064: Building Standard Affair: How Kira Corbin Designed Her Next Chapter

Are You Allowed to Outgrow Your Own Dream?

What if the thing you once wanted more than anything suddenly stops feeling like enough? It’s a question so many of us quietly carry, especially when we’ve built our lives around the dream. The business. The title. The identity. So… what now?

Meet Kira Corbin: Stylist, Creative, and Founder of Standard Affair

In this episode of The Savory Shot, I sat down with Kira Corbin, an incredible prop and interiors stylist with over 13 years of experience working with names like Bon Appétit, Food Network, and Pendleton. After running a beautiful retail shop and styling countless sets, Kira chose to walk away from something she loved—so she could make space for what was next. She’s now the founder of Standard Affair, a homewares brand built from her soul out.

What You’ll Hear in This Episode

We talked about why it’s okay to evolve, even after you’ve “made it.” Kira shared how she learned to rest without guilt, what it means to invest in yourself, and how starting over doesn’t mean you’re lost—it means you’re listening. Her story is a reminder that clarity comes not from hustling harder, but from slowing down and asking better questions.

Listen In and Let It Land

 If you’ve ever felt stuck in a life that once felt exciting, this conversation is for you. Tune into The Savory Shot and be reminded: growth is never failure.

Your permission slip to begin again is here.

💬 Join the Conversation

Savory Shot Shownote: https://micamccook.com/guests/kira-corbin-prop-stylist/

Website: https://micamccook.com/podcast

Instagram: www.instragram.com/mica.mccook

Instagram: www.instagram.com/thesavoryshotpodcast

 

📣 Follow Kira Corbin 

Website:https://www.kiracorbin.com/ Standard Affairs Website: https://standardaffair.com/

Instagram: @kiracorbin Standard Affairs Instagram: @standardaffair LinkedIn: @kira-corbin

Would you like to be a guest on the show? Fill out the guest form, and we'll be in touch soon.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Welcome to the 64th episode of theSavory Shot, a podcast about the art
and soul of working in food photography.
I'm your host with the most Mica McCook.
I'm a food photographerbased in Austin, Texas.
Where the margaritas are strong andmake you bold enough to belt out, A

(00:21):
Total Eclipse of the Heart at karaoke.
Before we dive into today'sbanging episode, I just wanna say
thank you to all the listeners.
Thank you so much for being here.
Thank you for coming backepisode after episode.
Y'all continue to stand on business andsupport this little podcast of ours.

(00:44):
So thank you for the support.
Thank you for the love, forthe comments, the feedback.
Thank you.
Y'all are awesome and if thisis your first time tuning in,
welcome to the Hot Mess Express.
You are in good company here.
Here at the Savory Shot,we do not judge harshly.

(01:05):
We listen to and offer moral support.
So welcome.
Grab a seat, buckle up.
But I wanna talk about today's guest.
I'm joined by the phenomenal KiraCorbin prop Stylist interiors
expert and founder of the newhomewares brand Standard Affair.

(01:28):
Kira has a knack for turning everydayobjects into little moments of magic.
She styled shoots for top magazines,helped interior designers put
finishing touches on their spaces,and now she's bringing her minimalist
meets modern vintage sensibilitystraight to your dinner table.

(01:48):
In today's episode, we aredigging into what it really
means to evolve as a creative.
We're talking about the invisible art ofprop styling, why rest is essential fuel.
and how Kira went from magazineintern to launching her own brand
after 13 years in the business.

(02:11):
She closed a beloved retailspace and finally asked for
help to figure out what's next.
We talk about finding purpose aftersuccess, redefining productivity,
and again, how rest can be themost radical, creative act of all.
So if you've ever felt stuck inthe dream you once prayed for,

(02:35):
or if your creative fire's beendimming, this one, this episode.
But before we get into all of that.
Grab your coffee, grab some wine.
Don't grab the margarita just yet.
Okay?
Let's take care of businessfirst, and let's start the show.

