The fact that team didn't say no and they said they were open to talking about it was shocking. Wild. If somebody says no, I say this on so many episodes, you're in the same exact spot. Like, why not ask so and I.

Feel like those little yeses or like those we'll consider, it's just like fuel your fire. Felt like that moment. I was like, oh, we're onto something good here. This is something special.

Style is more than just the clothes you wear. It's the essence of who you are and it's in everything you do. Discover it here and unleash your style beyond what you wear. Hey, everyone.

Grant Alexander here. And welcome back to House of Style. Today we've got something new and really special lined up for you. And here's a little teaser.

Later in the episode, we're going to reveal some funny mishaps that happen during our recordings and still crack us up. So stick around. And while we're at it, please do all the things like, like, subscribe, comment, like, and rate.

But if you did only one thing, please share this episode with at least one person you think would enjoy it. Now back to the good stuff.

You know, over the past episodes we've had some incredible guests sharing their stories, insights, and unique styles with us. I've tried keeping those episodes around 60 minutes, but honestly, each conversation was so rich they could have gone on for hours.

So I thought, why stop there? Is there a way to keep the conversation going even if it's not with them directly?

Well, for the first time ever, I'm bringing on a House of Style team member and an amazing friend right here on the show. Say hi to Kristin. Or Kristin, say hi to everybody.

Hello.

We are trying something new to bring you even more value, fun, and style.

We'll be kind of unpacking the topics from our guest episodes, sharing our own experiences, and sharing some behind the scenes stories that you haven't heard before. So think of it as a candid conversation among friends where we explore style, life, and everything in between.

So whether you're sipping your morning coffee, avoiding work, or on your evening jog, thank you for joining us on the newest part of our new adventure. All right, that's it. Welcome to the very first House of Style team episode. Let's dive in and get after it. Hi, Kristin.

Hi. I'm so excited to be here.

Welcome on. For those that don't know, Kristin is a very important person in the House of Style podcast and in my life.

We met probably about three years ago and started off as clients and became good friends over the years. And her husband is Mike, who does all of the camera and everything work that brings you these amazing episodes week after week.

So they are kind of like my marketing and production all-star duo that without them, House of Style, this podcast wouldn't exist. And when I have an idea or need to run it by somebody, Kristin's the first person I run it by.

So I thought she'd be a great person to kind of unpack all these episodes and chat about them with.

I love it. Let's do it.

Let's do it. So, okay, we've put out 11 episodes so far. What has been a moment or an episode overall that you've liked or really resonated?

That's a great question. Honestly, I loved the episode with YASSiN & Sean Terrio. I think. I mean, I think a lot of people love that episode for a lot of reasons.

But I think for me, as somebody who is really ambitious, I have really big dreams and I know I'm not at my end goal that I want to be at. It just felt really cool to watch somebody who just went for it and really went for it all in. And I loved even that their album's name just try.

Like, I mean, obviously that was completely intentional, but I think that's been kind of a theme in my own personal life, is just like just going for it, just making, making the effort to not be afraid to be messy, make mistakes. I. I grew up as a kid who was like top of my class, you know, good at everything, got A's really easily.

And so I kind of had this, you know, I don't know, perfection complex for a really long time.

And I've learned a lot about myself in the past couple of years, especially since COVID And you had a lot of time to reflect, especially as a creative who literally, I mean, our job was deleted at that time for all intents and purposes.

Just have had a lot of time to reflect on that and just kind of go, wow, if I continue on the path of perfection, I'm actually sabotaging who I'm meant to be sure. Which is interesting.

Yeah. There was so much time in Covid to think about it, and I was in a similar vein where everything just stopped with business.

I mean, I stopped completely and started watching my nephew for eight, nine months and just was his nanny for, you know, for that time. But I totally hear you and I love that that was kind of one of the themes you picked up. That's been a recurring theme from episode to episode.

Totally. I Think a lot of people.

