The Skinny Confidential Him & Her Podcast - Meredith Marks On Housewives Of SLC, BTS Filming, Marriage, Beauty Tips & Tricks, Business, & Life

Episode Date: April 19, 2021

#349: On today's episode we are joined by RHOSLC break out star Meredith Marks. Meredith joins the show to discuss her journey as a new reality star. What it's like behind the scenes and adjusting to ...life in the public eye, and how it can impact relationships. We also discuss beauty tips and tricks, business, life, and more.  To connect with Meredith Marks 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 The Skinny Confidential  The Hot Mess Ice Roller is here to help you contour, tighten, and de-puff your facial skin and It's paired alongside the Ice Queen Facial Oil which is packed with anti-oxidants that penetrates quickly to help hydrate, firm, and reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, leaving skin soft and supple. To check them out visit www.shopskinnyconfidential.com now.  This episode is brought to you by HUSH Hush is on a mission to help people around the world relax with ease and fall asleep faster whenever they wish. We love the lunar grey throw. It's the perfect weighted blanked to help melt away anxiety and sleep better. Hush also has an amazing give back program where they donate 1 in 10 adult blankets and 1 in 5 kids blankets to charities and shelters in need. You also have a 100 night money back guarantee . Visit https://hushblankets.com/ and use code SKINNY for 10% off all items! This episode is brought to you by BETABRAND and their Betabrand dress pant yoga pants. To try these pants go to betabrand.com/skinny and receive 20% off your order. Millions of women agree these are the most comfortable pants you’ll ever wear to work.  This episode is brought to you by Policy Genius  Spring is springing as we speak, and it’s the perfect reminder to tidy up and get your life in order. Why not start by protec6ng your family with life insurance? Policy Genius makes it easy to compare policies from as little as 15 dollars a month. You might even be eligible to skip the in-person medical exam. Go to www.policygenius.com to get started! Produced by Dear Media 

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Starting point is 00:01:16 woo more play.com and use code tits and ass for 20% off. Enjoy. 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.
Starting point is 00:01:42 And I just sort of was like, well, I'll and if they like it they like it if they don't they don't and that's fine I'm okay with that and that's why I think that my um way of approaching this was probably from what I understand and I still haven't gone back and watched every house wise obviously but from what I understand the way I approached it was very very different from how people have done that in the past and it's because I I didn't really know any different and I just was myself hello the episode you have all been waiting for I've been waiting for this I'm gonna go back and listen because I love this episode so much we are recording live from Salt Lake City, Utah with the one, the only Meredith Marks. She is so major, you guys. She is such a boss. She has shopmeredithmarks.com. She has a brick and mortar in Park City. She has three kids. She's been married to her husband,
Starting point is 00:02:38 Seth Marks, since 1996. And we had the pleasure of not only interviewing her for two hours, we also got to go to dinner and drinks with her and her husband. And we met her kids, which was so major. That was a wild dinner. I mean, we sat down there at like, what, 8, 830? Hopefully it doesn't put anyone on blast. And like, next thing we knew, we all looked at the clock and it was like two in the morning. And mind you, this is sitting in a restaurant in Salt Lake City, Utah, or actually we were in Park City. But time flies when you're with Meredith Marks, apparently. No, it does because she's so interesting and there's so many dynamics and she has so many different layers.
Starting point is 00:03:11 And then her husband is also so outgoing and so funny and he brings it. I mean, we had some fun. Seth, if you're listening to this, when are we investing in Powder Mountain? I know. Seth, we want to invest in Powder Mountain. I feel like we need to bring on Seth to discuss that. Also, for people that are wondering what the hell that is, that's an actual mountain in Utah near Salt Lake City. So don't get any ideas. It's not what you're thinking. It is an actual place called
Starting point is 00:03:34 Powder Mountain. It's an up-and-coming ski resort. And I think Seth and I were going in on a couple of ski properties there. Here's the thing I have to say about Meredith Marks. First of all, the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City has been such a hit, which is so impressive because normally it takes a couple seasons for you to get really invested in housewives. But with Utah, I immediately was drawn to Meredith. This one sucked me right in. Yeah. Honestly, if you have not watched Real Housewives of Salt Lake City. You are missing out. Like grab some popcorn, get some tea, like stick your pinky up. It will be erect the whole time. I am telling you, it brings the tea.
Starting point is 00:04:13 I don't know what you're talking about with erect pinkies, but- Like you're erect pinky when you're drinking tea. I always put my pinky up. Oh, I get it. You're saying holding the cup of tea. Don't get any ideas, Michael. Nothing's erect besides my pinky. You're not doing a very good clarifying today.
Starting point is 00:04:24 Okay, so this comes out with such a bang it's so amazing how we don't have really any context of the housewives with this season and everyone's obsessed it's been a hit even andy cohen is obsessed so i'm telling you i think you're really going to love meredith she has a very dynamic life she's very open open. She is so classy, so chic. With that, let's welcome Meredith Marks to the Skinny Confidential Him and Her podcast. This is the Skinny Confidential Him and Her. We have Meredith Marks in studio, not in studio. This makeshift studio that I probably fucked up.
Starting point is 00:05:03 Makeshift studio. It'll be all right. At least you have a diva light. I am so excited because you're one of my favorite housewives for multiple reasons, which we'll get into. But first, I want to go way back, way back before housewives and talk about your childhood and how you grew up and what your family life was like. So I grew up in Chicago, downtown on Oak Street and Lakeshore Drive in the heart of the city. And it was different. When I moved to Park City, it was the first time I had lived outside of a city. I'd never lived in a suburb. I had always lived predominantly high rise, but city
Starting point is 00:05:41 living. We did live in homes at some points as well. And I went to a small school in downtown Chicago. My parents were divorced when I was pretty young and I was with my mom and with my dad on the weekends. Times were very different then, especially in Chicago. The city was very different. It was like a very small little space that was sort of your safe zone. And it just was totally, totally different than what it's like now. I actually started in high school. I had like a very strong interest in photography and started taking some more arts classes. And that's sort of eventually what led me into jewelry was my interest in the arts when I was growing up. And also, of course, my mother's jewelry always sparked right at me.
Starting point is 00:06:28 When you say it was different, you just mean it was safer to be outside? No, actually, quite the opposite. I mean, when I was young, there are areas in Chicago that we go to all the time now that you just would never walk in prior to maybe the last 10, 15 years. So the city was just very small because most people at that time were moving to the suburbs. It was just very different. It was much less common to raise your children in the city. And so for the time that I grew up, a pretty unusual upbringing from that point of view. It's sort of like, I feel like it's for the last 15, 20 years,
Starting point is 00:07:06 it's been on trend for people to stay in the city, raise their kids in the city up until this past year and a half with COVID. Now the trend has started to reverse and more people are moving to the suburbs again. Things are changing, moving away from these very city-centric family lifestyles. And so when I was a child, that was really much more of the norm was growing up in the suburbs. And I never had that experience. And even up until we moved to Park City 10 years ago, I had never lived in a suburb in my life. And Park City, I don't even really consider a suburb. I consider it a resort town. So it's different, but it was cool. Chicago was just different than it is now.
