ENCORE: Designated Drinker

ENCORE: Designated Drinker

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
The following is an Encore presentation.

Speaker 2 (00:06):
This show is produced and hosted by Mark Webber.

Speaker 3 (00:09):
The show is sponsored by G three Aparo.

Speaker 2 (00:10):
The views expressed in the following program are those of
the sponsor and not necessarily the opinion of seven tenor
or iHeartMedia. Who is Mark Webber. He's a self made
business executive here to help you find your success. From
the New York City projects to the Avenue Montaigne in Paris.
His global success story in the luxury world of fashion

(00:33):
is inspirational. He's gone from.

Speaker 1 (00:35):
Clerk to CEO twice.

Speaker 2 (00:38):
Mark his classic proof that the American dream is alive.
And well, here's your host of Always in Fashion, Mark Weber.

Speaker 3 (00:46):
Mark Weber. This is business and always in fashion, except
for that tonight. It's late, it's the weekend. I'm happy,
but I'm moody. It's time for a drink. Interesting coming
from a guy who doesn't drink. They'd say it's not
good to drink alone. Certainly you don't drink and drive.
I like fine wine. I like vodka. I also like tequila,

(01:10):
but I'm not a drinker. It's rare wine for dinner,
vodka for a smile, tequila for a party, but I'm
not a drinker. Nothing wrong with drinking, but like everything
else in life, you have to be smart about it. I,
for one, think you need a plan. You want to
go to a casino, you set a limit, you stick

(01:31):
to it. You may not win, but you're not a loser.
You had a plan. Like everything in life, you need
a plan. You like your sweets, your cookies, your cake,
your ice cream, You need a plan. If you have
them three times a day, every day, you won't be
a loser. You'll be a gainer. Springtime is coming, lots

(01:51):
of fun, lots of parties. You get to hang out
in the sun. You need a plan, sunscreen and a
time limit. You have fun, but you won't get burnt.
In life and business, it stands to reason you need
a plan so you don't get burnt tonight. I'm thinking drinking.
In business, you can drink lots of smiles, lots of handshakes,

(02:11):
but without a plan, that smile will turn to tipsy,
The words will start to slur, and you can lose
your place in line, or you'll lose your position altogether.
I'm thinking of all things drinking, drinking and your career.
It's not easy to be successful. It's far easy to
be unsuccessful. I want to drink it all in tonight

(02:34):
and talk about my experiences with drinking in the workplace.
Tonight's show is entitled Designated Drinker for a Good Cause
Friday Nights. I'm the most important guy in my group,
always have been. I'm the go to guy. I was
the one responsible for bringing everyone home. Tonight, Well, I

(02:57):
tell you stories. I'll give you some advice, have some
fun and laughs. Being the sober one is important. All
of you out there should remember you have a responsibility
to you a theme of this show. As you're responsible
for your own career, you're responsible for being your own
designated drinker. Tonight, let's drink. Let's get a little sloppy.

(03:19):
Let's hurt our careers, maybe ruin our careers, or maybe
just maybe you're going to pay attention to what I
have to say. Let's decide what kind of drinker you
are at work. Those of you who are still listening
haven't turned off and recognize I'm not going to lecture
you about your drinking habits. I'm rather going to share

(03:40):
with you ideas, some stories that may open your eyes
and make you think about it. The guy who's been lectured,
the always Funny, my always sobering son, the Voice of Wisdom,
and my designated co driver, Jesse Weber. How are you tonight?

Speaker 1 (03:55):
I'm doing well. I'm doing well. I love my titles.

Speaker 4 (03:57):
Every week talk about an interesting time, universal topic. It
applies to everyone. Sometimes I'm worried that your topics you
pick might.

Speaker 1 (04:04):
Not apply to everyone.

Speaker 4 (04:05):
But this one, drinking applies to every single person. My
only concern is, and I heard your opening speech, you're
not going to tell everybody not to drink right, because
you'll lose our liquor sponsors. We don't have linker sponsors
yet to see you're thinking too short sighted. We may
eventually get them. But have you ever considered something?

Speaker 1 (04:24):
I want you to think about this.

Speaker 4 (04:26):
Have you ever considered that your attitude that I'll just
do whatever I want. That kind of behavior is like
being drunk. Think about you pretty much say or do
anything you want. You don't pay attention to what the
consequences are.

Speaker 1 (04:40):
You say and do whatever you want. You move there,
you move on, you.

Speaker 4 (04:42):
Leave people in your wake, and then you forget about
it next day, as if it never happened. I'll tell
you wait don't.

Speaker 1 (04:48):
You remember what you said? Don't you remember what you did? No? No,
I don't really think.

Speaker 3 (04:52):
Oh this is rich.

Speaker 1 (04:53):
No, this is true. This is one hundred percent.

Speaker 3 (04:54):
Try you give me an example. Okay, I bet you can't.

Speaker 4 (04:57):
Oh yeah, do you remember what happened?

Speaker 1 (05:00):
Zara?

Speaker 3 (05:01):
I wasn't drunken, Sarah.

Speaker 4 (05:03):
You might as well have been. And I think the
person that I'm gonna be mentioning in the story probably
thought that you were.

Speaker 1 (05:08):
This was amazing, This was amazing.

Speaker 4 (05:11):
So you and I are in the Tzara store I
think it was on Madison, okay, big store. We go
up to the men's section, all these different items to
check it out, and one of the things you liked
you I don't remember what it was, Fifth Avenue, whatever,
and you see something that you like, but you were
curious if it had the right size.

Speaker 1 (05:32):
You see a sales associate.

Speaker 4 (05:34):
Now, in your defense, this sales associate had unique hair,
unique look about this person. And you went up to
the sales associate. You say, excuse me, miss, miss miss,
and this the sales So it just wasn't responding. I
knew what was going on. I turned red because miss

(05:55):
was really a guy. And you went up to him
and said excuse me, miss miss. And then you said,
oh wait, are you a boy or girl? Or what
you said that? Are you a boy or a girl?

