Elyce Arons, WE MIGHT JUST MAKE IT AFTER ALL: My Best Friendship with Kate Spade
[0:00]Hi, this is Zibi Owens, and you're listening to Totally Book to Zibi.
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[0:44]Elise Erin's is the author of We Might Just Make It After All, My Best Friendship with
[0:49]Kate Spade.
[0:51]By the way, this is my book club pick, and we'll be meeting with Elise to talk about
[0:56]it.
[0:57]Elise Erin's is the co-founder of Kate Spade, and co-founder and CEO of Francis Valentine.
[1:02]Elise began her career in publicity and marketing before starting the multi-billion-dollar
[1:06]bag company Kate Spade, alongside Katie, Katie's husband Andy, and Pamela Bell out of
[1:12]a downtown New York City apartment.
[1:14]She has been featured on Good Morning America and today, and in people, WWE New York Magazine
[1:18]and more.
[1:19]Elise lives in New York with her husband and three daughters.
[1:22]Welcome, Elise.
[1:23]Thank you so much for coming on Totally Booked with Zibi to talk about.
[1:27]We might just make it, after all, my best friendship with Kate Spade.
[1:31]Congratulations.
[1:32]Thank you.
[1:33]And thanks for having me.
[1:34]That's my pleasure.
[1:35]I'd love this book for so many reasons.
[1:37]The fact that it charted the whole business evolution of Kate Spade and your involvement
[1:42]with that.
[1:43]So it was kind of like a business memoir on the side, but while you track your friendship
[1:47]with Kate Spade and both of it, and it's really your own coming-of-age story, I just
[1:53]loved it.
[1:54]It was like three books in one.
[1:55]So congrats.
[1:56]Oh, thank you so much.
[1:57]I thoroughly enjoyed writing it, and it was so therapeutic at the same time, just because
[2:03]there were so many stories.
[2:05]I mean, we'd known each other since we were 18 years old, and we had been through so
[2:09]much, being broke college kids together, moving to New York, and making it here, also
[2:15]being broke, and living in really strange apartments and scary neighborhoods.
[2:22]And finally, breaking through and starting our own business, which was kind of scary.
[2:28]But when you're young, you kind of feel like you don't have much to lose.
[2:32]And I had no responsibilities at that point.
[2:34]No children, no boyfriend, no husband.
[2:37]I didn't even have a houseplant at that point, so if anything was going to go wrong, best
[2:43]time for it and life to go wrong.
[2:45]So that's how we got started, but it was really, really wonderful writing the book.
[2:51]It was my husband and our other partner panel, and I were sitting around talking one day.
[2:57]And we were laughing so hard about some of the stories that we'd all been through.
[3:01]And Andy said, you should write a book.
[3:03]And that's what spawned the whole thing.
[3:06]And I started working on it and started writing stories down.
[3:09]And there were so many that I would write them in notes in my phone, and then I'd
[3:14]take, jot down something and on a piece of paper.
[3:17]And just finally started putting a lot together and thank goodness, I'm not a hoarder,
[3:23]but I kept all of my calendars from forever in a tub in my basement.
[3:31]And it really helped me put a timeline together.
[3:34]Once I had a lot of stories, you think you're going to remember everything.
[3:39]when you're young, you really do.
[3:40]But I really needed those calendars to remind me of what happened in each year and what
[3:47]happened during certain seasons, et cetera.
[3:50]And so it was really helpful to have those.
[3:52]And I don't know if I would have gotten it all right without them.
[3:54]You know, that's what gets lost when you don't have actual physical diaries anymore, journals
[3:59]and calendars and all that.
[4:01]I used to have that too.
[4:02]I would have like all my file effects and pages and everything.
[4:05]And I was like, oh, I can just go back and out deletes.
[4:07]So yeah.
[4:08]No, I know.
[4:09]It does make it so easy.
[4:11]And I also had kept all my spiral notebooks from any meetings we ever took.
[4:16]Wow.
[4:17]They're not as neat and clean as I'd like them to be because you know, you're scribbling
[4:21]in a meeting, but I was really glad I had them.
[4:24]Wow.