Starting point is 00:07:50 I love Chicago. It's amazing, but I love Park City. So how did you meet your husband? Is this simultaneously as you're designing jewelry? No. So I met my husband when I was in my early 20s. We were set up on a blind date. He had met a friend of mine out one night and saw a picture of the two of us together and was like, oh, who's that? And she's like, oh, that's my friend, Meredith. I'll introduce you. And she called me the next day and she's like, oh, I met this great guy and starts telling me all about how great he is, this, that, and the other. And I was like, oh, set me up. And she's like, well, I kind of like him. She didn't tell me that he wanted to go out with me. That's a big mistake that people make is they rave about how great someone is,
Starting point is 00:08:31 and then they lose that person. Exactly. Except the story goes, I turned to her and said, but wait, you have a boyfriend. She said, oh, yeah, you're right. Okay, I'll set you up. I was in business school at the time. We were on like a school trip to South America. So I was leaving town for about a month and she made a date while I was gone for several weeks later when I was back in town. I got back, the day rolls around. She called me up. In the meantime, she had broken up with this guy. She had been dating. So we were now going to go on a double date with a friend of Seth's and this woman as well. And she was like, well, I haven't heard from Seth. I don't know what's going on.
Starting point is 00:09:12 I'm like, okay, well, do you want to just blow it off or whatever? She's like, no, I'll give him a call. I'm like, fine, go ahead, whatever you want. And she said, well, I just spoke to him. And this is the year Michael Jordan just came back to the Bulls. It was a very big ticket. And he Jordan just came back to the Bulls. It was a very big ticket. And he says he's going to the Bulls game and that he'd meet us for a drink after. And I said, well, I'm not interested. Sorry. No. We planned this date a month ago. I'm not
Starting point is 00:09:40 interested in meeting him for a drink after the Bulls game, you know, whatever. So I said, why don't you just tell him I'm sorry that tonight's too inconvenient. Perhaps he'd like to make it another time. So she does. And he's like, well, do you girls want to go to the Bulls game? So now I'm just like being a bitch. I'm like, let's call him out. It's the hardest ticket to get in town at this point. So I'm like, sure, let's go.
Starting point is 00:10:04 And sure enough, he did get tickets. He had two sets of two. We're sitting in two different places. And he was a gentleman. He gave me and my girlfriend the good seats for the first half, and then he sat down with me in the good seats for the second half. And what happened, and the reason why he was so torn about going was he had started dating somebody else while I was in South America, and he felt uncomfortable. He told me that after our first date and told me, he said, you know, I started dating somebody else, and that's why I don't want to go, whatever, but I think I like you better. What should I do? I go, well, I don't know. Figure that one out on your own and let me know when you figured it out. So he broke up with this other woman and that was
Starting point is 00:10:52 that. So is it love at first sight, you guys moving together quick or was it more slow? It was pretty quick. I mean, we met, we were engaged a year later and married six months after that and then had our first child right after that. It was just like, boom, boom, boom. You know, met at 23, married at 24, baby at 25, baby at 27, baby at 29. It just was like super fast. And you said on the show, you said that maybe being so fast and you so young later, you like were looking back and you so young later, you were looking
Starting point is 00:11:25 back and you maybe felt like you needed to separate because you were together so young and it went so quick. It's really interesting because at this point now, I have adult children and they have boyfriends and girlfriends. And for whatever reason, my kids like these long-term relationships. One met in high school, another met in college, whatever. And I talk about it all the time because you worry when somebody meets really young and you think that they're going to get married to each other, you start to get worried
Starting point is 00:11:55 while they have a chance to see what else is in the world. Not that it's necessarily any better, but they need to know that. And I think that for Seth and I, it was like, it's not that we didn't know that. I met Seth and I thought he was incredible. And yes, it was 100% love at first sight. And it went very quickly. And I married him and I thought I really knew everything about him. And I woke up one day and I realized, I'm like, okay, I really didn't know very much about him at all. I just got lucky because he was a kinder person than I ever thought. And it could have gone the other way.
Starting point is 00:12:32 I got very, very lucky. And so I think for us, we just needed a moment to step back and recognize what we really do have and focus on that rather than wondering, did I miss something? Because there's always something else. Yeah. I think it's similar, but different timeframe. Lauren and I met when we were 12, right? And we started dating at that age, but we broke up. We weren't together all through high school and all through college. A lot of people think we've been together that whole time, but we separated. And yes, we experienced other things in the world, to say. Things in the world.
Starting point is 00:13:11 Other experiences. But I think about it all the time because if we would have tried to go the whole way through, I don't think we would work out because you would wonder and you start to think like, okay, what else or what if? And now we don't have those questions. 12 is like, I can't be with you since I was 12. No, no, no. But like, come on, that's not realistic. No, but I think it's important because some people, if your kids are dating since high school and college, we had a similar experience, but we kind of went off our separate ways, lived in separate cities, had separate lives for a while and then came back. And since we got back together, we've been rock solid.
Starting point is 00:13:42 Right. So I have a question since I just had a baby and it's hard to make time for each other. You had three kind of back to back. Like, how did that go? Are you glad you just did three and got it? I don't want to say done with, but like, should I just have the amount of kids I want in a row or should I take my time and space it out? Looking back, what do you think about that? So that's interesting. And that's, again, it's another factor that contributed to Seth and I really needing that separation was you have children, which is incredible.
Starting point is 00:14:18 It's amazing. It's probably one of the most incredible life experiences there is. But they require a lot of time and attention and your dynamic in your marriage completely shifts because what was so important was the other partner and it suddenly becomes the child. And the focus goes away from the partner and it goes on to the child. And that's just human nature. And taking the time to make sure you make time for one another is really important. Seth and I failed on that many, many, many times. We got very, very focused on our children and just sort of like almost lost sight of one another and didn't even like you wake up one day and you're like,
Starting point is 00:15:06 I don't even know if I know you anymore. I mean, obviously you're the same person and whatever, but you sort of just find this disconnect. And so I do think it's helpful to have kids back to back because I believe, at least for me, once I was out of that phase, there's no that I allowed my focus to shift from my marriage completely. And I allowed Seth to do the same thing. And I hold both of us fully responsible for that. You both have to look at one another and we all have positive and negative times. And when you see someone going down this negative path, you've got to rein them in, your partners together. And that's what's important is to stay there and be supportive and focused and make sure you're still very in touch and aware of what's going on with one another, even though the reality is the kids take over on your focus.
Starting point is 00:16:19 It's huge. If you were to go back and tell your younger self Some tools and tactics and maybe habits that you would do in your marriage What would those be like with all the wisdom that you know now and you have been so open and I think it's so refreshing because So many times housewives come on and they say everything's perfect and dandy and then they get divorced So if you had to go back and tell yourself the tools, what would those be? Oh, hey, guess what I am wearing right now as I podcast from home. If you guessed beta brands, dress pant, yoga pants, you are correct. They are so comfortable that I just took A hour walk while I did my conference calls came back and now i'm sitting in bed podcasting wearing them They're that comfortable. I also feel like they lift the ass, which is great, too So i'm looking chic while also being comfortable i'm telling you guys they're as comfortable as pajamas, but they look professional Which is exactly the vibe that we are all going
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Starting point is 00:18:16 I have always been a fan of the skinny. I just ordered the boot cut and I'm loving that too. They launch new styles weekly. And right now, all skinny confidential, him and her listeners get 25% off your first order. All you have to do is go to beta brand.com slash skinny. That's 25% off your first order for a limited time at beta brand.com slash skinny. Find out why women are buying five different pairs of these pants. You're going to go to beta brand.com slash skinny for 25% off. Enjoy. So the first thing would be making sure that you make the time individually one-on-one together.