Speaker 1 (06:03):
Or what?

Speaker 4 (06:04):
What? What's going on here? I ran away. I was
so embarrassed. I ran to the other side, turned red.

Speaker 1 (06:11):
What did he say to you?

Speaker 3 (06:12):
Are you asking? You say I'm a girl?

Speaker 4 (06:14):
What did you you turned?

Speaker 3 (06:14):
You were like, so, no, got out of it. What
should I have done?

Speaker 1 (06:19):
You kept going miss miss?

Speaker 4 (06:21):
I was like, oh no, no, no, I can't believe
you said. The best part is I can't eieve you
said to him? What are you a boy or girl?
Or what's going on here? So we're talking about drinking,
don't you think you kind of need a filter? It's
the same thing as drinking.

Speaker 3 (06:34):
How is this helping?

Speaker 4 (06:36):
Look, you are about to talk about drinking smartly, So
I would guess coming from a guy who needs to
think smartly, this is something.

Speaker 1 (06:44):
You should be thinking about.

Speaker 4 (06:45):
Okay, you're right, I'm sorry.

Speaker 1 (06:48):
What did you say?

Speaker 3 (06:49):
What? Well? You just did you?

Speaker 4 (06:51):
What did you say?

Speaker 3 (06:53):
What are you mean?

Speaker 4 (06:54):
I need to hear it? What did you just say?

Speaker 3 (06:56):
Okay, you're right.

Speaker 1 (06:59):
I don't get that often when you're right you're right.

Speaker 3 (07:02):
Let the record show you don't have to be drunk
to do stupid or say stupid things. You're responsible for you.

Speaker 1 (07:08):
Thank you, thank you.

Speaker 4 (07:10):
Now back on topic, where did this wonderful idea come from?

Speaker 3 (07:13):
Oh nice of you to ask. It's a story about drinking.
I haven't seen this friend in a while. Last week
I told you about this. I haven't seen him in
a while, and they asked me to meet him at
a bar. I get to the bar. Guy already had
three tequilas. He's drunk as a skunk. It's not to

(07:35):
talk to him. He's not there, it's falling off the table.
He's embarrassing, and it start to say something to me,
and this is about a history that he was so
out of it. I said to him, why am I
even bothering to be with you here? And you know,
I talked about being the designated drinker. In a million years,

(07:57):
I would never leave a person to fai for themselves
the way he was. And I actually said him, how
are you going to get home? Well, I'm only ten
blocks from here, said do you need me to put
you again?

Speaker 4 (08:09):
Nah?

Speaker 3 (08:09):
I said, well that's good because I'm leaving. Good night,
and I walked away, and as I'm walking away, I
started to think about people drinking, and what's the point
of it when you're doing this. What is the point
of him showing up drunk to talk to me when
he had nothing to say and he was out of it?
And that was when I started thinking about drinking. And
I came up with a title designated drinker. And I
started thinking about all the experiences I've had, good and bad,

(08:32):
and work for my various different companies, and I said,
you know what, there's an interesting subject. Let's talk about
a designated drinker. Jesse, I have a question for you. Okay,
what's it like dating and drinking?

Speaker 1 (08:45):
It's weird. Look, I don't drink. I have my own reasons.
I just never let got into it. Just not my thing.

Speaker 4 (08:51):
I didn't know how much of a big deal it
would have been until I moved to New York and
started dating. Because the first thing you go to drinks,
I'll have a club so or die cooked. They're like, wait,
you you're not having anything? Oh no, I don't really drink.
Then their face turns.

Speaker 3 (09:05):
Well, do you tell them you can have whatever you want?
I do?

Speaker 4 (09:07):
I say please? And then they know I don't feel comfortable.
I don't feel comfortable drinking if you're not drinking. I said,
why don't have whatever you want?

Speaker 1 (09:12):
No? No, no, no no. So then I tried to.

Speaker 3 (09:14):
Do you automatically think that means that they're going to
get drunk.

Speaker 4 (09:17):
No, they want to just have a drink to open
up a little bit. I guess they feel that me
not drinking makes them feel uncomfortable.

Speaker 1 (09:23):
I can understand that.

Speaker 4 (09:24):
So here's what I did instead.

Speaker 1 (09:25):
Sometimes I'll order a drink.

Speaker 4 (09:27):
But and then I order, you know, a club soda
or a vodka soda, and maybe I'll just sip it.

Speaker 1 (09:31):
And they say, oh, you're not drinking. I am not
a huge drinker.

Speaker 3 (09:34):
I mean the monitor how much you drink, even if
you've ordered the drink.

Speaker 4 (09:37):
Yeah, They're like, oh, you're not drinking anything. I'll say, uh,
you know, I'm not a huge drinker. Why'd you order that?
Why are you lying? Why are you not being who
you are? I can't win any which way I do it,
and there's no way I can get out of it.
So let's say I come to the bar beforehand and
I'm having a club soda. I deal situation. She comes
say what are you having? She says, Oh, I'm gonna
have what I want.

Speaker 1 (09:56):
What do you think?

Speaker 4 (09:57):
She says to me, what are you having? I'll have
what you're having. Oh, well, I'm just having a club soda.

Speaker 3 (10:02):
What.

Speaker 4 (10:03):
It's an awkward thing, But.

Speaker 3 (10:05):
I would it be creepy if you said to the bartender,
I'm going to make believe I'm drinking.

Speaker 1 (10:09):
That's extremely creepy.

Speaker 4 (10:10):
I'm honest who I am. I'm honest who I am.
Some people I get, some people don't. But then I
have to go they some people think that I'm an
alcoholic and I'm in alcoholics and I'm like, no, I
just never really got into drinking.

Speaker 3 (10:21):
Then makes you weird. Yeah, nobody appreciates the fact that
you don't drink rarely. Some do. So you're never going
to get married because you don't drink, one.

Speaker 4 (10:31):
Girl said to me. One girl said to me once,
I gotta tell you you're really perfect, but this isn't
going to work out.

Speaker 1 (10:39):
You don't drink. I don't I drink.