But when I think about Alex Wolking, he said he knew when he was 12 that that's what he wanted to do, and he kind of set himself up. No matter, like, what was going on, he knew that's what he was going to do, and he was going to do whatever it took to be the best at it.

And, I mean, YASSiN and Sean were great examples of that. Like, the album being just try so smart.

And I like that you use the word intentional, because I think what I picked up across those two episodes was how intentional all of it really was.

Yeah.

And I mean, even with trying to think of a way to go viral and, like, what they were going to try had, like, they had intention behind it and have used that every step of the road because, like, they know what their style is. They know what they want to be, and it's just, like, we're gonna go for it. We're gonna be absolutely us at every second along the way.

Right.

And I so agree, like, that's what really made spending time with them special.

Because no matter, like, where you are from, like, from a creator perspective, no matter where you are, whether you've made it or not, I think everyone.

I'm probably beast is even thinking, like, some of those things, that he still probably wants to top himself and, like, go for it and go for it and, you know, make it bigger. I mean, he's trying to, what, buy an island right now or whatever it is. So, you know, I.

I think that's definitely one of the recurring themes that I really enjoyed.

Yeah.

And I think, too, something I was thinking about, too, is that so many of the people that we've talked to have really leaned into being more authentically them.

And I think in a world where authenticity is now kind of this big term that's been thrown out, especially if you're trying to become some sort of influencer or, you know, somebody online or a personality. Right. For lack of a better term. I think. And I've heard.

I've heard this before, and I think it's an interesting dichotomy that we kind of have to wrestle with, is I've heard it, it said that people don't actually want you to be authentic. They want you to be what they consider your authentic self.

Yeah.

And I think hearing all these stories of the people we've interviewed and hearing that, they kind of rejected this idea of presenting the authentic version of what they thought other people would want to see, and they just leaned really into who they actually are. And that's what allowed them to become who they wanted to be and reap the benefits, you know, of what their dreams actually were like.

They were actually, actually able to get their dream because they chose to be authentic versus what they thought other people would want to see from them.

I. A great example of that, I think, was our first guest episode with Brendan. Brendan is a testament to what you're just saying.

And like, I don't know that I've met many more authentic people than Brendan. And, you know, some people look at it and think, oh, yeah, you have to be authentic and you have to be. Have confidence to wear a skirt.

You know, as a guy that's wearing a skirt, like, that's such a small piece of him. He is living every single day as himself and in so unapologetically that it comes off as he's having a blast. He is completely himself.

He's doing what he loves. Like he's. He has tenure at Northwestern, which is frickin incredible, right. And he's dancing and he's doing art and photography.

He's doing everything. And he is himself every day. And that's why so many people love him. Like, he is loved by a lot of people.

Yeah. That's awesome.

I think, you know, there have been a few recurring themes along the way and like that and the just Trying piece, it's been a big part of it.

One that keeps coming up that I've always thought of as part of my style that I don't think a lot of people generally think of as style has been kindness. I mean, Markie Martin's episode had the word kindness in the title because it was such an important piece of it.

And when I asked Markie at the very end to describe her style in three words, she said kindness, like, boom, period, end of sentence. She didn't need three words.

And for her, like, everything that has come has come from her kindness and like her genuinely wanting to connect with you.

Yeah.

Have you sensed that throughout the episodes? Like, what's your takeaway? Like, do you think kindness, like, how big of a. I don't know, like, how big can it be in someone's style?

Should have gotten that water. I definitely think that kindness has been a huge part of all the episodes I've.

And even if they don't say kindness is a part of kind of who they are, all these people are. So it just exudes from them. Right, sure.

So I feel like a lot of times when people think about style in the traditional sense, you kind of think like devils. Where's Prada?

Like, really, I don't want to say stuck up, but like, very, you know, high luxury type people who might not give you the time of day kind of thing, but that's not what true style is.