Starting point is 00:19:00 For Seth and I, it was like we were always always either, you know, obviously working, but when we would, you know, dinner time is sort of our time together. And it sort of became, well, are we having dinner with the kids tonight? Are we taking them out? Are we having dinner at home with them? Or are we going out with another couple or a bunch of other couples? So, you know, it just would depend. We were barely ever together.
Starting point is 00:19:23 And I mean, we were together, but not connected. Yeah. And even when we were alone and connected, it's like on the phone, Instagram, this, that be that long, half hour, whatever it may be, but where you're actually focused on one another, where you're communicating, where you are talking to each other about things that aren't related necessarily to your children and that are about you. And I think that is really the key is that you stay in touch. I mean, as you probably know, Seth and I have very different views. Like he would, he all the time would be like, here, you want to know what's going on in my life? Take my phone and read it. And obviously, you know, I don't like for him to read my phone because I feel like people
Starting point is 00:20:17 send me text messages that are sent to me, not to him. And I think that's like very invasive of somebody else's privacy. That is a problem. When he's saying to me, well, read my phone to know what's happening in my life, that doesn't work. You have to talk, you have to communicate, you have to really stay in touch with one another by talking and not by, oh, read my phone or, oh, you can see my podcast today or whatever. It's important. And that was actually something that the show was really, really positive for us with is it forces communication. There is no sweeping it under the rug. There is no running away. You don't have a choice, whether it's your marriage or your friendship or whatever else you're, you're constantly learning new information that's being thrown at you and you have to
Starting point is 00:21:09 address it. And I was very good at ignoring and swooping things under the rug and you can. So is that therapeutic looking back on it? Like when you look back on the show and what you like it did for your marriage or your friendships in the moment where you frustrated and now you feel it's therapeutic or how does that work? Yeah. Um. So I always call it, I always say it's like glam therapy because you're talking and you are digging and you are analyzing yourself and analyzing the way you behave towards others, the way you react, the way you, you know, anything, communicate. And you're very, very in touch with everything you're saying and doing because you can't ignore the reactions.
Starting point is 00:21:50 Like, you can't get away from it. In real life, you can go hide out wherever. There's no escape. You're talking about all this, you're analyzing it, but it's like glam therapy because it is the most public thing under the sun. You know, it's not confidential. There's no privacy to it. And in fact, there's a lot of judgment that comes with it because everyone in the public
Starting point is 00:22:13 eye is looking at you and they're formulating their own opinions on you and they don't even know you and they have glimpses and that's it. We get it. Yeah. I was going to ask you, how have you dealt with not you know coming into the public eye so quickly obviously in a platform
Starting point is 00:22:28 like Housewives everyone's watching how have you dealt with that you know maybe before you had a more private life now I imagine
Starting point is 00:22:35 especially in the city people coming up to you obviously commenting on your life your marriage like how do you handle that
Starting point is 00:22:40 well it's interesting because of COVID it's probably been like a little bit easier because rather than diving in head first it's like i got to like not online though in the water you got every troll in a basement ready to go on their phone so maybe in public but i would assume online it's brutal yeah it was probably worse online just because everybody was online during covid and kind of like not out and about. And yeah, you get a lot of haters and trolls who
Starting point is 00:23:06 have mean things to say, and that's fine. Everyone's entitled to their opinion. Again, like I said, you don't know me. You know things about me and you're entitled to your opinions on those things. And that's fine. I'm okay with people who don't like me. That's okay. You don't have to. And in person, it's been relatively easy because of COVID. Life is not that abnormal. It's just really busy. Yeah. And I also feel like in person, what people will say online is much different than what they would say when they're actually face to face. I will say though, out of all the housewives, I haven't seen you get a lot of hate from my
Starting point is 00:23:51 perspective. And as a housewives fan, I feel like you really handled yourself very well on the show. And I think people related to you opening up. And I feel like you were a fan favorite. Thank you. I appreciate that. I mean, I haven't seen a lot of hate to you at all. I definitely got some. I mean, it wasn't horrible, but there were moments that were worse than others. There was the hardest part for me was really after episode three, when all the drama stemmed between Brooks and Jen.
Starting point is 00:24:22 And again, everybody doesn't, they see a little glimpse. They don't know the whole story. They don't see everything. And some of Jen's hardcore stands were very cruel to Brooks. And that was very, very hard on me. That was like super distressing. I mean, I'm like going to cry thinking about it. And it was really stressful because there's nothing worse. It's your kid. Yes. It's your child and you know who they are and you know what their intentions are. And he's, yes, he's an adult. He is 21 years old, but in my view, he's a child. He's always going to be my baby. Oh, I'm going to jail if anyone says anything about my dad. I 100% know. Like I'm not going to, I think also, and I watch when Lauren watches, you can't turn away from.
Starting point is 00:25:03 Don't say I watch when Lauren watches. That's such a cop out. I do. I do. You can leave the room. Your eyes are on the TV when I turn on Housewives. I didn't want that to... I mean, I'm not tuning... If I'm not with her, I'm not diving in, but I watch every time it's on. So I'm well aware of what's going on in the show. And you come off as somebody that's very thoughtful, intentional, and logical with your responses. And I feel like when you speak, people listen, or at least that's how it came off on the show. And I think that's very thoughtful, intentional, and logical with your responses. And I feel like when you speak, people listen, or at least that's how it came off on the show, right? And I think that's
Starting point is 00:25:29 maybe why you don't catch so much flack because you're not just flailing about just saying anything that pops into your head. At least that's how I feel about what I saw. Overall, I am a pretty emotionally controlled person. I mean, I'm human. You don't seem like you lose it. I do, just not that often and not as often as some of my castmates. I guess I'm comparing it to that. Right. Relatively speaking, no, I don't. But yeah, I actually, to me, words are very powerful. They have a lot of meaning. I mean, my background is in law. Words
Starting point is 00:26:05 are everything. And so I probably tend to think my thoughts through a little bit more before I vocalize them. I mean, if you notice, I'm probably a little bit quieter than most of my castmates a lot of the time. But you're not like a meager mouse though. No, I'm not at all. But I like to listen, assess, and then speak. Which some people are quiet and they're quiet because they're like a meager mouse. That's not how you come off. You come off as someone that's, like I said, thoughtful and intentional before you speak. Correct.
Starting point is 00:26:32 I mean, I'm highly opinionated, but I like to make sure I understand what's happening before I express my opinions. I'm human. Look, you'll see. I have emotions. I have bad times in my life. Just a couple months ago, I lost my father. I had a lot of emotional outbursts those first few weeks.
Starting point is 00:26:53 It was really hard. I was very easily triggered and set off by things because I was having a hard time. And we're all human. But I do try. That's correct. I really try. I started to hear about your father. Yeah, so am I.
