Welcome & Hi :)

Some backstory on my story + my mum’s perfect caesar salad dressing recipe, my favorite favorite boots for fall and what's been keeping me up at night.

Lately, I haven’t been sleeping too well (my Oura ring hates me by now). I’ve been having intense bouts of anxiety right around 4am for the past few weeks, and while a healthy amount of anxiety is normal and sometimes necessary, this (for me anyway) is not. I’ve had a lot of things on my mind, but one constant thought revolves around a question that every entrepreneur dreads and must face sooner or later— ‘to raise or not to raise?’ for me, that is the question. If you’re not familiar with how I started my brand, I’ll give you the Cliff notes version. While working full time at Complex Magazine, I started a little Instagram mood board account called Sporty & Rich. I used it to archive all of the images I saw that inspired me. There was really no purpose or goal for Sporty & Rich other than that.

Soon after, I turned the IG into a print magazine— I edited, wrote, directed and even shot some of the content myself. My favorite pieces include an interview with Basquiat’s ex girlfriend and another one with Sade’s guitarist— it was actually kind of a cool magazine (you should try to pick one up if you can still find them somewhere). It was a true passion project and I did it because I loved it. Eventually though, I realized that print was dead and I had bigger aspirations for myself than peddling a magazine that I basically lost money making. Then, in 2018, I left Complex to lead the Kith Women’s brand where I stayed for nearly a year before making the move to Los Angeles. I was craving balance and the sun, so I left my Williamsburg apartment and dream job behind and headed for the Hollywood hills (could I be more of a cliché?).

It wasn’t long after I moved to LA that I met my now-ex-boyfriend-turned-CEO (more on that later) who was instrumental in helping me turn S&R into a real brand. With his expertise in product design and development and my knack for creating aspirational imagery and a visual identity, we were the perfect match for building a brand (though a horrible match as a couple). In 2019, we did our first online drop and sold on a pre-order model because we didn’t have the capital to buy inventory (it’s the best way to start a brand FYI). We slowly did more and more drops, introduced some wholesale accounts and before we knew it, we were running a multi-million dollar business with just the two of us. We were both pretty broke when we started it, and everything we made we put back into the company to keep things going. It seems like forever ago, but it also seems like yesterday— time does fly, and I miss the days where our biggest problem was how we were gonna get 200 sweatshirts made in 3 weeks. Now, we have 40 employees, a flagship store in soho, over 100 retailers worldwide, and a whole new set of problems. But they’re good problems, and everyday I’m grateful to have the problems we have, because I get to wake up and do what I love.

Now that we’re in our sixth (real) year of business, things have changed and we have to keep up with the pace and growth. In most cases, this means raising money from outside investors, because truth be told, you need to pay to play. If you want to expand, open up retail shops in different cities, create impactful marketing, build a strong community and make qualitative product, you need money to do all of that. While we are lucky enough to be profitable and have a healthy business, having someone else help with the heavy lifting and supporting our growth would of course make things a lot easier and help take the brand to the next level. But then you think about the pressure and responsibility that comes with that, and you start to question if it’s the right decision, and if it’s what you even really want.

At a certain point, more becomes arbitrary. Do I really need more money? More things? More sales? For most of us, the answer is no. When you reach a certain point, you realize that the only thing you really need is a strong sense of self and a purpose that keeps you happy and fulfilled, a reason to wake up each morning and people to share it all with. But growing as a brand also means growing as an individual. I thrive off of accomplishing things and solving problems, finding solutions and proving to myself that I’m capable of more than I ever thought. I see growth as an opportunity to become a better human being, it also helps that I am endlessly passionate about and in love with what I do. This is what keeps me going. At the same time, I miss having a simple life. Sometimes I think I was happier when I was constantly late on rent, and could barely afford to buy lunch some days. The problems I had then compared to the ones I have now seem so small and insignificant. That’s the thing about success, there is an enormous pressure in sustaining it and even on your worst days, you have no choice but to keep up.

Change is inevitable, but scary as fuck. I think if I had one superpower, it would be to keep things the same forever. One of my favorite lines from one of my favorite movies Cinema Paradiso is “don’t give into nostalgia,” but my problem is that I do give into it, and sometimes I let it get the best of me. I have such a soft spot for the past and how things used to be, I mean, don’t we all romanticize how good things seemed, even if in reality, they weren’t? One thing about being an entrepreneur is that you can’t look back, there’s no time to be stuck in the past. You always have to be looking ahead— what’s next? What’s the plan for the future? Where do we see things in 10 years from now? I still don’t know what the answer is, but I know that no matter what, I’ll never forget where I started and how the feeling of doing what I love everyday is worth more than any amount of money in the world.