(03:30):
Kira, I just wanna start this offby saying thank you so much for
being a guest on the Savory Shot.
We've been going back and forth,but I'm so excited that you're here.
So, thank you for being on the show.
Thank you so much for having me.
I'm looking forward to it.
Oh, absolutely because when I was doingmy research on Evan Sung, he listed you

(03:53):
as one of his favorite prop stylists,and I'm like, okay, so who is this?
And it made sense to like bring youon the show because so many people
said wonderful things about you.
This solid people that I need to know.
And I can already tell, like beforewe started recording, like we just
had a wonderful conversation abouteverything and I'm like, oh, I get it.

(04:15):
I get it, I get it.
So yeah, I'm so excited that you're here.
I wanna start this off by tailing intothat based on, you know what I just
said about what people have said aboutyou, what it's like to work with you.
What does it feel like to beseen and celebrated by the
people that you've worked with?

(04:36):
I don't know if I can sayanything other than wonderful.
Like, that feels really great.
It feels really uplifting andaffirming and like really flattering.
And I think this industry is like ournetwork and our relationships are really
the foundation of our opportunitiesyou get jobs because you worked

(05:00):
with somebody and they referred you.
So to hear that, to hear people arereferring me or talking about me, I think
is the best compliment I could receive.
It feels wonderful.
Makes me very happy.
And I do, I love Evan.
I think he's wonderful.
And we haven't worked together much inrecent years, because I've moved out here.

(05:21):
But we really kind of started our careersat a similar time and did some of our
biggest first projects, together, like acouple big cookbooks and things like that.
And that relationship is just like heis, I don't know, like I'm never not
gonna be his friend, I love him forever.
growing up with somebody we'veworked together for years and in

(05:41):
many different, not ways per se.
it's always food, right?
He's a food photographer, but we'refriends and colleagues at this point.
I went to South by Southwest this pastyear, and a panel that I went to discussed
social health and how it's going tobe treated as importantly as mental
health and as your physical health.
the presenter talked about how yourwork besties are vital for your social

(06:06):
health and how it's difficult forfreelancers when they leave the nine
to five, they struggle because theydon't have that work life that you had.
And that by nature we'rereal social beings.
In school, in college, andthen eventually in work life.
And your, your work besties reallybecome your real life friends.

(06:27):
So finding that community outsideas a freelancer, it feels like those
friendships are even deeper becauseyou have to be really intentional when
you're building work relationships.
'Cause.
It really is a matter of who youknow, not just what you know.
And I feel so much closer tofellow freelancers, because I

(06:49):
have to be intentional aboutreaching out to them until it
organically builds into something.
And he's
so smart and thoughtful and he isreally just a wonderful person.
But I think the thing about freelancerstoo, it is hard because we don't go to an
office and see the same people every day.
I think that in some way, that also mighthelp us feel more connected to each other.

(07:14):
It's like when you have a friend fromyour childhood that you don't, maybe
you now live in different places,but you still feel connected to them.
Like always kind of come back to them.
Whereas like maybe if you work in anoffice with somebody for two years,
you hang out with 'em all the time, butthen you leave and you get a new job and
since you don't see them every day, youdon't, Keep in touch, there's something
there with freelancers where I think weall know we're not gonna be seeing each

(07:35):
other all the time, but our connections.
And even when you get a little further,you could always call on that person
or you could always reach out to themand it's not weird or too distant.
It's like what you said, you cango periods of time without speaking
or talking to each other and thenwhen you do meet up, it's like the
conversation just continued on.
Social media has created theselittle micro connections that you can

(07:59):
continue in between seeing your friend.
I haven't seen you, but I knowexactly what you've been doing.
Yeah,
I know what you've been up to.
Oh yeah.
Like the social media thing is so layeredand multidimensional, and certainly there
are pros and cons, but in this particularcase, in this particular conversation, I
just saw Evan in February and we sat downand had a meal together and caught up.

(08:25):
when I actually saw him in personin February, we both looked at each
other and could not remember likethe last time it happened in person.
So I think that's actuallylike a good thing in a way.
Like of course I'd love to see him inperson more often, but I think the fact
that we genuinely and authenticallyare able to sort of keep in touch
with each other and engage with eachother is that's kind of magical.