Starting point is 00:27:03 Thank you. Yeah. I want to know if there's a reason that you are emotionally controlled. Is it from, like you mentioned law, or do you practice stoicism? Is there something that you do in the morning? What are the routines that you do to keep you even keeled? This is such a cool concept, you guys. Policy genius. What it does is it helps you compare top insurers in one place and you save 50% or more. This is something that before I had a child, I didn't put a lot of thought into, but now that I have Zaza, I really think about this a lot. And I want to make sure I'm protecting my family with life insurance. So when they came to us to partner, I was so on board because this is something that I
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Starting point is 00:28:57 at a life insurance policy, definitely look at term life, especially if you're younger, long-term disability, long-term care, identity theft, umbrella insurance. These are all things you can compare. I know I just threw a lot at you, but there's a lot to look at with insurance and PolicyGenius can definitely help you do so. PolicyGenius can promise that you won't leave their website feeling like a fool. It's extremely easy to use and understand, and you can start now. So you're going to go to PolicyGenius.com to get started. That's PolicyGenius.com. PolicyGenius, when it comes to insurance, it's nice to get it right. I'm telling you, tell all your friends about this. This is important.
Starting point is 00:29:35 Yeah, obviously taking care of myself is the most important thing. I feel like when we're all like run down and exhausted and everybody is more easily set off and triggered by things. So, I mean, just the basics, obviously sleeping and eating good food and whatever else, but also having fun. I think like all the, like it's all a balance, you know? And it's like, if you're going to go out every night until 5am, okay, you're going to feel like shit and you're, you're going to be easily set off and whatever else. But if you don't ever go out, you're not going to have a lot of fun. You're going to be very cantankerous.
Starting point is 00:30:10 So it's balance, I think, on everything, whether it's fitness, whether it's what you eat and what you drink and sleep and just having a balanced life, finding positivity, focusing on positivity, trying to take the negative situations and spin them towards a positive side. It's like for me, I look at COVID. It saved my marriage. I look at what happened, housewives coupled with COVID, I would say saved my marriage. That's a positive. I look at how I focused on my online business and grew that. You know, so I try to stay away from the negativity, stay focused on the positive side of things,
Starting point is 00:30:54 and try not to speak until I really understand what's going on. Because that's the whole thing. When you only have half of the story, it's really easy to get really, really angry. But if you can try to ask more questions before you speak and ask like, well, why did you do this? What was the motivation behind the behavior? It's easier to stay calm because you realize that it's just another human being struggling with their own problems, trying to work through them. And yeah, sometimes you cannot coexist and that's fine, but it also doesn't mean that you have to destroy each other. There's balance.
Starting point is 00:31:33 What you said about having a positive mindset in COVID, we've talked about so much. It is mindset. You can look at this as all the negative or you can focus on the positive and what it's done. And that's so smart that you say it's helped grow your online business and your marriage. I think that it is so important to attack any kind of adversity like that. You have to have a mindset shift or else you can just think about all the miserable things. 100%. And there is always another way to look at it. I look at my separation. Was it really hard and awful? Yes, of course it was, but I wouldn't be where I am right now without having gone through
Starting point is 00:32:09 those times. And so it's just a matter of finding the bright spots in adversity and trying to understand where people are coming from before you let your emotions get the best of you and get that angry at them. And realizing that it's okay, that sometimes you're just not going to work it out and you shouldn't be friends or you shouldn't be married or you shouldn't be whatever the dynamic is in the relationship. And that's okay too. It's a matter of keeping enough control over the situation and yourself that you don't take it to a level where it just gets vicious, mean, and ugly. I feel like separating from your significant other would help weed out who the toxic friends are. Because the ones that are going to talk behind your back, bye,
Starting point is 00:32:53 and the ones that are actually there for you, you can double down on that. I completely agree with that. I think you learn so much about people through situations like that when you're separated to see who stands by you. Just watching how people treat someone who they don't stand something to gain from. That to me is the most telling thing about somebody's character. And so if they think, oh, well, we were friends as couples and so I no longer, and they turn on you, okay, that's not your friend. If they're rude to the busboy in the restaurant, that shows something about who they are.
Starting point is 00:33:30 That's a big thing. Yeah, it shows a lot. And so to me, I try to watch those things or if you're in the same company and you think the person's getting fired and suddenly you're not interested anymore or whatever. That kind of stuff is very telling about loyalty. It's very telling about character. And those are the things I try to watch for when I'm reading people. I'm very into energy from people and usually I'm good at it. I found that when I don't follow my instincts, I get burned. Yeah. I think the best people are the ones that just give, give, give without expectation, right? And those are the people you want to be closest to.
Starting point is 00:34:10 And the people that, we all know those people, you meet them and it's like, you could just tell they're there for something. Stop giving with an ask. Yeah. In order to interact, you need to give them something. It's like immediately you should cut those people. Yeah. And that's like the thing.
Starting point is 00:34:21 I remember, and that was something my sister was always so good at telling me too. I'd be like, for years, I would say stuff like, well, I was thinking about doing whatever for so-and-so. And she's like, so do it. And I would be like, well, I don't think they'd do that for me. And she'd be like, Meredith, you don't do something for somebody because you're looking for something in return.
Starting point is 00:34:39 You do it because you want to do it. And that is the bottom line, you know, on everything. And that was like one of her best lessons to me. I love that. I love your sister. Thanks, Myra. Thanks, Myra. I want to talk about your business. So you mentioned law. So you did law and jewelry designing. And then how did that turn into Shop Meredith Marks online and in Park City or Salt Lake? Park City. Park City. Yeah. Okay.
Starting point is 00:35:06 I, well, I went straight from undergrad into law school. And then my first, after my first semester of law school, I figured, I love like the law and theory. I think it's super, super interesting, but in practice, not as much. And I sort of thought, I doubt I'm really going to do this. So after my first semester, I applied to'm really going to do this. So after my first semester, I applied to the business school to do a joint degree. And I did both of those. I had started undergrad as a fine arts major, switched out because I didn't think I'd be able to earn a living.
Starting point is 00:35:35 Seth is loving this. He's loving all these smarts and the creativity. I bet he was just chasing after you. He did love that. If Lauren had a law degree, I would bail out. I'd be like, this is too sketchy for me. It's too intense. I couldn't do it. I'd be like, I got to go. I'm busy now. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:35:53 So I was in graduate school and I finished. And during the time I was in school, we had opened a health club that was very much focused on Pilates and gyrotoxics, yoga, more alternative stuff. And I was in real estate development. And then I was mugged one morning after I dropped the kids off at school at 9 a.m. Where was this? In Chicago on Dearborn Street. If you know Chicago, it is the 1400 block. It's about as safe as it gets. It's like a very out of the blue kind of
Starting point is 00:36:25 thing. And it was very aggressive. The man was dragging me across the street by my handbag. And the whole thing was just traumatizing. And I had loved jewelry. My passion was always in jewelry from the time I was like a child playing with my mom's stuff. And it was like a wake-up call. I thought, you know what? I have three small children. I am literally on the phone with contractors on these real estate development projects all day and night. I'm not focused. I'm not present at all. And I don't want to do this anymore. And I sold everything. And I was done. As is condition, I was just like, I am out, which was a blessing in disguise because within months, the whole real estate market completely crashed and I would have lost everything. So I'd like to say it was my genius foresight, but it was not. It was just the luck of the draw. And so then I took some time off. I was at home with the kids and it was day trading, to be honest, because I'm very restless. I don't
Starting point is 00:37:25 sit still very well. Very entrepreneurial. Yes, I'm very entrepreneurial. It's sort of like it's a bit of an illness. Day trading is a dicey game. Yeah. Well, and back then it was like insanity, but it was wild. It was so wild. And the metal markets were completely out of control and everything was just unglued, basically. And I thought, well, I've always loved jewelry. It's one of the most competitive spaces to go into. But right now, I'm sure everybody needs the business. This is a time where they'll work with the little guy. And so I dove in headfirst. My husband said that he had a business trip to
Starting point is 00:38:07 Hong Kong and to India. And I knew a lot of the stones were sourced there, a lot of the production is done there. So I said, you know what? I'm coming with you. I took some GIA classes, Gemological Institute of America. And I went and I started learning and that was it. And I came, I actually did my first trunk show. A friend of mine hosted it for me in her apartment. It was in, I mean, the height of the recession. Everyone thought I was completely insane. And all I did was I bought jewelry on this trip that I liked. I didn't design anything. I just wanted to see if the market would sustain it at this point. And I also took orders on everything so that I could try out different manufacturers. But if it didn't work out, I had the original piece to fill the order.