Speaker 4 (10:42):
We'll have nothing to talk about, well, have nothing to
relate to, all right?

Speaker 3 (10:45):
See yah, Okay, you know, listen, what do I know?
I only know that I like a drink once in
a while. I know I drink responsibly, but I've seen
the best and worst of people. I got this idea
from meeting someone in a bar the other day, and
he was so stupid drunk that I didn't understand why
I was being there. Unfortunately that I met him. Now

(11:05):
I have a show to talk about. Tonight's show is
the Designated Drinker. Stay tuned, We'll be back always. In fashion,
Donna Karen began her career as one of the finest,
most successful, powerful women in the fashion industry. She developed
a collection aimed at the luxury market for women on

(11:27):
the go, women who were powerful in their workplace, women
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the interesting thing Donna Karen had a young daughter and
she had friends and they couldn't afford to buy the
Donna Karon collection, and Donna invented dk NY Donna Karen

(11:47):
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The same concept a lifestyle brand. Now we talk about
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There are brands that follow you throughout your life. Style.
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(12:09):
get accessorized shoes, handbags, and it takes you through the day.
The remarkable thing about DK and Y clothes for work,
they work into the evening. The dresses, the suits, the pants,
the sweaters, the blouses, extraordinary clothes at affordable prices that
go from day in tonight. Part of your lifestyle is active.

(12:29):
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Donna Karen's casual clothes did that under the DK and
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(12:51):
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(13:12):
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(13:33):
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(13:55):
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(14:16):
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(14:36):
in and look at ISID. Now that doesn't say that
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(15:00):
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Speaker 2 (15:19):
Isaac for men, welcome back to it always in fashion.

Speaker 1 (15:24):
Here's your host, Mark Webber.

Speaker 3 (15:27):
I was telling a story earlier about a guy I
met for a drink the other day. He wanted to
see me talk about business life, whatever it was. I
don't know, because he had three tequilas in and by
the time I showed up and it was a waste
of my time. I did something uncharacteristically for me. I
let him fend for himself and get home on his own.
I would have never done that in a normal world.
I suppose if I was with him and hanging out
and he had a couple of drinks and he got

(15:48):
a little over the line, I would have walked about
and made sure he got in a cab. The fact
that he decided that three before I got there, and
he was you know what, faced I said, Hey, fend
for yourself, get home on your own. No question that
liquor adds something to people's lives, and there's also no
question it could ruin your place in line in business
and can destroy your career completely. You gotta have a plan.

(16:11):
There's also no question that fine wine, champagne, bourbon, whiskey,
gin vodkabier brings something to life. These are all one
of those additives that makes life a touch more enjoyable.
They make a smile, They relax us. They provide some
emotional tools, whether it's confidence, a sense of accomplishment, a
pores in our hectic lives, camaraderie with friends, intimates with

(16:35):
loved ones. There's no question that alcohol does something. But
when drinking is done smartly, you don't need a designated
drinker your plan. You're happy and you're safe. And actually,
although I have some horrific stories to tell you about
idiots who drank a business, I do have a couple
of nice stories to tell you. And I've decided that's
how I really want to start the show. Well, are

(16:56):
you drunk?

Speaker 1 (16:56):
That's a switch?

Speaker 4 (16:57):
Even so dark as late is this Mark Webber That had.

Speaker 3 (17:00):
To do with the weather and finally seeing some sunshine.
I'm in a better mood, but I'm still in this
deep voice, melancholy place.

Speaker 1 (17:10):
Well, I like seeing you upbeat, So let's hear what
you have to say.

Speaker 3 (17:13):
All right, I'm gonna give you enough beat story. Do
you know what LVMH stands for? Yes, I know, you
know I'm talking to the audience. Jesse I was the
CEO of LVMH Inc. Louis Viton, m Form Moet Shandan,
the famous Champagne and h Fannessy Kangnac. You see, LVMH

(17:36):
was one of the largest purveyors of wine and spirits
in the world. They have incredible brands and they're one
of the largest marketers of wine and spirits. I tell
you what, I don't miss working full time in that
capacity anymore, but I do miss the group. They were
one classy group of people, the largest, most successful look

(18:00):
company in the world. I'll never forget the first time
I visited their offices on Avenue Montagne. After you get
through security, you go up and escalator. They put you
in a holding cell. Just so happens that holding cell
is a tiny museum, and in that museum they show
all the history of the brands. One of the brands
they own is dumb Perione, one of the oldest champagnes

(18:23):
in the world. It was found by monks. They invented it.
Did you know it's close to five hundred years ago?
This was done, and it's sitting there in the museum.
So I start to look at the company and this activity,
and I see the brands that they're involved with date
hundreds of years ago. Hennessy was established in the eighteen hundreds,

(18:43):
perhaps the seventeen hundreds of my memory serves me correct.
I actually met one of the surviving members of the
Hemnissea family, who was one hundred and six years old
when I met him at this place. It was amazing.
I really really loved working for the group because of
their history, their interest. I'll never forget. I was in

(19:03):
New York because I was a senior guy. I was
invited to a tasting Jesse. You ever been to a tasting?

Speaker 1 (19:09):
Yeah, but it's like pointless for me. What am I
gonna do there?

Speaker 4 (19:13):
That's like me going to a basketball event and they're saying, hey,
can you dunk?

Speaker 1 (19:19):
It's a dunking event. What am I gonna do?

Speaker 3 (19:22):
Well? I went to a tasting at lv's Wine and
Spirits division, which is in the meatpacking district. Fantastic group
of people, amazing offices. All the brands were represented. They
also owned Belvedere Tenking tequila, plus all their wines and spirits.
They're one of the greatest wine growers in the world. Hey, Darcy,
did I ever talk to you about Do you know

(19:43):
what the differences between sparkling wine and champagne?

Speaker 4 (19:47):
I remember you kind of told me, but I don't remember.

