Breakfast

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
This is an encore performance I've Alwaysin Fashion. This show is produced and
hosted by Mark Webber. The showis sponsored by G three of Peril.
The views expressed in the following programare those of the sponsor and not necessarily
the opinion of seven ten wo Ror iHeartMedia. Who is Mark Webber.
He's a self made business executive hereto help you find your success, from

(00:23):
the New York City projects to theAvenue Montaigne in Paris. His global success
story in the luxury world of fashionis inspirational. He's gone from clerk to
CEO twice. Mark is classic proofthat the American dream is alive. And
well, here's your host of Alwaysin Fashion, Mark Webber. Mark Webber,

(00:45):
I've been thinking that lately. Thelast couple of shows have been really
serious. I don't know about you, but I want to have some fun
tonight. Yeah, I will tellyou. I have to say that the
shows were insightful. There were collaborations, there were risks, there were entrepreneurs,
There's a lot going on. Butnonetheless I didn't have fun. Please
don't get me wrong. Let merestate it. I just wasn't talk about

(01:08):
fun stuff. I will remind youand myself, of course, so talking
on the radio is an honor anda privilege. But tonight I want to
loosen it up. I want totalk about important subjects, for sure.
But just like girls want to havefun, boys want to have fun.
What do you think about that,Jesse fun, I'm always game for that.
I think this. I like thisidea. But I'll tell you you

(01:30):
know, I thought the last fewshows were great. In my opinion,
I thought they were insightful. Yougive a unique approach. Maybe I'm wrong
learning. I think it's fun.It sounds cheesy, but I learned some
things. But having said that,I'd like to do a light show tonight.
I'm glad. I'm also glad youlearned. I wasn't learning. Remember
you can't learn while you're talking.But nonetheless, I want to have some

(01:53):
fun. I want to cover someimportant points. I don't want to pack
and deliver stuff that's just not soserious. Look, if you want to
lighten it up, I'm right therewith you. I'm game. But play
back the comments from the last fewshows. I don't know about you,
but I'm having a good time.Oh yeah, you are. I'm doing
the work, Kire, I'm doingthe heavy lifting. But having said that,
tonight, I want to have agood time. And you know what,

(02:16):
I've entitled the show Breakfast. Nota clue where you're going with this
one. You talk breakfast, I'min, I'm interested. Let's have some
fun. Yep, that's the plantonight. I've been told that breakfast is
the most important meal of the day. That's what I'm told. N Attritionally,
it's starts your metabolism going and providesfuel for your body. I'm thinking,

(02:38):
though, the breakfast meetings can alsobe very important, vital start to
your day. Some of the mostimportant meetings in my business life were breakfast
meetings. Now where did I getthis? Walking home the other night from
the studio, I was in agood mood. I happen to look to
the left that I noticed the storeand on it it said breakfast. But
right then and there it hit methat's what I want to talk to you

(02:59):
about tonight. Now, let's slowthis down before we go anywhere. I
am not ready to get started.Who says it's okay to extend my business
day with breakfast? Don't I workhard enough as it is? I think
I do. I got an ideaI want to stir up some anger here.
Okay, let's call this segment theBreakfast and the BlackBerry. What is

(03:23):
the breakfast and the BlackBerry haven't common? I'll tell you what. For a
guy like me who loves change,I have to admit I was the only
one of the few that resisted theBlackBerry from the onset. I was computer
literate. I made it my businessto understand the company software, emails,
email systems, lotus notes, allour tracking systems. I was a student

(03:45):
and I was an ardent supporter ofthe IT function in our company. I
was laptop literate before anyone, andI carried my laptop everywhere. I was
a techie. No one would lookat me and ever think I was a
techie. But I'll tell you why. I was very competent in our technology.
Now, speaking fun, one ofmy favorite business pastimes was and is

(04:08):
being underestimated. I have been underestimatedmy entire career. People have judged me
on the way I look rather thanthe substance. But I'll tell you about
that at another time. Helpe,you don't mind me rambling a bit,
but I'm having fun tonight. Let'sgo back laptop. I had the ability
to play CDs on my laptop storemy photos contained my personal information, business

(04:30):
emails address, whereas a BlackBerry startedout simply as a email device. I
was happy. I was content knowingI had one device that did it all,
with the exception of my cell phone, which wasn't a smartphone at that
time, which in the beginning wasjust a phone, but a very cool
looking phone. But then BlackBerry showedup, not necessarily the first smartphone,

(04:51):
actually the first being Palm Pilot Palmwho m. There's another lesson first isn't
always best, and that's also asubject for another night. Can't even remember
what at the name palm pilot stoodfor. Speaking of which, anybody remember
my Space? I used to havethat. Now it's only for serial killers

(05:12):
and people in bands. Okay,well cold. The point is I was
a laptop guy in the BlackBerry showedup. Now I'll never forget my introduction
to the BlackBerry. My boss showsup at my desk with his limited BlackBerry,
with the uncool look and shape ofit. I have to give it

(05:32):
credit though. It does still havethe best keyboard. But anyway, I'm
not sold functionally on the iPhone touchpadbecause of that but let's go back.
So my boss shows up and hesays to me, Mark, you should
get a BlackBerry, shows me hisBlackBerry, puts it on my desk.
I say, nope, not interested. He goes, Mark, you're an
idiot. This is the future,I said, you think, Well,

(05:55):
I'm traveling, I have my laptop, computer, I have music, I
have movies, I have access toevery anything in the company, every system
the company offers. I don't needthat thing. Call it. A month
later, i'm president of the company. The sea walks into my office and
puts a BlackBerry on my desk.This is for you. Learn how to
use it. This is how Iexpect you to communicate and for your info.
Mark, effective immediately, we're goingto issue a BlackBerry to every officer