Starting point is 00:38:55 So I was able to test the waters basically that way. And that was that. And then we moved to Park City about 10 years ago, full-time. We were here for a few years and then we went part-time. My husband took a position as an executive at overstock.com, which is based in Salt Lake. And so that's what prompted us to move here. And he does liquidations, turnarounds, distress situations. And is he still going back to Ohio or does he work here primarily? No, neither, to answer you. He bounces around quite a bit because he deals with distress situations. So the goal is to help fix it and move on. I imagine there's a lot of distress situations right now.
Starting point is 00:39:38 Well, what's interesting too, though, is he deals with all these consumer product inventories and whether it's excess or people going out of business or whatever it may be and initially it was insane i mean he was just slammed with so much business and then no one had inventory anymore yeah because everything was shut down so nobody was producing and now that, that's, it's interesting because it's, That was a shortage. Yeah, it's hard.
Starting point is 00:40:06 It's hard to get things made right now. Yeah, for manufacturers and the lead times are crazy and things are getting stopped. Chinese New Year just happened. Yeah. A bunch of stuff.
Starting point is 00:40:13 Yeah. That's tough. So, when you, coming from Chicago to Park City, how was, like,
Starting point is 00:40:20 that's a different culture. How did, in the beginning, what, how did you feel about it? You know, Lauren, I'm feeling extra anxious right now. And let me tell you why I was carrying all the podcast equipment down the stairs, all the mics, all these boom stands, the, you know, the zoom, everything to record this and these intros and these pickups. And you heard that loud crash. That's because I ate shit and fell down the stairs and I'm feeling extremely anxious about it now, which means I need just
Starting point is 00:40:48 want to curl up, get in bed with my hush blanket and just forget today ever happened. Honestly, if you're anxious, I am telling you a weighted blanket is the cure. It's my favorite thing to do. What I do is I get into bed. I dim the lights, I turn my red light on, I put my star projector on and I go under my hush blanket. And I am telling you, this weighted blanket is unlike anything. The inside of the blanket's non-toxic glass sand, which adds weight and flexibility and wraps around you in this warm embrace. It's like a hug from grandma that you needed.
Starting point is 00:41:22 And the weight just makes you feel so much less anxious. I know I'm not crazy too, because my sister Mimi is obsessed. She swears by this. What's cool about Hush too is that they have a hundred nights to test your blanket. So if you don't love it, you can send it back for a full refund. No questions asked. If you feel like it's too heavy or too light, you can exchange sizes. They're really great about that. They have a return and exchange process that's super seamless and easy. And then they also have this give back program. So they donate one in 10 adult blankets and one in five kids blankets to charity and shelters in need. I am such a fan of Hush. If you're going to start with one of the blankets, I would recommend getting their classic
Starting point is 00:42:00 weighted blanket. In my opinion, it is just the best. It comes in four different sizes and six different weights. I like intense. I like big. I like heavy. The one that we have is the gray. You've probably seen it on my Instagram story. I am telling you, if you are an anxious person, you have to try it. Hush is a really amazing sleep brand and they are going to give you a 10% off all items. They basically have everything that you need to get the sleep you deserve. You're going to use code skinny for 10% off all items. That's code skinny for 10% off all items. Go to hushblankets.com and shop the classic blanket. You're going to love it. That's hushblankets.com. Use code skinny for 10% off. So it was really strange at first. I mean, first of all, change from city to resort.
Starting point is 00:42:52 Is this more of a seasonal place? I mean, I imagine winter is obviously slam summer, but does it spring, fall, does it get slow? Yeah. Those are considered the shoulder seasons. And yes, it does slow down. The fall is actually really lovely here. It's beautiful. The leaves change. It's pretty. And hopefully you don't have a super cold fall and it's really very nice. Spring, not so much. I mean, we're going into the last few weeks of pretty white snow out there and then you get into mud season and it's not my favorite time to be here at all. But yeah, it is very strange going from a major city to a resort town that part of the year there aren't people here. That was a very big concern when we first moved here. I wanted to make sure we moved into a community where there
Starting point is 00:43:36 were people who lived year round because I didn't want my kids to feel like they were living in a ghost town. But now it's like more and more people are just coming here. It's crazy. I mean, I have so many friends from New York, LA, Texas that have relocated here permanently. So when did you decide to open your shop? When did you be like, oh my God, I need a brick and mortar here? And then when did you take it online? Was it during COVID or was it simultaneously? Yeah. So online, I started a long time ago. I mean, we've had our website up for a long time, but did not do a huge online business because jewelry is a little bit trickier online. People want to, you're dealing with natural resources and people want to see the quality and whatever else. So I had started it prior to ever having brick and mortar even, but it was much, much slower than it is now. And the store I opened about two and a half years ago,
Starting point is 00:44:37 I had been looking for a space for probably four or five years before that. Wow. Park City is very, very small. And Main Street is what? Eight blocks long or something? I mean, I don't know. Maybe I'm slightly off. I've never been. I have to go.
Starting point is 00:44:57 I want to come see the store. I have to come. We just got here yesterday. It's probably been 15, 20 years since I've been here. I used to come with my dad all the time. He actually used to build stuff around here. But it's been 20 years. When I got there, I was like, oh, this feels much smaller than I remember. Because when I was a kid, I was like, this place is massive. So how did you find your place after four years? Did you see it and you were like, this is the one?