[4:25]Well, I should have begun by saying, I'm sorry, I am for your loss of such a dear old
[4:30]friend.
[4:31]Jared, such a rich history with and whose loss became so public as well as your own private
[4:39]pain.
[4:40]I was wondering if you could speak about that.
[4:43]The book is not about that.
[4:44]The book is not about the loss.
[4:46]The book, it touches on it sort of very lightly, if you will, and really focuses on the
[4:51]joy and what Kate Spade was like as a person and what you were like and what you are like
[4:55]and how the two of you interacted and your other partners and you grew the business.
[5:00]And when I heard about Kate Spade, I wrote a whole essay about it and like posted it
[5:06]because I didn't know her, but everybody felt that loss so much.
[5:11]Can you talk about your own experience of that?
[5:14]Well, I, you know, I miss her every day and it was a devastating loss for all of us.
[5:20]And you know, the whole world knew her as the girl next door and best friend.
[5:26]But rather than focusing on her death and how she died, the book really focuses on how
[5:32]she lived.
[5:34]And I want people to know the Katie that I knew that feisty funny person who it wasn't
[5:42]really her public persona, but she was truly the funniest person I'd ever met.
[5:48]And even David Spade, her brother-in-law will say, she is the funniest person I knew.
[5:53]You know, as every comedian, but it was just, I wanted to tell the stories of how we came of age
[6:00]and how we did all of this because there's so much richness and it really gives dimension
[6:07]to our relationship.
[6:08]And you know, as you mentioned, the book is not, I wanted to show people how she lived and not,
[6:14]not, you know, how she left us.
[6:15]So that's really where the book focuses.
[6:18]You know, as far as, you know, the tragedy of that day,
[6:22]I don't think any of us will ever know, you know, I'm still searching myself for answers
[6:27]to that question and I don't know that I'll refine them.
[6:30]So I have to go on and I have to focus on all the good things she was and keep her spirit alive.
[6:36]Well, after reading the book, and obviously I have no authority on this, but it seemed like this
[6:44]event was so unexpected, so not a line that she had been making plans and just on the phone
[6:51]with her dad and all this, like I have a theory now having read it that this was some bizarre
[6:57]side effect of one of the new medications she was trying.
[7:00]This is, this is my theory because it doesn't seem to make any sense.
[7:03]So I'm going to just throw that out there because I don't know.
[7:06]Anyway, but back to her life, you were so scrappy and starting this business.
[7:12]Kate Spade was even a concept that wasn't even her, right?
[7:16]There was a moment where she was like, well, I don't have to be Kate Spade, right?
[7:20]They're like, oh no, no, of course not.
[7:21]It's just to be the brand name.
[7:23]Next thing you know, that's who people think she is.
[7:25]So tell me even about that moment and the decision that when you found a name for the company
[7:31]and all of that, what it was like because she didn't necessarily come into this identity
[7:37]so easily all the time.
[7:38]No, Katie was the last person who wanted to be in the limelight or in the public eye at all.
[7:44]I remember when we were in college in communications class, we all had to get up and give speeches
[7:49]and we knew about it, you know, weeks in advance.
[7:51]And she was nervous from the day we got that assignment.
[7:54]How am I ever going to get up in front of the class?
[7:56]And so she was never the person who wanted to be Kate Spade and when it was Andy Spade who came
[8:04]up with the name, it was before they were married.
[8:06]And he really liked the way her name sounded with his last name, just calling her,
[8:11]she always went by Katie, never Kate.
[8:14]So he just liked the way it all sounded Kate Spade.
[8:17]And so we all loved it and the day that we were having the labels made up for the very first
[8:24]time, she looked at all of us, she goes, don't expect me to be Kate Spade.
[8:27]And you know, it wasn't to be.
[8:30]She, I think it really happened not necessarily after they got married,
[8:35]but which happened about a year and a half later.
[8:37]But really when she won the CFDA award for the very first time and you become that person
[8:45]and she became the designer.
[8:47]So from that point on and she was extremely nervous about having to give the acceptance speech
[8:53]if she'd won that night after being nominated.