(06:19):
in the company. So much forme being the chief operating officer. But
I said, I'll tell you what. I still don't know why I need
this, and I never forgot whathe said to me. Then I can
now connect with you and contact youany time, day or night. You
will always be connected. And thenI thought, why do I always want

(06:42):
to be connected? Aren't I entitledto my own time? Aren't we entitled
to our own time. I didn'tlike this one bit. A smartphone has
brainwashed us at first, and nowit's institutionalized us to be on call every
minute, every day to your job, your company, and your work.
You're now attached. Here's one.Do you own your phone or does your

(07:06):
phone own you? Did you evermisplace your phone? God forbid? Did
you ever lose your phone? Doyou know what that feels like? Cardiac
arrest? That phone owns you?Now, don't get me wrong, The
smartphone as we know it today isright up there with the most important inventions
of mankind, the wheel, thecar, airplanes. Some of my favorite

(07:29):
inventions ice, box of briefs,air conditionaling. I said, I want
to have fun tonight. I'm gettingback to the point. You have to
give me a break here in aminute, I'll be there anyway. I'm
getting back to the point, andthe point of this show is breakfast.
Do you have any favorite inventions?Considering this show is breakfast food? Have
you ever thought about it? Thinkabout your favorite food? How did someone

(07:53):
come up with pasta? How doessomeone think that they're gonna take all these
ingredients from the ground, the earth, the sea, They're gonna up it
all up and make these dishes?Have ever thought of food as an invention?
Because I know I have the bestinvention. Who ever thought to put
mayonnaise and celery with tuna fish?How did you come up with a cake?
How about grilled cheese? That okay? Well, once you figured out

(08:15):
cheese, I think they would figureout to put it on the bread.
Look, you can talk about computersand all that stuff. I think food's
an amazing invention. All right,let's see where was I? Oh oh,
oh, yeah, the smartphone inthe BlackBerry. Yes, the smartphone
is one of the most important anduseful inventions of man. But why or
how did it become okay to beworking always? It wasn't enough that we

(08:39):
work five days a week to gettwo off. It wasn't enough to work
fifty weeks a year to get twoweeks vacation. Think about your day.
If you take eight hours out forsleeping, it leaves you with sixteen hours.
And if you add in the factthat you commute two hours a day
plus work ten to twelve hours,do the math, you'll left with four
hours a day for yourself. Whoever thought about this? Whoever or whatever

(09:03):
maniac figured out dass system must havelooked up from hell and invented the smartphone.
Now we have working all the time. So where am I? Oh?
Yeah, breakfast the business breakfast hasrobbed us more of our free time.
Unbelievable. You're either a sadist ora crazy person asking people to meet

(09:26):
you seven thirty or eight o'clock inthe morning for breakfast, or you work
for maniac who forces you to showup. Either way, breakfast is worth
talking about. Tell you what,I'll be back in a minute, one
of the few minutes I have leftafter I do all these other things people
are forcing me to do. Alwaysin fashion. As one of the world's
most celebrated fashion designers, Carlagafeld wasrenowned for his aspirational and cutting edge approach

(09:52):
to style. His unique vision ofParisian ship comes to America through Carlagafeld Paris.
He has women's collections, men's collections, ready to wear, accessory,
shoes and bags. The fashion houseCarlografille also offers a range of watches I
wearing premium fragrances. You can explorethe Carlograflle collection at carlogaville Paris dot com.

(10:13):
But it's more than that. Ifone love to shop, I love
going around and seeing what's happening andwhat catches my attention, what would make
me feel good to wear Now.I don't wear the women's wear obviously,
but I can appreciate it and theylook amazing. If you want to look
right, you want to have clothesthat fit you well. You want to
look like you're wearing something that's veryexpensive, that's exclusive for you and yours.

(10:37):
You can find it at very affordableprices at Macys, Socarlogafel dot com
Paris. The women's ready to wearfashion is extraordinary, as well as the
handbags and the shoes. If onewear men's clothes onlike my appreciation of women's
clothes. I'm a modern guy.I want to look current. I want
to look the way I want tofeel. I go out at night,

(10:58):
I'm in black and carlog Is mybuddy. Calls are great. They fit
great, and they have little tweaksand touches, whether it's a stripe on
the sleeve or button at the neckor on the shoulder. There's a lot
of details that go into Carl Agathelbecause he's always been, he always had
been one of the world's great designers, and this legacy and goes on and
on. I can't speak enough aboutit except to say to you, you

(11:20):
want to feel good about yourself.You want to know that you're dressing properly.
You want clothes that fits you well. Carl lagafeld Paris at Macy's or
Carlgafel dot com. My favorite brandhas always been ISOD. My company at
one time bought that brand. TheCEO of the company handed it to me
and said, you better make itwork. And I put everything in my

(11:43):
career to make Eyesod work and Ifell in love with that brand, and
to this day it is one ofthe most exciting endeavors I've ever got involved
with. Isod is an incredibly stronggolf brand. If you play golf,
if you play for that matter,they make a great polo shirts. I
mean great. They're fit perfect.The material is unique because it's a p

(12:09):
K fabric that waffle weave, yousee, and it's made of a blend
of cotton and microfiber that allows youto stretch. And very often they are
treated with solo protection as well,so they stretch, they're comfortable, and
they breathe well. And one thingabout Isaad they always fit, They'll never

(12:31):
tug on you. You put itin your waist, they'll fit you great.
The colors patterns are sensational. NowI will also tell you ISAOD makes
great shorts and great golf pants.You're a golfer and you want to look
good. You don't want to haveto think about how do I look.
You want to think about how youplay, not how you feel. ISOD
is the brand for you. Iknow I was there when it was created.