Speaker 3 (19:49):
That's to do with the boundaries of France. Oh, right,
grapes where the grapes are grown. Grapes are Champagne, have
grown in the Champagne region. It's funny. If you go
across the street, there's same exact grapes, but the Champagne
boundary of the town ended across the street. You're in
a different town, and they can't call it Champagne. They

(20:11):
have to call it sparkling wine or some other name.

Speaker 1 (20:13):
What's in a name?

Speaker 3 (20:14):
You're right? Anyway, I learned that being there at the group.
And I went to this wine tasting back in New
York in the meatpacking district, and it was great. Wasn't
really a wine tasting, it was their spirits. So they
started off with Hennessy cognac. I took one little tiny
sip to be all liquors taste like hair tonic. It's
not hairtonic. It tastes like gasoline. It's super either.

Speaker 4 (20:37):
How would you know what gasoline or hair tonic taste like?

Speaker 3 (20:40):
The smell?

Speaker 4 (20:42):
All right, I don't know about that one, but let's
keep going.

Speaker 3 (20:44):
So they put that in front of sip. Next thing
comes up, Is there two other finnessy cognac blends? And
on and on. Everybody's commenting, Oh, this is fantastic. The
taste of the barrel, the tastes of the sweetness, the
taste of the fermenting. This I could tell it was
in cast for a long time. Listening to all this stuff.
I'm laughing to myself as the glasses keep pounding up

(21:05):
in front of me. Then they go through the whiskies,
and then they go through the tequila, and then they
go through the champagne. There must have been fifty glasses
in front of you, all of which I've never tasted.
But it was a great experience. And the boy, oh boy,
they brought the wrong guy to that meeting. But my
favorite of all time story of LV I'm in Paris

(21:27):
was going out to dinner with the group of LV executives,
leu Veton executives, in one of these great French restaurants
there with the founders, part of their family I'm there
with the president, I'm there with all the senior executives
and me, I was a pretty powerful guy at one
time in the United States representing the group. And we
went to dinner and we all sat down, and what's

(21:49):
the guy the smiliere? Is that what they call him?
The guy who comes off with you wine? Yeah, comes
over and he says to the president of the company,
will you be having a wine tonight? Then I said
to him, I said, what does that mean? And he
looked at him and said, yes, what do we have here?
And then he brought over a list of bottles of

(22:09):
the actual LV company that Louis Vutan owned as part
of the group, and we drank our own wine at
that event. It was pretty amazing and I really really
had a great time being part of that, learning about
wines and spirits and all of that, and I managed
to hold myself in check and never got myself in trouble.

(22:30):
But my favorite story of Louis Vutan moet Chandan Hennessy
LVMH had to do when I was at van Usen,
of all places, our most senior merchandising executive, how do
I say this at van Usen at the time. I
could say he was an alcoholic, I could say he

(22:51):
drank too much, but the truth was he was a
dead drunk, a bad drinker. An we had an issue.
We had one of the most important fitted shirts, taped
shirts of its time, slim fit shirts of its time,

(23:11):
and it was called Hennessy. What made Hennessy really special
is we embroidered the label into the yoke of the shirt.
We didn't have a regular label like you see in
every shirt. We actually had an embroidery that said Hennessy.
There's a brilliant move. We had never seen that before.
It made the shirt really look special. But where did
the name Hennessy come from? Well, our friends at Louis Vuitton,

(23:35):
who we didn't know yet I certainly didn't know yet,
took objection for us launching one of the most powerful
shirt brands in America called Hennessy. Where did it come from?
And to tell you the truth, to this day, when
I think back, I don't know where the idea came from.
I was too young to know, I pay attention. All
I know is we had a great shirt, great package,

(23:55):
selling like raising. But Vetone put that down and they
brought us the task and they told us to cease
and desist using the name or we'd find ourselves in
international court, a court in New York. Again, I don't remember.
So someone made the decision, whether it was the chairman
of PVH or the president of van Usen, which I

(24:18):
think it was, to send our then executive EP of
Merchandising to negotiate with the French over the usage of
the name Hennessy. Now, if you're paying attention or you're
just tuned in, unfortunately, this guy we sent was a brilliant, brilliant,
brilliant executive, but he was a drunk. And of all things.

(24:41):
They agreed to meet to negotiate for the Hennessy brand
and the usage of the brand in France in the
wine cellar of Hennessy Cognac. There they went to have
a tasting and to discuss the contract. Well, our executive

(25:03):
drank and he drank and he passed out, head down
on the table, banged his head on the table. We
get a call in New York. We need to speak
to mister monsieur. We need to speak to him, the
president company. He said, we have you're mister so and so.

(25:25):
Here we've been discussing the use of the Hennessy contract.
He passed out at our table, banged his head on
the table. He's unconscious. What would you like us to
do with him? Keep him? And that, my friends, if
you ever wanted to know what drinking at the workplace

(25:47):
can do to you, you have to be careful. And
with that, I say to you, of all people, to
send for a tasting at Hennessy Cognact. Look who we said.
Someone wasn't thinking. But I tell you we needed a
designate a drinker that night and it wasn't him. More
in this drinking in the workplace, We'll be back in

(26:08):
a minute.

Speaker 2 (26:10):
Always in fashion.