Starting point is 00:45:15 I mean, the thing is, is because Main Street, it's like, it's all historical landmarks. I mean, it's so charming. I don't know if you remember, but it's incredible. And because of that, you have sort of funky spaces. It's not like everything's just modern and easy to deal with. And a lot of the stores are like, a lot of the storefronts are split level where you have to go upstairs or downstairs and they're not like where you walk right in at street level. And so it was very important to me to have somewhere that you could just walk into because I just think it's way more inviting. And I also wanted to be like in the middle part of Maine. I didn't want to be too high or too low. And I wanted a small space because I'm in jewelry and what am I going to do
Starting point is 00:46:01 with 10,000 square feet? Yeah. I feel like a lot of entrepreneurs make that mistake. They try to go too big at first instead of zoning in and refining a small space. Yeah. Yeah. And so it took a long time, but this space came along and it was perfect. It is small. It's very small. I love it. Now I feel like, oh my gosh, maybe I went too small and we might be looking for something a little bigger. Yeah. Yeah. But not crazy big still because I want it to be manageable. I don't want to feel overwhelmed by it. And brick and mortar is still, it's tough. Online sales are a lot easier. I will say that. Yeah. I think it's cool that you do both though. I think people as a tourist, it seems they would want to come here and come visit something that they see on TV.
Starting point is 00:46:45 Yeah. I think that's nice. I think it's nice for people to have a physical space that they can walk into. And it's very different. I mean, with COVID, my business model really shifted a lot because it wasn't so much away from the store because we were only shut down for about two months. I stayed closed a little bit longer just because it was very strange for a while. But for me, a huge portion of my business was private events. And that's what was devastating from COVID. I mean, normally in the fall, I would be throwing three luncheons every week in different cities and whatever else. And do you bring the jewelry? Is it diamonds? What kind of. The jewelry, is it diamonds? Like what kind of, tell us, is it,
Starting point is 00:47:27 I know that you have, it's called Livable Luxury, fine jewelry, but is it also stuff that's more affordable? Like tell us what you're bringing to these luncheons. Yeah, so I, it's all fine jewelry. It's all gold or silver, precious, semi-precious stones. Take notes, motherfucker. We're gonna end the interview now. I still haven't gotten, I haven't gotten. I'm not going not going to mainstream he didn't give me a push present oh i'm never gonna hear that no i this is a great person to talk to you go on yeah we can pay attention we can help you
Starting point is 00:47:56 yeah i mean it's gold silver precious semi-precious. I am working on, it will still be fine jewelry, but I am working on a lower price point collection because a lot of people have asked. And so I'm working on a collection where it will be silver and semi-precious and enamel. And I think it's going to be really cool and it's going to be much more reasonable. We will have some pieces under a hundred dollars. So.
Starting point is 00:48:29 What should we look for in an engagement ring? And I mean this for maybe someone that's going to propose, what are the things like not to get ripped off? Yeah. I mean, assuming you want like a diamond traditional engagement ring, you know, you're looking at your cut, your color, your clarity, and the size, the carats, it's the four Cs. When I first started looking into that, I was so overwhelmed because I thought you just went to the store and just grabbed one. Nobody teaches you about cut, clarity, color, shape, all these things. No, you don't go to the... This isn't bonds. What's crazy is that you can have a one carat ring that could be a million dollars if it's a,
Starting point is 00:49:04 depending on the cut and the clarity on it, or you can have one that's obviously. So the range is so crazy depending on the quality. Yeah. The quality is absolutely everything. And usually for most people who have some kind of a budget, you want to balance that and maybe you don't get the D flawless diamond, maybe you take an F or a G, a V, S1 or whatever. You compromise a little bit so that you can get a little bit of a larger size, perhaps, if you give a little bit on the color or the clarity. But you don't want to give a lot because there's, honestly, there's nothing worse than a bad diamond.
Starting point is 00:49:39 I can imagine, especially being in the industry. I'm sure it's like when Dr. Jason Diamond, he's like a plastic surgeon in LA, came on this podcast. I said, when you're at Thanksgiving, do you just look around the table and be like, oh, he could use a little filler in his temples, the same as with a diamond. I would think that when you're so knowledgeable in it, you're able to just look right away and see. Yeah. I mean, yes, because when you, but honestly you would notice too. Like if a diamond's not good, you see it. And it's, there are some people who just are so much more interested in getting a big stone that they don't care. And that's fine. That's up to
Starting point is 00:50:20 them. For me, the color and the clarity are very important to me. I mean, I'm a visual person, obviously. So I think for people who are more visual and more, I don't know, if my diamond was like looking gray or yellow or whatever, it would drive me insane. I'd be staring at it and I'd rather get something a quarter of the size that I like the color on. I already changed yours out. That thing's already been changed out. No. What is the tips with a setting? I think a setting is really important. How you set the diamond. When we worked together on my ring after he let me design the setting with him, but there was so many things that you could do to make it a little more sparkly. Are there any little tips that you can give our audience that you would recommend that they tell their significant other? I mean, the setting is really a very personal choice of
Starting point is 00:51:10 what feels good to you. And some people like to set the stone a little higher. Some people like it a little bit lower. I tend to gravitate towards more modern designs, more clean designs, especially if you have a spectacular diamond. To me, the setting is about showing off the stone. So if it's a beautiful, beautiful diamond that's of significance, I would do a very simple traditional prong setting, maybe some very simple side stones. It depends on the cut of the stone to begin with, but clean. What's your favorite cut? I just have to ask selfishly. Well, I have a cushion cut. That's my- Beautiful. You guys, it's so sparkling. It's a little dirty. Maybe you should talk to Meredith.
Starting point is 00:52:00 I'm blind now. Yeah. So cushion's your favorite. I love cushion. I love emerald cut Yeah. So cushion's your favorite. I love cushion. I love emerald cut too. Those are my two favorites. I wanted the person that helped us to look at my finger and I wanted him to say what flatters my finger. Is that crazy? Well, not necessarily because depending on like,
Starting point is 00:52:19 like I have really, really long fingers. Like my fingers are not like, if I go finger to finger with most men, my fingers are as long as... You got to take their hand out of the equation. My hands aren't as big, but my fingers are. So I can carry a longer stone. Someone who has really shorter fingers, a round stone will be better. So it does matter. I mean, it's not everything, but certain stones do look better on certain fingers. That's true. Everyone wants to know your workout and daily eating routine. So many questions about that. Okay. Well, let's start with food. Oh, God. Yeah. I have very unusual eating habits.
Starting point is 00:53:01 Please. The audience wants to know all of them. It's irregular. Some days I don't eat anything until very late in the day. And other days I have something when I wake up. There's no real rhyme or reason. I have to have coffee first thing in the morning. I'm not even a functional human being. I've gotten lucky enough to finally show Seth that he can bring it to me in bed. Oh, please teach Michael. I can't believe how hard it is to do that. No, because you're irregular in that. Sometimes you want it downstairs, sometimes you want it upstairs. I always want a coffee in bed.
Starting point is 00:53:33 Sometimes you want a tea. I always want a coffee in bed. There is no woman who would be unhappy about having coffee brought to her in bed. I can promise you that. See, this is like couple therapy with me. I learn something every now and then. So he brings you coffee in bed. So yes, he brings me coffee in bed. Then I do not, I'm not like a breakfast food person. I usually like once in a while, maybe I'll make an egg or something, but I will usually have like something very random,
Starting point is 00:53:58 like a bite of cheese or a bite of fish left over from the night before or whatever. I don't eat very much in the morning. I have very little appetite. And then it just depends. I mean, we used to go out almost every night, but not so much anymore with our new life. What's your favorite restaurant? Just really say.
Starting point is 00:54:18 Handle. Handle. Handle. You guys have to go. Okay. It's wonderful. Okay. That's great.