And when you actually get to the heart of, you know, what makes somebody unique and what makes somebody special, almost always across the board, the good guy wins. Right. And so, yeah, I think that's such a cool takeaway. And I totally agree with that. I think.

I mean, we've just seen it even in just like, the little interactions and in the editing, behind the scenes, it's like nobody's. Or it's like everybody's kind, everyone's genuine and wants to have a genuine conversation with you.

No one's like, oh, here I am, you know, and sits down and does her thing. They're. They're asking. Asking you questions. They're interacting with Mike, you know, and that's just really cool.

I think that's been one of the most enjoyable aspects of all of these podcast shoots. And, like, we tell them, like, block out this amount of time.

Yeah.

But we find ourselves going over just because of the conversation we're having before and after.

And before is such an interesting time when you have some of these guests on, like, we just filmed Joe Sasto from Food Network who, like, I'm a big fan of Joe. And we're spending all this time and, like, we're setting up all the. The camera equipment, the mics, like, we're talking.

I feel like we need to be recording.

I know. I was just going to say we need to record that part.

There are definitely some gems in there, but you get a sense of, like, these people that have made it and have been successful. It's just fun and nice to converse with them. Like, they. They care about you.

I think that's probably a misconception too, is like, these people who are so busy, so successful, like, don't have the time of day for, you know, like, we'll call them like the peons down there. But like, they've genuinely. Everybody's been so nice, wanted to chat. They get to know you. And I. I think that's like a really important thing.

Mm. I think it's also a testament.

I mean, obviously we're good friends, but I think in general, one of the things that I really noticed about you immediately was, wow. One, Grant is a badass, but two, he's so genuinely kind.

And I mean, I think as people think about who they want to be, you are the person who will attract certain things into your life. And if you don't like the things that are in your life, you have to take ownership for what you've chosen to attract.

And I've, I've believed that for a really long time, but I feel like it's just really hit home for me, you know, in the past couple years, of the things that I've attracted to my own life that I'm like, well, I, I, I lived up to that. Right. I, I decided that that's the type of person that I was or that's the only way that someone could love me.

And so I attracted those types of people who loved me in that way right into my life. And 100. And then I had to pay for it, you know?

Absolutely.

And, and it was. So for a long time, I felt like a victim. Right. And if you sit in that spot, then you will. You won't get anything that you want out of life.

But as soon as you take ownership for what you attract, I think everything can change.

Yeah.

And I think kindness is no different. It's, like, it's not surprising that the people who are saying yes to your podcast.

Right.

Are that way, because it's who you are, too.

Yeah. And, like, I, I believe what you believe you can attract makes an enormous difference in what you end up attracting.

Yeah.

And like, for me, using kindness, not using it as, like, I'm faking it, like, being kind and wanting to get to know people on a deeper level.

Yeah.

Is like, that was the key to unlocking everything I've tried to attract. And.

Yeah.

I mean, I'm trying to do nutty things, like, you know, better than almost everybody. How daily. Yeah. What? I'm trying to.

Voice memos.

Yeah. So many voice. I love it.

And that is such a big part of it, like, thinking that I know I can achieve these crazy, lofty things by being kind and by being myself. And sure. Like, I look, I dress a certain way that looks very cool. Like, that is important. That's part of my style. But I'm nice. I try to be funny.

I try to make everyone smile. And if I can make everyone smile, I think you can unlock anything you're trying to work towards.

Definitely.

You just, I mean, like, I'm nutty, and I think I can, you know, work towards the highest possible thing I can achieve. I'm going to work for that, for, for me, for my friends, for my family. Like, why wouldn't you try to try to work for that?

Yeah.

So I love that idea. Of kind of like thinking about what you can attract. Call it manifesting whatever it might be. Um, I definitely.

There's been a sense of that throughout all the episodes.

Okay, let's go back to the just try or just go for it part, because I really love that. I'm curious, you know, obviously you've gotten a chance to interview all these people, which is so awesome. Whose journey did you most resonate with?

