Cat Donohue: An Artistic Designer's Journey from Luxury Fashion to Motherhood to Business Owner

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Meghan Alexander (00:01):
Hello and welcome to.
We Are Made For More.
I am your host, MeghanAlexander, and this is my
podcast and we're back.
I have to say we're backbecause it's been a few months
off from podcasting, but we aredetermined.
I am determined not to havewhat they call pod fade and let
this podcast fade out into theuniverse.
So I'm back with an incredibleguest today and it's a dear

(00:25):
friend of mine and her name isCat Donohue.
So welcome, kat, to our show.

Cat Donohue (00:31):
Thank you so much.
Thank you for having me.
I'm super excited.

Hello, darling , Hi my sweet friend, I'm so
happy to have you here.
It's funny for those likepossibly watching at home if you
go on the YouTube channel, orfor anyone that's listening and
can't see this setup.
We're a little bit far apart inthis recording studio, but
we're going to make it looknatural.

Be close and hard.
So it's okay, we deal with thatlittle distance.
There you go.

But so welcome to Kat.
I'm going to share a few tidbitdetails with everybody about
Cat before we get started on ourconversation today.
First of all, this is one ofour first 10 episodes of this
show.
I want to say it may be episodefive or six that's being
released.
We're not sure which one thisis going to fall into yet, but

(01:20):
you're in the first 10, kat, sothat's pretty excited.
I like that number.

Nice and even.

But Cat Donohue.
You could follow her first ofall on her Instagram called
Smiling Knots.
So that's Smiling Knots onInstagram.
I hope everybody goes andchecks it out.
But Kat is a mother of twoamazing young teenage sons,
jackson and Cooper, and she'smarried to her husband.
Chris Donahue lives here onLong Island in our North Shore

(01:48):
coastal town.
We live in a town calledCenterport that's really this
just charming community on theNorth Shore of Long Island and
we met years back.
We've been friends for a numberof years now, right, kat?

Yes, we are.
So, what years through the kidsreally, we met through the kids
some local basketball league, Ithink it was, and your husband
was one of the coaches actually.

Yes, I remember that, and my son Billy
and her son Jackson were on thisbasketball team together.
So we're going back when theywere gosh I don't remember how
many years ago, but a bunchmaybe like eight, seven, eight,
Okay.
It started back then and ourfriendship has grown over the
years.
But we're, you know, we kind ofgo on a lot of walks together

(02:36):
and we've really enjoyed,especially this past year, just
our I feel inspirationalconversations.
And I should have asked her along time ago, but it was like
this moment of why aren't wedoing a podcast and having you
on the show?
Because all of our talks arejust so natural and we talk

(02:56):
about the meaning of life andI'm like we've got to do this,
let's get together and talk.
So here she is.

And I'm glad you asked me because, frankly, I'm
like I did it.
I was like, yes, I'm going todo it because you're my friend
and I love this.
We are made for more.
I think it's so inspirationalwhen I listen to you on our
walks, on your podcast.
But I was like, ah, I'm likereally an introvert.
So for me this whole situationmight be a little bit like, um,

(03:25):
you know new, uh, but I, overthe years, at my age, I have
become a learned extrovert.
So I am here and I'm doing this.
Good for you.

I think that's amazing, First of all, and it's
funny cause some people callthemselves introverts and really
I don't know if everyonerealizes, but introvert doesn't
just mean people are quiet,right, but it often means you
get your energy from doingthings without a lot of people
around you.
You know I don't right.

I actually need often to be alone.
You know, that's when I'mcreative even though that I love
, like the inputs from myfriends or other creatives but I
need to kind of like, have thisspace and go back but like,
just like.
In general, I I'm not a personwho likes to put herself out

(04:15):
there.
So a lot of things lately Ihave been, um, you know, trying
to be just go for it.
I want to be in 2024, a littlebit more a yes person.
Okay, I like that.
So here I am, here you are.
That's one of my yeses.

So bucket list , check that box.
Here you are putting yourselfout there on a podcast.
It's going to be out in theuniverse.
Why not?
Why not Good for you?
Um.
So, kat, I want to talk, likelet's talk a little bit about
your background and tell peoplea little bit about who you are
before we kind of get into ourfun.
But your journey and um,bringing it back to where you're

(04:53):
from originally and of course Ihave these, I know these things
about you, but it's way morefun hearing it from you
directly- Sure, sure.

So, um, I'm originally from Switzerland.
I grew up, uh, in a medium towncalled Lucerne in the Swiss
German part of Switzerland.
Um, I had a lovely childhood,surrounded by nature.
Um, I had wonderful parents.

(05:23):
I have two uh, much olderbrothers, um, so there were so
much older that I grew up kindof almost Like an only child, um
, but I had a wonderfulchildhood, um.
I then, when I was in highschool, you know how it is like
you always want to like see theworld and go out there and

(05:46):
explore.
So my town in Switzerland, Ithought like that's going to be
a little bit too small for me.
I really want to like exploreother countries, and I happened
to love French in high school.

Okay.