(12:52):
The strategy behind that brand is brilliant. It's one of my favorite brands.
While I talk about I should tellyou about the men's sports where D
wasn't enough being a golf brand.It wasn't enough being just great polo shirts
with logos, without logos. Incrediblebrands in story and history. ISAAD makes
salt weather programs. They have greatprinted woven shirts, short sleeves that look

(13:18):
excellent with colors, excellent with shorts, excellent with cotton pants of which they
also make. This whole salt orderrelaxed line from ISAOD, whether it be
felice, cotton sweaters, nitpolos,woven shirts and pants of a range of
colors and fabrics that are perfect fora guy wants to go casually in the

(13:39):
spring and summer of this year,and he is. The thing ISOD is
affordable. Everyone listening to me talkabout this brand can afford to buy it
and know that there are a lotof other brands that are also have a
look like Izod. Although I don'tbelieve it's fun as eyesought is. The

(14:01):
brand has a lot of energy init, but at the price points no
one can compete. You can findeyes that at your leading retails and online
atesod dot com. Talk to youlater, guys. I wish you are
very happy spring and summer, andI help you by telling you if you
were eyesight, you're gonna look great. This is an noncore performance. I've

(14:22):
always in fashion. Welcome back toAlways in Fashion. Here's your host,
Mark Webber. It's always business.I always in fashion, but tonight in
particular, it's always in fashion light. I want to talk about stuff not
too serious, but I want tohave fun. But at the same time,
it's a business show and we're goingto make sure that we learned something
along the way. Actually tonight,the title of the show is Breakfast the

(14:46):
Business. Breakfast the business breakfast likethe smartphone extended all work day. I
don't know about you, but I'veworked hard enough. Didn't need to start
my business day earlier by calling breakfastmeetings about to be frank being required to
meet for breakfast for business meetings reallyupsets me and angers me. I work

(15:07):
hard enough as it is, butat the same time I have to begrudgingly
admit some of the most important meetingsin my life we're breakfast meetings. So
let's talk breakfast, or in reality, let's talk over breakfast. When you're
summoned to a breakfast meeting, what'sreally happening. You're accommodating someone else's calendar.

(15:28):
It's most often someone seeing you toyou, so I can't say no.
You have no choice, you haveto go. The good news is,
if you think about it, yoursummons indicates that the boss has to
think enough of you to really grantyou the time. But you're pleasant enough
to share a meal with and somethingneeds to be covered. So no one
ever asked me, But I guessit's okay to be there now. Did

(15:52):
anyone really ever ask me? Canyou get there? Is a convenient where
do you commute from? Let's alsoface no one ever asked me how long
it takes to get there. Therefore, I never got to say, oh
great, I like waking up fouro'clock in the morning and running to meet
you, so I don't interfere withyour busy day anyway. I'm having fun.

(16:14):
How about you, Jesse. It'spretty clever, pretty clever subject.
You kind of sound like a LarryDavid episode. I'm not gonna lie.
All right, then we'll make surewe picked that up as well. But
I have to admit I'm just talkingbreakfast. And I really had some huge
breakfast meetings in my time, andperhaps the most important meeting of my life
took place in Paris when I wasrecruited to LVMH Company. After a series

(16:37):
of interviews with human resources the managingdirector, I was asked if I could
go to Paris and meet with thecompany's CEO and founder. This particular gentleman
was the richest man in France,one of the ten richest men in the
world, and the founder and CEOand chairman of Louis Vuitton moe Ed Hennessy.
And yeah, I was glad tobe summoned by him. And I'll
tell you what, this is aguy that you would need anytime, anywhere,

(17:03):
anyway. I was set up forseven forty five breakfast after catching an
international flight flying overnight eight hours,two hour commute to the hotel, upright
and early for breakfast, crazy butexciting. I was on my way.
I took a short walk, ashort stroll from the hotel to corporate headquarters
on Avenue Montaigne. Though a numberof levels of security were in place.

(17:26):
I was brought to the LVMH privatedining room. I was brought to the
corporate dining room, seated at thebreakfast table. Beautiful setting, just beautiful,
magnificent even to look at. Let'snot forget that the French are the
ones who invented elegant. And thenthe man walks in, speaking of elegant,
tall, stately dressed in the oarslim fit, dark suit, white

(17:48):
shirt, dark tie, black shoes, his uniform. I later learned,
interestingly enough, the guy who wasabout to interview from New York MOA,
that's me in French, was alsoin his uniform. Navy suit, dark
Armani, white shirt, dark tie, black shoes. Is there a point
here, if you guys are listeningclosely, yes, of course you're responsible

(18:11):
for your own career. How youdress matters. Was it a coincidence we
both had on our corporate uniforms?I think not. After introductions, one
of the best, most important questionswas asked of me, what do you
bring to a company mark? AndI said, Miss Thorne, I bring

(18:32):
energy, great meeting, great breakfastmeeting. I won the spot at LVMH.
We were done in forty five minutes. And by the way, never
drank the juice, sip the coffee, ate the eggs, bit into the
toast. Maybe I took a sipof water, but I don't think so.
To the best of my memory,neither did he. So the most
important breakfast meeting I ever had noone ate breakfast. Why didn't you,

(18:56):
guys eat? Doesn't make sense.Why have a breakfast meeting if no one's
eating? It was an interview.You don't eat breakfast in an interview.
Okay. I'm confused though, becausewhen you and I went to London,
we stayed at the Mandarin Oriental overlookingthe Hyde Park, really beautiful, and
I remember, I remember we hadbreakfast with the CEO of SD International,

(19:18):
the European Men's dcan Ye Licensey andfranchise partner. We had breakfast. We
ate, so explain that to me. Of course we ate. I was
hungry. Wait, you just gavea totally different story with any meeting with
Bernardo and I. Well, it'sdifferent. In Paris, I was in
Bernardoo's meeting. If he wanted toeat, he could. He was in
control. The setting was breakfast.The concept was an interview. I think