Great question. Tough question. There been bits and pieces of every single one that been like, for sure. I think the simplest response is probably Markie Martin's.

When Markie said how she got her first job, she emailed the station manager of the station she wanted to work at and said, can I have a job? And I believe passionately, most people are too scared to send that message. Especially because she said there was nothing posted online.

So most people would stop then. That reflects my day to day with House of Style right now. From trying to. I mean, for the podcast.

I mean, before we had any guests or any episode to share, we had to convince people to say yes with no proof of concept.

Yeah.

Which is really difficult. You're like, I promise it's going to look amazing. Like, trust me, this might guy and I, we're going to do a really great job.

It's like, okay, can you show me? No, we can't. But look at anything else I've done. And it's really pretty. Like, yeah. You know, not everybody buys that, unfortunately.

I've built up an amazing network of clients and friends that we were able to get early. People that are both awesome and incredible guests that said yes. Because they happen to be friends too. Totally.

You know, and that's part of how you do this and how you build it. But I reach out to so many people, even though you might hear that they never. You might never see them on podcasts. You might never.

I mean, wait, can we talk about the yes that you got? They were like, are we allowed to talk about it?

Depends which one.

Justin Timberlake.

Oh, so that was when Justin Timberlake's team didn't say no.

Right.

That was like a. Oh, my gosh, now.

And this was like in the. This was like before we had put out. I think we had put out one episode.

This was before we put out anything. Anything.

Okay.

Yeah.

And because he was going to be in town and it didn't work out in the timing, but I was going to reach out again when he was coming back, but then we had multiple episodes we were filming when he was in again on the weekend. And it wasn't going to work out from our timing, so I didn't even reach back out this time. Plus, he had the, you know, whole thing going on with him.

But back to the. What's important. The fact that Justin Timberlake's team didn't say no and they said they were open to talking about it was.

It was shocking, wild, shocking in the best way possible. And that's why you just, you don't know. You like. And if somebody says no, I say this on so many episodes, you're in the same exact spot.

Like, why not ask? So.

And I feel like those little yeses or like, those we'll consider, it's just like, fuel your fire.

Absolutely.

Like, I feel like not.

I mean, I believed in this from the beginning because I just believe in you so much and I always have, but I felt like that moment, I was like, oh, we're onto something good here. This. This is something special.

Yeah. And now, like, especially in the last couple weeks.

Yeah, I'm feeling that more and more in everything you hear about podcasting, the hard side of it, the bad side of it is true. Like, it is so hard.

They're so much work that goes into it in making a successful episode, but not even just the production side of it and making an amazing episode, especially at the level that I. And we demand of it. Yeah, but there's so much that goes into.

I mean, the amount of time I spend writing descriptions and show notes and titles, like, people have no idea how much work goes.

And I spend hours and hours tweaking all that to make sure that it's as good as possible and that stuff, especially early on when you're getting a bunch of no's. I. It's easy to understand why I think it's something like more than half of podcasts don't make it past six or seven episodes.

Right.

And it's absolutely easy to understand why, especially because you're not getting a ton of views and downloads right away.

Luckily, like, we've had some awesome guests who have shared on their social platforms and with all the SEO and the production value we're bringing, we've been very fortunate to get great traction early on.

And it's really in the past couple of weeks, starting with Markie's episode and then last week's or while we're filming, but filming or releasing Alex's episode, the growth has just really. You can see the start of the hockey stick.

And like, when I got that email a few days ago that we were going like, Podcast agencies were wondering if we were. Had representation and if we wanted help monetizing. I was like, wait, how's this style, this podcast? Like, oh, my gosh, in.

So no matter all the hard crap that's going on, like those bits, the even a little yes from Justin Timberlake's team to the people that are starting to say, yeah, I mean, we're like, Joe Sasto from Food Network isn't little. We have a couple people that were filming coming up that aren't little, and they have huge followings and, like, people know them.