[8:57]So coming back to what you just said, you write in the book about the moment where you're
[9:01]all sitting around and decide to put the labels on the outside and how you were all sewing them.
[9:06]And it became this iconic important thing.
[9:09]And it was just like, oh, it just doesn't look done.
[9:11]There's something missing.
[9:13]Take us through that that moment again.
[9:15]And what if that hadn't happened?
[9:16]I don't know.
[9:17]Well, for those people who had some of our original Kate Spade bags,
[9:21]you know that there was no embellishment on them.
[9:24]They were very simple, chic bags and all geometric shapes.
[9:30]And that was the whole beauty of them is that you could wear them with anything.
[9:34]You could take them anywhere.
[9:35]And we had no hardware like a lot of the European bags.
[9:40]And, you know, there weren't that many American handbag companies out there at the time.
[9:45]And so it was the night before the show.
[9:48]And we had made these really cute men's shirtting labels,
[9:52]almost feeling like Grogram, but they weren't.
[9:54]And they were sewn right inside the bag, you know, right underneath where, you know, the-
[10:00]lip of the bag is. And we were, we had them all set up the night before and Katie just looked
[10:05]at them all, you know, from a distance and she said, she's such a good editor. And she said,
[10:10]there's something missing. We need somewhere for the eye to go. And she'd had some,
[10:16]some of those labels just loose and she put one just right under the lip of the bag on the
[10:21]outside and she said, that's it. So we taped them all up, looked at them and then decided to
[10:26]sew them all on the night before the show. And it's not just sewing through fabric. It's sewing
[10:30]through lining and then there's a, you know, filler in between and then the outside, which was
[10:37]very difficult on our fingers because we didn't have time to take them back to the sample maker
[10:42]and have them return. So it was quite a story, but that one little thing to me in my mind that I
[10:49]remember just took it from a handbag company to a brand. Mm hmm. So interesting. Well, you
[10:57]laud Katie throughout the book. You acknowledge her amazing eye and how you could have a million
[11:07]things up and she would say, yes, this is the one. And like that's the bag. And that's the thing
[11:11]and that she had this ability to just know. And that's not something you can teach, right? But what
[11:17]is teachable is how you take that and pair it with the fundamentals to grow it into a brand. Plenty
[11:23]of people have a sense of what looks good or maybe in whatever area they're in. Maybe that film is
[11:29]going to be good or that whatever. But that's not enough. So talk about how you manage to take the
[11:36]creativity of her and her eye and all of those strengths. And then all the things you brought to the
[11:42]table, your other partners, and then and then how you grew it. And it wasn't always so such a
[11:48]straight line. No, it wasn't. Well, I have to give credit to Andy Spade. It was his idea to start the
[11:54]handbag company in the first place. And he and Katie called me when I said, okay, we know what
[11:59]business we're going to have. And I, you know, put my job. I worked there a few more months. My job
[12:05]and came home. And in the meantime, we met our fourth partner, Pamela Bell, who knew everything about
[12:11]production because she'd had her own jewelry company before. So of course, we thought we knew,
[12:15]we don't knew everything. My experience had been in sales and marketing. Katie's had been an editor
[12:20]and a magazine. You know, Andy was this great branding guru and advertising and Pamela knew about
[12:26]production. And we thought, well, that's that's all we need. Not thinking about finance or, you know,
[12:32]a business plan, anything. We never had a business plan ever. And so we think goodness, we didn't know
[12:39]what we didn't know because I don't know if we would have started it. It's sometimes great to
[12:43]go in blind to things. So at the beginning, it was just Pamela and Katie and myself. Andy would
[12:49]eventually join us about three years later. But at the beginning, we were all doing everything. We
[12:54]were all working on the design. We were all, you know, going to the factory together and working
[12:58]on the production. And then we were all packing the bags for shipments and showing up at, you know,
[13:04]various trade shows. And we would get in the biggest fights about the smallest things. And it
[13:11]was really always about a different way to do the same thing. We all had the same in goal. But,
[13:16]you know, Pamela had her away. I had mine. Katie was often acting as referee between us because
[13:21]we didn't get along at the beginning at all. Eventually, we did. And she's still one of my best
[13:26]friends. But we found after a period of time that was better to each do what we were
[13:33]strongest at doing. So Katie did the design. And it's funny because neither one of us had design
[13:39]degrees. We both graduated with journalism degrees from college. And she would make these cutouts
[13:46]out of craft paper and tape them together and then pass them over to a pattern maker. And it
[13:52]go back and forth for a little while. And then we'd pick materials for it and eventually have samples
[13:57]made, which Pamela would work on with in product development and with the pattern maker and the
[14:03]sample maker. And then once all of the bags were assembled, we'd sign up and do a show at the
[14:08]Javits Center, which was then called the accessory circuit. And I would be, I was the sales person.
