The Bossticks - Rumi Neely On Being A Pioneer As One Of The First Influencers & Launching One Of The First Owned & Operated Influencer Brands

Episode Date: September 17, 2019

#215: Rumi Neely was one of the first creators to recognize the power of blogging and social media. In 2008 she launched a blog called Fashion Toast and quickly became an authority in the world of fashion. She was a pioneer in what is now called the influencer industry and was one of the first influencers to recognize the power of launching her own brand off the online platform she built. On this episode we dive into her story and how new creators can create their own.  To connect with Rumi Neely click HERE To connect with Lauryn Evarts click HERE To connect with Michael Bosstick click HERE Read More on The Skinny Confidential HERE For Detailed Show Notes visit TSCPODCAST.COM To Call the Him & Her Hotline call: 1-833-SKINNYS (754-6697) This episode is brought to you by Athletic Greens If it's time  (and it is) to focus on your health and feel your best, getting into a daily routine with Athletic Greens really will be the single best thing you can do for ​yourself this year. We have a special offer is you jump over to www.athleticgreens.com/skinny ​and claim our special offer today. Get 20 FREE travel packs valued at $79 with your first purchase. This episode is brought to you by Skillshare. Skillshare is an online learning space offering more than 25,000 courses. Join the millions of students already learning on Skillshare today with a special offer just for our listeners: Get two months of Skillshare for free. That's right, Skillshare is offering The Skinny Confidential listeners two months of unlimited access to over 25,000 classes for free. To sign up, go to www.skillshare.com/TSC.  Produced by Dear Media 

The following podcast is a dear media production. This episode is brought to by Skillshare. Skillshare is an online learning space offering more than 20,000 courses. I'm currently using the platform to learn a bunch of different skills that we have talked about many times on this show. This is a tool for brands and individuals to acquire new skills or take novice skills to an expert level. Think of it as the Netflix for Learning Skills Online.

So join the millions of students already learning on Skillshare today with a special offer just for our listeners. Get two months of Skillshare for free. That's right. Skillshare is offering the skinny confidential him and her listeners two months of unlimited access to over 25,000 classes for free. To sign up, go to Skillshare.com slash TSC. Again, go to Skillshare.com slash TSC to start your two months now. That's Skillshare.com slash TSC. She's a lifestyle blogger extraordinaire.

Fantastic. And he's a serial entrepreneur. A very smart cookie. And now Lauren Everts and Michael Bostic. are bringing you along for the ride. Get ready for some major realness. Welcome to the skinny confidential, him and her. Aha! Going in my head constantly about, like, what outfit needs to be, like, put on priority next? Like, what could potentially be, like, a good backdrop,

like, constantly in my mind. So I feel like I just try to take every moment and be like, how is this moment used best and work in there? Hi, hello, happy Tuesday, guys. That clip was from our guest of the show today, Rumi Neely. one of the top influencers. On this episode, we're discussing business, fashion, photography, design.

We get into it. If you're new to the show, what's up? I'm Lauren Everett's Bostick. Today I'm Bostick, and I'm the creator of the skinny confidential. And I'm Michael Bostic. I am a serial entrepreneur and brand builder. Most recently, a newly announced father. Lauren, you are hanging it out.

You've been hiding it for so long. Now you are just, you are pregnant. My fucking tits are on the fucking table. my stomach's hanging out, I'm letting it loose. Listen, Michael, I was like Kate Winslet and Titanic for five months, so it's time to like take off the corset and let things just show. I don't get that reference. Is that she wore something tight?

Kate Winslet and Titanic was like abused by her mother with a corset because she had to like get it tightened so much. Okay, I get it. Now I get it. And so does that make me leave? Oh, am I going to sink and die in the freezing cold water? I don't know. If it's between you and I, like who's living?

Well, I'm pretty sure it's not going to be me. Yeah, I'm pretty sure. Well, now that you got the baby there, I'm definitely, it's not going to be me. I'll just sink, I'm going to sink to the bottom. You know what, who it's going to be? Our producer, Taylor. Taylor is also joining us on this show. What I was going to say is that, I don't know if you know this, but there's a lot of debate.

Could Leonardo bring on Kate onto the floating door? Was there enough room for both of them? Even if there was enough room, Lauren would take the whole thing and Michael would drown. I'm so glad that you know that. You know, my grandma told me, she said, I said, what's love to my grandma? And she said, love is when there's one slice of chocolate cake left on the table. And your husband wants you to have it and you want your husband to have it. And I thought, fuck, I would take the chocolate cake and eat it.

Do you know what it is, though? I don't want any fucking cake. So you can have it every time. I know. I think that's why the relationship works. I would take the cake. Not a big sweets guy, unless it's smart sweets. Or I would like eat the whole thing and leave you with like a small, like measly morsel.

Listen, luckily I'm not attached to sweet. eats, food, any kind of, any kind of that stuff. Yeah, thank God. You have been eating. I've been craving oatmeal raisin cookies, and he's been trying to eat my oatmeal raisin cookies since I got pregnant. I took one bite, one crumb. No, Michael, don't fuck with the raisin cookies. Anyway, guys, an exciting, last week was exciting. We finally got to announce a baby, which we've been holding back, obviously, for five months. Don't have to keep that secret anymore. The baby is hanging out. The secret was really hard for Michael, you guys. It was really hard for

him to suck it in for five months. Now you're really flaunting it around though. She's going up and down. She came into the office almost every single person that she walked by. She had to do the whole like, oh my God, congratulations. She's showing it off and she's looking great. You know what's fucked up is for guys and I didn't realize this, but like you have to be careful when your wife's pregnant or when your girl's pregnant because you, like, I think your body tries to like match the estrogen level. And so you have to like do some things to keep that testosterone flowing. I'm telling you. Who said that? I was reading about it and I was noticing. I'm like, why am I getting so emotional. I thought at first it was just like because I'm happy, which I am. But now I'm starting to think, wait a minute. Is my estrogen like out of control right now? It's not an anchor baby. That's what it is. You got her pregnant. She's going to leave you now.

You're just going to start crying all the time and Lauren's going to be like, Jesus Christ, Michael. You have been really cry lately. You've been more crying than me. She's obsessed with me right now. She's smelling me all the time. No, but that's because of your pheromones. She's blaming in on the baby. She's like the baby's smelling. I'm like the baby can't smell yet. It's hers. I literally do you like a line of crack cocaine. I just sniff him every morning. Michael is one of the toughest people that. Michael is one of the toughest people that. Michael is. Michael is one of the toughest people. I know, hands down, like uncomparatively across the board. But now I have this- Why don't you get on your knees and suck his dick right now? No, no, this, hey, I'm tough too, so I'm right up there with him. So what I was going with this is now I have this thing where in my mind, it's, he's like smelling roses, he's like sitting there. He's like, oh, I gotta take a quick break and look at these nice dandelion type things.

He has been like a little bit. Taylor saw one video of me being vulnerable on YouTube and now he's thinking that I'm just crumbling. Yeah, so I actually want to talk about this. the reason being is because you, Lauren, I didn't know this until just the other day. She actually filmed the reveal where Michael, where she showed Michael that the, I don't know, you showed him the baby, that's the baby test. No, he had no idea I was pregnant. The baby test.