This isn't a small thing. Markie Martin is on national TV every single morning. Like, these things are happening. And it's because we're trying. Like, you just.

You have to put yourself out there.

Yeah. But I think what's so funny is, like, we're trying. And kindness has been such a pillar. It's like, you can't have one without the other.

And if you do, you will fail. Because I'm like. And I think this is something that everyone can take away from.

You know, everything that's happened is like, one, build your network and build it on a foundation of kindness and just go for it. I mean, I got my first, you know, job. I pivoted out of weddings, and my first job, I literally was like, you know, oh, your ad agency kind of sucks.

Hey, can I, like, write your landing page really quick? Like, just give me 24 hours. I stayed up all night writing it and, like, overnight made six figures.

Yeah, you know, it's just like, that's the kind of world we live in. If you're kind and you, like, do good work, like the world is your.

Oyster, people are attracted to that ambition. As long as you do it nicely. I for sure, like, it's amazing what can happen when. When you do those things and you're nice about it.

Sometimes I do feel, you know, a couple people have responded that they said yes because of the energy I'm putting out in the emails. On the flip side, I do feel like I've written.

There have been a few artists that have come to Chicago that I really, really wanted to come on the podcast. And it wasn't even, like, a tight squeeze.

Like, they didn't have any shows for days before, you know that they're going to be in Chicago the day before their show because they're probably not staying in, like, some small town, whatever surrounding state. Nothing wrong with surrounding states. Love most of them, but Chicago is Chicago. It's like, why wouldn't you stay in Chicago?

And they either we didn't get a response or they said no, they weren't interested. And some of them were artists that, like, I love. They don't have huge followings like we have.

Yeah.

Just as big or bigger of a following. And I felt like my emails were almost like too nice or probably too long and not to the point enough that they're like f this guy.

Like, so maybe there's like too much kindness exuding.

I don't know. I feel like it goes back to being authentic though. It's like you have to be you and you're going to get rejected.

I think that's what people need to understand.

Like if you plan, if you want any sort of recognition and it doesn't even have to be like online, if you want to be known for anything, you could be like a scientist or, you know, writing in scientific journals and you're known for that. You are going to be constantly rejected, constantly ridiculed, and you have to be ready for that. And I think that comes with like this.

And I think this is the last thing that we were going to talk about.

But this inner self assurance that I think all of our guests have exuded is just like they, at the core of their being know that what they're aiming for is their destiny.

Yeah.

And they're unashamed, unabashedly pursuing that destiny. Right.

Yeah.

And.

But if you take criticism and you internalize it, then you can't, you'll, you'll change the path of destiny for sure and you'll actually get off the path. Right.

That was exactly what I was going to say. It's like, it's one thing to be self assured and like, know that's what you're supposed to do.

I think all that can change and you change your path if you take it personally, for sure. You cannot take these things personally.

Like when I'm reaching out to whether it's a big name or small name, no matter who it is, they have their own priorities. Like they have their own, like benchmarks for where their talent, if I'm talking to managers, like where their talent can go on.

We, I mean, we had fantastic connections to some huge names in, in a couple up and coming big names too. And their managers were such a holes that if there was ever a time I was going to take it personally, it would have been with them for sure.

But you have to separate yourself from what they're doing. They believe their talent, their act is too good for the podcast at its current state. You have to Say fine. I totally get it.

The podcast at that time was not anything like, it was small, it was teeny. We one of them. We didn't even have YASSiN and Sean's music episodes out.

Yes.

So in the second one, we did have them out and they're amazing. So I was a little bit like, you could be a little nicer about this, but, like, especially because my emails are so nice.

Like, you don't have to be so rude back. But like, again, you can't take it personally because our podcast does at this point not have a million followers every episode.

So in, like, that's what they wanted.

Right.

You can't take it personally. And if you let that, like, if that's what's going to get you, like, deter you, you're going to fail each time.

Like, you have to know what you're doing is going to work. And I believe wholeheartedly what we're putting out there and what the business overall is going to be. And I believe in the few.

