October 11, 2024 • 25 mins
This week, Rachel Zoe is joined by socialite, designer and entrepreneur, Nicky Hilton Rothschild. Nicky opens up about her childhood, which included her first internship at the age of 12, her sisterly bond with Paris Hilton, giving back to the community and the dream come true that is motherhood.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi everyone, I'm Rachel Zoe and you're listening to Climbing
in Heels for your weekly dose of glamour, inspiration and
of course fun. I'm taking you back to one of
my all time favorite episodes with the loveliest and most
hilarious Nicki Hilton. You might think you know the Hiltons,
but I guarantee you will learn something you didn't know
about Nicki and her family from this interview.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
So let's get right into it. I'm so happy to
have you on.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
So I started Climbing in Heels because just like you,
I have so many women in my life who are
just doing amazing things, have had the most extraordinary careers
and done a million things. And our moms and part
of families have had major education or next to no education,
have had just such different paths to get where they are.
(00:50):
But the point of it is, and you're such a
good example of it, is that you've gotten to become
who you are in a very genuine way, working really
really hard while still embracing being a woman and loving
that part of it and always being elegant, and like
(01:13):
Climbing and Heels is really like you can get to
where you want to be and still be a woman,
you know, if that makes sense, and embrace what it
is to be a woman. But everybody's path is different,
and I think that the goal for me is to
share with people sort of a little bit of who
you are, how you got here, and like sort of
(01:36):
what drives you, and like what would have been some
of your greatest sort of challenges along the way, if any,
because I've had the good fortune of knowing you for
what feels like your whole life, but probably just the
upbart the second the second half. I literally met you
in Paris in two thousand and one or two, and
(01:59):
you were so young and always so beautiful. But I
remember very clearly being like I actually thought you were
her older sister.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
What I realized over time was that it was like you.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
Didn't say a lot, and then when you did, it
was either absolutely hilarious or it was like just straight shooting.
It was like you were saying exactly what everyone was thinking,
but no one wanted to say. I always like to
just go back a little bit to the beginning, because
I like to know who were you like as a kid,
because you obviously grew up in this beautiful family in
(02:32):
a beautiful place.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
Right.
Speaker 4 (02:33):
I was born in New York and we moved to LA.
I feel like I must have been two or three.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Okay, so I consider myself a New Yorker.
Speaker 4 (02:44):
You are born New Yorker, although I was by coastal
back and forth for a bit, like New York.
Speaker 3 (02:50):
Is my roots.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
Yeah, you seem New Yorker to me. I'm very New
York right, yeah, yeah, everything about you feel New York
to me. And and but but not your sister. You
seem very New York to me, Like I feel like
when you got married and moved back to New York,
that to.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
Me felt like, okay, yeah, that's where she's supposed to be.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
Actually, So when you were a kid, like, were you
this like dreamy kid? Were you like the little girl
with the pink bows in her hair like your mom's
pictures that she posts, and were you just like I
want to play with barbies and I want to be
this when I grow up? Or were you like a
tougher kid? Were you opinionated? Like were you a dreamer?
(03:31):
Were you like like what was your what? Who was
Nikki little?
Speaker 4 (03:35):
I was very very serious, but very girly, very feminine,
loved dressing up fashion, playing in my mom's closet, organizing.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
Her jewelry and the shoes.
Speaker 4 (03:50):
I was so enamored by it all, so I knew
from a very very young age that I wanted to
do something in fashion, whether it be work at a magazine,
a spore, just anything.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
I loved all of it.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
And did you love like because you come from a
family of workers, like your parents are workers, like real
workers and doers, And I think, like, I know, for me,
that was everything.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Just kind of watching that and living that.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
There was never any like I'm going to marry someone
wealthy and live happily ever after and go shopping.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
That was never like a thought in my head, right.
Speaker 4 (04:32):
No, they my parents instilled a very strong work ethic
in all of us. And I remember being like twelve
years old in the Hamptons and they're like, what are
your summer plans? Cause you're not just going to sit
and hang out all day. You're going to get a job.
I was like, I am twelve, or like, you're going
(04:54):
to get a job. I got an internship.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
At Hampton's magazine when you were twelve. Yes, that's amazing.
Speaker 4 (05:01):
And I actually ended up doing it for a few
summers with Amanda Hurst, and we were interns. We did
the grittiest, most boring menial tasks, taking the traps out,
taking lunch orders, taking all the party picture film across
the street to get developed, sending out the magazines to
(05:24):
the advertisers.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
But I know, I just learned so much.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
Of course, I always say there are students and there
are workers, right, there's and listen sometimes there's both, right,
very often, but I was definitely a worker more than
I was a student a one hundred percent. I had
my parents gave me the choice not to go to college.
There's a good chance I won't tell my kids this now,
but like there's a good chance I would have opted
(05:49):
out and started working, because I felt like I learned
more in my first year working than I did in
four years of school. And so I'm curious to kind
of know at what point, So you went to school
in the city, or you went to school here city.
Speaker 4 (06:05):
I went to high school in college in New York.