(08:48):
Yeah.
And as you get older, I mean,your friendships just get deeper.
We're in the process of settingup an interview, but she coaches
people how to make friends.
Like she teaches 30 plus yearolds how to make friends.
I'm doing this with all of myfriends and this is wonderful.
I feel fulfilled.
So how can I do that in my work life?

(09:08):
Because again, it's not whatyou know, it's who you know.
So how can I build friendshipswith my colleagues here in the
city that isn't just consistingof, Hey, let's meet up for coffee.
But I also realize that we're busyand we don't have time for that.
And so that's what Ilove about this coach.

(09:31):
About teaching people in your thirtiesand forties like how to build friends.
What do you feel has helped you themost in building those relationships
when you were first starting out?
I feel like it allhappened very naturally.
What you're talking about now islike this almost like second phase of

(09:51):
life and having to be very consciousabout how you engage with people or
investing in that more And I feelthat because I moved to a new city
and while I didn't lose my network,you know, I still know those people.
Like I now live in a different city.
I don't feel like I hadto fully start over.
But there is like an element of that.

(10:12):
'Cause you need to go to anew place and meet new people.
But earlier in my career, to answeryour question, I think you meet
a lot of people being on set.
And for me anyway, like I would justjive with certain people or not.
And those are the people thatwe would sort of naturally
be attracted to each other.
There's just was like a naturalchemistry or friendships would form

(10:35):
and we would kind of keep searchingfor each other or referring each other.
Of course I assisted, so I meta lot of people doing that.
And then I met, started to get my own jobsand, but being freelance in particular,
you're not with the same group every day.
You might be with a differentphotographer and a different client
and a different food stylist andthey might have different assistants.

(10:57):
So you're constantly meeting new peopleand I think in some ways that can
expand your network more quickly andyou sort of find your people, you know?
The people you just kindof naturally click with.
Another thing that, for me,really jumpstarted all of that
was when I first moved to NewYork, I interned for magazines.

(11:18):
That was always my dream was to makethe pretty pictures for magazines.
And I went to school for graphicdesign because I don't know
if they lay out the photos.
Like, I had no idea.
I grew up in New Hampshire.
these industries don't exist there.
Like I did not know how they worked.
But getting into a magazine showed mehow it worked, showed me the different
types of editors and their roles.
I interned for a while and I'm inNew York and I have no money and

(11:39):
that's difficult, but amazing.
I'm also learning aton and meeting people.
And one of the stylists that I workedwith a lot at Glamour Magazine when I
was interning there, ended up gettinga job at Gil Group and brought me
with her, like she got me a job there.
So I assisted at Gil Group.
it was back in 2009 when theeconomy crashed and they're
selling product 90% off.

(12:00):
And that was like, we startedreally small, we had just a
few people on the styling team.
There weren't any full-time photographersbut that place, grew so much in the
couple years that I was there and somany different freelancers would come in.
our on staff team grew as well.
that felt like this very centralplace where there were tons of people

(12:22):
and we were all young and creativeand doing shoots all day long and
it just was a really wonderful time.
So I really should recognizethat and share that.
I think just going out and beingfreelance right away, it takes a
little bit longer to add up allthe people that you start meeting.
But there was a big group there, therewas a small group to start and it kind
of expanded and to this day I'm stillin touch with a lot of those people.

(12:47):
so then I left Gil and wentfreelance and started assisting.
And I think New York is alsoa really social place and
a really connective place.
people are happy torefer you or connect you.
I have a friend that does that thing.
Oh, you guys should meet.
Culturally, there's a lotof social movement there.
So I don't know that I likedid anything intentionally.

(13:07):
Well it's finding your people.
Yeah.
Do you also just wanna siton the sofa and sweatpants?
You find people who liketo do things that you do.
But you brought up a really goodpoint about how you assisted for
someone and that person went overto Gilt and they brought you over.
It reminds me of all you needis that one person to connect

(13:30):
you to the rest, that one in.
When I first went to schoolat Angelo State, I struggled
like hell to meet people.
And I was really justafraid to talk to people.
Until I met my best friend, Knikki, theperson that introduced me to everybody.
She already had a connection to thewhole theater department because of

(13:51):
her cousin Ty, who was a former alumni.
And he introduced her to everybody.
you'll find one person who will beyour in and they'll take you under
their wing and they'll introduce youto everybody and they'll bring you in.
If anybody reaches out to me,I try to be that in for them.
It's like what you said about howeverybody's a super connector.