I don't have a very big team, but I have a very passionate team. Like, I believe in the people around me to help make it happen.

Yeah.

And that's such an important piece of all this.

Yeah, definitely.

Oh, I wasn't sure. I was like, what's he doing?

Hi, Mike. Hey, Mike.

Mike's stopping in really quick.

Little behind the scenes. Grant's got his water.

Yep.

Doesn't I kind of want it now? Yep.

You can have a sip of mine.

Woo.

You can have a sip. Go nuts.

Thank you.

Welcome. Get to hold that one over. She'll always have a water. No matter. We'll see who that water sponsor will be coming up.

Have a little crack it open.

I think. I think that twist top.

That's what I did.

Oh. Oh.

I was making the.

Oh, no seem like a bottle opener type of. This is probably a different sound. Little.

Little sneak peek. All right, let's get into, like, the good stuff. What have been some, like, funny, memorable, kind of off the wall moments.

Oh, they're really tough to choose. Some. I think some of my favorite coolest moments when I first heard Sean Terrio sing, it was like, oh, my goodness. Like a. Just different experience.

Like, I love, like when you heard him live.

Yeah, yeah. It was because I've been listening to them for a while now.

Right.

And but my goodness. And I love live music. But it was even different than, you know, when somebody's on stage and you're in the audience.

I was right next to him and they were doing it For House of Styles. Like, it had that much more meaning to it. My goodness. Can he sing? It's unbelievable.

Like, then he'll just switch gear to, like, Winnie the Pooh to Bane to Trump to, like. I mean, it was unbelievable.

Wow.

How he can so quickly stay in character and, like, go to the next character, but also sound amazing. And then, like, I remember there was one that was. I was like, or can't stop falling in love.

And, like, he went from one voice into the next into his real voice.

Wow.

And it sounded beautiful. And you're like, how does someone do that?

Yeah, it gets.

Being an impressionist is difficult on its own. Being a singer at that level is difficult to mix the two. Wildly talented. So, like, that was so fun and cool.

I mean, we were laughing for a very long time with that one that I didn't share. But it's in the bonus episode, if people check out Josh Ocean Thomas's episode. We were playing Mad Libs, and I forgot what the.

The story theme was about. I think maybe that was the yearbook one. I think it has something to do with school yearbook. But Josh is Middle Eastern from.

From Middle Eastern descent and.

And just so ever. And if you haven't watched Josh's episode. He's a comedian.

He's a comedian.

Caveat. I don't even know what you're going to say right now, so I'm ready.

Yeah. I literally, I think, though, I think Mike and Josh are the only people that know this. Really. And Josh probably doesn't know that I'm.

I'm telling everybody about this, but he'll be cool with it. And he's a comedian, so he'll laugh. We were filling out the Mad Libs, and I'm asking him. And nobody so far has known what an adverb is.

So, like, that's kind of the reason I stopped doing Mad Libs. It's like, because I had this idea that I wanted to start every episode with a Mad Lib. Because I'm like, everybody loves Mad Libs.

They're fun, they're funny. It gets people loose.

Wait, adverb ends in ly. Right? Like quickie.

Right.

Funnily, nobody knows that.

Congrats to you for knowing that. Goes back to you being an excellent student.

Oh, God. But triggered.

So nobody knows what an adverb is. I mean, we're like, two for two or three for three on.

That's so funny.

And I'm like, okay, we're spending.

We're talking about an adverbs for, like, two or Three minutes here and now this whole, this whole Mad Lib thing that I thought we were going to get done in like five minutes tops. We're going on to 11 or 12 minutes. Like this is not going to work if we're trying to get episodes down to 60 minutes. So he scratched the mad lips.

We'll do them at some point. Maybe we'll remain. I mean, that was in his bonus and it was still super long, but to the point of the story, basically he had to choose.