I went to the Convent of the Sacred Heart, all
girls athleic school on the Upper East Side, not as
glamorous as Gossip Girl. And then I went to the
New School. And then I started working immediately, and.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
What was like, So, here's the thing.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
You, A lot of people that we know well and
probably even more that you that I don't know, got
tangled up in a lot of different kinds of trouble, right,
And I think the thing is that I'm always in
awe of is that.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
You in Paris and Baron all really turned.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
Out really well, like really just not lost in that.
And I think my sister and I the same, And
we came from a town where a lot of people
got really lost and messed up. And I think for me,
I think just knowing you as an adult, I would
never see you lose, like be the type of person
to lose your footing. And even as I've known you
(07:10):
for this long, you just always seem to have it
like together, Like you just always seem like not out
of control.
Speaker 4 (07:17):
Ever, I think that I credit like a lot of
my my everything is to my family. We are so tight,
we are so close, we are so right or die
and supportive of each other and lean on each other.
And I'm so grateful for that. And I think, I really,
I know it sounds cliche, but like to me, family
(07:41):
is everything.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
A thousand percent, And don't you realize that even more
now as a mother, Like don't you just realize like
everything I do is an example for them. I think
one thing I definitely want to talk about is like,
obviously you have a very visible family, right and I've
been like enough to know all of you for so
long that to me or like one of the realist
(08:05):
families I've ever known, especially in this town and in
this industry. You've you've touched fashion in so many ways.
You've touched different facets of the industry, foot where clothing,
you've done shows, you're doing jewelry, like you've written books,
Like there's so many pieces of this puzzle. I want
to know A what's your favorite? And B I want
(08:28):
to talk about some of your challenges, right, Like what
I guess keeps you awake at night and like what
wakes you up in the morning?
Speaker 2 (08:35):
Like what is it that?
Speaker 3 (08:37):
Like?
Speaker 1 (08:38):
Have you had haters? Have you had critics? Have you
had trolls? Have you had because it's funny, you don't
seem like the person who would ever let that ship
bother you. But I think the question is like you've
I'm sure you've had some mean girls, Like I'm sure
you've had stuff.
Speaker 4 (08:54):
Oh yeah, it's so funny you say that, because yesterday
after the course show, we went to this Michael had
a lunch.
Speaker 3 (09:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (09:00):
I was staying with all these women and lots of
mothers of and we were talking just how great it is,
how much kinder the world has become, and even just
the media, because.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
Growing up in.
Speaker 4 (09:23):
The media and the two thousands, they were just down
right cruel at times, cruel and.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
Sadistic and mean.
Speaker 4 (09:34):
And they use these girls that the paris Is and
the Brittany's is just punchlines every single day, and that
shit would not fly today.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
But I think it really impacts girls. It has impacted
girls in a bigger way over the years.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
And I think it's interesting.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
I think that's on the one hand, you're like, well,
wait a minute, we have the internet, it should be
ten x work, yes, But I think then it was tabloids, right,
And I think and those shows, I don't even think
you could have like a fashion police now cutting down
what people are wearing, right, And so I think there's
(10:15):
It's funny because I was experiencing something the other day,
just randomly, this woman who was just speaking so terribly
to me and my team and it was so ridiculous,
and I was sort of like, not even like in
our business, like it was just that. And I literally
turn around and I go, I cannot believe in this
day and age that you're actually speaking like this, like
(10:35):
I actually yeah, because you actually can't get away with
that anymore. And I think it's a really good point
what you're saying, because I actually think that when we
grew up, and I think when like twenty years ago,
fifteen years ago, at the height of it, you could
say anything, you could do anything. There was no there
was no ramifications for that. And I think now you
(10:56):
do that, you say someone's hair is the wrong you
give the wrong title.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
You, I mean, you're canceled, right.
Speaker 4 (11:03):
And for that, I am grateful and happy that my
girls and my boy will grow up in.
Speaker 3 (11:10):
A somewhat kind of world.
Speaker 4 (11:12):
I mean, we still got a long long way to go,
but we are making strides.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
And so what Okay, So I think, just for our listeners,
I think it's important to talk about So Nikki is
younger than Paris by a few years. And again I
think I, along with many people, have always felt like
Nikki was the older sister, and I think now Paris
is living her dream and her fairy to life, and
(11:40):
I could not be happy, and I cannot love somebody more,
by the way, just the most magical person. It's important
to talk about sisters, right because I have a sister,
and I think you guys have such a beautiful relationship.
And I think the thing is what I have seen
over the years that's beautiful is that you talk to
(12:01):
her and she talks to you exactly like you should.
You're very straight, Pierre, No.
Speaker 3 (12:07):
We are.
Speaker 4 (12:07):
We speak like ten times a day. We are each
other's biggest cheerleaders. I see some siblings who don't get on.
That always makes me so sad because me too. For me,
like sisters, it's such an unbreakable bond.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
I agree and my sister. It's funny because everyone's always like,
like my closest girlfriends, They're like, you don't ask us
for anything. I'm like because of my sister, Like and
I had Roger and I have Roger who's been with
me thirty one years. So it's like when you have
those two relationships that are so strong, I don't think
you're as high maintenance as a friend. I think I
(12:45):
think that's why I kind of only children. A lot
of times they're friends, right, their friends become their siblings, right.