And it was like oh, you know, I would love to go to
Paris to college.
Yes and um, and that's exactlywhat I did.
I ended up in Paris.
I was in college there.
I got my degree there in a veryspecific um school for fashion
and design, and I was alwaysvery creative.

(06:22):
I always loved to.
A lot of times, in order to getout of my shy skin, I drew.
I drew all my childhood.
I love just making things withmy hands and as a young girl I
thought fashion was somethingthat interested me, so I did
that, and arts, history andsubjects like that.

(06:45):
So I was there, I did get mydegree there and then I didn't
want to go back.
I didn't want to go back, so Istayed.
I started doing someinternships and, um, I got like
some jobs that were pretty muchunder the table, because at that
point, switzerland, even thoughit's in the middle of Europe,

(07:06):
it's not part of the EU.
So, um, whatever I worked waskind of a little bit under the
table, but you know I got a lotof experiences.
I worked for um trend offices,um several ones, um yeah, so
that lasted like seven years.
I spent like seven years in.

Paris.
That's amazing.
I'm just picturing Paris likeyoung, early twenties fashion
industry.
Yeah, we had absolutely nomoney.

I lived in the tiniest little uh room under the
roof for the first year becausemy parents didn't want to like
rent an apartment for me, sothey had me like first in a
youth hostel with other studentsfrom all over, from the Saabon
and you know all kind of schoolsin Paris, so I had like a
social network.

(07:57):
Um, the room was the tiniest,tiniest little room under the
roof and I remember it had atiny shower and I was like, wow,
that's cool, I have a shower inmy room.
But it was one of those thatyou have like to push the
buttons on the wall that thewater comes up.
And I was on, I was on thesixth floor so and I had this

(08:19):
long hair and I couldn't everget the soap out of my hair
because the water was stoppedand it was cold and it wouldn't
come up.
It wouldn't come up.
So my mom told me when sheheard she goes like you should
go once a week to one of theselittle hair salons and just get
your hair washed correctly.

That's great.

Anyhow, but nevertheless, um, it was
fabulous.
Like you know, when you'reyoung, like that, you don't need
anything else, you can be inthe tiniest room.
We had no money.
We went out, we made our ownclothes.
We kind of were like a littlecolorful group, so we got into
all the clubs for free.

Yes, Um, you know, we never drank anything at
the club.

We just danced the nights away and it was a
beautiful city like full ofculture, and that's really what
interests me.
I was so, you know, into artand history and architecture and
there's just so much going on.

It was like a plethora of like offers, what we
could do even on a super smallbudget Absolutely so exciting to
I'm thinking back to, uh, thosedays of my life as well and
just, you're right, that feelingof I don't need much, it was
exciting just to be out in theworld, right?
And here you were doing it inParis and I don't have to.
I've never been to Paris.
It's definitely on the top ofmy list of places to visit, but

(09:37):
have to go.
Yeah, I bet.
Is there anything specificabout Paris that stands out to
you that you would tell peopleyou've got to go to certain
spots?

or Well, you know, there's so many sites, right,
Like the big sites.
Of course you need to see theEiffel Tower and of course you
need to see the Louvre, and youknow, I mean these are like kind
of you have to do it.
But then they're like I rememberwhen I lived there I love to
have like great um, thrift,thrift.

(10:09):
Not thrift stores, but likemarkets, thrift markets on the
weekend.
There is one in like that.
They're on the outer skirts ofParis, one is a part of the
clinic or and the other one ispart of the other.
They have amazing like thriftmarkets and I remember I got a
lot of like inspiration fromgoing there on the weekends, you

(10:34):
know, but there's like there'sso much.
The Chinatown is fabulous there.
We went there after we likehanded in a dossier like a body
of work at school.
That's kind of out.
That was our treat.
We will go to Chinatown andhave like have like a meal there

(10:54):
, you know very nice.
There's so much theater.

I mean there's , it's endless.

You could spend absolutely days and days.

So how long were you in Paris, did you say?
Did you say seven years Like?

seven years.
Ok, and then, what then bringus?

like past that .
What is that?
When you left and came to NewYork?

Yes, so after that seven year mark in Paris and,
mind you, I never wanted toleave Paris.
I, that was the city for me.
I was in love with it.
I love the people there.
I never had the urge to gosomewhere else, right, right.
But I made a really good friendin in school and she was German

(11:37):
and she at that point lived inNew York.
She had done like an extendedstudy of six months at FIT and
then she found a job in New York.

Right.

And she said, like you know what?
We haven't seen each other in ayear.
Come and visit.

Come to.

New York, it's fun.
You know I said like you knowyou're right, I haven't seen you
in ages.
I've never been to New York.
Right, I'm coming Got to do it,and she said like you know,
maybe you could get aninternship here.
So my bosses are actually atthe Premier Vision, which is
like a big fabric show in Paris.

OK.