Speaker 3 (26:12):
As one of the world's most celebrated fashion designers, Carl
Lagafeld was renowned for his aspirational and cutting edge approach
to style. His unique vision of Parisian shit comes to
America through car Lagofeld Paris. He has women's collections, men's collections,
ready to wear, accessory, shoes and bags. The fashion house
Carlagafeld also offers a range of watches, I wear and

(26:34):
premium fragrances. You can explore the car LAGOFL collection at
car Lagofelparis dot com. But it's more than that. I have,
for one, love to shop. I love going around and
seeing what's happening and what 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
they look amazing. If you want to look right, you

(26:57):
want to have clothes that fits you 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 affordable prices at Macy's, Orcarlagofel dot com Paris. The
women's ready to wear fashion is extraordinary, as well as
the handbigs and the shoes. I, for one, wear men's clothes,

(27:18):
unlike my appreciation of women's clothes. I'm a modern guy.
I want to look current. I want to look the
way I want to feel. I go out at night,
I'm in black and carlagafeld is my buddy. Cals are great.
They fit great, and they have little tweaks and touches,
whether it's a stripe on the sleeve or button at
the neck or on the shoulder. There's a lot of
details that go into Carlagafel Because he's always been, he

(27:42):
always had been one of the world's great designers, and
this legacy and goes on and on. I can't speak
enough about it except to say to you, you want
to feel good about yourself. You want to know that
you're dressing properly. You want to clothes that fits you well.
Carl Lagafeld Paris at Macy's or Carl Lagafel spent a
lifetime of my career building the Van uesen Brand, and

(28:05):
I am so pleased that they're back with us now
talking about suits, Men were dressing up again and it's
become cool to wear a suit. Suits can be won
on multiple occasions, in multiple ways. You could wear a
suit formally to go out at night or to an event.
You can wear a suit to the office with or
without a tie. If you look closely, now fashion trends,

(28:27):
suits are being worn with turtlenecks or mark next. The
choices are endless, and every one of them looks right.
You could really really look the part. I believe that
packaging yourself is as important does the products you package,
and wearing a suit is one of those things that
make men look their best. Venuesn't invented a new idea.

(28:49):
It's called the cool Flex suit. It's been engineered with
stretch technology, giving you the most comfortable fit and mobility.
It's wrinkle resistant fabric, it's cool moisture WICKI. It makes
it perfect for all occasions. As we discussed just now,
this new style of looking sharp while feeling cool and
comfortable is amazing and I'm so excited that the van

(29:11):
Using company is involved in this new technology and is
embracing the whole idea of dressing up. Let's not forget
van Using Mane. It's the name with dress shirts. It's
only proper that the suit business follows strongly in its way.
You can find van Using cool Flex Men's stretch suits
at jcpenny are online at jcpenny dot com. Guys, they're great.

(29:35):
You should go look at them.

Speaker 2 (29:37):
Welcome back to it always in fashion. Here's your host,
Mark Webber.

Speaker 3 (29:42):
You gotta be smart when it comes to the workplace.
You're responsible for your own career. You're responsible for you.
You want to drink. You better for be responsible, but
you better realize what you're doing. People are watching you.
I'll tell you what. I've always been a senior executive.
I was watching people when they drank. I always had
a point of view. Having said that, I too was
a fireball. I was an idiot. I made my fist

(30:03):
share of mistakes. The first time I really realized there
was something called alcohol and it really could affect you
at the workplace, it was the Friday Martini Club. I
ever tell you about that, jess Yep. I never hung
out with anyone at work the early days. I was
too serious. It was all business for me. I don't
even know how to have a good time. I used
to see every Friday, all the senior executives, all the

(30:24):
young guys like myself would go out to a bar
across the street in the CVS building. I don't remember
the name of the bar, and they had what they
called the Friday Martini Club. I wasn't part of it
because I never went one day kicking and screaming. One
of the young guys was hanging with all the time
we worked together, said to me, you got a comedy
pulled me by the eyes that I go. So I
went there and I watched what's going on. And we
had some sophisticated people, and in those days was like madmen.

(30:47):
Guys went to lunch. They had martinis. This was a
specific club. It was after lunch. Nobody ate and they
went to have a martini, so I started watching. I
had my first martini. I took a few SIPs. Yeah,
it wasn't my taste, but wow, it went down smooth.
I had my first martini, and I'm sitting on that
barstool and I say, wow, I can't believe what this

(31:07):
feels like. I'm actually feeling something. Now these guys are
ready on three. I gotta have another one. B I
had two martinis and I was whacked out, and it
was only two o'clock. I had to go back, went
back to my office. I realized how drunk I was
from two martinis. I had no idea that martinis would
do that to you. They look harmless. But I went back.

(31:28):
I had meetings in the afternoon. I got in. My
secretary took one look at me. She said, what did
you do? I said, I went to the martini club.
You know. She said, well, you're not able to function,
are you? I said, no, you know what. You got
to cancel all my appointments. I went to sleep on
my couch and that was my end of my martini club.
I realized how potent liqua could be. But it didn't

(31:51):
teach me the lesson. And I want to talk to
you about my first mistakes in drinking. I used to
travel frequently to Asia, and at those days, I don't
know if it's changed now. It was uncomfortable drinking the
water and the water because it might not have been
filtered the way it should be. Some other countries today
are still like that. I don't want to mention them.
I'll get in trouble. But I was uncomfortable, particularly in

(32:13):
China and some of these other places, about drinking wo ice.
I would aways have ice in my drinks, and so
I started drinking beer, and I drank beer instead of
water because it was cold. I didn't eat ice, and
really appreciated how much I loved it, particularly a Japanese steakhouses.
I loved it, but I also didn't realize as you

(32:35):
traveled around Asia, drinking was a macho thing at the time.
And I'll never forget. I was in Hong Kong on
a Sunday. Sunday was the great entertaining day off in
Hong Kong. If you were a buyer like I was
a big quantities important buyer. Someone would want to take
you out on that Chinese junk. Those are those little

(32:57):
sailing vessels with the beautiful sails. See them in Hong Kong.
It's part of the scenery. I was on one yom.

Speaker 1 (33:05):
When I was in Hong Kong. I went with my
buddy when we were there.

Speaker 3 (33:07):
Oh, you paid to be on?

Speaker 1 (33:09):
Yeah, I think so. I don't think I snuck on.

Speaker 3 (33:11):
No. I was always invited to people that owned them,
and they used them for entertaining. So you went on.
It was a party that was lunches, meals, swimming on
inted me. I went on, and unbeknownst to me, they
were going to have a drinking event and the title
of tonight show is Designated Drinker. I was named the
designated drinker from my group. I really didn't know what

(33:33):
it meant, but I was compiing. You don't COMPI is
they fill up your cup? Comepi? You stick the whole
thing down in one gope.

Speaker 1 (33:40):
Oh no, I didn't know that.