Your verbiage is off. He, I showed Michael, like I revealed I was pregnant. Like, he didn't know. Does that make sense to you? I know your brain isn't there yet right now. So when he pulled the, I don't even know what it's called, the thing that like the tray, the tray off. Dome. Get the words right.

The dome. When he pulled the dome off, you have to see the video because his face, I'm telling you I've known him for years. I have never in my entire life seen him make this face. It's one of the most just like pure, like happy or kind of, it's almost, I don't know. I don't even know what to describe it. Genuine. Genuine.

No, but not genuine because it makes it seem as if he's not genuinely like expressive with his emotion. It's almost as if Michael was injected with love with where. For instance, I was going to, where I was going to say this, but also it's not even that Lauren's reaction where she goes, I'm freaking out and you can legitimately hear like tears get caught, like almost caught up in her voice. It's so emotional that I almost got teared up. Are you going to cry right now? I'm not going to cry now, but I think you did get teared up. I did. You were trying to act. I did get goosebumps and I watched it multiple times. And it's something that I think now, think of when the kids full grown, he is always going to have that little moment to where you have the first reaction when you found out that she was pregnant with him. How do you know it's a him? Well, I just realized that him or her. His favorite thing is that you don't know the gender, but you've been calling it a he,

which is really sexist and rude. Yeah, are you hoping that it's a he? No, I have no preference at all. No, he hopes it's a she, so he can try to date her friends. Ooh, gross, no, no.

I wouldn't put anything past you. Listen, that might be the end of Taylor. That'd be weird. I might have to actually. No, that would never happen. So, but I think that everybody should watch it. The reason being is because it's a moment in time that I think is rarely captured.

It's... Vulnerable. That's that shooting. star that I referenced more on your wedding. You know why I think what happened to is that I didn't know she was filming me and I didn't know what was going on. If you look closely in that video, I'm like wearing these like weird iPads and she kept, it was weird. She said, kept telling me, take those iPads off, but I was, you know, I had some under eyes. I was drinking the night before. So I was like, why did, like, let me leave them on. And because she was trying to get me to

get me to film. So then I started crying and the iPad started like going down my face. I mean she dropped the camera at that point. But, but that's why I think like it's a moment where I didn't know I was being filmed and I didn't know it was coming. And so all I had was the pure reaction. You guys are getting a little more. Because you guys keep discussing this at length. Fuck, what should we do? Should we like, maybe we should start arm wrestling. We need to go start a street fight.

Yeah, that's good. Who in this office wants to. A beauty tip or something. Yeah, exactly. We got to go slam a glass of whiskey and get in a street fight to. That's good. Let's go get tattooed right now. I do want to get a tattoo.

I'm going to, definitely. You are. Yeah. What do you think you're going to get? I think you should get a cucumber. Kids, be careful. Don't get tat. Don't ruin your body like I have.

Yeah, so. Unless you're tailored. Go ahead. If you'd be fun to do it with me. Watch the YouTube video. It's live up on YouTube. And it's of the last five months. And again, some people are asking me why we didn't tell anyone for five months.

And the answer is super simple. We just wanted to have a moment between ourselves. Didn't we do the whole goddamn podcast about that? Yeah, but I've gotten asked that question still. And I just want to drive the nail. People do that to me and I just revert them. Episode number 213, 14, whatever it was. It says the episode is called We're pregnant.

You can go get it there. Let's not yesterday's gone down the river. Let's not head back. It's not because I'm going to ask you questions. It's not because I have any interest in it at all. But I'm curious. When is it acceptable for someone to touch the belly? Michael, when is it acceptable for Taylor to touch my stomach?

No, I have a phobia of like that particular thing, like babies in general, but like heartbeats and stuff freak me out. So I don't want to. Taylor, you're not going to, this isn't a cartoon where the heartbeat's like popping out of the stomach. Let's just make it so that you guys don't touch each other. That'd be good. Okay. I would like some, no, actually I was going to say some woo, but that's weird. No, no. Let's do it. Never mind. Ignore that. I don't want you going anywhere near my wife with Woo.

You've been getting really creepy to me since I've been pregnant. I feel like it's the boo. It's one of those things where in this instance, you can't really, you have to really avoid it. It's like, what is it? It's a very delicate dance, okay? No, there's no delicate dance involved at all with Wu and my wife and you. There is no dance. That gets canceled. No dance out. Yeah. So we don't even need to explore it, my friend. Not at all. All right. Before we get acquainted with this guest, I want to tell you guys that there is a, a huge, and I mean huge, gifting campaign giveaway, whatever you want to call it, on my latest Instagram. Basically, I teamed up with tons of killer badass influencers, and we personally

curated this fabulous gift. I handpicked every single item. There are products that are up to 3K. It's probably the biggest gifting campaign giveaway I've ever done. It's my favorite YSL purse, you know, the one that I wore in France that's like a beach bag. It has every kind of, a pink swag that you would want and a MacBook. I mean, this giveaway, like, I want to win the giveaway. All you have to do to enter is go to my Instagram page. It's my latest post. It has all the information on how to enter. It takes 60 seconds. You're going to love all the influencers. You're going to love the gifts. It's very on brand. And like I said, I personally curated this fabulous gift. So many goodies. A MacBook, a YSL bag, tons of pink stuff. They even have

a smeg lemon juicer. My friend Ingrid got me one and I was like, we need a smeg pink lemon juicer. So you're going to die when you see it. All right? Check out my Instagram at the Skinny Confidential. Inter, take 60 seconds. Tag your friends. Before we get into this episode, I want to shout out Rumi Neely. She is one of the most genuine coolest influencers out there. Sometimes in this space, it can get weird. Sometimes it can be a little high schooly. And I'm not a big fan of partaking in that, but Rumi Neely is the real deal. She is an OG influencer, okay? I think she launched a blog like back in like 2008 or something crazy. She's someone I've always looked up to in the space and she's taken her platform and transformed it into a business and a company. Massive respect.

When I moved up to L.A., she reached out and had a whole list of where to go, what to do, what kind of macha to get specifics. She's very, very detail-oriented, which I I love. I also have her LA hotspot recommendation list. So if you're interested in checking that out, I will do a blog post on Rumi Neely's hotspots. With that, let's welcome her to the show. She is a boss, a creator, a designer, and an influencer. Meet Rumi. Hold up. Michael, you know what I'm craving right now? You're looking deep into my eyes. So is it me? It's not you. It's actually one of your green smoothies. You're pretty good at it. Guys, I make a mean, mean green smoothie to keep you healthy, keep you on point, keep you on your feet, keep you energized.

And one of the things that I put in that smoothie, athletic greens, the ultimate daily, it's your new best friend. So it's an all-in-one supplement with 75 proven vitamins, minerals, and whole food-sourced ingredients, which helps support your body's nutritional needs across five critical areas of health. So this was obsessively researched to solve the founder's digestive issues, and digestive issues and gut health is real.