They're there right now to buy fabrics.
I can arrange like a little gettogether, you could introduce
yourself and maybe you can getan internship at the company
that I'm working Right now.
I said that sounds really good,let's do it.
So she organized that and I didmeet her bosses and I did talk

(12:45):
to them, if it's possible.
You know, we went to a little.
It was actually really funnybecause they said you know what?
You pick a place where we canhave dinner.
You live here, you pick a place.
So I did pick a place, but itwas a tiny little place in the
14 arrondissement in the southof Paris, where I lived at that

(13:07):
point, and it's just like it wasa little hole in the wall, but
it was really good food.

That's kind of what I did.

I didn't live in a fancy place and went to fancy
restaurants, you know.
So I said, oh yeah, I know thislittle place, we could meet
there.
So they came and they loved itbecause they were.
So it was so refreshing to thembecause they were all always in
these fancy restaurants and itwas just a little typical
Parisian little bistro and itwas.

(13:37):
The food was good.
So we had a really nice time.
They had a nice time and theysaid well, we will, we will get
back to you.
So now I call my girlfriendright away and I said, like you
know, they said they're going toget back to me.
I don't know if I can do anintern or not.
She said I will find out.

(13:59):
And she did.
And she called me back and shesaid well, they said like you're
a little bit over qualified forwhat we can offer you, but
you're welcome to come if youwant to do it.
Right, it was not paid and Iwas, like you know, I yes, I'm
coming.
Because what am I going to dofor three weeks?
I planned on going there fortwo New York for three weeks.

(14:22):
That will be my only stunt inNew York.
And I said look, after a coupleof days I'm going to be bored,
seeing museums and then walkingaround.
You going to be at work.
My girlfriend was going to beat work.
I might as well work with you.

What a great idea.

So I just did it and after three weeks they
offered me a job.
Wow, so that's a moment.
That was a moment because I waslike I'm going to be a good
girl, because now I had to goback and actually think about it
.
They said, look, we will takeour lawyers, we will take care
of the visa for you until then.
That will take a couple ofmonths, until then we pay you,

(15:00):
you know whatever.
And I was like, wow, I reallyhave to do my homework.
I went back to Europe.
I didn't give up my apartmentright away.
I was really tempted to.
I was like, pretty sure, I'mgoing to take that job in New
York.
I figured it's like a one timeopportunity and I did so.

(15:23):
It was an Italian company.
Okay, what was it?
It was a company called ErmeneG Lazzegna.
It's a menswear Italian companyand they hired me to assist the
designer for a specificsportswear line that they were
just creating for the UnitedStates.

Wow.

Because sportswear in Europe and sportswear in
America are two totallydifferent animals.
So I was a little bit luckythat I just came at the right
moment where they were buildingthe team and they just needed,
you know, young people to join.

And welcome into the world of luxury high
fashion brands.
Exactly so.

I was a little bit lucky that way, and that's how
my journey started in the States.

Right, wow, that's amazing, it's incredible.
And also into, like you've beenmentioning, fashion, culture,
the art world.
It kind of all came together.
Yes, paris, new York.

Yes, and it is a culture shock, let me tell you,
tell us, I was in shock,probably for a week.
I have never been to the UnitedStates and everything is
different from Europe.
Everything as colorful, and youhave so many different
countries close together inEurope, it's, and they all

(16:44):
different, have their ownidentity.
It's just a culture shock.
Yeah, everything, the smell Iremember.
So it was November.
I remember the smell.
We lived in Chelsea, all therestaurants.
I remember like very pleasantly, the smell of all these
restaurants, like garliceverywhere, the Italian

(17:06):
restaurants, the steam comingoff the subways, you know, in
winter, out of these Everything,the police cars sound, the
sirens sound differentEverything, just everything.
But it was super exciting, I'msure.
You know, I was my friends.
Actually, when I arrived in theUnited States, they picked me

(17:32):
up in a stretch limo.
Oh, how nice A thing that Ihave never seen, nevertheless
experience.

Nice friends, exactly.

So they were.
It was super cute.
They like came in this bigstretch limo and we had like a
bottle of champagne and it waslike fun.
We went to a brand new barright away that had opened down
on 14th street and I was likejust like, wow, I can't believe
I'm here.

What a great number and what a great story
into the US, Totally so how longdid you did?

you live in the city, so I lived in the city
from.
So I came to the Statesprobably around 1996.
And I lived in the city until2001.

Okay, yeah, and that's when you then moved
to Long Island.
Yes, yeah, okay so.

I met my husband, chris, at Zenia.
I was on the way out, alreadyoff to a new job, and he just
started and we wanted.
We got engaged super quick andwe got married a year after and
he is originally from LongIsland, so that's how we, kind

(18:50):
of like, found our way out justto have a little bit more space.
We wanted to have a family andthat's when we moved out, so in
2001.

So you know for I have to say right here,
like your husband's an amazingperson.
First of all, we love Chris andyou've got, as I said earlier,
two incredible young sons.
But what a great, what a greatstory Like this is just so
exciting.
Just to follow that journey offrom Switzerland and I know some
people that know you call youSwiss Miss, it's such a fun

(19:21):
nickname, yeah but then to go toParis and then New York and
then fall in love and come toLong Island, start a family, I
mean just here we, here we are.
So let's talk, transitionally,though, about you went from
working at Zinnia to what wasnext for you, yeah.