(14:11):
They're like, I don't do this,but I know someone who does.
I wanna take it to 2014,you did an interview.
You described prop stylingas an invisible art.
You said that when a photo isstyled, nobody notices the props,
but they feel the image In thetime, since you said that, do you
feel like that's still true today?
Have you seen more awarenessaround the role of a prop stylist?

(14:36):
Yes and no.
And here's when.
Yes.
And when, no.
Like I'll start with a no first'cause I think that's easier.
I think like in large scale, likein the larger culture, I think
no, you know, it's not somethingthat people really realize exists.
I'll give you an example.

(14:56):
I had an annual this morning.
I went to my doctor's office andthe nurses just trying to chat me
up while she draws blood because youknow, it's trying to distract me.
And she's like, what do you do for work?
And I was trying to tell herand she just was like, what?
You know, like I think people, theykind of understand that a photographer
needs to take the photo, but they justkind of think the stuff was already
there, you know, like it looks so good.

(15:18):
Like of course that place just existed.
And honestly, I think some ofmy family probably still doesn't
understand exactly what I do.
My dad does now.
But I think it took years for my dad toreally find, I think he thought I was a
food stylist for a while and I dunno why,maybe it seems silly to people like you
pick out forks and plates and place them.

(15:39):
Like they go to my kitchen,just grab whatever you want.
Like they don't just, it justlike doesn't really compute.
But I do think that in like thesocial media community, like in
the influencer and these newerlike creatively driven kind of.
TikTok or Instagram kind of communities.

(15:59):
I think there really is anawareness now of what a stylist
is, where there wasn't before.
And I don't know exactly what happened.
I bet that it's because the wardrobestylist started to become, you know,
more known as like an icon themselves.
There's always been taste makersthat society sort of looks to

(16:19):
for inspiration and guidance.
The people have traditionally looked tolike magazine editors or designers, and
I just think that stylist is starting toenter that same like classification, just
people didn't know they existed before.
And truly they haven't existed forever.
The stylist is like in the grandscheme of history like I feel

(16:42):
like stylists maybe even startedwith like Hollywood or something.
Again, like I'm not an experton the history, but I do see it.
There is more recognition and likeaspiration and sort of admiration and
respect towards like the stylists role.
Even clients, like interior designerswho maybe 10 or 15 years ago would just

(17:05):
have hired a photographer to shoot theirprojects, now really understand what the
value of bringing in a stylist is andhow that service, you know, that to like
improve their photos could really paythem a big return on that investment.
So I do think that there is likesome more recognition, you know,

(17:26):
and more understanding of the role.
Oh yeah.
It's like you said earlier, that there'sdefinitely an awareness but people
still don't quite understand what it is.
When food styling became viral and peoplewere just fascinated with all the tricks,
with all the things that they did tomake food look the way that they did.
And they were like, whoa, what?

(17:47):
What do you mean a foodstylist does all that?
And so there was this obsessionto understand what they
did and they were curious.
But now that that's kind of like,oh yeah, we know motor oil whatever.
Like it's lost its appeal.
And now there's a new like,oh, this is a stylist.
What do you mean they pick props?
What stands out to them?
Like there's a new curiosity of oh wow,I had no idea that this role existed.

(18:12):
And now I'm just obsessed withfinding out how they do their jobs.
Maybe that's the thing aboutsocial media is that it was able
to put on display something that.
I grew up in New Hampshire, so I didn'tknow that these jobs existed because
nobody in New Hampshire does this job.
There's no major where, you're gonnastudy this and then come out with this

(18:36):
job where you can do anything like this.
That path was not apparent.
And I think that social media hasjust like made the information,
it's broadcasting the information.
And so now it is kind of likethe behind the scenes and the,
oh, is this how this works?
Or, oh, this is really cool.
You can do that for a job.
I would love to do it.
Like, that sounds so fun.