And I feel like we need to really start opening the conversation about it. I'll be the first to say that I know I don't have the perfect diet, and I know that I don't always get my nutrients. With athletic greens, I feel much better because I know that even though I'm not perfect on my own, with athletic greens, I can start my day right, pump it into a smoothie, know I'm getting some nutrition, know I'm getting some vitamins, know I'm getting some minerals. You need all the help you can get, really, Michael. And for those of you that are traveling frequently, this is the best. Lauren and I are always on the road and carrying some of these travel packets in our bag that we can just dump in some water, stir up, and boom, healthy. Makes me feel good. You should know that this has no harmful chemicals, artificial color sweeteners, no added sugars, no GMOs, gluten-free, dairy-free, no pesticides, you name it.

We're super, super specific about who we partner with, and this is a product that I know you guys will like. It's vegan, it's paleo, it's keto-friendly. Throw it in your smoothie, manipulate your husband, your significant other, your girlfriend, your boyfriend, whatever, to make you a smoothie every night by ensuring that you both get your greens in. So if you're done letting your body down, done letting yourself down, done letting your health down. And if it's time to focus on that health and feel your best, getting into a daily routine with athletic greens really will be the single best thing you can do for yourself this year. So why not just try it? Jump over to athletic greens.com slash skinny and claim our offer today. 20 free travel packs valued at $79 with your first purchase.

That's athletic greens.com slash skinny to start your day right. Good things will follow. I promise you will be jazzed up just like me. energy off the walls. And for our listeners in the UK and EU, they can ship to you as well. So, athletic greens.com slash skinny. Let's get back to the episode. This is the skinny confidential, him and her. I am so excited because we have the most iconic blogger ever. No, really? And I was not the first. I'm going to tell you that like before I started,

I was inspired by like basically the whole of Scandinavia, which is already a way on it. But no one in America was on it like that. You know, I mean, you have. to say. Like, you were the first blogger I ever followed. Okay, well, think of someone, but for now, I'll take that. What year was it? 2008. So I started it in 2010. So two years before that is a huge gap at that moment. Well, because when she started, people were like, what the hell is a blog?

You're never going to do anything to a blog. And you were two years before that. That's a full like 600-something-somethings, almost 700 days ahead. I have been through so much, what is this? What are you doing? Like, why do you need some new photos? Like, I didn't care. Okay, but take us way back to 2008. So you're inspired by the Scandinavian bloggers, but I'm sure there's more than that. What outlet were you consuming the content and just blogs? Way, way, way back.

Fashion was just like all I ever really never got sick of, basically. And that was from when I was like 10 or something. Like I always won the latest, like Harper's was art in vogue. Like not like, you know, the like teen magazines or anything. I like just wanted the best and like memorized every issue. And like that just was what I wanted to do. And like it was just not really something that was an option, I feel like at that point. If you said you want to work in fashion, it was like you literally need to like be in some like really high elite like social network in order to even like have a chance of being like in those magazines offices.

So I kind of just like went to college for normal stuff. Poly Sai kind of always kept that in the back of my like mind is what I really wanted to do. And then just when I saw that yeah, like there was so much like opening up in like the block space in like Scandinavia like they would do these daily outfit posts. and they were so cute. And I was like, okay, like, I can do that. Like, and yeah, it's snow- So do you ask your boyfriend to take your photos at this point, right? Yeah, my ex, he was amazing at taking the photos,

and it was, like, very much a fun thing for us to do. It was like literally living in Pacific Beach, by the way, like full San Diego. Really? Yeah. Yeah, she's full San Diego. Wait, wait, hold on. Because I know you and Lauren have a personal, you guys have been together before and you know the background.

For me, can we go back? Let's give Michael some context. Let's give some, I mean, I know who you are. is a fellow somewhat Japanese person. Yes, right? I'm quarter Japanese. Wait, so how Japanese do you feel and act? I feel like I...

Is your penis Japanese? What does that mean? Do you eat fermented soybeans? I do not eat fermented soybeans. I don't know. It depends. In certain things, I feel Japanese, but I don't know how to explain it. In other ways, I don't feel Japanese at all.

So your grandma was full. My grandma's full. Yeah. So... It's a rare thing to be a quarter, I feel like. I want to meet more of these people. They're like... My grandma's full.

mom's half. But then I'm a bunch of stuff. Like I've got so many different things. The other stuff is like whatever to me. Okay. So your boyfriend starts taking your photos. He loves it. Literally in the alleys of Pacific Beach. I mean, you can picture this very specifically, right? Did you grow up in San Diego or you just live in there? Okay, grew up kind of all over the place, was little in Tokyo and Hong Kong, and then NorCal, San Francisco Bay Area. And so San Diego was basically like where I went to be, like, further from my family and stuff. I would say, too, when I first started reading your blog, that it was inspired by all these different areas.

Like, even though you lived in San Diego, you could tell that you had outside inspiration from the United States. It was almost like, I feel like being in San Diego was, like, reverse inspirational for me because I felt so, like, not on the same wavelength with everyone there because of, like, insane shoes I was wearing. San Diego, as much as I love it, we grew up there, I don't know how they could be so close to L.A. and so far behind in fashion.

They are... It's mind-boggling. It is very confusing. And even the social behavior, like I was hear about Chris Dalia. I love his podcast. He's always talking about San Diego is like one of the worst places to reform

because of like the brawiness and like the... It's a very like kind of like bro-y kind of like... Flip blah. I don't get it. But at the same time I have a special place in my heart. I actually don't know how the hell I came from there. But like what if it actually became more L.A. like we'd be kind of horrified, right? So maybe we should appreciate it for what it is.

I'm going to get a lot of all the San Diego's are going to come out and be like, I can't believe you said that about the plane. You're just going to be a whole thing. Sorry, San Diego. Yeah. Sorry. Oh, you guys have everyone's down there. Your dad's a restaurant down there.

My dad's restaurant's down there. It just opened. I'll say, one-on-one. It looks on check it out. Okay. So your boyfriend starts, Michael and I always go off on tangents. Your boyfriend starts taking photos of you. My girlfriend, Fashion Lash, who I think I told you about at dinner,

calls me and goes, there is this girl. And you have to go look at her, and she has the most amazing content. And at that time, your content was better. I mean, and I still think it is. but it was like really like better, like exponentially than anyone else. So you start getting invited to Fashion Week. Can you speak on that? Because I know that ruffled some feathers.

Okay. So the very first show I went to, it wasn't even in New York. It was in Paris. And it was for the Angaro show. And it was just like such a full-on crazy experience. And it was a complete dream queen. I couldn't even believe what was happening. But were editors mad at this point?

Because this is like, what, 2010? I feel like that never. That never really affected me, like, directly. Never really cared. I mean, I feel like I'm very, even, like, in my everyday life or, like, with what I do now, like, I'm very much, like, stay in my own lane. Don't look at anyone's paper. Like, don't care, like, focus in the zone.

And I feel like there's no other way for me to, like, what was the goal back then? It didn't feel like there was anything that was, like, a structure for me to base things on because it was very much, like, you know, the Wild West. And that was definitely exhilarating. Because every time I got, like, some kind of, like, crazy email about an opportunity, I was like, okay, I guess this is the level it's at now, and it just kept on growing bigger and bigger. And yeah, so I signed with Next in L.A. I had like a whole separate tangent of my life where I was like working in Tokyo for maybe like two years I was going there.