He chose three responses. That one was planes and the story doesn't even matter. He chose planes and the language. He. The next question was pick a language. And he picked Arabic.

And then he had to pick a number and he did 11. And he was like, oh, I probably shouldn't have said Arab and planes next to each other.

And like it's funny because like he's not white and he can make that joke. But seconds later he makes the. He says 11. I'm like, oh my gosh, it's getting even worse. And he's talking about Arabic and planes and the number 11th.

I text him afterwards. I was like, dude, you realize that you said planes. Arabic, 11th. And today is September 11th.

No.

And it was September 11th. And he was like, oh my God.

I did edit that.

I like don't. I'm like, oh, wow, that was awesome.

That's so funny.

We got a good laugh out of that. So that was a lot of fun. And then I think one kind of mishap that. It's not really a mishap.

The first episode that we shot with Brendan, we shot that in this remarkable, stunning, stunning.

If you haven't watched the episode, you just gotta go. At least watch like the first. Yeah, we'll watch the whole episode. So don't mess up our engagement. Right? But watch it. You gotta see the, the pen.

The mansion is so beautiful.

It's incredible. It's on Lakeshore Drive. Yeah, you can see. I mean this place was insane. And we have photos posted.

Maybe we'll post some more after this with some extra BTS footage. But this place was remarkable. And I think it was listed at 8 and a half or 9 million. It was over 8, 000 square feet in Chicago on Lakeshore Drive.

It was gorgeous. And I think what nobody realized. So we filmed on a day that was. I think it was 96 or 97 degrees out.

I remember this eight and a half million dollar penthouse mansion. Didn't have air conditioning.

Why?

Except for two rooms. Those two rooms, one was the kitchen and the other was a study that was nowhere close to where we were filming.

So we were dripping sweat filming this most of the time. And we took out a Magnum bottle of champagne to celebrate for him. Brendan getting tenure.

But I feel like we really went through that pretty quickly because it was so hot. Yeah, it was. It was a rough one. And like, I think moving forward. No me.

We have to have air conditioning or some sort of refrigeration system if, like, if there isn't. But that was rough. And I think we did a pretty good job at making it look like.

I mean, I didn't know this.

And there was even one.

It didn't even look. It didn't look that way.

Great. There was even one point where the penthouse's phone started ringing and nobody was answering it. And like, this isn't it.

But I think we may have cut some of it out. Like, we definitely left a bit of it in, but it was ringing for like five minutes. And it's like, I didn't want to answer it. Like, I couldn't.

It's not my penthouse to sell. But the realtor wasn't there and there was nobody there to answer it. So we're just like.

I guess we just let it ring, like when it will go to voicemail and just kept ringing and ringing. We're like, oh, my gosh, we're boiling here. The phone's ringing. We can't film this podcast. What's going on?

It eventually stopped and we got through it.

That's hilarious.

Yeah. So those were probably some of my favorites so far. I mean, also being on the NewsNation" Morning In America set with Markie was such a treat for me.

Yeah.

Because I watch everything. NewsNation, we all know at this point, like, I'm a NewsNation superfan.

So to be on set and I've been there before because I work with a different correspondent and host and now have the relationship with Markie. I'm friends with the producer.

Yeah.

So I've been there and I've seen it before. But there was something different and magical about sitting on the set with Markie. I mean, like, I watch her every morning. So, like, so cool.

It's really cool. And that was a lot of fun. There's just been like those experience, like sitting down with Joe Sasto. Like, he. I love watching him on Food Network.

He's such a great personality, a great TV personality. Like, he looks like a great person on tv. And make sure you watch the episode when we drop that one because he is just as wonderful of a Person.

I kind of. I mean, he was on camera, but off camera in the podcast setting as he appears to be on tv. So, like, that. That one was really special.

And I think that's kind of the sentiment. Like, Brendan and I have been friends for four years now, and he's such a great person, and I.

He holds an important place in my heart, especially for being the first person.

Yeah.