(19:41):
frankly impressed him with the simple sophisticationthat I knew. I wasn't there to
eat. He was relaxed. Iwas relaxed and he was friendly. So
I was friendly. But I wasthere to educate him on who I was,
and in that moment, I wascomfortable in my suit and skin,
and I was there to impress mystyle, substance and wherewithal. It was

(20:03):
all business, But in business youhave to know the circumstance, and eating
wasn't on the agenda. He wasthere for the meeting, not for the
breakfast, even though it was thebreakfast meeting. That's interesting. I would
have probably failed. I would probablyate everything. Well, I didn't.
I got the job. Say,I knew I had a reason for picking
this topic. It's interesting. Yeah, I would have been had a great

(20:26):
breakfast, probably would have gotten thejob. But you'd be sitting there with
food in between your teeth and gulpingit down, and he's watching you while
he's not eating. I would haveasked, is the seconds all right?
All right, let's let's get backto London. Though you asked the question
why we had breakfast that morning,First of all, it was my meeting.

(20:48):
This guy kept chasing me all aroundLondon and asking for time to have
a meeting with me before the boardmeeting that was scheduled for later that morning
in the office. I granted himtime. I had loved to intrude on
our quiet time. It was anaccommodation. Now I was there. It
was a breakfast meeting, but Iwas there for breakfast and to be intellectually

(21:08):
honest. We had a close relationshipwith Michael Morris, the CEO, and
therefore it was a relaxed meeting.But nonetheless I was in control, and
you and I were eating and enjoyingand having fun and doing what we want
because we had the control. It'scalled gamesmanship. Jesse, thanks for the
question about the breakfast. But onceagain, there is a point to this,

(21:29):
and a method to my madness,particularly for the listeners you out there
in your career, as you're invitedor you're in the vity, It's important
to understand the nature of a meeting, whether breakfast or any other meeting.
It's important for success to understand therules of engagement. Why you're there,
who you're with, what is yourstatus in the meeting, and what do

(21:49):
you want to accomplish on that subject? I want to cover this. I
have another good example for you.You find this interesting, Jesse Love in
this topic, what are we doingnext week? Lunch? You are funny.
I'm glad you're making me left.That was the purpose of tonight this
show. While it's for you listeners, it was designed for me to have

(22:11):
a good time delivering it. Backto breakfast meetings, and I suppose every
meeting begins with a purpose and agoal. Every meeting requires participants, each
with a role and each a partto play. When you set up your
own meetings should be easy. Youknow why you're having a meeting, you
know why you agreed to breakfast.But what happens when you're invited? It's

(22:32):
not so easy. Now when I'mbeing asked to a meeting, what's this
about. I suppose if the breakfastis being scheduled and you're not the initiator,
it can only be one or twoscenarios. Someone works for you and
wants to get your opinion or helpyou make a decision you need the decision
making authority, or someone on theoutside at third party wants to see you.

(22:53):
I can't tell you how many meetingshave been set up for me by
my staff without clarity to the purpose. Sometimes the asking party would say,
I'll tell him when the purpose whenI see him. Many times, you
just don't know why you're meeting.You don't know what role you're to play.
Are you the buyer or are youthe seller. Here's a great learning

(23:14):
tip and approach to any meeting youmay set up. I walk into the
meeting, the introductions are made,I simply ask my associate or the third
party present or team across the table, am I here to buyer? Am
I here to sell? It alwaysgets a smile, a perplexed look,
but always boy he's direct, Butit always, more importantly, gets resolved

(23:37):
instantly. I go into either mode. Do I want to convince these people
of something? Or do they wantto convince me of something I should also
point out if you want a career, you want a boss to respect you.
You want your supervisor president to respectyour business acumen. I don't care
how busy your bosses tells you heis or she is. I don't care

(23:59):
how busy assistant is and it sayshe is. You make it your business
when you set up a meeting forthat person to download them. You need
to prepare them so they know whatthe meeting is about. You got that,
I hope. So there are timesyou have to give us summary line
to the boss. That's your job. I was always so busy, back

(24:21):
to back to back meetings. Eachmeeting was through another door. I often
thought I was like a doctor.You know, a pediatrician if you ever
went there, each door has afolder on it with a child's name on
the chart, and he would dealwith the issues when he walked in.
The point of this is we're talkingabout meetings, We're talking about breakfast,
and right now we're talking about whetheror not you're in charge of setting up

(24:42):
a meeting that one of your superior'sboss president will be at. It's your
responsibility to make sure they know whatthe meeting is they'll walk in anywhere if
they're cool and say am I buyingor selling? And they'll get it right
away. That was my technique.But that aside, it's your responsibility to
get to the assistant, to getto him and make sure he the role
he will play in that meeting.Is he going to buy or is he

(25:03):
going to sell? And speaking ofselling right now on our breakfast show,
I'm gonna take a minute. Itgot some stuff to sell. We'll be
back always in fashion. Spent alifetime of my career building the van Usen
Brand, and I am so pleasedthat they're back with us now talking about
suits. Men, we're dressing upagain and it's become cool to wear a

(25:26):
suit. Suits can be won onmultiple occasions in multiple ways. You could
wear a suit formally to go outat night or to an event, to
wear a suit to the office withor without a tie. If you look
closely, now fashion trends, suitsare being worn with turtlenecks or mock necks.
The choices are endless, and everyone of them looks right. You

(25:48):
can really really look the part.I believe that packaging yourself this is important.
Does the products you package and wearinga suit is one of those things
that make men look their best.Venusen invented a new idea. It's called
the cool Flex suit. It's beenengineered with stretched technology, giving you the
most comfortable fit and mobility. It'swrinkle resistant fabric, it's cool moisture wicking.