Speaker 4 (12:53):
So, but you're not that demanding of a friend because
you have.
Speaker 3 (12:57):
Your sister for all the hardcore.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
Stuff hundred and your mom.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
But yeah, so I think, But like I think you
guys are in It's weird you're both in the quote
unquote industry, but differently, right, Like I don't feel like
you want to do anything she does, and I feel
like she doesn't want to do anything you do. And
I think that's also why it works so beautifully.
Speaker 4 (13:18):
Yes, we totally had different ambitions and goals are whole life.
And I used to get asked that all the time.
Do you guys get jealous of each other? No, you
don't have the same taste in clothing, embloys, in career
paths like we are night and day.
Speaker 2 (13:38):
You really do cheer for each other.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
I also think your speech at the wedding was one
of the greatest speeches I've ever heard, and I won't
I won't say it for people to hear because it
was private, but one of the highlights for me was like,
who asked their family to go on their honeymoon?
Speaker 4 (13:58):
You believe that the invite no less on actually no,
I know the whole to the bachelorette party. I was like,
you were so generous and kind. I would not have
Mom near my bachelorette. She's just so easy going like
(14:19):
that of Core I am, I will admit it, I
am much more uptight.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
I'm like, you's just what else I know?
Speaker 1 (14:25):
I know, And that's why I think that I think
she's the most misunderstood person.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
I know.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
I think less so now, but I think, like, I
think she has just always been the sweetest, most supportive
friend and just the sweetest kindest person has She's just
always been that way, with a heart like bigger than
she actually knows what to do with sometimes. But I
think I think now kind of watching you in this
role of like entrepreneural mom, I can't believe you have
(14:55):
three kids happily married. It's just so nice to see
and I feel like this is kind of like how
your life was supposed to be. But I think the
best thing about you that I've always noticed is that
you've never once not stayed true to exactly who you are,
right Like, I just feel like you've never like tried
to appeal to other people. You're just always like, this
(15:17):
is my opinion. I'm sticking to it. I don't give
to shut what other people say. This is my thought, right,
And that's a really hard thing to do, to not
be like swayed by like the people around you.
Speaker 4 (15:27):
And I think my mom taught me that at a
young age. She was like, who cares what everyone thinks?
They're not paying your bills?
Speaker 3 (15:36):
That was her favorite line, what do you care? You're right? Right?
Speaker 1 (15:42):
I could I could see her saying that. I could,
I could absolutely see herself.
Speaker 4 (15:45):
There'll be lots of kathyisms throughout this podcast.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
As there should be.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
What I do want to talk about now is sort
of like, so, what's kind of next? Like what's been
your favorite part of your career so far? Like just
sort of where you were like, this is my calling.
I need to do more of this. This is what
I meant to do, and I want to figure out
how to do this more, like which facet of the industry,
like what feels most natural to you?
Speaker 4 (16:13):
I love the fashion stuff and the designing. I actually
just shot my French Soul spring campaign.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
Amazing. I feel like this is now a few this
is a few years in now, right, Yes.
Speaker 4 (16:25):
You probably this is not your language flats, but they're
so cute.
Speaker 3 (16:31):
Very much a ballerina flat girls.
Speaker 4 (16:34):
I think they are the perfect combination of comfort and elegance.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
I just fell in love with them.
Speaker 4 (16:41):
Audrey Hepburn and her turtlements and her little cigarette pants.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
But that's your whole thing.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
You have this like Caroline Bassett Shakhness, that's their whole,
like Nikki thing.
Speaker 4 (16:49):
So that keeps me busy. But I would say the
most rewarding work I do is with the Silton Foundation.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
I want to talk about that because I think that's listen,
I'm doing. Doing that kind of work I think is
probably the most important thing that any of us do.
So I do want to hear about that because I
know that you've been a part of all kinds of
different foundations, but I want to hear more about the
Hilton Foundation.
Speaker 4 (17:17):
So when my great grandfather died, he left his fortune
to the Hilton Foundation, right, and since it's inception in
nineteen forty.
Speaker 3 (17:26):
Four, they have.
Speaker 4 (17:30):
Donated nearly three billion dollars to nonprofit organizations. God so
the mission statement is alleviating human suffering, and we do
all sorts of work with early child development Foster youth
homelesseners in Los Angeles. I love introducing my girls to
(17:52):
this type of work because it was introduced to me
so young and it's just sort of been in my DNA,
and then they love it too. Like I took them
two weekends ago to the synagogue my husband belongs to
Uptown and we made meals.
Speaker 3 (18:15):
For the community fridge.
Speaker 4 (18:16):
So we sat there with all these families and it
was really great, I mean, the kids involved, and we
made sandwiches, fruit cups, ballads, water bottles, and we drove
the food up to the community fridge in Harlem. And
I don't know if you get familiar with this community
fridge concept, amazing. So they're popping up all over the city.
(18:38):
So they had one where in Harlem and it's on
the street, like a huge fridge and.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
People just take away.