Like really often doing like modeling jobs and just like building my like profile over there and doing some probably the most like high profile work is like stuff I've done in Tokyo. Like my face wrapped around trains and stuff like just crazy. See, I need to, I'm not, we need to get there. I need to get my face on a train. It was so cool to like be able to get like to tap into like Japan again because I felt like I was kind of losing that side of me and like, like, the language came back to me. Are you full Japanese? I'm half. You're half. Yeah.

My dad's like from Kentucky. What are your friends and family and boyfriend thinking when all this is happening since it was the wild, wild west? I think that it was a bit like unnerving for my ex because he was just like this all feels like really exciting. at the same time, like, this is going way outside of, you know, the world that we're currently in. And, like, that was absolutely correct. But I just had this, like, insatiable desire to just keep on, like, prodding and see what could happen next. And my family was, I think, like, confused until my mom thought I was doing in Tokyo and her friends were like, look, she's, like, in a magazine that I picked up at the newsstand.

And then she's like, okay, maybe I will, like, be okay with this now. I mean, Asian mothers are tough until they see some validation. She's so bad. I literally played two instruments until like... They don't give in until you get on a train, you're not getting the valuation. She was like worried. She was like, okay, well, but you're going to do other stuff, right? This is just like for now and this is going nowhere.

We know that, right? And I was like, sure. Now she's like posing with a coffee cup I bet with her crop chop. Oh, my God. She literally wears, are you in mind? It's the cutest best thing in the whole world. She's like this like micro like pocket person and she's like wears everything so beautifully. and it's very sweet.

Yeah, my favorite thing. So when did you start to have the idea for your business? Was this something that was like, for me, I launched the Skinny Confidential knowing I wanted it to be a brand. Did you feel like that or was this something that you just sort of? No, I was kind of just like an in the moment like, hey, like that flower shrub looks cool. Like, would have taken a picture by it. Like in the thing that I'm already wearing. And it was all very like random and like off the cuff, organic.

Yeah. And back then there was no blueprint either. There was nobody that should point to be like, hey, there's a business that exists. There was no blogging businesses that really existed outside of some techie nerdery, you know, banner ad pages. Yeah. So having nothing to base it on me and I wasn't really worried about like making money. I was just like, okay, like if and the options were coming and I was making money. But like I wasn't like, okay, where's this going?

And like what do I build this to? Just like taking things as they came and like I definitely could have had more of like a structured plan about it. And I think if you ask any girl, like what's one of your dreams that you like would, you know, love to achieve someday? it's like having a clothing brand, of course. Like who is going to say no to that almost? And so, yeah, it was in the back of my mind, but it's not an uncommon thing. But, yeah, there came a time where I was just like, I knew I was ready for it, you know? Your clothing line, though, is different than a lot of people just saying, I want to launch a clothing line.

Where I have massive respect for you is you didn't just slap your label on something. Like, every single piece you can tell is created from out of your head. It is a painstaking, but like such a glorious process. I just, it gives me energy. Like, literally, like, I, I, I'm the fit model. My fittings, like, every Monday and Thursday for my line. And, like, sometimes I'll get to work and just be, like, so drained for whatever reason. And then, like, I'll see, like, the pile of clothes. I'm like trying to, like, I'm literally just, like, brought to life again. Like, it's just every little detail, every little, like, pathway that can be forged from, like, us working with this fabric

or that vendor or whatever. And, like, it's just, yeah, amazing. So, Michael, you, Michael's very into fashion and you would the way her stuff fits it's like you thought of the boob fat you thought of you thought of how to slim the arm you thought of how to show the clavicle like your piece like everything is so well made and so thank you so much daint like it's it's it's very thought out lorna always gets confused about like it's it's it's not that i'm just so into fact i like fashion i like clothes but i appreciate good design right like when something is aesthetically when it's worked and designed well it could be anything it's like it's almost like an art piece right if you if you design it when you

people take the time and that's why I think it's important and I also like I think it's a really creative expression the way people dress and the way that they you know form their clothes and the way they match things you wouldn't guess he was into fashion with the shirt that he's wearing today but I saw the blazer it's fine the blade I had to color the blazer though on navy because it didn't fit my feet it was dark it was a dark name so everyone's like where did you get that blazing like that's not you're not going to get this it doesn't exist that's called a that's called a Photoshop app she altered your out I did I always do who cares about him when you launched your line was it something that that got popular overnight because I see all the

celebrities and influencers wearing your stuff. I mean, obviously I was really lucky to have like my existing platform from Fashion Toast just to be able to show the whole line to immediately. And so it felt like a very exciting like, here it is. It's what I've been working on. Like this is the seven core pieces that like I think everyone needs. And that's how it started. It wasn't really like I knew what was going to come after those pieces. It was more just like, this is your essentials. And from that point, it's like grown so much. And I think there was definitely a point early on where I was worried that, like, once I did the perfect slip dress, like, what comes after that? But now I almost feel like the more you do, the more styles like I bring

into it, the more ideas I have. So it's almost like self-feeding. You know what I want to talk to you about? Because you were somebody that started, let's say like, they called it blogging then, influencers, you know, influencers is a term that they just, that the marketing people just termed to basically describe what they do when they're allocating dollars to this type of space, right? Because they're like, what do we call this type of marketing? It's called influencer. So everybody's an influencer that gets dollars this way. But for somebody that calls himself an influencer now and is making the transition from, okay, brands are paying me to showcase their products. Now I have an idea in my head and I want to create my own line. Can you talk about what that transition

looked like? I'm sure that if you start to focus on doing your own line, you have to limit the other stuff because you have to, it's almost like you have to pick one or the other. I know there's definitely. You can do collaboration still, but it's- I mean, I do like basically zero sponsorships. And I love it like that. That's what I want you to talk about. That switchover, was very natural and very quick. And I'm not saying that I'm opposed to doing like anything with any outside brand. There's a big money listening. She's, you know.

I literally like wear 95% of what I wear in my closet is things that I've created. It was a relief for me. And I think that I always had such a specific vision of how I wanted things to fall in my body and like how short they should be. And like, why can't that strap be like even more barely there and like all these little tiny details? Was it scary to leave the income, like the collaboration income? It's still scary because I feel like, you know, having your own business, like, I'm like much more like on a day-to-day basis poor than I was, you know, maybe in 2014 or something.

But I feel like it's totally worth it. And it's exactly, it feels exactly right. And it feels. Well, it's the transition from having a job to being an entrepreneur, right? Like a lot of people say, okay, well, now that I've created this blog and this platform, I'm an entrepreneur because these brands are paying me. It's like, no, you're working for somebody and they're paying you as a job. It's like a freelance thing. Yeah.

But what you're doing now is like you're an entrepreneur. You have your own business. Yeah. And like I'm listening with Rachel, like when you're an influencer, you have clients, you know? And like, that's not really my vibe. I'm so specific and so like I want everything to be the thing that I decided if it's like an aesthetic thing touching my body. You know, like it was a natural transition. People are going to get fired up about that statement saying that basically being an influencer is not being an entrepreneur.

No, I agree with her. Is that like a topic that's happening right now? No, I just think it's like, I think being an entrepreneur is you're creating a business from scratch. You're building something that does not exist and you're doing it for your own organization. And it's employing people and employing things and creating something. There's nothing wrong with doing influence of business. We do it all the time. People sponsor this podcast all the time.