[14:13]And then I handled any press that came around. And at the beginning, there was none. But it
[14:17]quickly changed. And I was fielding tons of calls for magazines. Because it, you know, it was
[14:22]really something new and different at the time. And it just caught on like wildfire. And honestly,
[14:28]you know, I sometimes wonder how we devoted so much time to it. But it was really a 24 seven thing. And
[14:35]it was sort of like all of our first baby. And I loved being there. There was no other place I wanted
[14:40]to be. But at the office, I'm working. So I get to everybody can say that. I mean, I'm still
[14:48]that way. I love what I do. Yeah. And that is such a gift. I mean, I'm, I can feel the people like
[14:54]driving their cars listening to this and being like, oh, if only I felt like that.
[15:00]I haven't had the Sunday blues for a really long time. So I feel really fortunate.
[15:04]And just so fast forward to where you are now. So after Kate Spade and all that changed hands and
[15:11]everything, you took a break. And then you and Katie were just starting Francis Valentine,
[15:16]which you now run. Talk about this new iteration. And for those listening, by the way,
[15:21]I at least as wall behind her is full of fabrics and feathers and bright colors and hot
[15:28]pinks. And it's just like you can't not be happy. Like everything behind your head. I'm like,
[15:33]that would be a great wallpaper. That would be a great wallpaper. I think it would be great
[15:38]wallpaper all the time. I love it. That could be your next, I should go into wallpaper, but whatever.
[15:42]We should. We should. Right. Actually, maybe eventually. Yes. Exactly. Well, tell me, tell me about
[15:48]the fast forward and how that company is going. Cause now I feel so invested in you and your work
[15:54]life and the business and how this is sort of an extension of the whole thing. So we sold after
[16:00]owning Kate Spade for 13 years, we sold it to Liz Claiborne, which is now, you know, the tapestry
[16:06]business. And we took about, we had, hadn't planned on getting back into business necessarily
[16:13]kind of thought, oh, yeah, we never have to work again, but we both really missed work, even though
[16:17]we were really involved with our children's schools. We started talking again, because we really
[16:22]missed creating and we missed fashion. So we started talking through time and Pamela and Andy had
[16:27]both started their own businesses again, but they were really happy for us because they knew we
[16:30]loved working together. So I would go up to Katie's apartment. We'd start working on things and she,
[16:36]really loved accessories. She loved shoes and she loved handbags. So that's where we started.
[16:41]And we launched Francis Valentine. Andy said, if you don't get, if you don't rent a space,
[16:47]she's never going to come to an office and at least, you know, so right. So we rented this space
[16:52]at Bryant Park in 2014, started working on all the designs. And we launched it on Valentine's Day in
[16:59]2016. And you know, what we realized was so much had changed. I mean, eight years had gone by
[17:06]really since we'd left Kate Spade. And you think you know everything when you've run a business for
[17:10]so long, but the whole world had changed. E-commerce had taken over influencers and become such a big
[17:17]part of business and taken over from editors. And we just had so much to learn about social media
[17:23]and, you know, retail and wholesale businesses changing so much. So took us a couple of
[17:29]years to get there, but we were just taking off everything was great. And then we tragically lost
[17:34]Katie. You know, it was really devastating because so many of the team here are folks we'd work with
[17:41]at Kate Spade too and everyone knew her very well loved her. And, you know, we decided that we were
[17:48]going to keep the company going for Katie's legacy for her family for, you know, just for the entire
[17:53]team here. So we kept doing accessories because that was what Katie loved. But in, in a tribute to
[18:00]Katie, I wanted to do something special for her. So we remade this calf tan, this vintage captain,
[18:07]she and I had been huge vintage shoppers since we were in high school and college together. And
[18:12]we remade her favorite calf tan that she had worn on every vacation we'd ever taken together.