Speaker 4 (18:49):
So we unloaded all of the stuff into the fridge
and we were sort of just like sitting there and
watching and all these people just started coming and grabbing
a sandwich or of water. To be able to introduce
my kids to that.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
I started the boys when they were about four and
five and six and started to really kind of build
that foundation of empathy and everything else. And them really
understanding that the life they live is not a given
and not expected and not It's not a given in
this world, and there's many that don't. And I think
there's nothing more important that we actually can do for
(19:26):
our kids than to expose real world, real life to
them as young as possible, because I always lead with that.
Speaker 4 (19:34):
My parents would bring us down to the Union Rescue
Mission Downtown LA almost every Christmas and Thanksgiving to feed
the homeless, and it's it just it makes you feel
so good to be able to help people, and my
kids love doing it.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
It's I think it's so important to keep them in it,
and it also it also becomes that thing that they
look forward to and it's a thing that they'll be
driven by ultimately in their lives, which is the most
important thing that we do as parents.
Speaker 4 (20:06):
I think, Yes, I got really creative with my giving back.
I recently joined the board of God's Love We Deliver
Nice and I came on to the team and I said,
I really want to engage my kids and the youth,
create volunteer opportunities, and teach these kids the importance of
(20:27):
giving back. So we did our inaugural kickoff at the
Museum of ice Cream my kids, just like everything is
about God's love, we deliver ice cream.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
See.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
But that's but it's great and I think it's that.
I think it's such a great thing that we do,
that that you do, and so I guess so the
idea is that you can now work with multiple organizations
right through this.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
So that's that's amazing. And by the way, kids, it
was all about animals.
Speaker 4 (21:00):
I'm on the board of Animal Haven, which is a
no kill shelter. Yes, and everything's about animals. But then
I had kids, just something like ignited in me. It
was like a moral obligation. Well it is, get involved,
and well you do great work with baby to baby.
Speaker 2 (21:21):
And I think you know what it is.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
I think when you have kids and you're feeding them
and you're putting a diaper on them, or you're just
getting them a new sweater, you don't that's such a
normal thing that when all of a sudden, you go, wait,
they don't have shoes that fit, they don't have socks,
they don't have a backpack for school, so they use
a garbage bag that they keep all their stuff in.
And when you and they eat their meals at their
(21:45):
public school that they eat at and.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
When school shuts down, they don't get food.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
So it's like when you start to go down that
and I think as a parent, it's like, yes, you
don't have to be a parent to think about that,
but I think once you are, it's like ten times
more intensive that you feel.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
As you said this, like.
Speaker 1 (22:04):
Obligation as a human being to try and fix it
and try and help however you can. I couldn't agree more. So,
tell me what is next, and like what your dream is?
Obviously you're living it, But do you ever think like, Okay,
I still have this left to do or I still
like I'd still like to do X, or do you
just like say, I'm living in my moment and taking
(22:26):
every day as it comes.
Speaker 3 (22:28):
Well, having three kids now it is.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
One hundred full time jobs.
Speaker 3 (22:35):
No, but I got into the the kid's game.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
Yeah, of course.
Speaker 4 (22:38):
I just did a swimsuit collab with this cute brand
that I found that my mom found on Instagram. It's
called Sunhouse Children's Okay, and it's these two moms from
the South cute and they have the most adorable line.
And I did this cute collab of little girls and
(23:00):
little Boy swimsuits and working on two fun fashion projects
right now.
Speaker 2 (23:08):
Good.
Speaker 1 (23:09):
I'm very excited to see what you do because I
just think you have a lot that you are doing
and a lot that you'll keep doing. But I also
think you're going to keep doing it like the nicky way.
Like I also think that you're sort of calm, cool
I think always brings a lot to anything, and I
think that's I think that's why you are where you
are and who you are. But I do love you madly.
(23:29):
Go enjoy your kids.
Speaker 2 (23:31):
Bye, Henny.
Speaker 1 (23:40):
I want to thank Nikki for coming on the podcast
and opening up about her life and her incredible foundation,
the Hilton Foundation, which I'm so impressed by because there's
nothing I love more than when people who can do
and what an impact the Hilton Foundation is having and
will continue to have for a very long time.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
So many people.
Speaker 1 (24:01):
I think something we haven't really talked about that much
on the podcast, if at all, is commitment to philanthropic endeavors.
And I think that as parents, one of the biggest
things that we can do for our children is teach
them as young as possible about empathy and giving back
(24:21):
and just giving out your hand where you can and
that it should be something that you look forward to
and something that drives you. And I think that Nikki's
talking about how important that is to her and to
her family. I think is such a great takeaway, honestly,
And she really does do so much. She works really hard,
(24:43):
she's so professional, and I meant it when I said, like,
I've known her for twenty years and I swear she's
just always together, always straight shooter, always kind, just like
her mom and just like her sister, honestly, and they're
such a nice family, and so I think it's really
nice to kind of share a little bit more of
who Nikki rothschild is. I still want to say, Nicki Yalton.