But for me, that's doing freelance work for something like just like a graphic designer or a developer or whatever. There's a big distinction. And I think people get in trouble because I'm an entrepreneur. It's like, are you or are you doing freelance work for other brands? I mean, that's definitely a really valid way to look at it. What is your day to day now that you're in the business? Because I know sometimes it can be hard when you have to work on the business and in the business.

And you have a team too. I have a team. I love my team so much. I feel so, I mean, it definitely took a while to assemble the right group of people. And like, we have been, you know, over 20 people and now we're at 12 and that feels totally perfect. And I feel like it's weird. Once you're past like 15 people, I feel like there's a vibe change and like the like the

likeliness for something to be negative is like amplified so much. So I feel like it's because people start reporting into people and it's not something weird happens. It's not anymore. It's right. There's there's levels and there's different. This person's reporting to this person and that dynamic changes, especially when it's a small team and everyone's kind of like on the same level. But when you introduce more and then all of a sudden, like, wait a minute, Kathy was working next to me and now I have to report her and it like it starts to create dynamics. It's not fun. So I feel like especially for how chill of a vibe I want in my office. Like, it's perfect where it is right now. And yeah, so, wait, what was the question? No, I was just saying, like, how is it running a team day to day? Are you in

the office nine to five? Is there, like, a set? I'm obsessed with people's, like, day. I was in the office nine to five, that would, like, undo the whole point of everything that I've ever, like, tried to achieve in the same way. I'm the same way. So it's very much, like, I can decide, like, the morning of, like, what my mood is, what my brain feels the most tailored to do, like, based on my mood or whatever it is. Like if I'm like really inspired to take photos, I'll do that. If I'm really inspired to, you know, think of new development for the designs and I'll work on that. But I feel like it's very much like such a privileged position to be and I'm super aware of that. But yeah, that's kind of how I like to have my day. But Monday and Thursdays basically, like I'm definitely at the office and everything

else is like kind of filled in randomly. I'm really hoping one of my favorite partners has some courses on what to do as a new father because I have no clue. Hopefully our friends over at Skillshare.com have a course or need. If not, I know they have a million other courses that are going to help me feel good, level up, take my mind off the pressure of being a new dad and hopefully add some skills to my rovachar. And you guys can level up as well. Guys, we've been talking about Skillshare for a long time. They have been a long-term partner on this show.

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two months of unlimited access to thousands of classes for free. All you have to do to sign up is go to Skillshare.com slash TSC. Again, go to Skillshare.com slash TSC to start your two months now. That's Skillshare.com slash TSC. All right. Let's get back to the episode. Do you batch your content that you shoot? Because your Instagram content is, I can tell as a creator, it's a lot of work.

I'm like a bit batchy. Yeah. You'll just be one day. I want to shoot everything on time. Yeah. If I'm like really in the mood to take photos, I'll do that. But definitely there's always like, there's always something that needs to be like addressed when it comes to, you know, having everything.

be, like, working the way it should be. So, it's a lot of work. Slack is, like, do you use Slack? It's, like, my lifeblood. Like, it's the first thing. I check in the morning, and it's just, like, yeah, it's a godsend. Like, I was always just, like, criminally bad at email. So I feel like that's, like, allowed me to, like, still be functional to you.

Yeah, Slack is, like, email and text mixed together. Oh, my God, it's so perfect. Yeah. Yeah. I took me a while to get used to it, though. And it can be cute, too. Yeah, it can, like, have some randomness in there. Like, what are you doing?

I'm like, this is not what email. I know, I love to do that to you all. So annoying. It's the most annoying thing. That's like for the sake of making a statement, though, so I fully support that, Lauren. So you kind of batch your Instagram. Do you have any tips on Instagram aesthetic? Like, if someone's starting out and they're listening, is there any tools that you use that really help with your Instagram? Because that's one thing I feel like you take time and put a lot of thought into. I feel like I don't put too much thought into. It's more like driving on the street and I'll see like just even earlier today, some sunflowers by a wall.

And I'm like, hey, that's cute. Like, what if? See, people don't. don't think like this, though. You have to elaborate on us. I'm literally like there's a constant like thought going in my head constantly about like what outfit needs to be like put on priority next. Like what could potentially be like a good backdrop? Like what you know girl we want to shoot next for whatever we're doing for that month for releases like constantly in my mind. So I feel like I just try to take every moment and be like how is this moment used best and work from there? It seems like you're essentially like also a creative director. the time. Definitely. And yeah, I love it. It is not exhausting because I love it. Yeah. So do you work

with your husband like I do sometimes or is it never work together? We have worked together in the first couple of years of having our UMI. He was the full like logistical and like financial side. Like helping that be figured out. Oh my gosh. I don't really recommend it to anyone and even like even when it come yeah, it's just not ideal. I feel like you should be able to like look at your husband and be like, okay, I see fun and like, you know, exciting future things being good together, not like the day-to-day like Muck and Myers. So I feel like that was amazing and definitely necessary for the beginning because that's obviously like not where my brain's at. I don't want it to even have to be there. I want to use my brain for what it's good for.

So yeah, there was a kind of a handoff and like we put a team together to where like he could kind of a good exit. Taylor him out. Yeah. Wait, how quiet is Taylor? I know he talks more usually. He's probably looking you off online. Oh, it's on.

Oh, it's on. Wait. I want to say the moment to pound. I really can't even see him. No, no, I put him back there. You know what he's doing? I'll tell you what he's doing. He's back there Googling photos of you.

Like, trying to do something creepy. He's smiling right now. I know exactly. You may not be able to see me, but you can feel me. Oh. Wow. Now you know why he's behind the wall. The air just got so dark. Yeah, thank you.

My presence. No, but like I just want everyone know I'm such a like faithful listener of your podcast. And that's how we met. So I know that's why I know. Taylor is. Taylor's being weird right now he's like, oh shit, I wonder what she's heard. There's like a motor. But now that you tell me that.

I'm like, now I'm like, oh, shit, I wonder what she's heard me. I heard the Caroline Stanbury where he was being like extra Taylor. And I was like, whoa. Well, actually she's married, but she was putting out a vibe to him and he was loving it. Okay. So she was feeding him. Her lighthouse was lit and I was the ship lost at sea. Oh,

he's like ready with these clips. Did you Google that? No, he's probably Google that. He, like, has a script for like every moment that could. No, he's definitely a character of this show, you know. We don't need him. Anyway. He don't need you anymore, Taylor. Yeah, still expresses.

Taylor, go back to masturbating. Oh, my God. I'm like, let's not Google image. I know. Okay, so there's a lot of girls in this industry that are trying to get into it right now. I am not a big fan. of the it's too saturated thing. I think if you have a unique perspective

and you have a way to communicate with an audience, then there's potential. Is there any advice that if you were starting right now, is there something that you would say to you at 18? I would just even try to see past everything you've, like drop everything you've ever seen, unsee it. Like make it into what do you care about the most? What is something that only you can bring?

