have My children are grown up, not my I was.

I was actually talking to Nutritions and he said, well, now your body is actually the size that it needs to be because you sort of your body is sort of adjust as you get older, and this is the shape that you're meant to be because I've gone through like I've gone look like I've gone from being ninety three pounds two hundred and sixteen pounds, which it doesn't sound a lot when you're small. It's a big ship.

Five five ft yes, so you're tiny, and yes, I'm I'm five foot yes, But you know it's it's like people laugh at me. Oh, you put I said, I've put away, and they got how much? And I got five pounds ago five just a lot lot. Yeah, when you're when you're in my height, it's more like, I mean, that's not a good thing. I'm just saying I've gained twenty and so it's like you did not definitely did.

I mean, I have I have pictures when I broke when I broke my foot, and I was a hundred and sixteen pounds because for nearly a year I couldn't really walk anyway. I had a cast, and and I didn't have a picture on my board here with my son at some Cooper Hero It's thing or whatever. I watched things. I took my son and this, you know when they take those pictures side, you know, in the red carpet, and I'm literally hiding my foot with my

cast behind the leg to try and hide it. I even went to the White House and I was looking at the picture I have a picture of me and Michell Levana got God, I looked really overweight, and I just remembered it's because I had a broken foot and I went there with my cast. So it's like it's like there's no glamorous pictures on me. At that time, I was just like, oh, is trying to hide this giant plastic thing. Well, I bet you were very glamorous.

And I think it's all how we perceive ourselves. I think it's so interesting how hard we are in ourselves. But I think now you wouldn't hide it, like like I think the pandemic has made us all be at least for many of us, a little more comfortable. I mean, when would we be sitting in a closet, you know, have doing a podcast, Like I'm sitting into a new house in my husband's closet. Yeah, my back is killing me. But you know, I don't know what else is happening

outside of this closet room, but you do it. And you know, I made sure there was no dirty laundry anywhere, Like, you know, that's it. I have my kids stuff like all behind me, all of her laundries over here out of you on the camera. But yeah, You're right, it's true, and I mean to get back to a jelly thing

about the size and fativity. Yeah, you know, like I said, I was, I just had a night month old, I had a six year old, and and on the idea of designing, I wanted to stop creating something that was based on very simple geometric shapes that would drape around the woman's body and it would be very much about what the women's body did to that fabric. So the concept of the collection was super simple. It was like, really,

I thought, I'm a mom. I want interesting clothes. I don't want to look like a Just because I'm a mother doesn't mean I have to look boring. I was still wanted to wear things that were designed but in basic fabrics like dynam or recycled flees, you know, politics and t shirting, but just making things that were interesting and it didn't matter what size I was. Things would always have an elastic waist band, or they would have

drape in a way that would be flattering. And I always go, well, my middle might not be looking so great right now, but my legs look great, or my shoulder looks great, or you know, it's like trying to focus on the positive sides of women rather than pinpointing what's wrong with us. And I think that's so much about dial today is figuring out what works for you. Yeah, you know, I'm not your traditional body type. I mean, you know, we mo your teeny I'm teeny, but I

happen to have really small shoulders but really big boobs. Maybe. Yeah, I've got no boots, I think so. Yeah, No, I'd rather have that. And you know, I have a midsection. I've had three children and you know my I've had nutrition as that say, if I want to get rid of that, I need to stop drinking. And I told them I'd rather get rid of you so and find someone that will help me. No, but it's true, I do. I think so anyway, So, I you know that's just me.

But I mean, I'm with you. I went to the same Yeah, I know, but it's only one drink, like four nights a week. Guys, I don't think, I know. Yeah, we're the way we talk about it, I know, we're just we joke. Well, I I say everything in moderation. You know, I'm like dairy free looking tree, but you know I cheat. Yeah, Well, it's so funny. You say that because I say, I'm much more into would have eating, which means I don't have to announce I'm anything the end,

because I have done that. I've said I'm paleo, I'm keto. You know. I tried veganism for one week. That was short lived. That was definitely short lived. Give me it, no, I mean, I think for me, what I always think about is that um being pregnant. Your body sort of tells you what it needs. I think I'm food. This is medicine. I really believe in that, you know, And I think, you know, if I like, I always used to say to my son, for your brain to work, you need to put good things. And I used to say,

you need to eat like colors, rainbows. You know, you can't just eat beige food. That is not okay because that is like your brain is beige. So you have to eat colors, you know. And I grew up in in Chile where my you know, my parents, and we were used to be made to eat the most disgusting things I thought at the time when I was a kid, like you know, like urchin raw urchin. So we used

to have cod liver oil every day. But left by this spoon and you know, like seaweeds too, and and I literally I couldn't eat seafood until I was in my twenties after leaving home because I was so brought up eating everything, but also like what would be considered quite weird, like it's probably all actually you could probably bottle all of that and make a lot of money

at this point to super food. Well, it's funny. I was just I was just listening to you, Maria and thinking about your business and how you design and all your sustainability and everything about you and listen to talk about food and all this, and I'm like, why have you not or maybe you have have like a world of Maria, you know, where people can experience you know, your best olive oil, you're smoothie ingredients. Or have you