Speaker 3 (33:41):
Now, your dad, your daddy, your father who doesn't drink,
drank a bottle of vodka.

Speaker 1 (33:47):
A bottle of vodka.

Speaker 3 (33:48):
Bottle of vodka.

Speaker 1 (33:49):
Uh oh.

Speaker 3 (33:51):
They carried me home. I don't remember they put me
in the Peninsula Hotel, which was one of the beautiful hotels.
I remember passing out in my room. I remember getting
up and throwing up on the floor. I left a
pile of whatever that's called on the floor next to
me because I was so sick. I was told later
that I could have died from that. You drink a
bottle of vodka, you can die. I was a designated drinker.

(34:13):
I was so proud. I was so sick. It took
two days to recover. I gave him five hundred hog
Kong dogs. I apologize pro whosily to clean up the place.
I couldn't believe they were doing this, but I was
lying there while they were cleaning up. I couldn't get up.
It took me a day and a half to finally
get out of bed. And I was the designated drink.
And it was the stupid thing I ever did in
my life. And I never did it again. I got
smarter as we went along and went to China. Never

(34:36):
forget my trips to China. There's always a dedicated drinker
in China. Bob, my friend Bob, and my company volunteered
to be the designated drinker. Do you ever hear of Maltai.

Speaker 1 (34:50):
It's like a really strong, strong drink.

Speaker 3 (34:53):
Right, it's a Chinese rice wine. It comes in a
bottle that looks like an industrial drum and the bottle
is actually made out of porcelain. If you're lucky enough
to be in the room when it's there and you
open the cap, you take the cap of it off.
The whole restaurant. The whole room will smell from this
wife's wine. And that was the national drink of China.

(35:14):
And my friend Bob agreed to be designated drinker. And
I'll never forget having this great Chinese banquet. And the
only one who had to compie with all of them
was Bob. We carried him out. We took them to
the hospital, because that's what we did. However, that was
my lessons in designated drinking. As time went on, I

(35:35):
became an observer rather than a participator when it came
to drinking at the workplace, where I watch people and
their behavior when they got drunk was unbelievable. I want
to go back now to my days at Donna. Karen.
One of my favorite stories about drinking and one of
the lost opportunities in life happened to deal with a
young woman who's one of the smartest people in our

(35:56):
retail division. When I talk about smart ideas, those of
you never heard it. I put a billboard in Yankee Stadium,
DK and Y right in the center field. I think
I was one of the first to power brands ever
to do it. I had an exclusive. No one else
could be in center field. I had that billboard there
for five years. And because we had the billboard, what

(36:16):
we did do what I did with my team, we
agreed to take the luxury boxes twice a year, twice
a season, and I'll never forget. We took the box
and one day while watching great Yankee game. The weather
was great, the food was great. I suppose the booze

(36:36):
was flowing. We didn't have a cap on it. One
young lady who I mentioned before, was one of the
rising stars in retail and apparently she had a drinking problem.
And apparently only a handful of people knew. It was
a well kept secret until my wife joined me on
this trip and she happened to sit down on the

(36:59):
outside side portion of this big luxury box, and this
young lady sat down next to her. The head of
human resources knew what was happening. She sat in the
other seat, so my wife was on one side of
her and this other woman was on the other side
of her. The our person trying to control it. Unfortunately,
this retail genius was no genius when it came to drinking,

(37:23):
and she started and on my wife, talking about how
stupid the company was, how great I was as a leader,
how much more this company could do if they listened
to her, how many people she didn't like, why these
people were stoopid, and on and on and on till
the HR person finally found a way to let my
wife escape, and my wife came to me and said,

(37:45):
who is that? I said, why. She says she's drunk
and she's saying all the wrong things. I said, you're
kidding me. She said no. I couldn't take it anymore.
I couldn't wait. The young lady next to help me
get away. I said, oh, that's the head of human resources.
All I could tell you of the course of the
time we tried to counsel her didn't work. She eventually
left the company. But there was an example of someone

(38:08):
I called her a retail genius. This is a woman
that I had a tremendous respect for in the faith,
in her opinions, but the liquor got in the way
of being smart. She needed a designated drinker, she needed
a plan. I tell you what. At the same company,
I had a guy also that I worked with very
very closely. Same thing, made the mistake of going to dinner.

(38:32):
We would have a management dinner once a quarter after
we released our numbers. Sat down. He happened to sit
near me after. I don't know how many glasses of
wine you could see what a bitter angry individually was hated.
Everyone couldn't stop talking about how everyone was stupid, how
the company didn't understand him, that if the company followed

(38:52):
him down the road, everything would be all right. Another
one blew himself away. The point of this is the
point of this is you want to drink. I'm with you.
You tell me you like vodka? Great, you like fine wine? Great.
I work for a company one of the finest wine
growers in the world, one of the finest marketers of
wine in the world. You had to be responsible. In

(39:14):
my entire time with the LV group, I never saw
anyone drunk, at least in Paris. You have to be
able to control your liquor. You're working for your future.
Your career should be important to you. You're responsible for you.
And I've seen so many people blow themselves away. Having
said that, I've always been a designated drinker. I've always

(39:35):
been responsible and I will bring you home. We'll talk
about this later. Be back in a minute.

Speaker 1 (39:42):
Always in fashion.

Speaker 3 (39:44):
Van Usen actually the name venues and first time I
heard it, I thought was an old man's company. I
was in an interview and I was being offered a
job to work and that said, it's old man's company.
And the head hunter who is recruiting me said, you're
an idiot. Said they're a public company. They're one of
the world's great shirt and if, in fact you feel
they're old, that's why they want young people like you
Mark to change the company and to bring it into

(40:06):
the next century. And lo and behold, I joined them.
I put my heart and soul in that company and
did everything I can to participate in making it one
of the world's great brands. And it is. If you
look at van Using they called sportswear. I don't understand
the name sportswear. I don't understand neckwear. When you're talking
about ties, I don't understand the name hosiery. When you're
talking about socks, I'm not sure I understand the name sportswear.