Starting point is 00:54:24 Okay, so is there anything this is where we're going after this to make sure i didn't fuck it up and go somewhere wrong tell the truth i'll take care of you don't lie um so is there anything that you reach for like that's a healthy snack on the regular like hummus i don't know grapes like what what is your like go to so we do have hummus and that's i go through phases where I'm into hummus. I'm not a fruit eater. That's the one thing I will say. I really do stay away from sugar for the most part. Every so often I have a bad day here or there, but basically speaking, I'm not into dessert. I'm not into sugar. I'm not into fruit. I'll have berries and cherries once in a while, but
Starting point is 00:55:00 really I very rarely will eat anything sweet. And I don't really, I don't eat, I stay away from processed food and fast food. I eat real food. That's the bottom line. I don't eat crap. And so I eat everything. I don't like fruit and nuts mixed into my food. But apart from that, I pretty much eat almost everything. I'm particular about how it's prepared and whatever else, but I like real food. I'm not into junk food. So not like a pecan and dried cranberry salad. That's not on your list. It sounds like you don't obsess over food though. I used to. I don't anymore. I used to be super obsessive over everything I ate. I would journal all my food. I would run anywhere from seven to 15 miles a day. I was nuts.
Starting point is 00:55:46 And it was so all encompassing and it made me so like to the point where I couldn't go out to dinner without bringing my Hello Kitty food journal. And yes, it was Hello Kitty. I don't know why because it made me laugh. What about cocktail? What are you going to drink? So my go-to is Belvedere up with a twist and a glass of ice on the side. Okay. But of course I drink Vita tequila. And I just, I can't drink as much tequila as I used to. For some reason, I have like some acidity stuff sometimes when I'm having a lot of tequila.
Starting point is 00:56:22 But I do love tequila and I love Lisa. Take a papaya enzyme for acidity. Papaya enzyme, all natural, non-GMO, just Google it. It's a chewable. You will never have that. It saved me during pregnancy. It feels like fire, like burning, like acid reflux. It'll cure it. I always wonder, this is a side quote. I know there's one on a different topic. For someone, like I said, I think you're a well-intentioned person. And when I say that, not just a positive person, but you're somebody who's thoughtful. With everything you had going on, you get approached to do a show. What was the thought process like?
Starting point is 00:56:57 Because for me, I like this because I control this. I don't have to worry about somebody else telling me or narrating or dictating what gets up and what doesn't. It's like, I have this little controlled zone, right? I don't know if I would be able to handle giving someone all the control over how I'm perceived in the world and what I've like, how did you go about that? So what's really funny about that is actually, I remember last March, right before we shut everything down, I was in L.A. right after we had just finished filming here. And I went and I was talking with one of the executives at Bravo. And one of the things she said to me is, you know, by nature, anyone who's drawn to reality TV and doing reality TV is a bit of a control freak and they want to control
Starting point is 00:57:45 everything. But the problem is with reality TV, you control nothing. And that is 100% true. We are all control freaks for sure. And it's this very challenging process because you can try to control it all you want, but you're going to lose. Yeah. And I know how easy it is to forget because doing these, I mean, this is on a smaller scale, but you can forget that you're even like there's cameras and video and mics. And I'm sure when you're filming and there's a little, like you just forget you're even doing it. 100%. I mean, not at first. And it takes a little bit of time to get comfortable. But once you're comfortable, you're comfortable, the cameras don't matter anymore.
Starting point is 00:58:28 You just throw it on, you're like, whatever, I'm just going and what's not. There's no point in trying because it's not going to happen. Every aspect of my life is not going to be shown because it's just not possible and be really boring. Not that my life is boring, but every aspect of anybody's life is going to be super boring. You're going into this saying, I'm giving that up. I know that I am confident and comfortable with who I am enough so that I really don't care what they're putting out there. And that's where I got to eventually. It took time. It took, I would say, probably almost three quarters of the way through the first season for me to really be able to let go of the control. You forget about the cameras much before that, but to really say, I just don't care. This is me. There's nothing so horrible.
Starting point is 00:59:34 If you don't like it, stay away. No one's forcing you to be around me. No one's forcing you to watch me. And if you do like it, great. I'm happy. I'm doing something right. And that's it. And you just let it go. I don't care. I imagine though, it might be frustrating if you're seeing something after the fact that you know is out of context. Oh my gosh. Oh, that's probably annoying. Yeah, that is probably annoying. I know. Okay. So Lauren and I will catch flack all the time on the show. If a clip gets shared and we'll say something, but it's always the stuff that's out of context. Or if you listen
Starting point is 01:00:01 to everything like, oh, okay, I can understand how that conversation got there. But we have the benefit of people being able to go and see the whole context. Where they're editing something like that, they're not showing all of the context, right? And so you don't have that benefit. So I imagine that can drive you nuts. That is what's really challenging just because it's not even like this intentional, oh, we're taking this out of context. It's that we're showing snippets. And by virtue of that, a lot is getting cut out. And sometimes when you're saying something, what's really meaningful to you is the sentence before what they show. And then you're like, oh, wow, that's not really what I meant because you left the beginning part out or whatever.
Starting point is 01:00:45 But, you know, it's part of it. And it's not, I would say that, yes, that happens here and there. But for the most part, you really are seeing most of the true intents of the people. And most of what they're saying is pretty much what they said do you want to watch it after it's all edited do you want to sit down and watch it are you like oh i just can't watch this oh no yeah i don't i don't like to listen to my own podcast either i'm just i'm when i'm done i'm like oh no no no i'm saying the opposite oh you want to watch it oh you want to watch it oh i would think it was the other way you're saying it's snippets but you know it's the whole thing so you want to see there's no point in us i mean the narrative that they've crafted that's what i'm trying to say is like we like this everything that i mean unless i mean
Starting point is 01:01:32 unless this is what comes out right like this is the like this this is the episode where with you like you do something and you don't know what's coming out right no we don't know we don't know like you know are you gonna show my lunch yesterday or you're gonna show my dinner you know or whatever it doesn't you have no idea what ends up being put out there and so yeah as soon as i want to watch the episodes you want to see yeah and then you want to watch it again because you're like wait a second you know there's things to probably in those like interviews i always wonder how they do those interviews maybe you can tell me but that but that you see someone said something that you weren't aware they said. Yeah. You're probably like, fuck that bitch. What the hell?
Starting point is 01:02:11 And the crazy part though, what's really interesting about that is you're watching that stuff and you get really, really agitated about something. And then you realize that happened almost a year ago. And you're kind of like, oh, really? Is it worth it to get mad at? I know. That's probably trying to see if you do have friends on the show to see all the thoughts. And then you don't know if the producers took it out of context what you're watching. Right.
Starting point is 01:02:38 So is it even worth it? Everyone also wants to know your beauty tips and tricks. Are there things that you reach for all the time? Skin, makeup, anything, any tips? Yeah. So again, I do think for skin, diet is super important. Like eating real food, I think is the most important thing of anything. Like not eating processed junk.