To do this with, like, I've. I've had something with each guest and, like, we filmed a couple chefs now in addition to Joe.

So, like, once those come out, I'm really excited for people to. To see those, to hear those. I think they're a lot of fun. And for me, like, I love food. I think food is in the style of.

Food is so important and resonates with so many people that I think those episodes will be a lot of fun. But for me personally, like, those are all food, music, good people. It's everything I need.

Okay, can you give us a little, like, sneak peek, hint at what might be coming up or some guests that you have some guesses from that might be exciting? You don't have to say who necessarily, but maybe drop a little hint, Little Easter egg?

I don't. Let's see how well I can do this on spot without giving away names.

So there are a few artists coming up that we are in talks with their managers as, like, we're coordinating times with them. A couple from when I was growing up, I loved listening to them.

To some that are, like, making their way into bigger and bigger names, playing shows at Thalia Hall, Lincoln hall, here, the Vic. It's like, we have some bigger names coming up that are a lot of fun. There's a really cool jewelry designer that I'm excited to have on.

There's just a lot of, like, really interesting, unique people and author that I think will resonate. That's very, like, timely and relevant. Cool. So, yeah, there's some really cool people coming up.

Cool. I'm excited.

Yeah, I think all this will be great. Like, I'm so excited to keep it going. I can't thank Christian enough.

She's been there this whole time when I, you know, had the idea and said, like, I want to do a podcast. And I've thought about this for a long time. Like, right away, her and Mike were like, we're in. Let's do it.

And, like, obviously means the world especially. We've cracked the top 150 on Apple Podcasts.

High five.

High five. Like, that's no small thing. It's so cool.

And we passed 10,000 downloads, right? Like more than surpassed at this point.

Oh, we, I think. So the cool thing that happened and we haven't really even talked numbers the past few days because, like, all of this has changed.

Things have been happening very quickly, guys. It's been very cool to watch Wednesday.

When we got that first email.

So five, six days ago, when we got that first email that someone had seen us on the Apple Podcast Society and culture list, top, top chart list, I was like, oh, let's go look at it. Like, I haven't looked at this yet.

And when you're researching podcasts and like, what your goal is to get on these top charts, because that's when the hockey stick growth happens. So that was Wednesday. Thursday we had a thousand more downloads and listeners than we have on average. Friday was 2,000 more than we have on average.

It's like in two days we had 3,000 more downloads and listeners than we had had on average. And then Saturday, we actually got bumped out of the top 150.

So in what was really interesting is that the downloads and listeners reflected that and it was like 500.

Wow.

So we went from, you know, 1,000, 2,000 to 500. And then we're filming today and we're back in the top 150. So I'm excited to see where it's at.

I try not to look at the numbers, like to get obsessed with it because, yeah, that's not what it was about.

But when you're trying to get more and like more acts on and more talent to come on and share their story, it is really important, especially then you try to add sponsors. So really exciting things happening.

So like subscribe, share, save. What are all the things?

All the things. Those are pretty. If you're going to do one thing. Yeah, share.

Sharing is so important because the, the, the word of mouth and you sharing with one person and them sharing with another, like, that's. Those are the fans, like those are the people we know are going to listen to this and that are going to get value out of this.

Like, we don't care about someone that's listening for two seconds. Like, we want this to be valuable. I know this is going to be valuable.

I know that our guests are going to be bring value for everybody and it's just going to get cooler and cooler and more fun. And eventually we'll bring back all these, like, first guests too.

I know, like once, once, like, we really get into it because there are plans of like really getting into it. And once we do that, like, I want to bring all these people back and say, hey, let's do this episode again. Like, you were one of the first in it.

And I think there's another story to tell right now. So many big things happening. Please do like subscribe, comment, share, rate.

That sounds like all the things.

Please do them. Kristin will be back soon. We'll get Mike on here sometime as well, and probably more team members as this continues to grow.

But for now, remember that style isn't in your wardrobe. It's in.