I feel like I read something like in you were so good at this, like make your mess, your message. And that's something that I'm not good at. That's why it struck me a bit. But I feel like that is definitely like what needs to happen and probably the way to get people's attention now. I do feel like it's so difficult to start, but I don't want to be like. No, but it's true.

Make your mess your message. That's a really good quote. I would agree with that. You have to sort of open it up. Everyone's different. Like I think it just depends on like what your brand is. I want to speak a little bit more about the business side. Just because I feel like out of every single influence.

I told Michael this in the car that I've ever seen, you're like one of the best. How do you choose where you're going to distribute your product? It's only sold on our site. Oh, I thought it was on Revolved too for some reason. No. It's only on your site. We have like full control of everything and that's exactly how I wanted. Okay, can you speak?

That's really interesting to me. Can you speak? Because just when I eventually launch product, I think I want to launch it direct to consumer only too. Why did you make that decision? Well, in the beginning, we actually did test out stocking with some retailers, brick and mortar with satin. That can crush you though, too.

People don't realize that. They get an order. Like, oh, cool, I get an order from a retailer. Oh, especially if you're working with one of the big Nordstroms. I was involved in a boot company. I won't say which one now. People can probably Google it a while. I got rid of my shares.

So intriguing the way you puts it. We did something a few years back around with Nordstrom. And Nordstrom fucked up and it was around, they didn't put the product out. And then what happened was since they had all that product, this Christmas season passed, And then they're like, oh, shit, we have this product doing anything. So they discounted all of it. What it did at the time to that side is everything got price matched. And so it completely almost sunk the business.

And it was all just because of one big retailers. So people don't realize it's not always like, hey, I got in a store. I'm in Barnys or I'm in Nordstrom. It's not a good thing. That's like not the kind of credit I care about. And literally, like, not to be rude. But like, I can't remember the last time I stepped foot in Barneys and, like, found anything I cared about it.

Like, I just literally can't find what I want unless I make it. So I feel like it's going bankrupt. Well, a lot of influencers too. I know right about that in New York. This is going to get me in trouble too, probably. But they want to do these things where they go and they have this brand in their head and they go, okay, I'm going to give most of this business away to a big retailer. And the big retailer then becomes your partner and they control a lot of that business.

And the problem is you don't have any of that user data. You don't control your funnel. You don't have, you know, if that retailer says, hey, I'm not going to focus on this anymore. I'm not going to move on to something else. You're fucked. It's like the best thing to do. Yeah, you have to control your business and your pipeline. I believe launch everything to direct a consumer first because if it starts to take off and you do it well,

then you have leverage and then you can go into the stores. Completely. You know who's done that well, the four-sigmatic guys. Oh, really? They've done it incredibly well. You guys' this trip looked insane over there. But yeah, like, I'm not answering. I mean, the way that I plan things out or even don't plan things out or just want for things to beat, are you and my?

Like, it would so not be pleasing to, let's say, like, a board or someone, anyone that I'm answering to. It's just exactly like what I want. It's a bit, like, on a whim, but I think it works for me at the size that we're at. So I feel like the fact that I don't have to answer to anyone, they have like no say and anything I can do. Like that means the clothes can be exactly what I want. But that's how you made your mess, your message. Like that's what you're doing things, how you want to do it on your own terms. Yeah.

And you're not giving energy to what anyone else is doing. I think that's why you're so successful. It's really just fun for me. I feel so like beyond lucky to be able to do like all the different categories of the things that I love about fashion for a living. It just feels crazy. You were saying, like we're basically never on sale unless it's Black Friday. But, yeah, if you were. I mean, some retail can make sense down the line, but it's after you've already built your brand and, like, made a powerful business and have control, right?

Like, you know, then say, okay, I'm going to move a couple thousand units or whatever to these stores. But you have your hub and you have all that customer data. That's another thing. If you go retail, you have no customer data. You don't control any of it. We have everything. We literally, if someone's wearing our UMI, we can track exactly how it came to be. Like, it's, yeah.

That's how I like to have it. Your top customers, when, how often? It's the best. Yeah. So who's your top celebrity customer, would you say, out of everyone? I mean, there's so many amazing girls that we work with. I think the day that just probably will never be topped, like when Malia Obama ordered a bunch of pieces before their trip to the south of France.

And I was just like, what? That is a good one. Under her, yeah, it was insane. And I was like, okay. That just makes me so happy for the rest of eternity. I don't, like, we're never going to see those pieces on her. Of course, she's like, her privacy is so valuable. And just the knowledge of that is beyond.

But, yeah, then she ended up being photographed in it. I was like, what is my life doing to me? Like, it's just too crazy. So, yeah. And when Kylie Jenner or Kendall were something, it's got to sell out. Yeah, they're obviously. I think Barack and Michelle bought some woo from me. They bought some money.

No, they didn't, you fucking liar. The day they bought Wu, I was like, So Obama's using some woo. Yes. When someone like Kylie or Kendall wears something of yours, is it something that you see right away on the back end? It's definitely like a lot of excitement. And there's so many like, you know, dedicated closet accounts that will be tagging us and so we'll know literally instantly. Yeah, it's a palpable effect that they have.

And it's, yeah. This is my own selfish question that I have for you. How do you think, well, how can you successfully, go from being an influencer to running a business like you run. Like what do you think are things that you look back on that maybe you shouldn't have done or you wish you did more of? I mean, I feel like there was no way that I could have known any of it. Like even like having that perfect team size,

only working with people that you would want to work with, that you could see yourself working with forever. And I think, yeah, it's just the learning curve stuff. there's no way to even know that. I mean, like, I literally was just working for myself for so many years with my blog, and I didn't really know anything about, like, even now management, I'm just like, what? Like, I, how do you think similarities do you guys deal with that? Like, it's just, well, I don't do, I don't deal with any of it. Lauren, Lauren has to deal with it. No, no, no, she is like me and you're like her husband, though, the dynamic. No, but I'm not like, I'm not creating content and

working with any, you know. But you and I are the same way where it's like, this is what my perspective is and you could tell me I'm wrong. Money isn't what drives us. No. It's doing... There's so much low hanging fruit, like left money-wise. Yeah. He gets...

And this can be like a... Like, we can get in fights about this. It's being able to create something out of your brain that no one else is created and be so specific and detailed and bring it to a customer that not only is going to wear it or use it or whatever, they're going to go tell 15 of their friends.

Yeah. And you know that when they tell 15 of their friends, those friends are going to tell friends. Like, that's what I feel like gets the rush and the purity of that is just like literally the only reason to do it. And I feel like it's, yeah, definitely difficult. Like Chris is the same way. He'll be like, well, this would be so easy. Why don't want to do this? And I'm like, but, you know, I don't really feel like there's like a problem in the sock market.