(26:14):
It makes it perfect for all occasions. As we discussed just now,
this new style of looking shop whilefeeling cool and comfortable is amazing, and
I'm so excited that the van Usingcompany is involved in this new technology and
is embracing the whole idea of dressingup. Let's not forget Venusen made its
name with dress shirts. It's onlyproper that the suit business follows strongly in

(26:38):
its way. You can find vanus in cool Flex Men's stretched suits at
JC Penney are online at jcpenny dotcom. Guys, they're great. You
should go look at them. Thisis a noncore performance. I've always in
fashion. Welcome back to Always inFashion. Here's your host, Mark Webber.
So much happens in the morning.I hate as this breakfast. I

(27:00):
should point out, although I've hadsome great ones, my day is long
enough. What do I have tohave breakfast? Too, I'm not working
hard enough. But that aside,this show is called Breakfast and now I
wanted to talk about breakfast on mywatch. That's the segment we're in right
now. Last week I was walkinguptown after the show. I looked at
my watch, then looked at thestore window to my left and noticed a

(27:23):
sign on the door that simply saidbreakfast. Don't know why, not sure
how the creative part of the brainworks, but I simply said, Hey,
I want to do a show onbreakfast next week, A fun show
about breakfast. Feel like Seinfeld rightnow, Larry David. Interesting anyway,
I realized so much happened to mein my career over breakfast, considering I

(27:45):
really ever eat breakfast. Breakfast hasbeen a place for me to experience a
mindset that has played an important partof my career. So here I am,
we're talking breakfast. I guess Ishould also remind listeners who are just
tuning in this is Mark Webber andJesse Webber. You're listening to Always in
Fashion the radio show, and tonightit's Always in Fashion Light. Last few

(28:08):
weeks have been serious. This showdefinitely isn't serious, but there's a lot
of lessons to take out of here, So hopefully you're enjoying this unique topic
speaking of Larry David speaking fun.Unless you've been lost at sea or lived
in a cave for the last year'syou would know that The Larry David Show
has just returned last week. Oneof the funniest shows ever in my opinion,

(28:29):
ever. But let's put that asidebecause it'll come back later. It'll
matter too bad. It's not calledthe Larry David Show, It's called Curb
Your Enthusiasm. Well, what areyou? What do I know? I
know it is Larry David. Youknow you are getting to be a pain
in the neck on the Fun Show. Here details details, Yeah, being
thorough. Okay, let's go backto a moment ago. I'm walking uptown
after the show. I look atmy watch, look at the sign restaurant

(28:51):
on the door, and it saysbreakfast. I'm talking breakfast tonight. Now
it's breakfast and watches and here wego. You want to one of my
stories yet? Sure? Yes,asked me if I heard it? Did
you hear the story before? Idon't know? How would you? You
don't know what I'm gonna talk about? You're out here called flying Solo.

(29:11):
One day, I'm in Paris andtalking with the managing director of LVMH on
assorted subjects in different brands, andI commented on Zenith watches. I had
been in a president's meeting back inNew York and the president of Zenith was
talking about his business, and Igot the sense that it just wasn't robust
Zenith watches. However, I havea long history. The company was founded

(29:32):
in eighteen sixty five, is aSwiss watchmaker and to this day manufactures all
its own components and parts. Prettyimpressive. Zenith oh was purchased by VMH
in nineteen ninety nine. I knewof Zenith Zenith because I was a Rolex
guy. Rolex's most beautiful and coolestwatch, in my opinion, is their
chronograph, the Rolex Daytona. Itjust so happens that I knew Zeneth up

(29:56):
until the latest Daytona update. Manufacturedall the components for the role X Daytona,
one of my favorite chronograph watches.Now. The chronic graph watches are
the ones that you see with thethree dials of the front doing the time
keeping in seconds on one dial,minutes and hours on the other two Those
are the front dials on the side. They're controlled by two stop watch controls

(30:17):
on the side surrounding the Crown's woundingmechanism. Now, if you followed that,
you now know the roll X Daytona. You now know what a chronic
graph watches, and you now knowZeneth. Anyway, I'm talking with LVMH's
managing director in Paris. I'm feelingconfident, talking corporate and I offer,
you know, I feel that Zenethdoesn't appear to be growing, and maybe

(30:40):
I know why. And he goes, in his Italian accent, what's that,
Mark, They all are convoluted.There's too much stuff going on,
and the movements, the fronts toface, too much going on in the
watch. He listened and with hisunique Italian accent, he said, very
interesting, Mark, there's a workto be done. This a brand.

(31:00):
I hear you, though, Mark, but let's talk about something else.
And I forgot about it. Goodaccent. Thank you. A few months
later, in October, he wasback in New York and asked to see
me for breakfast. Here we goagain. Breakfast. We met in an
upscale hotel in Midtown Manhattan. Ihad a nice tea green melon and dry
rye toast. Unlike my conversation earlieron my breakfast interview in Paris, this

(31:22):
meeting, I was relaxed. Iwas doing well with the company and the
group, and well I was hungry. He ate, so I ate.
Anyway, we talked about a numberof things, covered a number of updates
and important issues. Right before wefinished, he took out a box and
a small shopping bag and he gaveit to me and he said, Mark,
I brought this up for you.And in the bag was a watchbox,

(31:45):
a Zenith watchbox, he said,open it. Inside was a beautiful
leather strap, white faced, simplyelegant Zenith chronograph. He said to me,
as Fallows, we are very happyand proud of the work you are
doing for us, and we wantedyou to have a watch from the group

(32:06):
for you to wear and Mark,you will notice it's a simple, elegant
face. By the way, Ithink you should do the rest of the
show in this accent. One ofthe proudest moments in my career. I
could tell you that breakfast I left, I couldn't stop smiling to myself.
I called my wife. She wasproud now for our Larry David moment.