(25:06):
I want to thank our listeners as well. If you
want more Climbing in Hales content, follow me on at
Rachel Zoe and at Climbing in Heales pod on Instagram
for more updates on upcoming guests episodes and I will
see you next week.
Hi everyone, I'm Rachel Zoe and you're listening to Climbing
in Heels for your weekly dose of glamour, inspiration and
of course fun. I'm taking you back to one of
my all time favorite episodes with the loveliest and most
hilarious Nicki Hilton. You might think you know the Hiltons,
but I guarantee you will learn something you didn't know
about Nicki and her family from this interview.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
So let's get right into it. I'm so happy to
have you on.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
So I started Climbing in Heels because just like you,
I have so many women in my life who are
just doing amazing things, have had the most extraordinary careers
and done a million things. And our moms and part
of families have had major education or next to no education,
have had just such different paths to get where they are.
(00:50):
But the point of it is, and you're such a
good example of it, is that you've gotten to become
who you are in a very genuine way, working really
really hard while still embracing being a woman and loving
that part of it and always being elegant, and like
(01:13):
Climbing and Heels is really like you can get to
where you want to be and still be a woman,
you know, if that makes sense, and embrace what it
is to be a woman. But everybody's path is different,
and I think that the goal for me is to
share with people sort of a little bit of who
you are, how you got here, and like sort of
(01:36):
what drives you, and like what would have been some
of your greatest sort of challenges along the way, if any,
because I've had the good fortune of knowing you for
what feels like your whole life, but probably just the
upbart the second the second half. I literally met you
in Paris in two thousand and one or two, and
(01:59):
you were so young and always so beautiful. But I
remember very clearly being like I actually thought you were
her older sister.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
What I realized over time was that it was like you.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
Didn't say a lot, and then when you did, it
was either absolutely hilarious or it was like just straight shooting.
It was like you were saying exactly what everyone was thinking,
but no one wanted to say. I always like to
just go back a little bit to the beginning, because
I like to know who were you like as a kid,
because you obviously grew up in this beautiful family in
(02:32):
a beautiful place.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
Right.
Speaker 4 (02:33):
I was born in New York and we moved to LA.
I feel like I must have been two or three.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Okay, so I consider myself a New Yorker.
Speaker 4 (02:44):
You are born New Yorker, although I was by coastal
back and forth for a bit, like New York.
Speaker 3 (02:50):
Is my roots.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
Yeah, you seem New Yorker to me. I'm very New
York right, yeah, yeah, everything about you feel New York
to me. And and but but not your sister. You
seem very New York to me, Like I feel like
when you got married and moved back to New York,
that to.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
Me felt like, okay, yeah, that's where she's supposed to be.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
Actually, So when you were a kid, like, were you
this like dreamy kid? Were you like the little girl
with the pink bows in her hair like your mom's
pictures that she posts, and were you just like I
want to play with barbies and I want to be
this when I grow up? Or were you like a
tougher kid? Were you opinionated? Like were you a dreamer?
(03:31):
Were you like like what was your what? Who was
Nikki little?
Speaker 4 (03:35):
I was very very serious, but very girly, very feminine,
loved dressing up fashion, playing in my mom's closet, organizing.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
Her jewelry and the shoes.
Speaker 4 (03:50):
I was so enamored by it all, so I knew
from a very very young age that I wanted to
do something in fashion, whether it be work at a magazine,
a spore, just anything.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
I loved all of it.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
And did you love like because you come from a
family of workers, like your parents are workers, like real
workers and doers, And I think, like, I know, for me,
that was everything.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Just kind of watching that and living that.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
There was never any like I'm going to marry someone
wealthy and live happily ever after and go shopping.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
That was never like a thought in my head, right.
Speaker 4 (04:32):
No, they my parents instilled a very strong work ethic
in all of us. And I remember being like twelve
years old in the Hamptons and they're like, what are
your summer plans? Cause you're not just going to sit
and hang out all day. You're going to get a job.
I was like, I am twelve, or like, you're going
(04:54):
to get a job. I got an internship.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
At Hampton's magazine when you were twelve. Yes, that's amazing.
Speaker 4 (05:01):
And I actually ended up doing it for a few
summers with Amanda Hurst, and we were interns. We did
the grittiest, most boring menial tasks, taking the traps out,
taking lunch orders, taking all the party picture film across
the street to get developed, sending out the magazines to
(05:24):
the advertisers.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
But I know, I just learned so much.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
Of course, I always say there are students and there
are workers, right, there's and listen sometimes there's both, right,
very often, but I was definitely a worker more than
I was a student a one hundred percent. I had
my parents gave me the choice not to go to college.
There's a good chance I won't tell my kids this now,
but like there's a good chance I would have opted
(05:49):
out and started working, because I felt like I learned
more in my first year working than I did in
four years of school. And so I'm curious to kind
of know at what point, So you went to school
in the city, or you went to school here city.
Speaker 4 (06:05):
I went to high school in college in New York.