And I don't need to contribute it to right now. So it's fine. Well, Lauren misunderstands me sometimes. And this is a good time to clarify it. So if she wants to run around and do art projects and blog, and take pictures in the street, fine. I don't care about the money at all. I love art projects. No problem. If you wanted to do this and just do, no problem. But the moment when you start building a team and you have other people that are reliant on you for their income and for

their life, that's when it's like you have to be responsible to the business. That's why I'm so interested in Rooney, though, because she's has such a good balance of that. Well, the reason that I have that is because my team is insane and they completely understand the quirks that comprise me. And I mean, I'm so spoiled by that. Like, literally like, Um, yeah, I have such great people that I work with. And I'm so lucky that I have been, I don't know, they've just like stuck around with me for years now. What is this team? Shout out to your team. They sound amazing. Is there any tips that you have for hiring someone? Did you find them on LinkedIn? Did you find them through Instagram? Um, I think that like the, they kind of like find me,

if that makes sense. Like, I don't know, my assistant I found on Craigslist. Like, I mean, it's just crazy, like how long I've been working with the same people and how like in and out we know each other. And like Sarah do my pattern maker, he's like literally my brother. Like we're just like bigger and just like get each other in like the craziest most specific ways. It's like a mono brain. And then yeah, that girl that she was my C-O, she was with me for a while. And then she wanted to kind of leave and focus on our own stuff. But we're still working together.

Like she'll come in like multiple days a month and just like. like help with what she is best at. And I just feel like people, I'm so lucky that I feel that they want to be a part of it. It's such a positive energy. And it's just, it feels like that's not normal from what I hear about in the world. So I just feel it's hard to really, really lucky. It's not a joke. Yeah. I mean, it's all these personalities you're managing. It's a lot of emotional intelligence, I feel like. Yeah. And then your beautiful studio, I've never seen in person, but I'm going to. Oh my God. When are you visiting? I need to visit. I want to visit. I feel like if I feel like if go, I want to bring like my photographer because it's so airing. Make it a whole thing. Yeah.

Seriously. And same thing for Flutter. Yeah. Chris's new space. Tell us about Flutter. So Flutter is, I'm going to say it's fully, fully. It's all Chris's masterminding. It is just, I can't believe he pulled it off. And it's just what I've seen it go from, you know, nothing to what it is now, obviously in like a quite quick turnaround time. And it's, it's really exciting. So it's like, it's an immersive art experience where every room is basically an art installation that you can interact with. And like there's so many like tactile and different features to every room. And it's just, yeah, it's really exciting. So can that's his baby. So that's like really allowed him to be like that's good though. Even further apart from the day to day.

Got to have your own things. Yeah. So so. So Flutter is an art exhibit, but I feel like your studio or your office is an art exhibit too, the way it looks online. Well, we'll really. Reclassify. Yeah. I mean, it's, it's so beautiful. Yeah. Can you sort of speak, like, how did you, did you design that yourself? We had a space, um, a few blocks away. We consolidated everything last summer, end of last summer into this amazing, like, full floor of a building downtown. And, um, that's, like, the current loft, which is, like, above and beyond what our old loft was. And yeah, it's all just, like, things I love, like some random, like, marble table from a flea market or, um, we had someone come in and paint the wall behind the bed in February and just like,

because I was inspired when I saw these like cherry blossom paintings at this random Arabian viewers, dang it. Like just such random things like. I got to bring Weston into her. Like I'm telling you, it's the gnarliest thing. Michael needs to come too. Yeah. It's the most beautiful situation, Michael.

I'm on the way. Yeah. It's very, very good light to it. Can I tell you something? I want everyone to. Lauren is always the bog to the social situations because I'm, I'm like, yeah, let's go. And then she is the one that's kicking the can down the road and not getting her schedule in order.

Okay. I'm calling her out right now. Because I, you will relate to this. Taylor, back me up on that. I put so much energy towards creating every day that you get tired. We're just like overall exhausted constantly. He doesn't understand. It's a lot to just do anything, you guys.

I feel like I'm the one that catches going. I'm like, oh, Michael's not going to do that, but it's. No, I'm going to actually go and shoot at Flutter. Honestly, downtown's far. No, we'll come in. Oh, it's downtown. Yeah. Yeah, right.

Right. Once your morning routine, I know it's specific. Okay, so my morning, it's a, I feel like I basically, I'm not like not a morning person, not a night person. I feel like I love all times, but I feel like the mornings I really try to reserve for like just, you know, planning out my day, getting the energy correct, like literally taking my time. I make my husband breakfast every morning. It's disgusting Literally, like, I don't know why But my like housewife tendencies are there And I never knew that about me until I met Chris

Listen, this is going to be fucked up But it's, I think it's the Japanese side I think we I think Because my grandma every day I'll spoil it. She had to cook for me Even if I didn't want I'm like, listen grandma I can't eat, I'm completely full Had it be pancakes

Eggs, bacon, my sisters wake up She'd be like nope, not for you, for him I mean, yeah The way that my mom feeds him when we're visiting my parents. Oh, I'm telling you. Yeah, it might be in my blood, yeah. Asian grandmothers are the best. You cook your husband breakfast. Go on. I want to keep hearing. I do like, I don't know, I feel like having a house, there's so many little things like keep in order, like things I just am constantly learning about. Like right now, I feel like there's something living in my chimney. I don't

know what it is. I don't know how to figure out, like how to get it out. So that's like one of my projects right now. You need to hire a chimney sweep. No. Does that exist still? I don't know. Taylor? I have no clue. Taylor, Yelp, chimney sweep. Taylor's living in your fucking chimney.

Chimney sweep sounds like some sort of sex. Taylor's a you? Taylor's living in the chimney. But it's weird. So like literally I would like Google it and like, apparently if it's the sound is like not constant, it's like an animal is like denning. It's probably like a raccoon in there or something.

And it's babies. Yeah, they're nesting. It doesn't sound that big. I'm trying to like gauge the size of. Yeah. Anyway, so there's so many little things like that.

Have you lit the fire? So that's my morning routine. Wait, hold on. Have you lit the fire? We never use the fireplace. Come on. It's so bad for the environment. You might have to smoke that thing out.

What if there's like a human skeleton that comes falling down? You guys, I found this guy with like high reviews on Yelp and he's, I feel like he's gonna come fix that soon. That's Taylor's other job. What did you Google to find this guy? Like, Mary Poppins. Like, I need a guy to come over and clear some critters out of my chimney. Chimney issue.

But anyway, so I feel like, I don't know, just maintenance. You know, I take care of that stuff in the morning. that's a really specific and weird one. But yeah, there are a lot of little things like that. Who would have thought, Rumin Uliu's chimney sweeping in the morning? Your doorknob breaks. I don't know. These little things are happening to me all the time.

My doornaub breaks and I'm calling a task grab at on Michael's credit card. Thank God for my assistant. He figures it out. Here's an article. It says six things that you need to be aware of in case you need to hire a chimney sweep. Okay. I'll skip number one because it's boring. Number two, smelling a strong odor from a fireplace or chimney.

So does that happen? But that's like a dead body I'm thinking. Number three, noticing greasy black suit. Soot. You feel like you're describing yourself right now. Noticing a buildup of wood smoke while burning wood. This list is in divers. Having a damper that is in bad condition.

And then number six, this is probably more it goes. Hearing animals or birds inside the wall. Yeah, I think it's, I think it's birds, you guys. I'm chill with that. Taylor dropping it with the value today. Wow. People are taking notes. Tomorrow morning, you need to get up bright and early and get in our chimney and figure out what the house.

We don't have a chimney. We don't have a chimney. We don't have a fucking chimney. You know what that's true. I also don't have a bathtub. I want a chimney in a bathtub. You don't have a bathtub? No, it's so weird.