So then I worked for another Italian agent in the
city and Italian men, wonderfulmen, who represented a couple
of different Italian brands inAmerica, and I worked for him
probably until 2004, I believe,and I was like so.

(19:59):
At Zinnia I worked more indesign and then, for this
different company, I worked morein sale because I sold my soul
to sale, because I knew I couldmake a little bit more money.

Yeah.

Yeah, Sure, and I was.
I was good at sales.
But it's not really totally whoI am.
I'm really more a creative.
I love the creative side of thefashion business, more so, but
it was interesting.
So 2004, I was already likethree years living on Long

(20:32):
Island, I told.
Back then, I remember I said toChris.
I said, like I'm not so sureI'm going to like Long Island
because I always lived in cities, yeah, and I'm not sure I'm
going to be far away from all myfriends.
And he said, okay, so how aboutwe try it out for one year?
If you don't like it, we moveback.

(20:53):
Of course he knew that I'mgonna like it.
That was a good tactic.

Yeah, that was why not give it a try.

Exactly so I really liked it.
I loved to be closer to natureand have the water close, even
though, I mean, I was commutingto the city every day and we
didn't have kids at that point.
So to make new friends is maybea little bit harder.
I think when you have kids thatjust open the door to so many

(21:20):
like social contacts, that helpsa lot.
But so I didn't have that.
And then in two thousand andfour, we decided that I will
retire from my sales job in thecity because we were trying to
have to start a family, yeah,yeah.
So I stopped in 2004 and Ifound myself on Long Island and

(21:45):
I found myself like a little bitbored, like you know how much
you know house cleaning and likethis and that Can you do.

Yeah, exactly, I didn't really have a social
network at all.

So I did something interesting.
I took a job through anothercontact from the fashion
industry that we had at as oneof these annoying spritz girls
the girls that spritz perfume inBloomingdale and Sax in the

(22:23):
mall, right.
I took a job like that becauseI just needed to get out of the
house.

Okay, I do remember now you telling me this
.
I told it.
You know the ladies who like,would you like?

to try this new fragrance.
That was me Wow, and I didn'tlike that job, but it got me out
and you know it was on my owntime.
I had to go to certain storesat the local mall, whatever, and
I did it, Okay.
And I met a girl there, a girlfrom Santa Port, really nice.

(22:57):
She said, like you know what, Ineed to connect you, this is
not for you here.
I need to connect you with myinterior designer that we're
using at the moment.
She's in need of an assistant.
I think you will be good atthat.
You have fashion background,you know fabrics, you know you
should meet her.

Okay.

So I met her and I became her assistant.
Oh, that's how it happened.

Okay, yeah.

So this and I love that she is a wonderful,
wonderful person, very talented,amazing human being, and I got
to do a lot of kind of whattouched a little bit on my
background.
I like to be creative with herand she let me do that and it's
like dressing up a person.

(23:43):
It was dressing up a room, yes,and I felt more at ease doing
that.
So I worked with her for acouple of years, okay.

And this was still now, before you had kids.

Yes, okay.
So now I got married in 2001and we had our first son,
jackson, in 2007.
So it took us, as you can see,it took us a long time, but you
know it was worth to wait,absolutely.
But then, as I became a mom,then again my life switched

(24:15):
right.
We tried in the beginning tohave me still work with this
interior designer, with the babybeing there, but it was getting
harder and harder as they getbigger and more mobile.
It just becomes not feasible.
So I stopped and then I reallyplunged into being a mom.

(24:39):
And I wanted to be a mom for solong and finally I was a mom so
and I enjoyed it.
You know, I really truly, trulydid.

Was it hard for you to let go of doing some
of the creative things or no,because now you're being
fulfilled as a mother.

I really was.

It wasn't.

at that point it wasn't really hard for me to let
go because I was really doingwhat I wanted to do for so long
Just being with my baby.
So I really loved it.
And through having children youdo find a different type of
network of new friends and othermoms in similar situations.

(25:20):
So I really enjoyed doing justthat.
And it's everybody who sayswell, you know, oh you're, oh
you're.
You don't have a job, you're astay at home mom.

Right.
What does that feel like whenyou hear that?

Yeah, that's.
I mean not that people wouldsay it like that, but sometimes
you could kind of tell in theirbody language oh okay, you don't
have to work, you know?
I mean everybody who is a momknows that it's probably the
hardest job that we ever do.

Absolutely.

The most meaningful .
So it's really.
I was full.
I was full just being a mom andit's not easy.
My husband traveled a lot forbusiness so I was often like a
single mom for weeks at end andyou know it's it's not easy, but
I had wonderful support from myin-laws that live in St James,

(26:16):
just 20 minutes from here.
So I was really lucky and I washappy.

Absolutely.
I love that you just shined alight on that, though.
What you just said about youknow sometimes people you know
they say those things and theymay not mean anything by it when
they say things like oh, so youdon't have to work or um, oh so
you're a you know, a full-timemom.
and you, right, and again, like,like I said, maybe they didn't

(26:41):
mean it a certain way, but itcan come across a certain way
sometimes too.
Right, when, when it's whenit's said, but the other side of
that is what a gift to be ableto be a full-time mom.
And you, you're also right,like, I'm also a mother, so I
could say hardest job in theworld for a mom could say that
right, um, and and so meaningful.