I went to the Convent of the Sacred Heart, all
girls athleic school on the Upper East Side, not as
glamorous as Gossip Girl. And then I went to the
New School. And then I started working immediately, and.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
What was like, So, here's the thing.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
You, A lot of people that we know well and
probably even more that you that I don't know, got
tangled up in a lot of different kinds of trouble, right,
And I think the thing is that I'm always in
awe of is that.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
You in Paris and Baron all really turned.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
Out really well, like really just not lost in that.
And I think my sister and I the same, And
we came from a town where a lot of people
got really lost and messed up. And I think for me,
I think just knowing you as an adult, I would
never see you lose, like be the type of person
to lose your footing. And even as I've known you
(07:10):
for this long, you just always seem to have it
like together, Like you just always seem like not out
of control.
Speaker 4 (07:17):
Ever, I think that I credit like a lot of
my my everything is to my family. We are so tight,
we are so close, we are so right or die
and supportive of each other and lean on each other.
And I'm so grateful for that. And I think, I really,
I know it sounds cliche, but like to me, family
(07:41):
is everything.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
A thousand percent, And don't you realize that even more
now as a mother, Like don't you just realize like
everything I do is an example for them. I think
one thing I definitely want to talk about is like,
obviously you have a very visible family, right and I've
been like enough to know all of you for so
long that to me or like one of the realist
(08:05):
families I've ever known, especially in this town and in
this industry. You've you've touched fashion in so many ways.
You've touched different facets of the industry, foot where clothing,
you've done shows, you're doing jewelry, like you've written books,
Like there's so many pieces of this puzzle. I want
to know A what's your favorite? And B I want
(08:28):
to talk about some of your challenges, right, Like what
I guess keeps you awake at night and like what
wakes you up in the morning?
Speaker 2 (08:35):
Like what is it that?
Speaker 3 (08:37):
Like?
Speaker 1 (08:38):
Have you had haters? Have you had critics? Have you
had trolls? Have you had because it's funny, you don't
seem like the person who would ever let that ship
bother you. But I think the question is like you've
I'm sure you've had some mean girls, Like I'm sure
you've had stuff.
Speaker 4 (08:54):
Oh yeah, it's so funny you say that, because yesterday
after the course show, we went to this Michael had
a lunch.
Speaker 3 (09:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (09:00):
I was staying with all these women and lots of
mothers of and we were talking just how great it is,
how much kinder the world has become, and even just
the media, because.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
Growing up in.
Speaker 4 (09:23):
The media and the two thousands, they were just down
right cruel at times, cruel and.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
Sadistic and mean.
Speaker 4 (09:34):
And they use these girls that the paris Is and
the Brittany's is just punchlines every single day, and that
shit would not fly today.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
But I think it really impacts girls. It has impacted
girls in a bigger way over the years.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
And I think it's interesting.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
I think that's on the one hand, you're like, well,
wait a minute, we have the internet, it should be
ten x work, yes, But I think then it was tabloids, right,
And I think and those shows, I don't even think
you could have like a fashion police now cutting down
what people are wearing, right, And so I think there's
(10:15):
It's funny because I was experiencing something the other day,
just randomly, this woman who was just speaking so terribly
to me and my team and it was so ridiculous,
and I was sort of like, not even like in
our business, like it was just that. And I literally
turn around and I go, I cannot believe in this
day and age that you're actually speaking like this, like
(10:35):
I actually yeah, because you actually can't get away with
that anymore. And I think it's a really good point
what you're saying, because I actually think that when we
grew up, and I think when like twenty years ago,
fifteen years ago, at the height of it, you could
say anything, you could do anything. There was no there
was no ramifications for that. And I think now you
(10:56):
do that, you say someone's hair is the wrong you
give the wrong title.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
You, I mean, you're canceled, right.
Speaker 4 (11:03):
And for that, I am grateful and happy that my
girls and my boy will grow up in.
Speaker 3 (11:10):
A somewhat kind of world.
Speaker 4 (11:12):
I mean, we still got a long long way to go,
but we are making strides.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
And so what Okay, So I think, just for our listeners,
I think it's important to talk about So Nikki is
younger than Paris by a few years. And again I
think I, along with many people, have always felt like
Nikki was the older sister, and I think now Paris
is living her dream and her fairy to life, and
(11:40):
I could not be happy, and I cannot love somebody more,
by the way, just the most magical person. It's important
to talk about sisters, right because I have a sister,
and I think you guys have such a beautiful relationship.
And I think the thing is what I have seen
over the years that's beautiful is that you talk to
(12:01):
her and she talks to you exactly like you should.
You're very straight, Pierre, No.
Speaker 3 (12:07):
We are.
Speaker 4 (12:07):
We speak like ten times a day. We are each
other's biggest cheerleaders. I see some siblings who don't get on.
That always makes me so sad because me too. For me,
like sisters, it's such an unbreakable bond.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
I agree and my sister. It's funny because everyone's always like,
like my closest girlfriends, They're like, you don't ask us
for anything. I'm like because of my sister, Like and
I had Roger and I have Roger who's been with
me thirty one years. So it's like when you have
those two relationships that are so strong, I don't think
you're as high maintenance as a friend. I think I
(12:45):
think that's why I kind of only children. A lot
of times they're friends, right, their friends become their siblings, right.