I talk about it every day. You guys. Devastating. I tell him this every day, so he's looking on. It's available. Yeah. Wallow in their own filth anyways and a bus like a cesspool of water. You for sure take that's all the time.

You know what? That is such an outdated. I take a shower before I get in the bath. Oh, of course. Because. Wait, Lauren, stop. Oh my God. Now you're the Chris.

Yeah. See. I don't. I don't take a shower. Taylor has a very valid point. Wait, but this is like the Japanese section. You ever wonder why the water, the water's blah? Yeah, in Japan, you have to be.

Oh my God. Have you guys even, like, mess around with the Japanese baths? They're insane. It's basically a whole, like, wet room. And, like, you have to shower. It was like, literally lost to shower. If you got in the bath without cleaning yourself first? It's like the weirdest thing.

Have you ever gone to Japan? Because we haven't. I lived there, yeah. You were up there. Yeah, when I was good. Yeah, we got to go. I want to go to Tokyo. And my whole, my mom.

mom, she has like zero family in America. Like her entire family is over there, her three sisters. And that's where you want the bus. Yes. Okay. Train. Train. Train. Maybe a helicopter. Don't do it like that. Bill Warren.

It's a train, right? Excuse me. Who gives a shit about the bus? The train. You guys need to go to Tokyo. It's just... I would love to go to... Wait, morning routine. Is there anything else? Green smoothie?

Yeah, what are you eating and drinking? I'm sure everyone wants to know that. Your body's banging. I'm... Sometimes I'm sneaking, like, Chris's vanilla protein, which is, like, disgusting. But I'm trying to, like, see if protein does anything. Good. The protein gross is down.

People are so with protein. I'm like, what? I never. Yeah, it's got to be a specific protein. Yeah. So the chalkiness is so present. There's a cookies and cream protein that I got once. Oh, it's so gross.

Oh, my God. Always go with chocolate. It's like when kids toothpaste tries to be, like, a flavor that's not mint. Yeah, no. I'm not doing the cookies and cream protein shake, Taylor. That doesn't sound. I feel like you're drinking that in the chimney. I had that same one.

It's disgusting. It's so gross. It literally looks like semen. It's a right of passage for them. It looks like semen. Okay. It's a powder, no? No, but once you add liquid to it,

then it just becomes as gelatinous. Am I going to have to turn your microphone? Your cookies and cream, protein powder looks like semen. He can literally take anything to that place. Yeah, he loves it. Yeah, it's jarring. He loves, he jarring is the word for him.

Oh my God, yes. Yeah, you should go. We decided Michael and I, we were bored the other day, and we scrolled all the way back to his Instagram to see like old photos. There is some creepy shit on that Instagram. My favorite photos, he was trying to woo this girl one time

and he had this like nice suit that he had. Taylor, you can feel afraid to jump in. But he did a selfie in the suit. But I knew what he was up to. And I called him out and I said, yo, are you only wearing the top half of the suit and not the pants? No, the real story is, you sensed it?

You sensed he was painless and you were correct. And I knew it. He was only, he was wearing no pants just for the selfie. He was pretending. like he went out on a Saturday night to make her jealous. Okay, did it work? No, I don't know it to be honest. No, it didn't work. That means no.

I knew he was sitting in his underpants playing video games, so I called him up. Yeah, I literally put the upper half of the suit on, had nothing on. It was just bare leg. You were bare, like, so he had no, I'm sure he had no boxers on, no pants, and he took a picture of himself in a suit. And his caption was going out for a fun raging Saturday night.

He knows it, too. That's why he's not saying anything. Wow. Oh, the effort. Yeah, the effort. We must admire the effort. Yeah, we must admire the effort. I don't think you can where are you on my, Taylor.

I don't think that's going to work out for you. Oh, the things that happen in the shadows. Okay. Okay. Book, podcast, resource that you can recommend the audience, website, Netflix special, anything that you're... I just like silly stuff. Like, I don't know.

I don't need to talk about Coles all the time. I just love, like, no, I don't watch that. I don't watch that. Okay. I literally just watch the office on Loop. I love the office. Like just back to season one every time. It's soothing for anxiety.

It's so good. But I don't know. Esther's podcast, soon to die, but still listen to it. Her in general. What else? You said a podcast earlier, but I didn't catch the name. It was a guy. Oh, Crystal.

It was a comedy podcast. Chris. That's hilarious. Okay, I got to listen to his podcast. I literally like die. Like how just his level of maniacal, like, like gleam in his eyes just makes himself laugh is the funniest thing. Those videos he creates on social where he puts his face over old movies is fucking hilarious too.

I've never heard it. Why haven't I heard of this person? No worry Lord. Oh, he's a San Diego basher. He hates performing there. Oh, San Diego basher. Yeah. I mean, you know, I love San Diego, but I like, you know. No, I love San Diego.

They're just, they just need to up their presentation. But like you have to love that. It's like an endearing quality. They have better beaches. Yeah. The beach setup is so good. The beach setup is good. The beach is there good.

Yeah, you get some space over there. You feel like you have a little bit of room. Taylor lives in San Diego. It's a wholesome place. The Mexican food is definitely better. Mexican food's way better. Taylor lives in a chimney without pants wearing a blazer in San Diego. And pronounces it suit.

Moonlight as a chimney sweeper. I was going to say sweeper. There's a special outfit for that, I think. Yeah. Taylor probably has it. It's that big top hat. It's a cropped pant maybe. Oh, damn.

Yeah. Okay. Taylor. Thank you for coming on. Where can everyone find you and your brand? I'm at Rumi Neely and my brands at RU-M-I and R-U-M-I.com. Spell your brand though because it's spelled specifically. It is. Okay, so it's a play in my name if you didn't figure that out yet.

And it is A-R-E-Y-O-U-A-M-I. You guys, it's so cute. And so many of my Instagrams I'm wearing it, I love her stuff and it's really great for basics. You look insane in it. It's sick. Your stuff is major. You need the new pieces. All your stuff is major.

There's so much new craziness. No, you sent me so many nice things. things. I mean, honestly, I like, out of all the brands that I have to tell you, it's, I'm serious. Thank you so much more. And you're wearing a top, I think, right now. By, okay. Most of the sleeve. Off the shoulder. I feel like people are going to ask me so you have to tell me which one this is before you go. Oh, it's gone. It's so good. Yeah. Thank you for coming on. You're amazing. You're an inspiration. Thank you so much, guys. Thanks for doing this. It's fun. That is a wrap on Rumi's episode. She can come back anytime and talk biz. Also,

want to remind you the gifting campaign that's on my latest Instagram. It's a million pink things, a YSL bag, the one that I wore in France. It's completely curated by me. You even have a pink lemon, orange lime juicer. You could make margaritas with it. It's smeg. There is so much cute stuff. You even win a MacBook. Takes five seconds to enter. Go check out my latest Instagram at the Skinny Confidential. And with that, we'll see you guys on Friday. This episode is brought to by Skillshare. Skillshare is an online learning space offering more than 20,000 courses. I'm currently using the platform to learn a bunch of different skills that we have talked about many times on this show. This is a tool for brands and individuals to acquire new skills or take novice skills to an expert level.

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