(40:28):
When you're talking about men's clothing. Well, men's clothing is
complicated because that in the retail venue means suits and
sport codes. Having said that, van used in sportswear, shirts, sweaters,
knitwear amazing. Men use it as a modern approach to
fashion that appeals to a broad base of Americans. First
of all, it's affordable. You find it in stores that

(40:50):
you visit that you could afford to participate it. You
could buy multiple items that are all coordinated together. Then
primary colors start with black and tan, in gray and navy.
They're all salable. They make sense. The knitwear amazing, golf
shirts amazing, polar shirts in the fall of the year,
whether it's polar fleas or sweaters, than using has a

(41:11):
modern approach to fashion. You buy the pants, the dress, shirts,
the suits, the neckwear. But in particular I'm talking about
the coordinated collection sportswear in venues. The styling is perfect,
the fits a generous, the design to make you feel comfortable,
not only are in your body by the fit but
in your head then Using Sport collections are one of

(41:33):
my favorite to this day. And believe me, I'm involved
when I see the lines. If I don't like them,
I call the principles of the company and say what
are you doing? But I don't have to do it
because that taste level is right. If you want to
buy affordable men's clothes that look right, if you're modern,
you want to get dressed for the day and look
your part, you want to go out at night, van

(41:54):
Using will work for you. I am supporting and recommending
you go see van Using Sports JC Penny or online
at your favorite stores. Van Using a brand that has
always been with me and I'll always have a soft
spot in my heart for it. Donna Karen began her
career as one of the finest, most successful, powerful women

(42:18):
in the fashion industry. She developed a collection aimed at
the luxury market for women on the go, women who
were powerful in their workplace, women who had lives that
extended beyond the workplace, and her clothes went from day
and to night. An extraordinary collection. But the interesting thing
Donna Karen had a young daughter and she had friends
and they couldn't afford to buy the Donna Karen collection.

(42:40):
And Donna invented dk NY Donna Aaron, New York. It's
an offshoot of the Donna Karen collection. The same concept
a lifestyle brand. Now we talk about lifestyle brands, what
does that really mean? Simply what they say, there are
brands that follow you throughout your lifestyle. You get up
in the morning, you start to get dressed. Donna Karen
decans intimate apparel as hosiery, as all those products. You're

(43:04):
getting dressed for work. You get accessorized shoes, handbags, and
it takes you through the day. The remarkable thing about
DK and Y clothes for work, they work into the evening.
The dresses, the suits, the pants, the sweaters, the blouses.
Extraordinary clothes at affordable prices that go from day in tonight.
Part of your lifestyle is active. You have weekends, you

(43:26):
have events, you participate in sports. Donna Karen's casual clothes
did that under the DK and Y label. A vast
array of casual sportswear that make women look great as
they navigate their busy lives. Whether you're going to soccer
games for your children or whether you're going out to
the movies. Whatever you want to do, dcn Y Jeans,

(43:49):
dca Y sportswear is there for you. That's what a
lifestyle brand is. I need to mention DKY active Wear,
which is extraordinary, the leggings, the sports bras, the sweats.
You can wear DKY activewear, certainly in the gym, certainly
when you're working out at home, and certainly if you

(44:09):
want on the street, because it's that well done. The
quality of dk why is nothing short of exceptional. And
why shouldn't it be because it was born from the
idea of luxury made affordable for women of America. DK
and Why a true lifestyle brand that takes you from
day and tonight, from the week into the weekend. DCN

(44:31):
why you can find dcnhy and Macy's DKY dot com.

Speaker 2 (44:37):
Welcome back to it always in fashion.

Speaker 1 (44:40):
Here's your host, Mark Webber.

Speaker 3 (44:43):
I love Italian food, can't help it. Love Italian food,
and yet I've seen people in Italian restaurants drink a
little too much. You like Italian food, Jess.

Speaker 4 (44:58):
I'd live in a bowl of basta. I'd be the
meatball in a bowl of pasta. That's how I would
live my life. Italian food's my favorite. I don't trust
anybody that doesn't.

Speaker 3 (45:06):
Like Italian food.

Speaker 4 (45:08):
What's not to like? It's the best?

Speaker 3 (45:10):
You know? You funny. I traveled with your brother all
over Europe multiple times, and all we did was looking
watch stores and clothing stores and shoe stores, and we
came back with pictures. You and I traveled, we came
back with pictures of pasta. What am I supposed to do?

Speaker 1 (45:26):
See the museums, Yeah, they're interesting.

Speaker 3 (45:28):
It's great. Tasta macaroons in France, all those things they're
looking their cookies. They call them macaroons. They're pink, they yellow,
they're green.

Speaker 1 (45:38):
I lived pictures. I live to eat.

Speaker 3 (45:40):
You found these windows in Italy where the entire windows
for different kinds of pastas. I'm coming back from these
trips looking for pictures of you and me and the sights,
and all you have in your camera is pasta. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (45:51):
It's like when people look back on their pictures.

Speaker 4 (45:53):
Oh look, I took a picture of the Mona Lisa, like,
do you see the pesto pasta from this window?

Speaker 3 (45:58):
You're funny when it comes to it. Anyway, I love
Italian food. I would say fifty percent of my diet.
The reason I'm on a diet actually is half the
time in my life has to do with pasta. The
other half has to do with sweets, Italian bread. How
great is Italian bread?

Speaker 1 (46:18):
And olive oil and the.