(32:28):
The watch just complicated my life.I took it out of the box,
I started staring at and I likedit, But it wasn't a Rolex.
What am I gonna wear it?When am I going to wear it?
Now? What am I gonna do? Now? I have to think about
this. I get up in themorning, instead of just putting on my
Rolex watch, I have to think, do I wear this one? That?
Whatever? It was making me crazy, But anyway, I figured out
that, you know what I woulddo whenever LVMH Corpett was in town and

(32:52):
I was with them, I wouldwear that watch. Now, I want
to fast forward to April. It'saccounting season. Text time I was with
my account and going through my taxreturn. We came across an item listed
on the earnings a column on myW two from LVMH twelve thousand dollars.

(33:13):
They listed the watch as income.They judgement for it. What does that
mean in my tax bracket? I'lltell you what it means. I bought
that watch that I didn't need foreight thousand dollars. So go figure.
This is corporate life. You don'tgive it away things in corporate life,
which bring me. Thank you.Perfect leading to my next story. Did

(33:35):
you know the famous rocker Alice Cooperof snakes, ripping chicken heads off,
black eye makeup and of course anamazing song catalog, is an avid golfer
and a fine watch collector. Imet Alice Cooper at the Golf Merchandizing Convention
one January in Orlando. Who's aunique guy. Okay, I'm at the
golf show and all of a sudden, I was the president of the whole

(33:59):
thing. I had thirty two salesmanthere, the biggest booth at the event.
It was an amazing experience to beat the golf show, my first
one. All of a sudden,this guy walks in with this long hair,
looking like a Rocca. He lookscrazy. I mean, I'm surrounded
by all these golf guys with theshort hair. They're all buffed, they're
all athletes, and he walks in. So I walked over to Alice Cooper
and he was there, and heintroduced me to his manager and himself and

(34:21):
said, Hi, I'm Alice Cooper. I'm looking for someone to sponsor my
charity. I saw this company.I really admire it. You look very
busy and I was wondering if Icould talk to someone about sponsoring your tournament.
I said to him, so whatis the tournament? This is I
have a foundation. It's called SolidRock Foundation. It's in Arizona. And
what it is. It's a facilitythat I built for young kids in a

(34:42):
high school that when school is overis three o'clock, they have a place
to go to read, to hangout, to play pool or play ping
pong. Just take him off thestreets and keep him out of trouble.
It's a great organization. I said, you know what, it sounds great
as well. Anyway, we're lookingfor a sponsor to help outfit all the
tournament and keep people and give outgive bags. Who would I talk to?
I said, I tell you whatwe're gonna do. Let's assume you

(35:04):
have your sponsor. It's done.He looks at me, said no,
no, you don't understand. Ineed someone who can authorize me doing I
said, it's done, says manager. Looks at me, says, who
are you. I said, I'mthe president of the company. They said,
you're kidding and I said no,And I brought over the people that
needed to do the work to sponsorthe show, and for nine years running
we sponsored Alan Cooper's Golf Events celebritytournament in Arizona. I enjoyed doing it,

(35:29):
was a great thing. However,this show is not about that story.
This show is about breakfast, andI want to talk to you about
watches and breakfast. One morning inScottsdill, his owner, one of the
Alice Cooper opening golf ceremonies, wesat down and I had breakfast and all
and behold, Alice Cooper sits downnext to me. He says, Mark,

(35:50):
I can't tell you how much Iappreciate your support for my tournament,
and how worthwhile this organization is,and how much we appreciate we're doing for
the community. Also said to meat the time, I'll tell you what
I'm looking forward to tonight. You'venever seen one of these events. This
is going to be a big one, and I have a surprise for you.
I told him it's an honor tobe associated with him and in the
organization and the good executive as Iwas. I reminded him how important it

(36:15):
was for him to wear our logoproducts at every celebrity tournament he we go
to, and of course he did. After our breakfast, we play celebrity
golf. That night was the bignight, Saturday Night, big event.
We show up, there's about athousand people, famous MC, couple of
comedians and then Alice Cooper is introducedas Alice Bond aka James Bond. That

(36:38):
was the theme for the night,and Aston Martin is driven in and Alice
in tuxedo and a cast of charactersplays out a scene that any Bond of
Fictionado would enjoy watching. Alice's bandthen joins him on the stage and they
play School's Out for some up,gives out a bunch of awards, and
then he starts to talk and thankhis sponsors because the theme was James Bond

(37:00):
Knight. Alice says then that hehas a thank you gift for each of
the five title sponsors, and we'recoraled on the stage. Alice hands me
in a box and in it isan Omega watch, the one James Bond
war in his last movie, TheOmegacy mastered him. Alice is a watch
guy. The theme of the evening'sevent was James Bond, and the watch

(37:20):
only made sense. He whispers tome, thank you, Mark, Glad
you're here. Happy We had achance to have some breakfast and thank you
for your support. So once again, here we are. I have a
new watch I didn't need. AsI'm walking back to my seat, I'm
saying to myself, I can't keepthis watch. I'm a corporate executive.
I can't accept gifts. Now,let's take a moment here. When you're

(37:43):
an executive, you do not acceptgifts period. As an executive, you
can't afford to be seen in thewrong light. Even though it was a
generous, innocent gesture, it couldbe seen later that I was influenced to
support his charity because I was receivedeven gifts. I'm sure he never even
entered Alice's mind, but it didmine. Just remember, the appearance of

(38:07):
impropriety is a problem, certainly inbusiness. There's no gift worth speculating on
your integrity. I figured I wouldturn the watch into the company, and
they, in turn will figure outwhat to do with it. Maybe they'll
put in a case in one ofthe showrooms. Either way, I was
honored personally, and I was honoredfor the company to be called out on
stage. I walked back to myseat and while Alice was playing I'm eighteen,

(38:30):
I opened a box to look atthe watch, Omega Sea Mass,
the blue dial, cool stainless steelband. Did I need this? Oh
my goodness, another watch I didn'tneed? And then I looked at the
back. I'm graved on the backit said thank you Mark Webber, Alice
Cooper. Oh my god, howcan I bought with the watch? Now?