ever incorporated more lifestyle into your design? Um? I would love to eventually, you know, but I think that's like maybe my next face. What are your future thoughts for

your business? Do you have any Well, I think we're on the past that we we more and more of like more and more sustainable and trying to you know, like everybody trying to stay relevant because you know, in the business where fashion constantly writes you off and you're evlevant because especially I mean, I've been around for a long time and fifty nine, so I'm literally competing for press or whatever. Like everybody calls me a season design

now or what is the other term, mature? Somebody said iCONECT seasoned, and I thought all this fact would be quite good. You know. It's like you know what I mean, It's like and you sort of put against like you know, like kids, and you're like, it's okay, you were once those kids, but look at what you've done. I'm in the same situation. I can't people still right about the same things about that. I say that I used to

say thirty years ago. I mean, same thing. And it's like, yeah, you know why because we're the o G. You know we are, and you know our job is to mentor the younger generation. I mean, do you have I know, you know you're involved in with c F d A. Do you have younger designers that you mentor not? Right now? No, We've just been keeping it very tight to the company. You know, we're tiny teams, so that's COVID sort of. I mean, I'm on the board, but to be honest,

my involvement have been very minimal right now. Although that's said, I was with you for dinner the other night and we ran into Lazarrow from Frances Schouler, and you clearly were a mentor to him. So I think it's interesting that if you don't see yourself as a formal mentor, it's very clear to me from the outside that you both are incredible mentors just by the way you live your lives and the way you work and how you've got your businesses to a whole generation coming up, you know,

the chip folks that are in the weeds and coming up. Still, it's um, I think you're underestimating the power of that you have. Thank you and Jelly. I mean I think it's last time was my intern when I opened the store on Moll Street, you know, and then he became Frances Cooler and used to come and pick him up from the store. I mean, I've had some of the opportunity to work and you know, maybe bent to us

interns like amazing people. But I don't, you know, like people always say that, oh my god, you really influenced me, or you really looked up to you, But I never think in those terms. You know, I just don't. I just do. I never I think as a woman, we just keep doing, we don't, you know. It's it's I mean sometimes people go, you know, they come up to me and they really complementary and it's almost like embarrassing

because I get really shy, but it's really sweet. But it's also when not used to like blown our own homes sort of thing. You know, you sort of you're just getting over it and you're just doing what you want to do, and you hopefully by doing something with intention and authenticity, good things come of it and good people follow. And who was there for you when you were a young designer? Did you have any mentors or people you that had an impact on you? I mean

I always you know. When I was in London, I as a shop girl. I used to work for Maureen Dougherty who has egg now, and she used to have help and easy be yucky and the feud she stores and I was exacted a girl that was like fifteen sixteen. I used to wash hangers and get everybody's lunches and where the ugly outfits that nobody wanted to wear. And they used to put me in there and said were you cute yourself, and it was like the eliest things. So um. And then through the years, you know, I've

had you know, champions are forever telling me. You know, you know, one of my best friends of Kamila Nicholson, and she's forever telling me, you know, like she just looks at the collection she said, oh my god, it looks great. I just you know, for us, we're so wrapped up in it. You never get a time to actually look back and say, oh my god, this is great.

So it's really nice. You know. I have another friend Mikelly, who I used to work with, who literally it's also super supportive, you know, within the company, of course, I have my business farmer Mauritia, but it's most of the time we're just figuring out what's next. We're not you know, patching each other's back and saying, oh, this looks amazing. So it's not that sort of relationship, but it's just interesting.

You know. Even even my sister said to me the other day, she said, you know, she's quite tough, but she's very loving. She said to me, I think you need to do more commercial things. And I was like, I thought I was I thought we were trying to do that. This is about commercial, so I can do well.

I have a question about you were aalked about staying present and how difficult it can be when you're a fashion designer and you're literally your job is to look into the future, and you always designed the next to the next of the act. What do you do to stay present for yourself? I stay very present with my relationships with my friends on a day to day and I think that's my plans, my cats, my son, you know,

my family. I think, Um, I'm always trying to figure out how to stay in the present because it's on a personal level. I can do that, but it's really hard when you're you know, I go in the store and the spring summer is just arriving results in the store as well, and in the other room is to show room and we're showing full winter and up here we're working on cruise in spring summer, so that visually,

I'm looking at five things at the same time. Yeah, you're looking at all the seasons and one and one walk through and literally I start, you know, I start going to look crazy, and I sort of, you know, like I cover things like which sheets sometimes, you know, like rax and because it's just visually overwhelming. I mean, our financial officer I had a lot of pictures in his office space and I said, I just want a white, clean space with my plants. And that's it. Because I

am constantly looking at things. So for me to walk every day is important, to be able to meditate, even if it's just ten minutes, or to to you know, talk to my son and have a conversation and not be running around like a blue ass fly. It's amazing. Well, Marie, I ask everyone this question. I have one final question and it's I think the most important one. If you could tell someone that's listening one thing that could change the course of their life for the better, one thing

that you do. What would it be? One thing is don't sweat the small stuff, take bigger picture. Things will pass, you know, good advice. M