Speaker 3 (46:20):
Sauces and anyway, that's not the point. That show is
designated drinker and the part of the story that is
the show is business. I'm talking about drinking in the
workplace and what it does to you and telling you
some stories that I've found along the way, some smart,
some pleasant, mostly stupid. It is a business show, but

(46:40):
I can't help it. Apple categorizes us as cultural and lifestyle.
I have another story about another individual. I must admit.
I'm lucky. I have been mentored by brilliant people, and
I've been surrounded by brilliant executives, both male and female.
Do with the fact that I, very young, accelerated in

(47:02):
my career. People like what they saw. I did all
the right things, and I moved up very rapidly. And
the more I moved up, the more I was with
senior people, and the most senior people generally of the
smartest people in the company, and you learn so much
from them. But like anyone else, in life, you find
the ones that are flawed, and I was working forward
directly this brilliant, brilliant man who too, as I've spoken

(47:25):
earlier in the show, was a drunk. This was a
great night. We pick one of New York's famous Italian
restaurants in Little Italy. We all went there. Oh, there
were ten of us at the table. The most senior
guy in the company was exec VP, chief financial officer,
one of those guys with a big head with the
slide rule. Didn't need to calculator to calculate these incredible calculations,

(47:50):
really really smart guy and exec VP and chief financial
officers the number two in the company, and with us
were all the merchandise executives from VP up to senior
VP and executive VP. One of the guys we were
working for drank too much. We all knew he drank
too much, but he was so good, so smart, so

(48:13):
cold here and during the day, no one seemed to matter,
no one seemed to care. And the only time we
would see him get drunk a little bit, I guess,
was when we went to functions where he didn't seem
to be able to control himself. This particular guy, I
don't know what he drank. I must admit when I
look back, I don't remember whether there's wine or vodka

(48:35):
or whatever, or the combination of all of him started slurrying,
talking loud, and making a fool of himself. I didn't
understand that the food was amazing. We're having a pasta
and this guy drank too much. Now, remember, I'm laying
the scene for you and what an important evening it was.
And I'll never forget. We're having pasta. And more so,

(48:58):
I remember I was having rigatoni in Marinhara.

Speaker 1 (49:01):
Sauce, very adventurous.

Speaker 3 (49:03):
Yeah, I remember, And I also remember he was having spaghetti.
The reason I remember is when his head went into
the plate. I'm literally telling you he's sitting there drinking drunk,
he's looking at his pasta, and his head literally goes
into the plate. And everybody left him there with his

(49:25):
head in the spaghetti plate with a sauce on the side. Now,
as it turned out, when he went down at the table,
his head was sideways, so he wasn't drowning in the spaghetti.
And I kid you not. We ate like that for
about a half hour, ten of us at the table,
and his head in the spaghetti plate and we left

(49:47):
him there. It was so absurd. Everyone was so annoyed
everyone because he was obnoxious to begin with. He got drunk,
he drank too much, he couldn't hold his liquor. This
is a senior guy you're supposed to respect, and I
will tell you during the day, there's no one I
could remember I ever expected more for his acumen. And
there I'm looking at him at his dinner and he's
actually sitting next to the chief financial office and the
number two of the public company. I'm well starting looking

(50:09):
at him with his head and the plate of spaghetti
like nothing's going on. Finally, one of the guys that
really admired him and meant he was meant during this
particular guy decided he had to help him, and he
woke him up and he took him outside and we
were all shaking our heads. We were all embarrassed for him.

(50:31):
We didn't know what the situation would bring. We didn't
know what to even think about it. It was kind
of crazy. I mean, this is the guy's career. You
want to talk about, someone who should be the CEO,
the chairman, should run multiple companies. He had everything going
for him. Brilliant, smart, fast, aggressive, but a drunk. So
this fellow helped him out, came back, apologized in his behalf.

(50:53):
We all laughed. He said it was funny, and it
was funny until we went to leave. We got up,
paid the check, getting ready to leave, and who was
out front, this executive. He wasn't there to apologize. He
wasn't there to say he was sorry he did what
he did. No, he was sprawled out on the floor

(51:14):
in the front of the restaurant, arms of kimbo legs
spread out, and the ten of us actually had to
step over him in between his legs to get out
of the restaurant. There he was lying on the floor, dead, drunk.
I can only tell you he never came to be
what he could have become as the executive of that company.

Speaker 4 (51:34):
What did you leave him out there?

Speaker 2 (51:36):
Oh?

Speaker 1 (51:36):
Yeah, you didn't put him in the cab.

Speaker 3 (51:38):
I didn't. Maybe one of the others did. I was
too hard laughing.

Speaker 4 (51:42):
You're like, he never became the executive that he should
have been, because he was never seen from again when.

Speaker 3 (51:48):
He came back. You know, he never apologized to me
what he said to someone else. I have no idea
the company tolerated him because he was such a great executive,
but his career was over. I guess on a night
where I'm talking designated drinker, you need to be careful
of what you do in this case. I've always been
the designated driver, but I wasn't a designated pick him

(52:10):
up and put him in a cab guy. I didn't
like him that much, And the truth be known, this
was a life lost. As time went on. He had
one of the saddest stories you had ever imagine. I
don't like talking about it. I hadn't seen him for years.
Found out he was working in a burger king for
the Life insurance. This is a guy who's making millions

(52:32):
and now he's in burger king because he needed excuse me,
health insurance. That's a story for another time, but the
story for tonight is it is a little funny, but
it's said, you're responsible for you. You want to drink
at work, go right ahead, but I promise you people
are watching. You know that A lot of people. Hey,
I got drunk last night, I threw up, had a

(52:55):
great time, and then I don't understand why that's a
great time. They still have that debate with one of
my friends. I work for this guy. Oh, you should
have been there. We drank a pounder this, and we
drank that, and we drink and he got all drunkly there, sloppy,
we're falling all we drew up. The next day I
show up with a headache. We have the greatest time.
That's the greatest time. I don't know. Maybe because I'm

(53:15):
not a drinker, I don't get it as the greatest time.
But the point of the story is I hope I'm
not sounding like a lecture. Do I sound them lecturing?

Speaker 4 (53:21):
No, you're just giving words of warning to people.

Speaker 3 (53:25):
Good idea words of warning. Well, I want to say
to you is you're responsible for your own career, and
you're responsible for your own drinking. You want to drink,
go right ahead. I'm not telling you can't have a drink.
I'm not telling you how often you should drink. I'm
not telling you what you should drink. But I am
telling you when it comes to the workplace, you have
to be smart and you have to have a plan.