(38:51):
Hooray? And oh now I ownanother watch. I went to a
watch store, found out what itcost, and wrote the company a check.
I thought it was a small priceto pay for integrity and a lesson
for all of those associated with mewho are at the event or in the
company. To talk about later,I said an example in a while.
It was expensive for me to ownthat watch. It's a keepsake forever,

(39:13):
but it is priceless the lesson Itaught my executives. I love that story.
That's the story about business, breakfastand watches. I'm always in fashion.
I'll be back in a moment totalk about the breakfast of champions.
Always in fashion. I've been shoppingfor fun lately, and while I'm out,

(39:34):
I always look at men's and Ilook at women's. What's going on?
And I was particularly interested in decamWhy because of their sponsorship of the
show. I went downstairs at Macy'sthirty fourth Street to look around and I
saw dekmy active where And I promiseyou, ladies, it is sensational,
from the sports bras to the croptops, to the leggings and the sweats.

(39:54):
It really is a great look.And Decay had begun as an all
American brand dressing casual clothes engines,and the stuff looks incredible and right now
the colors and the styles is soexciting that I feel great about the company.
I always do. I wear themen's wear all the time. I've
had situations where I've gone to bigevents and been interviewed and TV or radio,

(40:19):
and someone comes up to me themicrophone and like they always do,
who you're wearing? And here Iam, this big shot with a big
company and they say, well,I'm wearing a DKNY and they laugh and
say, no, you're not.Actually have one on the internet where you
could see me. They asked mewhat suit I'm wearing, and I say
DC Andy and open it up andthere's the DKNY label. Great fashion.
It fits well, it looks right. It's designed to make you comfortable in

(40:42):
the city. Goes from day andto night. You can wear it in
the morning and wear in the afternoon, and you look cool at night as
well. It's great for the office. It's great Felisia. But I'm talking
about the DKNY active where. Thefirst time I really became aware of it,
Jesse and I were up at SiriousRadio. He was doing a job
for Serious he does the Nam show. He fills in on the Potus Network,
and we're in the lobby and thiship hop group came up with this

(41:06):
really great looking Latino singer, girlYoung Beautiful. She's wearing a DK and
Y sports bar and I said tomyself, this is amazing. Actually went
to Macy's to see it, andI'm excited about the brand. And I'll
tell you what, Ladies, DKY always has great fashion for work,
always wonderful dresses and things that you'dwear. Their accessories are great, the

(41:29):
shoes are always very cool. Butactivewear in particular right now looks sensational and
being that everyone's athleisure in activewear,it's a great time DK and Y go
take a look. As one ofthe world's most celebrated fashion designers, Carl
Lagafeld was renowned for his aspirational andcutting edge approach to style. His unique
vision of Parisian ship comes to Americathrough Carl Lagafeld Paris. He has women's

(41:52):
collections, men's collections, ready towear, accessory, shoes and bags.
The fashion house Carlagafeld also offers arange of watches, eyewear and premium fragrances.
You can explore the Cargafl collection atCarlogafel Paris dot com. But it's
more than that. If for onewho love to shop, I love going
around and seeing what's happening and whatcatches my attention, what would make me

(42:13):
feel good to wear Now. Idon't wear the women's wear obviously, but
I can appreciate it and they lookamazing. If you want to look right,
you want to have clothes that fitsyou well. You want to look
like you're wearing something that's very expensive, that's exclusive for you and yours.
You can find it at very affordableprices at Macy's Socarlogafel dot com Paris.

(42:35):
The women's ready to wear fashion isextraordinary, as well as the hand egs
and the shoes. If one wearmen's clothes and onlike my appreciation of women's
clothes. I'm a modern guy.I want to look current, I want
to look the way I want tofeel. I go out at night,
I'm in black and Carlagafel is mybuddy. Clothes are great, they fit
great, and they have little tweaksand touches, whether it's a stripe on

(42:58):
the sleeve or button at the neckor on the shoulder. There's a lot
of details that go into Carl Lagafelbecause he's always been, he always had
been one of the world's great designers, and this legacy and goes on and
on. I can't speak enough aboutit except to say to you, you
want to feel good about yourself.You want to know that you're dressing properly.
You want clothes that fits you well. Carl lagafeld Paris at Macy's or

(43:22):
Carlafel dot com. This is anoncore performance. I've Always in Fashion.
Welcome back to Always in Fashion.Here's your host, Mark Webber. The
other day I was walking home fromthe studio after recording. I happened to
look at a restaurant on the sideof the street while I was passing by,
and it said breakfast. For whateverreason, the creative juices in my

(43:43):
mind kicked in and I said,this weekend, I want to do a
breakfast show. At the same time, I wanted to have fun. Last
couple of shows are very serious.Well, I think they were helpful and
you might have learned a lot.They weren't fun for me. So as
he had a good time, he'salways have been a good time. I
just wanted to talk tonight and havefun, tell you a few stories,
and make a point about how importantbreakfast is as part of your business life.