Starting point is 01:03:02 I really, really honestly believe that because like I drank, we all know, thanks to Jen, I have an occasional cigarette. And you know, it's not like, no, I couldn't care less. It's not like I live like this uber crazy healthy lifestyle, but I do eat real food. And I think that's really important. I think that's what goes to your skin and everything. But as far as products and stuff go, one thing I have coming up on the horizon is a night cream that I've been... It's a prescription night cream that I've been using for many, many years that we're working on reformulating to over-the-counter. But above and beyond that, I use a lot of Sisley. I do support Iris and Bo,
Starting point is 01:03:47 my castmate, Whitney. And Whitney's products are in your shop, Meredith Marks, in brick and mortar and online? Not online right now. We're going to do a website for the store because I do carry products other than my own in there, but we haven't done that yet. That's on the horizon. But yes, she is in store. I really like a lot of her products. The ones I've tried so far, I haven't tried everything yet, but the ones I have in my store, I've tried all of those. I've used all of those. They're really great. So I like that. I like Sisley. I like Defonage. I like, what else do I like? Sisley is really good. Yeah, I love Sicily. I forgot about that brand. That's a great
Starting point is 01:04:27 brand. I need to go back to that. That black, they have like a black seed oil. That's a good one. And the pink thing. The rose. Yeah. You used to use Sicily too and you were way more glowy. I know. I almost went broke from it. That shit is. But it's worth it. It's really
Starting point is 01:04:44 good. It's good. Is there any makeup secrets? Like, is there anything that you, like a lipstick that you like or an eyelash? I have, I use, for lipstick, I usually will use the Charlotte Tilbury Pillow Talk and Dior, like that super light pink, almost clear gloss. I don't know what the color is,
Starting point is 01:05:03 but it's the only one they make that looks like that. And what else? Makeup choice. I like a very bright under eye. I like to sort of bring the shadow up a little to sort of lift. I try to lift. I'm like getting close to 50. So I cannot believe you're getting close to 50. Oh my gosh. You look amazing. I want to know what the night cream is. I can't wait to see when it's out. It's a little ways out still, but it takes time. Skincare formulations do take some time. I could see you writing a book on marriage too, because you do have some really great tips. And I think it is so cool how open you are about it, because like I said earlier, there's so many people on reality TV that aren't open. In my view, I sort of went into this. And what's interesting is I had watched very,
Starting point is 01:05:56 very little reality TV prior to doing this. Honestly, when I found out I was doing Housewives, I'd never watched a Housewives show before. And so I kind of went through, I had this, what I thought was brilliant idea, not so brilliant, of that I would just watch one episode from every single franchise so that I could like see the different dynamics. Not such a swift move. I would have been much better sort of watching like a full season of one franchise, but whatever. So I didn't, it's not like I could have come into this manipulating the game because I didn't know how to play the game. And I just sort of was like, well, I'll be me. And if they like it, they like it. If they don't, they don't. And that's fine. I'm okay with that. And that's why
Starting point is 01:06:42 I think that my way of approaching this was probably from what I understand, and I still haven't gone back and watched Every Housewives, obviously, but from what I understand, the way I approached it was very, very different from how people have done that in the past. And it's because I didn't really know any different and I just was myself. And that's why it was funny when there was stuff coming up like authenticity. Oh, it should be authentic. Or, oh, they faked their separation. I'm like, I wouldn't have known to do that. Are you kidding me? Like, you're giving me way too much credit here, you know what? God bless you because that sounds like the most miserable, horrible thing you can do in your life. And there's just no way. I think that if you're not true to yourself, there's going to be so many inconsistencies that you're just not going to make any sense to the audience. There's no way for the amount of time that you are on camera. I mean, we are followed by cameras for hours and hours every day. I mean, not seven days a week, but sometimes six, sometimes five, sometimes four, whatever
Starting point is 01:07:54 it may be. You can't fake it. Like, no one's that good. Also, the biggest gem, I think, too, is realizing that the audience is not stupid. Right. There's so many people that come on reality TV and think they can outsmart the audience. I always would assume that the audience is smart and everyone that's watching is smart. I feel like that makes it easier to be yourself.
Starting point is 01:08:20 I agree. I mean, for me, it's like the viewers key in on things that I would never even think to look at in a million years. Oh, there's groups that are like fully dedicated. Seth scratched his nose while you said this. Right? I mean, it's like insane, like the things that people notice. So I just think that if you're trying to deceive or mislead, you may not get caught in it, but you're not going to be well-received because you're not going to add up. You're not going to make sense. There are going to be too many holes.
Starting point is 01:08:54 You just won't have longevity because it's too hard to keep up for that period of time. It's too much work. I mean, it's too stressful. I would be, I barely sleep as it is. Like I can't even imagine. Yeah, it's too stressful. I would be, I barely sleep as it is. Like I can't even imagine. Yeah, it's too gnarly. If you were to leave our audience with something that you think makes a successful person,
Starting point is 01:09:12 what would that be? Like some kind of tip that you feel makes anyone successful. We have a very millennial audience. So are we talking about success in business or in life or everything? Wow, that's a big question. You know what? So are we talking about success in business or in life or everything? Wow. That's a big question. You know what?
Starting point is 01:09:27 If it's life, I would say finding balance, finding not excessive, not deficient, finding what you really need to feel centered and happy and to be poised to find the positive things in your circumstances, whatever they may be. And I think that you have to find balance and live within the mean to be able to do that. And that means something very different for every person. It's not like a simple answer, not being deficient or excessive, finding your space where you can live in balance and have positive energy around you because that's everything. The negativity is just toxic and it takes over and it brings you down. I agree.
Starting point is 01:10:13 And a positive mindset, I think, is sort of a theme of this episode. It's so important. Where can everyone find you? Where can they shop your jewelry, pimp yourself out? So you can find my jewelry at 511 Main Street in Park City at meredithmarks.com. On Instagram, it's shopmeredithmarks is my jewelry page. We have at meredithmarksparkcity, which is the store's page, or my personal page is at meredithmarks, at meredithmarkzero on Twitter. I do have a TikTok, but I haven't posted anything, so we won't go there. And where can we find the standout star,
Starting point is 01:10:52 Brooks? What's his Instagram? Because Brooks is another housewife. I'm tuning in for Brooks. He's the best. So he's at brooksmarks.com. We try to keep his tracksuits in the store on Main Street, but unfortunately we sell out often and production is not so simple right now. They're cool. Yeah, they're amazing. His tracksuits are amazing. They're totally amazing. And he's on Instagram at shopbrooksmarks and at brooksmarks. You're amazing.
Starting point is 01:11:25 Thank you so much for coming on. I hope when Michael is looking for my push present in the next week that he contacts you. You have to get pregnant again. No. It's been a year and a half. We missed the first one. It's time for my... I am not getting pregnant until I have a push present.
Starting point is 01:11:38 Well, we'll see about that. I don't know if it's fair to you. We will. Meredith, you're so inspiring. Thank you for taking the time. Thank you guys so much for having me. It's so nice to have you guys in Deer Valley. I know.
Starting point is 01:11:48 We're so excited. Wait, don't go. We have a giveaway as always. Make sure you've rated and reviewed the podcast on iTunes. And then all you have to do is tell us your favorite part of this episode on my latest Instagram at Lauren Bostic. And someone from my team will slide into your inbox and send you some skinny confidential goodies, all kinds of fun things. Thank you guys as always for
Starting point is 01:12:10 listening and make sure you stalk Meredith on Instagram. She has some amazing content.

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