(18:56):
Maybe it helped put it out there,like maybe that was part of it.
Yeah.
I mean, I didn't even know at the time.
When I was graduating high school,I didn't even know that theater
arts was even an option for a majoruntil I asked my teacher, how did
you become a theater arts teacher?
But it's like they learned aboutit because someone else they knew

(19:18):
just happened to do it, and that'show they found themselves in it.
Now it feels like it's just showingeverybody that you don't have to
do a corporate nine to five ifthat's not what's in your soul.
Or you might do it and you mightrealize, Hey, I hate freelancing and
I would rather do something in-house.
Some people do not like
freelancing.
There are totally different personalitytypes and some are really well suited

(19:43):
to routine and some are not as much.
There's no right or wrong.
Like it's just kind ofworks for you or it doesn't.
One of my friends, we went to schooltogether, we freelanced for a bit
together, and a few years in she's like,I'm going back to working nine to five.
She's like, I don't like freelancing.
I love photography and I wouldlike to continue it as a personal

(20:05):
form of expression, but as faras it being a source of income,
I'm totally not down for that.
And I'm like, much respect.
It takes a huge part of knowing yourselfto know that this isn't for you.
I've done both.
right outside of school, I did the nineto five and I hated every second of it.

(20:25):
It was just so annoying.
Guilt Group is the only full-timejob I've ever had, and I've
been freelance ever since.
And now I'm starting my own company, whichis mine, so I can do whatever I want.
I'm never going back.
I cannot go back.
everybody's a little different,but I'm just gonna say this.
I'm gonna put this out there.

(20:45):
I don't mean any disparagement toanybody, but I think one of the big
things that people say is that theyfeel more secure in a full-time job.
And I don't think that's true.
We may disagree, but I thinkthat's a false sense of security.
Companies will commonly just laypeople off one day to the next.
I think that that security is notas secure as people think it is.

(21:09):
For me, it wasn't evena matter of security.
It was a matter of freedom.
I do think sometimes there is this likeinterpretation that freelancers don't
work, like freelance, quote unquote justmeans like you don't work or something.
that's so not true.
Like if you're not working, like yousaid, then like you won't get work.

(21:30):
So you might be on set, right?
Like you get booked fora job, you're on set.
Somebody's paying you for that time.
Wonderful.
Tomorrow you're not on set.
What do you do?
You gotta keep working.
Like you work on getting work.
That's what you do.
but I completely agree with you.
I really love owning my own time.
I really love having control over myown time because sometimes I am like

(21:53):
just so in the groove and feeling itthat I work till 11 o'clock at night and
sometimes I wanna take a three hour lunchon a Wednesday 'cause I feel like it.
And that's great.
I feel like for me it all balances out.
I don't feel like I need ahard boundary of like Monday
through Friday, nine to five.
I feel like sometimes I work theweekend, sometimes I take days off

(22:13):
during the week I'm able to kindof move it around and control my
schedule in a way that serves me best.
I do appreciate what myold day job taught me.
I worked at a physical therapyclinic and it is so structured.
I feel like working there has taughtme to be, better at freelancing.

(22:35):
To like disciplinemyself into doing things.
The first official day of myfreelancing career, I sat on the
couch and I watched Netflix and inthe back of my mind I was like, I have
things I should be doing right now.
But I binged watched anentire season of a show.
I didn't even get outta my jammies.
I just sat there and I waslike, okay, this, yeah.

(22:56):
If I'm gonna be freelancing,this is not gonna fly.
Like I need some structure.
That's not what freelancingcan look like every day.
I completely agree that you need to beable to supply structure for yourself in
order to get anywhere or be productive.
But that's like thebeautiful trade off is that.
That structure can lookdifferent for everybody.