[18:17]And then also one of the sweaters that we had bought together decades before as she wore all the
[18:23]time. And we made those as sort of a tribute to her. And of course, they sold out immediately
[18:29]and they sold out again and again. And people started asking us for all of the items that we were
[18:34]using to style our ad campaigns. And they were all our vintage pieces that we had collected
[18:40]together over the years. So of course, I was like, well, we'll never make pants and we'll never
[18:43]make jackets and we'll never, now we make everything. But the apparel, you know, every time we
[18:50]bring a new piece in, I have to imagine Katie in it and loving it because she did love her vintage
[18:57]pieces. The difference with with hours is they are vintage inspired, but they're made with more
[19:04]modern materials. We do our best to put pockets in every single thing we make. And I want them
[19:09]to be comfortable but stylish at the same time. But the main feature of them, they have to bring
[19:15]joy to the wearer. So we we use a lot of color and a lot of vintage prints. And, you know, our motto
[19:22]is where what makes you happy. And that goes for our shoes, our handbags and all the apparel pieces
[19:27]and the jewelry, which you know, I've already. Yes, they're just fun, beautiful pieces that are
[19:33]not trend driven. They're meant to last in your closet for the rest of your life. And we hope
[19:37]that you pass them down to your daughter or your granddaughter because the the craftsmanship and
[19:41]the quality is really good like a vintage piece. So I can talk for hours. We probably have another
[19:48]question to ask. No, I love that. I was just talking to a group of women over the weekend about
[19:53]pockets. I know that sounds crazy. But just how amazing it is when you find it, when you get an item,
[19:59]and you.
[20:00]Find out they have pockets and they're like,
[20:02]and they have pockets.
[20:03]Is that enough?
[20:05]We did this really beautiful body-hugging,
[20:09]you know, kind of black tie sequined dress last year.
[20:12]I mean, it's gorgeous.
[20:13]You just, everybody looks good in it.
[20:15]And the model who was having,
[20:17]we were doing a photo shoot in the model,
[20:19]I don't know, it's just,
[20:20]oh my God, it's got pockets.
[20:22]She was so happy to have an evening gown
[20:25]with pockets in it.
[20:26]It was really fun.
[20:27]That is really fun.
[20:28]Oh my gosh, I love it.
[20:31]What do you think helped you through?
[20:33]Because there were so many times in this process
[20:36]where things were going wrong.
[20:37]Like there was a flood in the office
[20:39]or like just the big things like that
[20:41]to the little things,
[20:42]to the inter-office squabbles,
[20:44]to the new management team coming in
[20:46]and not necessarily respecting your vision
[20:49]or not getting along so well.
[20:51]There were personal setbacks.
[20:52]Like what do you think it is about you or you slash the team
[20:56]that said like, okay, we're just gonna get over this.
[20:59]Like it's not even a question.
[21:00]You know, I think,
[21:01]I think that might be partially
[21:04]because we were all from the Midwest
[21:05]and we didn't give up on things easily.
[21:07]I mean, when you moved to New York from Kansas,
[21:10]you have a slight chance of remaining here
[21:15]because it's tough when you don't know anybody
[21:17]and you move to a big city.
[21:19]And so I think us all sticking together
[21:22]and we all really depended on each other for that.
[21:25]I also think it was because our customers
[21:29]love the product so much
[21:31]and it really kept us going.
[21:32]It talking to all the customers all the time
[21:35]because at that time we did a lot of events
[21:39]at retail stores and department stores
[21:42]and just meeting them.
[21:44]Just brought you up.
[21:46]It just cheered you up so much
[21:47]because they would tell their own personal story
[21:50]about the bag that they bought
[21:52]or about the back,
[21:53]bought their daughter or their mother
[21:54]or their grandmother.