Speaker 4 (12:53):
So, but you're not that demanding of a friend because
you have.
Speaker 3 (12:57):
Your sister for all the hardcore.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
Stuff hundred and your mom.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
But yeah, so I think, But like I think you
guys are in It's weird you're both in the quote
unquote industry, but differently, right, Like I don't feel like
you want to do anything she does, and I feel
like she doesn't want to do anything you do. And
I think that's also why it works so beautifully.
Speaker 4 (13:18):
Yes, we totally had different ambitions and goals are whole life.
And I used to get asked that all the time.
Do you guys get jealous of each other? No, you
don't have the same taste in clothing, embloys, in career
paths like we are night and day.
Speaker 2 (13:38):
You really do cheer for each other.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
I also think your speech at the wedding was one
of the greatest speeches I've ever heard, and I won't
I won't say it for people to hear because it
was private, but one of the highlights for me was like,
who asked their family to go on their honeymoon?
Speaker 4 (13:58):
You believe that the invite no less on actually no,
I know the whole to the bachelorette party. I was like,
you were so generous and kind. I would not have
Mom near my bachelorette. She's just so easy going like
(14:19):
that of Core I am, I will admit it, I
am much more uptight.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
I'm like, you's just what else I know?
Speaker 1 (14:25):
I know, And that's why I think that I think
she's the most misunderstood person.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
I know.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
I think less so now, but I think, like, I
think she has just always been the sweetest, most supportive
friend and just the sweetest kindest person has She's just
always been that way, with a heart like bigger than
she actually knows what to do with sometimes. But I
think I think now kind of watching you in this
role of like entrepreneural mom, I can't believe you have
(14:55):
three kids happily married. It's just so nice to see
and I feel like this is kind of like how
your life was supposed to be. But I think the
best thing about you that I've always noticed is that
you've never once not stayed true to exactly who you are,
right Like, I just feel like you've never like tried
to appeal to other people. You're just always like, this
(15:17):
is my opinion. I'm sticking to it. I don't give
to shut what other people say. This is my thought, right,
And that's a really hard thing to do, to not
be like swayed by like the people around you.
Speaker 4 (15:27):
And I think my mom taught me that at a
young age. She was like, who cares what everyone thinks?
They're not paying your bills?
Speaker 3 (15:36):
That was her favorite line, what do you care? You're right? Right?
Speaker 1 (15:42):
I could I could see her saying that. I could,
I could absolutely see herself.
Speaker 4 (15:45):
There'll be lots of kathyisms throughout this podcast.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
As there should be.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
What I do want to talk about now is sort
of like, so, what's kind of next? Like what's been
your favorite part of your career so far? Like just
sort of where you were like, this is my calling.
I need to do more of this. This is what
I meant to do, and I want to figure out
how to do this more, like which facet of the industry,
like what feels most natural to you?
Speaker 4 (16:13):
I love the fashion stuff and the designing. I actually
just shot my French Soul spring campaign.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
Amazing. I feel like this is now a few this
is a few years in now, right, Yes.
Speaker 4 (16:25):
You probably this is not your language flats, but they're
so cute.
Speaker 3 (16:31):
Very much a ballerina flat girls.
Speaker 4 (16:34):
I think they are the perfect combination of comfort and elegance.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
I just fell in love with them.
Speaker 4 (16:41):
Audrey Hepburn and her turtlements and her little cigarette pants.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
But that's your whole thing.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
You have this like Caroline Bassett Shakhness, that's their whole,
like Nikki thing.
Speaker 4 (16:49):
So that keeps me busy. But I would say the
most rewarding work I do is with the Silton Foundation.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
I want to talk about that because I think that's listen,
I'm doing. Doing that kind of work I think is
probably the most important thing that any of us do.
So I do want to hear about that because I
know that you've been a part of all kinds of
different foundations, but I want to hear more about the
Hilton Foundation.
Speaker 4 (17:17):
So when my great grandfather died, he left his fortune
to the Hilton Foundation, right, and since it's inception in
nineteen forty.
Speaker 3 (17:26):
Four, they have.
Speaker 4 (17:30):
Donated nearly three billion dollars to nonprofit organizations. God so
the mission statement is alleviating human suffering, and we do
all sorts of work with early child development Foster youth
homelesseners in Los Angeles. I love introducing my girls to
(17:52):
this type of work because it was introduced to me
so young and it's just sort of been in my DNA,
and then they love it too. Like I took them
two weekends ago to the synagogue my husband belongs to
Uptown and we made meals.
Speaker 3 (18:15):
For the community fridge.
Speaker 4 (18:16):
So we sat there with all these families and it
was really great, I mean, the kids involved, and we
made sandwiches, fruit cups, ballads, water bottles, and we drove
the food up to the community fridge in Harlem. And
I don't know if you get familiar with this community
fridge concept, amazing. So they're popping up all over the city.
(18:38):
So they had one where in Harlem and it's on
the street, like a huge fridge and.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
People just take away.