So absolutely yeah, I don't regret one minute of it
, you know yeah, it's, it's ablessing.

And we're, you and I, are both now going
through the college search forour kids, um, so we talk a lot
about that too, and we'll, we'll, we'll say that the kind of
stages of life change right, andnow we're their teens.
So, to kind of flash forward alittle bit, at what point?
And I want to, because I wantto tell everybody about the
business that you're doing now,which we started here by saying

(27:34):
smiling knots on Instagram.
So please head over there andcheck, check out Kat's page, but
she does incredible.
Um, I'm wearing it now forthose of you that could see.
But incredible knot jewelry andI personally am such a huge fan
of this I wish I could be abigger influencer maybe someday,
because I just feel it's sounique.

(27:55):
Um, it's so beautiful, dramatic, soft, elegance, and this is
come from uh creations that youstarted out of the pandemic.
So here I'm on my littlesoapbox right now talking about
Kat, but, um, let's talk abouthow you got into this knotting
jewelry.
I know it started with macrame,but can you talk a?

little bit about this.
Well, first, first of all, offthe bat, you are one of my muses
.
I mean, you just perfect forthe jewelry that I create.
You inspire me.
I often have you in mind.
I'm like, hmm, would that lookgood on Megan?
I think it would, so let's gowith it, you know.

(28:36):
So.
No, truly like all my clients,I I appreciated so much that
they are wearing my things.
And then there's certainclients that really spice things
up and inspire me so deeply,and you're one of them, so thank
you for wearing my littlecreations my pleasure.

(28:56):
Um, yeah, so how did I comeabout this?
It started like probably, yeah,it started in the pandemic at
2020.
And, um, I was just desperatewith these kids at home.
They were on the screens, theyhad to be on the screens all the

(29:17):
time right, that's right Forschool and I tried desperately
to get them off for littlesegments of their of the day.
Yes and um, I had like, funnyenough, I had material in the
basement, okay, um, like ropesand things like that that a

(29:38):
couple of years prior to that, Iactually had started trying to
do a couple of jewelry attemptswith these ropes, but it didn't
lead anywhere.
I kind of let it go again.
I just left it there.
I figured, ah, I keep it, maybeone day I will drag it out
again, and I did so.
We did like.
I was like ah, yeah, I havethis stuff in the basement, let

(29:59):
me take this rope, bob, and letlet us make a little bracelet,
even if it's half an hour, to dosomething with their hands,
because I feel the kids do somuch on these iPads and
everything they lose, like theability to really use their,
their hands, their fingers tocraft something.
So I tried to get them awayfrom the screens, which I did,

(30:22):
and then that was it.

Well, half an hour.

They were like they were good sports.
They said, okay, let's do that,and then they were done with it
and I just kept on going.
So what I did?
It really became a therapeuticmoment in my day during the
pandemic, when the kids wouldwatch like a show or something

(30:44):
in the evening.
I would just start nodding.
I would look up a couple ofYouTube videos and they're great
ones out there for anybody whowants to try start macrame or do
the art of nodding.
They're great videos out therethat easily are findable.

(31:06):
So I did that and what I did isI took sticks that we found on
our family walks, like everybodyright, like we just left the
house just to get outside intonature and get everybody outside
.
And we did walks, family walks,stony bro comm set, you know
local walks every day, and Iwould just pick up sticks and I

(31:33):
would draw little smiley facesat the beach, in the sand, or I
would, you know, collect littleacorns and make little smiley
faces.
It was just such a doomingmoment that it actually I just
wanted to put a little smile outthere and I'm getting there,

(31:54):
because smiling knots is myInstagram page, so that's kind
of I'm getting there where thisis all coming from.
So these smiley faces would beout in nature with rocks, acorns
, whatever, and I will post thaton Facebook and I will call it
social distancing day.

(32:14):
One Like you know where we wentfor a walk and the little smiley
face drawn in the sand, at thebeach or wherever we were, and
so this smiley face stayed withme.
I just wanted to smile, I justwanted to put something positive
out there.
So I took the sticks from thewoods home and at night I would

(32:38):
just start making wall hangingswith macrame knots that I taught
myself from YouTube, right, andI will post them and people
like very quickly, people willbe interested in buying them.
Like, oh, do you sell them?
This is pretty, I like it.

(32:58):
You know, can we buy it?
I'm like, hmm, somebody wantsto buy this.
Okay, you would like to have it.
I would love to make one foryou, or you can buy it.
So I would sell it and then Iwill give like a percentage back
to the local hospital.
Oh, wow, so that was like afeel good thing.

(33:18):
I felt good that somebody findsjoy in my creation and then I
will give something back.
And it was just a feel goodthing, right, and so that's
where kind of the smiling knotscome from.
It really is born during thepandemic, so not too long ago,
like in 2020.