THE RECIPE

NGL, I’m a pretty decent cook. It’s partially due to the fact that I love it so much but also because I grew up with such amazing cooks around me (sorry dad, you definitely weren’t one of them). My mum, my grandma and my aunts are some of the best cooks I know. My mum, whose name is Heidi, was a single mom since I was a baby. She also worked full time and I remember her mostly being busy, but no matter what, she always made time to cook us a homemade dinner each night. It was nice, and I realize now how hard those times must have been for her. I’m not married, I don’t have kids and I feel like I can barely take care of myself half the time so, respect. I always loved her much less creamy take on a classic caesar salad dressing. Hers doesn’t use mayonnaise (it truly is an atrocious food) so it’s far less heavy than most caesar dressings and, it’s SUPER garlicky (yes you will absolutely stink for the entire night AND next day after eating it). The key to this dressing is to use a food processor and blend it S L O W L Y. As always, use high quality ingredients, (they just taste better) but if you can’t, make it anyway!

(me and my mum :)

INGREDIENTS:

1 tin of anchovies with capers in the middle

4-5 cloves of garlic

1 tbsp Lea & Perrins (Worcestershire sauce)

1 egg

3-4 tbsp freshly grated parmesan cheese

1 tsp red wine or champagne vinegar

1 tsp dijon or grainy mustard

2-3 tbsp lemon juice

Grated lemon rind (about a tsp worth)

2-3 cups of extra virgin olive oil (you’re just gonna eyeball this)

Lot’s of freshly ground pepper

Kosher salt

DIRECTIONS:

Add all of the ingredients to a food processor except the olive oil. Turn it on low and add the oil slowly. Taste it as you go and add more of anything if you want to adjust the flavors.

WHAT I’M READING

I’m admittedly not the best reader. I read maybe 2-3 books a year on average, and it takes me at least a few months to finish each one. I usually opt for self-help, personal development type of books and they can be 1) difficult to comprehend if you have any sort of attention span issues and 2) Can feel like I’m reading for work rather than for pleasure. I can count on one hand the number of fiction books I’ve read in my lifetime. I always feel like I need to be doing something to better myself, my mind, my business or my health. I do struggle with just “enjoying” and it is something I’m working on. Anyway, when Bret Easton Ellis released The Shards in early 2023, I was ecstatic. Not only is Bret my favorite fictional writer of our time, it was his first novel since 2010— that’s 13 years of writers block to be exact. Set against the dark yet iconic 1980’s LA backdrop, The Shards tells the story of a young B.E.E and his group of spoiled and sometimes sedated teenage friends, in particular, one devastatingly handsome new kid— who may or may not be a sociopathic killer. It took me exactly 5 days to read the 608 page novel, which for me, is record time. I simply couldn’t put it down. I almost squealed when I found out it’s in talks to be adapted into an HBO Drama series.

WHAT I’M WEARING

I’ve been on the hunt for the perfect heel boot for what feels like a decade now. They are always either too high, too short, cheaply made, uncomfortable, too trendy, too shiny, too predictable etc. I’m mostly into uniform dressing— what can I say, I like what I like. I’ve probably purchased an upwards of 15 pairs of leather boots over the past few years and I’ve either sold or given them all away— there was always something off. Two months ago I was served as Instagram ad (I’m a victim and I know it) for these seemingly beautiful leather heel boots. Was the search finally over? Yep. These Emme Parsons Stretch Boots in the butteriest Nappa leather are the answer to my fall boot prayers. With a 3.75mm heel height, these made in Italy booties have been part of my fall footwear rotation and as far as I’m concerned, always will be. Supremely comfortable, extremely flattering and versatile (I wear them with skinny jeans, wide leg trousers, vintage Levi’s and long skirts from The Row) these boots are true perfection. My favorite thing about these boots though is the toe, I’m very finicky about the toe shape of shoes. Too pointy and they are automatically too dressy, too square and I feel clunky, but these— these are just the right amount of pointy, almond-y, with a slight square at the very top of the toe. I don’t know what else to say other than if you need a pair of perfect leather boots, stop reading this and go buy them.