Speaker 4 (18:49):
So we unloaded all of the stuff into the fridge
and we were sort of just like sitting there and
watching and all these people just started coming and grabbing
a sandwich or of water. To be able to introduce
my kids to that.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
I started the boys when they were about four and
five and six and started to really kind of build
that foundation of empathy and everything else. And them really
understanding that the life they live is not a given
and not expected and not It's not a given in
this world, and there's many that don't. And I think
there's nothing more important that we actually can do for
(19:26):
our kids than to expose real world, real life to
them as young as possible, because I always lead with that.
Speaker 4 (19:34):
My parents would bring us down to the Union Rescue
Mission Downtown LA almost every Christmas and Thanksgiving to feed
the homeless, and it's it just it makes you feel
so good to be able to help people, and my
kids love doing it.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
It's I think it's so important to keep them in it,
and it also it also becomes that thing that they
look forward to and it's a thing that they'll be
driven by ultimately in their lives, which is the most
important thing that we do as parents.
Speaker 4 (20:06):
I think, Yes, I got really creative with my giving back.
I recently joined the board of God's Love We Deliver
Nice and I came on to the team and I said,
I really want to engage my kids and the youth,
create volunteer opportunities, and teach these kids the importance of
(20:27):
giving back. So we did our inaugural kickoff at the
Museum of ice Cream my kids, just like everything is
about God's love, we deliver ice cream.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
See.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
But that's but it's great and I think it's that.
I think it's such a great thing that we do,
that that you do, and so I guess so the
idea is that you can now work with multiple organizations
right through this.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
So that's that's amazing. And by the way, kids, it
was all about animals.
Speaker 4 (21:00):
I'm on the board of Animal Haven, which is a
no kill shelter. Yes, and everything's about animals. But then
I had kids, just something like ignited in me. It
was like a moral obligation. Well it is, get involved,
and well you do great work with baby to baby.
Speaker 2 (21:21):
And I think you know what it is.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
I think when you have kids and you're feeding them
and you're putting a diaper on them, or you're just
getting them a new sweater, you don't that's such a
normal thing that when all of a sudden, you go, wait,
they don't have shoes that fit, they don't have socks,
they don't have a backpack for school, so they use
a garbage bag that they keep all their stuff in.
And when you and they eat their meals at their
(21:45):
public school that they eat at and.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
When school shuts down, they don't get food.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
So it's like when you start to go down that
and I think as a parent, it's like, yes, you
don't have to be a parent to think about that,
but I think once you are, it's like ten times
more intensive that you feel.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
As you said this, like.
Speaker 1 (22:04):
Obligation as a human being to try and fix it
and try and help however you can. I couldn't agree more. So,
tell me what is next, and like what your dream is?
Obviously you're living it, But do you ever think like, Okay,
I still have this left to do or I still
like I'd still like to do X, or do you
just like say, I'm living in my moment and taking
(22:26):
every day as it comes.
Speaker 3 (22:28):
Well, having three kids now it is.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
One hundred full time jobs.
Speaker 3 (22:35):
No, but I got into the the kid's game.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
Yeah, of course.
Speaker 4 (22:38):
I just did a swimsuit collab with this cute brand
that I found that my mom found on Instagram. It's
called Sunhouse Children's Okay, and it's these two moms from
the South cute and they have the most adorable line.
And I did this cute collab of little girls and
(23:00):
little Boy swimsuits and working on two fun fashion projects
right now.
Speaker 2 (23:08):
Good.
Speaker 1 (23:09):
I'm very excited to see what you do because I
just think you have a lot that you are doing
and a lot that you'll keep doing. But I also
think you're going to keep doing it like the nicky way.
Like I also think that you're sort of calm, cool
I think always brings a lot to anything, and I
think that's I think that's why you are where you
are and who you are. But I do love you madly.
(23:29):
Go enjoy your kids.
Speaker 2 (23:31):
Bye, Henny.
Speaker 1 (23:40):
I want to thank Nikki for coming on the podcast
and opening up about her life and her incredible foundation,
the Hilton Foundation, which I'm so impressed by because there's
nothing I love more than when people who can do
and what an impact the Hilton Foundation is having and
will continue to have for a very long time.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
So many people.
Speaker 1 (24:01):
I think something we haven't really talked about that much
on the podcast, if at all, is commitment to philanthropic endeavors.
And I think that as parents, one of the biggest
things that we can do for our children is teach
them as young as possible about empathy and giving back
(24:21):
and just giving out your hand where you can and
that it should be something that you look forward to
and something that drives you. And I think that Nikki's
talking about how important that is to her and to
her family. I think is such a great takeaway, honestly,
And she really does do so much. She works really hard,
(24:43):
she's so professional, and I meant it when I said, like,
I've known her for twenty years and I swear she's
just always together, always straight shooter, always kind, just like
her mom and just like her sister, honestly, and they're
such a nice family, and so I think it's really
nice to kind of share a little bit more of
who Nikki rothschild is. I still want to say, Nicki Yalton.
(25:06):
I want to thank our listeners as well. If you
want more Climbing in Hales content, follow me on at
Rachel Zoe and at Climbing in Heales pod on Instagram
for more updates on upcoming guests episodes and I will
see you next week.
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