Like this month.
Actually it was exactly.
I can't believe it.
And even just hearing you saysocial distancing day one, I
haven't heard that in so long Doyou remember that it brings it
all back.
Yes, I thought we'd never getaway from that to be honest.

So but yeah, thankfully we did, thankfully we
did.

But I also got one of your macrame designs as
well.
Yes, you did that's right andthose really took off, though
like that started a certain way,like when you for those of you
that check out her page youcould scroll back and see where
it started.
And then next thing, you know,you would introduce neon into it
or all of a sudden, like thecreative juices were going

(34:18):
totally, yes, yes, then I wouldstart experimenting with color.

I love, I just love trying new things, you know,
things that I never did before.
So then I was like, oh, let medie the yarns, you know, let me
die them with turmeric, turmericor turmeric, let me die it with
onion, with onions, let me dieit with all kind of like

(34:47):
different natural things,because we all had time at home.
So I would experiment withdying wooden beads, or the rope
with um, with color.

Actually, this is a good moment for me to tell
my producer that's in the room,my husband.
If he has that photo, I'm surehe already put it up there, but
we have a photo of this too.
Yeah.

To show some of these things, your napkin rings
right.
Exactly yes.
So then I was just likeexploring into different
categories, right, and as I said, I had tried to do some
necklaces years ago.
So I was like you know what,let me try this again.
So I tried it and then peoplekind of like started oh wow,

(35:33):
this is cool, you know, this isreally unique.
And then I had made a friendthat is in the jewelry business
and has her own fabulous brand,lulufrost.
So she became a friend of mineand then we had this creative
energy going and we like I saidto her one day, maybe you want

(35:56):
to do a little collab with me interms of jewelry.
And she kind of like introducedme more and more into this
whole world of jewelry.
I was kind of more a plain girl.
I always wore a watch on mywedding band.
I was never really really ajewelry girl and I must tell you
I'm really into it now, as youcan tell sometimes more is more,

(36:18):
right, okay, got to pause forone moment.

Kat and I have this thing we sometimes say
more is more.
You know, some people say, well, less is more.
Well, sometimes, kat, less ismore.

Yes, we agree Absolutely, but sometimes more
is more, sometimes more is more,sometimes less is more,
sometimes, like your daughtersaid earlier on, sometimes less
is less.

Yeah, it depends on the moment and the
mood and what works for you andbrings into the mind.
We had dinner one night withanother dear friend of yours and
we, what did she say?
She said she said I'm aminimalist.
And I said I love that I lovethat, and I said I'm a

(37:01):
maximalist, she's a minimalistbut she does wear she's with
Katrina my jewelry, like she's.

You know she's a great muse also yes, she is.
We're all different, but we'reall different it's, and that's
what I like about jewelry,because you can just express
your personality.
You can express a certain moodthat you have that day or a
certain energy that you want tolike bring out to the world with

(37:30):
color or texture, Right.
So I really love that aspect ofit.
So then I just started playingmore and more about, you know,
necklaces.
It's mainly necklaces.
I didn't really like start todive into the bracelet, which
there are a lot of ropebracelets out there, but I will

(37:52):
find my own way eventually.
Right now I just likeconcentrating on necklaces.

Right, and so you did that.
You like you said, lula, for usto do.
Lisa had introduced you to thiskind of world of more jewelry
and look where it's.
I mean, that's also a fun thingto look back on when we look
back at where you started thatjourney and where it is now, and
all the different colors thatyou've done in the types of rope
, right.

Exactly, yeah, I mean like the possibilities are
endless and that's kind of likethe fun thing with rope and I
like the.
I like the aspect of softjewelry.
You know, when you thinkjewelry you think usually metal.
Right, chains are all kind ofdifferent metals and there's
constant, certain like a hardtexture with that.

(38:40):
So I kind of like love to playwith jewelry, with soft
materials, soft jewelry, andactually the piece that you're
wearing today has a little metalaspect on it, right, like it
has I just started doing likemetal transfers on them, so it's

(39:08):
like a metal sheets that areheat transferred.
Exactly so.
You have that little metallichard look, but yet it's soft and
malleable.

Absolutely so.
Where do you want to take thisbusiness?
What do you?
What's on your mind about it?
Where is it headed?
You?

know it's.
I'm.
I'm going for it, megan, I'mgoing for it, love it.
I'm really excited to say thatI started the process of getting
my LLC going, so that's kind ofa big step for me.
It's a little bit scary, butyou know what?

(39:46):
Again, my 2024 model is yes,and why not?
And why not?
And I don't want to regretanything.
I, like I've been thinkingabout this lately at my age.
You know, like when yousometimes see these videos where
people are asked you know olderpeople are asked Like, if you

(40:10):
regret anything, what would itbe?
Or do you regret anything inyour life?
And I don't know, it's kind oflike resonating with me this
question and I'm like you knowwhat I don't want to regret at
the end of the day of my lifeand say I didn't give it a shot.

So I got to give it a shot.
Good for you.

And I'm going for it.
So I love it.
I love it.

Like, even in that moment, you just brought
your energy into it.
Did you feel that You're likeI'm going for it, I'm doing it?