(44:06):
Having said that, we talked abouta bunch of things, and I
want to talk about my favorite andworst breakfast. But before I talk to
you about mine, I'm with JesseWebber. Hey you got a favorite breakfast?
My time has arrived. So muchto talk about with breakfast. Yes,
yes, yes, I do havesome favorite places in the world for
breakfast. But my number one placefor breakfast is a place called Shadow Creek

(44:29):
in Las Vegas. It's a privategolf club. When they pick you up
in a limo because it's all secluded, you go there, you can get
whatever you want for breakfast. Anythingimagine it, They'll make it. And
not only do they make anything,you want. It tastes unbelievable and it's
a beautiful view overlooking the golf course. It's like that movie The Contender,

(44:50):
whereas Jeff Bridges was the president canmake whatever he wants and do it me
same way. Whatever I want bestbreakfast, you can get an omelet with
any kind of topping that you wanted. Its smoked salmon, avocado, broccoli,
spinach. It's amazing. Put itthis way. We've been going there
for like ten years. I've neverseen the chef. I've never seen the
kitchen. I don't know what theydo back there, but it's some sort

(45:12):
of magic that they make. Soanyway, besides Las Vegas, which is
my favorite, I went to Japan. I went to Tokyo. There is
a buffet breakfast that we had inour hotel that overlooked all of Tokyo.
I shouldn't have been allowed in thatbreakfast buffet. I just went to town
and I think I think everybody therethe stuff are like, oh this American,
look at him, just going aftereverything. But those are my favorite

(45:34):
breakfast places. Now here's the worst. I don't even think you know this
story. When I was at theUniversity of Michigan, My mom came to
visit and she stayed in this hotel, and one day she said, come
up, we'll have breakfast. SoI go up to her hotel and there's
a big buffet. Now, Michigan, it's nice when your mom, your
parents are there. They take youout for breakfast. So I go to
this buffet and it's everything you want. I'm a sucker for a buffet.

(45:58):
And I see, oh my goodness, have a bagel, cream cheese,
and lock smoked salmon. And Iget this giant bagel, put cream cheese
on it. I take so muchsmoked salmon and throw it on there.
I go back to the table.I'm so happy. I haven't had this
in forever. And I bite intoit. It wasn't smoked salmon. It
was ginger. What's ginger? Youknow the side when you have sushi,

(46:20):
The thing it's like there was swasabeand then there's ginger. It looks like
smoked salmon. Now there's one thingto bite into a plethora of ginger.
But to also not think that thinkingit's smoked salmon. Oh, it was
awful. It was awful. Butwait, now that I'm thinking about it,
that's not even the worst breakfast Iever had. Okay, we were
in London. We were in Londonand you might remember this one. You

(46:45):
go, I was younger. Weyou go out to a business meeting.
I'm in the hotel. He saidorder You said, order room service.
I order room service. They bringit up. They give me toast and
what appears to be jelly in acan of stone. Idiot, it appears
to be can't jelly? And Isaid, oh, this is a strange
jelly. I take it, puton the toast, skye bite into it.

(47:05):
It wasn't jelly. It was lighterfluid. It was the thing that
they put under the candle. Thecandle they put in it was the gooey
substance. I thought it was actuallyjelly. I was like, Oh,
they do things weird here in England. So both stories, I'm an idiot,
but they were. Those are theworst breakfasts in my life. This
a breakfast is an amazing adventure.My favorite also involves the world. You

(47:30):
know you mentioned Japan. I usedto go to Osaka and there was a
hotel called the Royal Hotel, theRoyal Hotelo, and they had the greatest
green Crenshaw melon I ever tasted thesweetest melon overlooking one of their zen gardens,
sand and beautifully crafted banzai trees,and I never forgot reflecting on how
beautiful that is. I also lovewith Lucky we travel being in the south

(47:53):
of France, who were there onbusiness at the Carlton Hotel. For those
of you who are following that,the Carlton Hotel is actually the hotel that
filmed To Catch a Thief with CarrieGrant and Grace Kelly. Grace Kelly,
thank you. I remember sitting outthere, beautiful buffet breakfast. The weather
was so perfect in June. We'relooking out, the sun is out,

(48:15):
palm trees all around, looking overthe Mediterranean. Having these amazing different kinds
of cheeses, different kinds of bread, French bread is unbelievable. And being
with you sharing our time. I'vedone that with Jared as well, so
it's been a remarkable time for me. I loved it. I loved every
time we went to California. California. You never eat indoors, that's our

(48:37):
rule, right, no meal indoorswould yeah, no meal indoors from breakfast
on overlooking golf courses, overlooking thewater. It actually makes me think about
people that live in California. Whythey're office buildings. Everything should just be
outside. I have a standard rulewhen it comes to California. I hate
all Californias. You want to knowwhy. Why Because it's winter and they're
wearing short sleeves. I know they'reout there having a great time. I've

(49:00):
always thought that breakfast was a verycalming time if one was to eat,
to go out and enjoy and sitthere. My favorite outfit and I had
the biggest impact on me. Youdon't know this story. My friend Bruce
and I were working together. Wewent to London. We were in the
Mandarin Oriental, which we talked aboutbefore. We're having a business breakfast.
He and I both dressed in suitsand ties or jackets are over the chairs.

(49:22):
This Chinese guy comes in and he'swearing gray slacks, a white shirt,
a burgundy tie, and a pinksweater. And he had the pink
sweater tucked in his pants. Hewas so thin that he looked beautiful in
a tucked in sweater. Now,I don't have to tell you what a
tucked in sweater is for me,right, your standard uniform? Yeah,

(49:44):
this guy wore it to this day. I haven't seen Bruce now for call
it ten years. If you askedhim tell me a story about a pink
sweater, he would tell you himand I watching that. So even breakfast
fashion comes into play. Is thatwhy you wear it now? Well,
it's where I first got the idea. Now, I've never been as thin
as that Chinese guy, and Idon't know that I ever looked as well
as he did. But the ideaof talking in your sweater, it's just

(50:05):
a great look. And the ideaof a shirt tie with a tucked in
sweater, I live in that.I never wear my sweaters out since that
day. And now you know whereit came from. So breakfast has had
an impact on all of us someway, on all of our lives,
one way or another. Breakfast Iencourage you, whether you like to eat
it or not, take advantage ofthat time and day, Take advantage of

(50:25):
time to meditate and time to enjoy, time to look out at the world,
look at the water, look atthe sky, look at the people
around you. There's so much tobe learned for breakfast on always in fashion,