[21:55]And it just, it fueled what we did every day.
[22:02]And I think that's probably the main part of it.
[22:05]You know, it was great to have my business partners
[22:08]because we not only worked together every day
[22:11]but we socialized together
[22:12]and we spent our family time together.
[22:14]And for some people,
[22:16]that's a recipe for disaster,
[22:17]luckily for us, it worked out well.
[22:20]But we often found ourselves even during social time
[22:25]talking about work.
[22:26]Yeah, your social life, by the way.
[22:29]You knew everybody.
[22:31]You were out at all the restaurants doing all the things.
[22:34]I was like,
[22:35]do I even have any friends after reading this book?
[22:37]Do you know what I mean?
[22:38]There were always people in your apartment
[22:40]and it's even your honeymoon.
[22:43]I mean, my gosh.
[22:44]So I mean, you're obviously such a warm and friendly person
[22:47]and social and extroverted, whatever.
[22:50]How do you keep friendship in your life
[22:53]when things are so busy?
[22:54]You know, I love having people around.
[22:56]And luckily I married someone who is the same way.
[22:59]My husband is from Boston originally
[23:03]and he owned all the gourmet garage stores around town.
[23:06]So he, you know, he's always at his stores
[23:08]and he knew everybody and he loves the same things I do.
[23:11]He loves music, he loves animals.
[23:13]And we were both very social people when we met.
[23:17]So we would have parties all the time.
[23:20]And you know, back then it didn't have to be fancy.
[23:24]As long as you had a bar set up and good food
[23:27]and great music, you know, that's all you need.
[23:29]And inviting interesting people.
[23:31]We were lucky enough to live downtown
[23:33]and it was a time when the art scene was flourishing downtown
[23:38]and so he was still primarily artists and writers.
[23:42]And so we knew a lot of those people
[23:45]and they just made every party colorful and fun.
[23:48]So and no Katie and Andy were always there
[23:51]and they are two of the funniest people.
[23:53]I've ever known in my life and always, you know,
[23:57]the hit of the party every single time.
[23:59]So I felt really lucky to have that time in my life
[24:02]and to, you know, to live in New York during that era.
[24:05]Not that it's not great now.
[24:07]It was gritty and a little tougher
[24:09]and rough around the edges back then.
[24:11]But I was glad to be able to have lived in New York then
[24:14]and also now.
[24:16]Amazing.
[24:17]Well, I feel like we should partner in some way
[24:19]because you have all these amazing.
[24:20]I'm looking at this.
[24:21]I'm like, that would be great book cover.
[24:23]I don't know.
[24:24]I would love to find some ways to collaborate
[24:25]in the book world in the fashion world and whatever.
[24:28]We'd love to.
[24:28]They're all book all the prints.
[24:30]And so we can use them however we'd like.
[24:33]And they're they really they brighten
[24:36]they they really brighten the collection up.
[24:38]And they I just turn around.
[24:41]And this is actually a working wall.
[24:42]It's not a wall that's been curated at all.
[24:45]I literally put things up there all the time
[24:47]when I find something fun.
[24:48]Might not have anything to do with apparel or or handbags.
[24:52]But I just love this wall.
[24:54]And I turn around and stare at it all the time.
[24:56]Really, it inspires you to do more things.
[24:59]Yeah, it's fun.
[25:00]I have to change my background now after all this.
[25:02]You got the appropriate background.
[25:05]I know I know but yours is just so fun.
[25:07]I'm just color cut as jealous.
[25:10]And of course your book cover matches everything
[25:12]with the same, you know, these perfect classic colors
[25:15]and everything for the book itself.
[25:17]How do you feel about marketing the book as a product
[25:22]when you've spent so much time marketing fashion
[25:24]and accessories and whatever.
[25:25]Now you have a new thing to put on the market.
[25:28]Are you using sort of the same skills?
[25:30]How do you feel about the writing process
[25:33]and all that being over without the best part,
[25:35]the worst part?
[25:37]Well, you know, it's all new to me.
[25:39]This is this is a whole different world.
[25:41]And I feel so different than the fashion business
[25:44]and creating apparel and accessories.