There's like a shift in the room.

I got, I'm like getting goosebumps, and
those are some of the momentsthat I feel that we have on our
walks together, where we inspireeach other and we say what are
we here to do?
What what are we here to do?
And yes, we've been here tolike.
You know, you had your life inSwitzerland and then you know
Paris and New York City and LongIsland and as a mom, and those
things are all still part ofyour journey.

(40:57):
But but look at what is comingnext.
Like there's this next chapterand you're going to have kids
that go off to college andexactly, you know you don't want
to have regrets, you want to doit.
And what?
What do you think holds peopleback?
Like that's some stuff that youand I talk about.

Like I think people are just scared.
I think people are scared offailure.
Yeah, you know, I mean, peopleare also like.
I think, generally speaking andI'm one of them people are a
little bit procrastinators.

Yeah.

Yeah, okay, and I like I want to do it, but there
is always tomorrow.
I can do it tomorrow.
And I think where does theprocrastination root?
Right, it roots.
Like you, you might be fearful.
Oh, will it work?
Will I?
You know, if a business is aninvestment, will I make the

(41:52):
investment back?
Or what will happen if I don'tsucceed?
Or you know it's?
I think it's just fear.

It is and we I'm loving you're saying this
because this is the truth andeven I'm going to go there for
myself, too.
Same thing even with thispodcast.
We talked about it, I did it, Ilaunched, I got off the ground,
I was so excited and then, yeah, I could say all the reasons
why there was a pause in there.
They're legitimate, but fear isone of them.
It's like okay, I'm so busy,anyway, I have all this other
stuff going on, anyway, is itreally going to work?

Is it going to go anywhere, is it?

going to do anything and we, we talk
ourselves out of doing thingsthat are meaningful to us.

Absolutely.

It makes it kind of makes no sense if you
think about it.

Yeah, it it.
It doesn't make much sense, butthis is the main thing.

I think it's just fear.
There's this quote, that um asimple quote, and it's what
would you do if you knew youcould not fail?
Imagine that.
Imagine what would you do ifyou knew you could not fail.
And like there's failures.

You would do much more.
You would do much more.

I mean right, we laughed it's so true though
you would you would lean into it.
You would lean into it insteadof backing away from things.

Exactly.

So I think this is incredible that you are
going for it, Like that's goingto be.
I'm going to write that down.
That's Kat's new.
I'm going for it.
I'm going for it.
Yeah, I just decided, Like Iand you know what it is.

It's also like by going for it, you know that
there's certain moments you'repushed out of your comfort zone.
Like comfort is another thingthat I think holds people back,
and holds me back Absolutely.
You need to do things that youknow you're not comfortable
doing or that you don't likedoing.
For example, for myself rightnow, going through the whole

(43:39):
bureaucracy of opening an LLC,it's it's totally out of my
comfort zone.
I bet I'm not liking that.
I'd rather be in my little roomcreating new styles, trying out
new ways.
That's what I love doing.
But, like you know, if you gofor it, you need to know there

(44:03):
are parts of the business orwhatever it is that you want to
create that you're notcomfortable or that you don't
like doing it, and I think welike kind of shaggy away, we
don't want to do that.
So I'm like, ah, you know, Istay away from it.
So that also goes with.
I go for it.
Good point, I'm like ready todo things that I know will push
me out of my comfort zone.

Well, I think I say Bravo to that because
that's a super important pointas well is the things that you,
to do something successfully,like to build a business in
order to chase your dreams anddo the things you love to do,
which for you, like you said, iscreating.
You have to also then embracethere's going to be really hard
things to learn, right Like thebusiness side of it, and it may

(44:47):
mean you hire people and downthe road or have you to do some
of those hard things.
But initially, right, we haveto do these things that we
haven't done before.
And that sometimes slows theprocess of Absolutely Create
today, because I've got to go tosee a lawyer today to open a
business, or what have you rightExactly?
But also think of the thingsyour kids learning from you, as
you're their mom and they'vealways kind of you know, they've

(45:08):
seen you one way, they know alot of things about you, but all
of a sudden they're seeing youdive into some things for
yourself and how inspiring thatis for your kids.

Yeah, absolutely, that's.
That's a very good point too.
Another thing that just came tomy mind that I think could be a
reason why people shy away frommaking this jump in a cold
water is discipline.
Discipline is another pointthat is very important, for for

(45:38):
me, you have to have disciplineto get good at what you're doing
.
I mean, I made like thousandsand thousands of knots Right and
I'm getting good at it.
There's always stuff to learnright, always, always.
This curiosity of alwayslearning something new, that

(45:59):
kind of drives you forward.
But discipline and consistencyis another or other terms that I
think are very important to besuccessful.
Like I try even though, even ifI have to do a lot of other
steps during the day and I'mstill a mom and have to drive
around and cook and wash andclean and all that but I try to

(46:24):
find, even if it's 10 minutes todo something creative every day
.

That's great.

Every single day, and it can be the smallest thing
, but it has to be done.
There needs to be a certainconsistency of the process.

You've told me this before.
I have this written in my noteshere.
I was going to bring it up.
The word consistency You'vesaid this to me probably a dozen
times and I think it's a mantrafor you, because I've thought
about it myself of what does catmean by that?
I mean, I know we could sit hereand say we know what
consistency means, but here'sthe thing I'm going to tell you
that I've noticed about you isyou continue to post on your

(47:05):
Instagram page, like, even ifyou don't have all of the pieces
solved yet or figured outwhat's down there.
You don't even maybe know allthe stepping stones that are in
front of you, but yourconsistency shows up over and
over again because you still putyour material out there and it
tells people here I am, I'mdoing this, I'm creating this,
this is going to catch and itcatches on.
So I have learned from you inthat way, because, trying to

(47:26):
build this own brand of mine,and sometimes I'll say, well,
gee, maybe I shouldn't putanother reel out there, but I
watch you do it.

And I'm like no, you got to put yourself out
there.
You do, and you're doing agreat job, by the way, too.
I really love all your reels inthe car.
This that, whatever, I alwaysget something out of it, so
please keep on doing it.

My kids tease me about it, by the way, but
that's another story, that's allright.
Yeah, that's all right.

That's okay.
That's okay.
I think, like, look, forexample, yes, you're talking
about Instagram.
That's like the platform I'musing and that's out of my
comfort zone.
Believe me, I'm like a techdinosaur.
This is very hard for me, it'sreally hard for me, but I'm

(48:16):
trying and I know it's far frombeing perfect.
But, like you're right, I hadanother friend a week ago tell
me, like you know, you'reworking a lot, you're bringing
out a lot of stuff.
I said how do you, why do youthink she goes?
You're posting like, every dayI see something different.
This is shows you put a lot oftime and work into this.

(48:39):
Yes, you know which which I tryto do, like every day, what I,
what I can, and but yeah, you'reright, it's a consistency.

It's consistency.

You need to just keep on plugging at it.

It is, and so you know again, we're going to
have bullet points after this.
What I love about AI let's talkabout AI for one second.
What I love about AI is it'schanged the platform for people
to be able to do the things thatwe're doing right this minute.
The first podcast, cat, I satand wrote like the copy for my
first guest.
It had her.
You know, after the show youwatch it back, of course, and a

(49:17):
couple of times, and take outall the good bits and you write
it down and it's something thatI, frankly, I love to write
anyway, but it's time consumingand we have a lot of other
things to do.
It's like okay if there couldbe something to come in and do
that work for you, and AI is oneof them.
Why am I bringing it up?
Because AI is going to comeback and write this episode for

(49:37):
us so that we could put it outthere to have everybody have the
good bits of like hey, here'swhat's coming in this
conversation.
Fabulous Megan can't wait.
And these are going to be somegreat tips, like get out of your
comfort zone, having discipline, going for it, consistency.
These are words that reallystand out, and I'm so glad we
did today.
And I don't want to end theshow without talking about

(49:57):
something else, which is thisPeople have heard me say it
already, but we are here today.
Everybody, with the guests thattaught it to me which is your
vibe attracts your tribe.
This is from you.
That's a good one?

No, this is from you.

Yes.

I did tell you that , yeah, I love that one.
Yes, and it's true, I love thatone.
Just surround yourself withpeople that bring you good
energy and that, like you knowpeople that it's not a one way
street, that it goes both ways,and just like, yeah, people have
the same vibe.
Just enjoy and be selective, beselective.

(50:33):
You know, at my age I'mselective, yeah.
And you know I like to bepleasant and friendly to
everybody.
That just the type of person Iam.
I'm kind of a lover, not afighter.
I like to have harmony and loveand everybody has a good time.
But you can't spend reallyquality time with everybody.

(50:55):
You can't.
You just don't have the time.
So just be selective and choosethe people that inspire you,
people that you feel comfortablesharing your best moments and
your worst moments.
And you know, absolutely I lovethat one.
It's so you're one of them,you're one of my tribe, and I'm
so lucky and happy that I'm partof your tribe.

I feel grateful for you, I really do.
So, before we close today, isthere anything that we haven't
talked about that you would wantto mention?

I don't know, help me.

Well, you don't need any help, that's for
sure.
Seriously, but as I lookedthrough my list, see, do I have
any notes?
I think we kind of hit on a lot.
How could people purchase yourbeautiful designs?

Yes, so right now it's just like on DM on
Instagram, but like, hopefully Iwant to say realistically
speaking maybe by the verybeginning of summer I will have
like a buying platform onInstagram linked with my own
website, and it will be.

(52:05):
It will be really exciting.
So then it will be easier forpeople to do so.
But for now, people just reachout, DM me and I'm more than
happy to create.
I love bringing happy energy topeople.
I love to bring a smile topeople.

I love it too, and that's why it's called
smiling knots.
I'm going to say we the show.
I am so grateful that you cameand spent this time with me
today.
Thank you so much for bringingyour energy and your wisdom and
your beautiful story.
I hope everybody enjoyed it.

Thank you so much for having me.

Thank you.

And we are all made for more.

Thanks, everybody, peace out.

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