[25:47]So and I love new projects.
[25:50]So this whole process, I had no idea how to start
[25:55]or what the middle was gonna look like
[25:56]or the end was gonna look like.
[25:57]And I know for myself, I thought we were finished
[26:01]long before we were because I was like, okay, run.
[26:03]And then there's all the edits that you have to do
[26:07]and there's all the fact checking.
[26:09]They're like, are you sure their restaurant was opened
[26:11]in that year?
[26:12]And I was like, yes, I looked in my calendars
[26:14]and that's where we were that night.
[26:16]So there was just so much of that.
[26:18]And I luckily was the person in our group
[26:23]that always had a camera in my handbag.
[26:26]I just, I just always did.
[26:28]So I have all of these great photos of Katie
[26:31]and Andy and me in college.
[26:32]I shouldn't say great.
[26:33]They're blurry photos, but I have.
[26:35]And it means a lot to me that it's kind of chronicled
[26:38]back in the days before iPhones.
[26:41]But I really, really enjoyed the process
[26:44]and I worked on the book a lot with my husband
[26:47]who was there during all of that time.
[26:49]And he added a lot of texture for me
[26:51]where I was lacking in some.
[26:53]And I was like, oh my God, yes, that's perfect.
[26:54]That's right.
[26:55]And I just, I adored writing this.
[26:58]It was really, really wonderful.
[27:00]And my wonderful daughters gave me lots of space and time
[27:04]to do so last summer.
[27:05]So they were really helpful with it too.
[27:07]But I would do it all over again.
[27:09]It was, I really thoroughly enjoyed the process
[27:12]and anybody who's thinking about it,
[27:14]I would suggest to start writing your stories down.
[27:17]Whatever is coming to your mind
[27:19]that you're thinking that would be a good book.
[27:20]Just start writing your stories down
[27:22]because I tend to forget things over time.
[27:27]And when I was talking to our partner Pamela and Andy Spade,
[27:32]they really helped me remember some of the really funny stories.
[27:35]And some of them I wasn't even there for necessarily.
[27:38]But they're hysterical.
[27:39]And they ended up in the book
[27:40]because they were such critical little pieces
[27:43]that were just so descriptive
[27:46]in how we turned a corner on something.
[27:48]So there's really helpful and talk to your friends
[27:50]about those kind of stories
[27:52]because writing them down was really important to me.
[27:56]And I loved meeting your husband too
[27:58]when you were here for the most anticipated.
[28:00]Yep, that's awesome.
[28:02]It's great to have such a partner
[28:03]especially after I watched all of your relationships
[28:07]in the book and everything.
[28:08]So now I'm so rude and for you.
[28:09]I'm so glad you had this happy ending.
[28:11]I got so lucky with him.
[28:13]I swear, I defined a single man.
[28:15]He was 39 years old and never been married.
[28:18]And he had a really cool apartment
[28:19]and a whole beautiful specialty food company.
[28:24]And he's cute and he's funny.
[28:26]And he's like everything I like.
[28:27]I was kind of like, is this real?
[28:29]Well, you deserve that and more.
[28:31]Your attitude and sort of schwadave in the whole thing.
[28:34]It's so additive, right?
[28:36]You're just bringing joy to so many people
[28:38]and all the things you do.
[28:39]And I really, really enjoyed the book.
[28:42]It was moving and the last part was moving.
[28:45]The growth part was moving.
[28:47]I really, really enjoyed it.
[28:48]Congratulations.
[28:49]Thank you so much.
[28:50]I really appreciate it.
[28:51]That means a lot coming from you.
[28:53]Thank you.
[28:54]All right.
[28:55]Thank you, Elise.
[28:55]All right.
[28:56]Okay.
[28:57]Time to do it.
[28:58]Bye.
[28:59]Thank you for listening to Totally Booked with Zibi.
[29:02]Formerly, momstone have time to read books.
[29:04]If you loved the show, tell a friend.
[29:06]Leave a review, follow me on Instagram at Zibi Owens.
[29:10]And spread the word.
[29:12]Thanks so much.
[29:13]Oh, and bye the books.