(23:18):
And it can be flexible.
I think is like my point, right?
My schedule these days does looka lot more structured because now
I have kids and it's not just me.
And if I'm on a roll, I can'treally work till 11 anymore.
I have to like stop at four thirty,pick up my kids, make them dinner,
get them in bed, And then I cango back to work potentially.
But it's like after two orthree hours you've kind of

(23:40):
broken that role you were on.
So it's not the same.
This is maybe why people who, youknow, during the pandemic, people got
to start working from home and theyhad more like flexible work schedules.
I feel like the reason why that wasreally popular is that people got to
experience life the way we experienceit as freelancers, basically.
Where it's like you get up and you'regonna work every day, You could, maybe

(24:02):
the bank is only open during these hours.
So you go, you're gonna run out and do thebank thing because you gotta do it now.
But then you'll come home and you'llput in a little extra half an hour
at the end of the day or something.
Just the flexibility is nice.
It's really importantfor creatives to rest.
Between all of my client work andmy shoots and launching this new
brand, like I feel like there arenot enough hours in the week anymore

(24:22):
to get it all done or to do it all.
But what I really miss is maybe more ofthat flexibility I've been talking about.
I am a hard worker and I lovedoing my work too, so it's
not hard for me to do my work.
There are days where it feels like work,but it doesn't typically feel that way.
Like, I really enjoy doing it.
Have you ever heard like how it'slike it's really important to
just not do anything sometimes?

(24:45):
To like have no to-do list,to just let yourself be bored,
to just let yourself be free.
Take an afternoon and like, Idon't know, what are you gonna do?
Whatever the fuck you want.
I dunno.
Because those are alwaysproductive moments.
I never, like, I pretty much never sitaround on the sofa, like watching tv.
Like, I'll do that if I'm like reallytired because I have been like marathon

(25:06):
shooting for the past, you know, like.
Weeks, right.
And I'm just so used up energy-wisethat like I need to let my body
like rest and let my brain rest.
Like, fine, maybe I'll justlike do a day and fine.
But that's not what I mean.
I mean more like, it's like I'min the studio and instead of
giving myself a to-do list tosit down on my computer to do.
I just look around and I just startdoing things that feel right and

(25:28):
maybe it's styling the shelves andthen maybe I decide I'm gonna go to.
Maybe I should go to a couplevintage shops because that's right.
Like I, I've been wanting tolook for something like this.
And that is just you kind of getting tolike naturally work through some things
or naturally be expressive and creative.
And I think that time canbe really like meditational.
So it's part of just processingand absorbing new ideas and

(25:50):
coming up with new ideas.
And it's no pressure andthere's no brief and there's no
specific thing you have to do.
I feel like making time todo that's really important.
that little bit of not doing anythingis really healthy for us because we're
always gonna start tinkering withsomething or like get into something.
But it's just really natural andlike there's no pressure about it.

(26:13):
Oh man, you are speaking gospel.
You hit it on the nail when you talkedabout how important it is for creatives
to rest because as freelancing it reallyis important to take a moment to rest.
As something I struggled with inthe beginning is that I felt like
I constantly had to be working.

(26:35):
I fell into that whole girlboss, those who wanna work for
it all the time, every time.
And I burned out really fast.
And I felt like this tremendous guilt thatI couldn't do all the things in one day.
In the last two, threeyears, yeah, definitely.
The last three years I've undid a lotof that thinking and so it's like, okay,

(26:58):
eight hours in the day I didn't work.
But what did I do for two solid hours?
I got some real solid things done thatpushed me forward as a freelancer.
I got my workout, I did this, like thisis some real solid work, so I'm good.
Like I feel good to go.
Okay, I'm all right.

(27:18):
But it took a long time tolike undo that and really rest.
And now maybe you can
play.
Just give yourself space tokind of see what happens.
See what comes of it.
Yeah, if I'm just stuck in frontof my computer or test shoot or
constantly hustling for the next job.
By the time I do get the photo job,it's like I'm so burned out that I don't

(27:40):
even feel inspired to do something.
It's like, fuck, now I gotta shoot.
And the whole point of gettingup every day, it's not like that.
And it's just changed.
What do I feel is productive?
What is gonna get me forward andtaking the time to really rest.
That makes me feel ready to like hitthe ground and like get some shit done.

(28:03):
And so like where am I gonna find theinspiration frustrated behind my computer.
Like you have to fill the tank.
There's a lot of inputthat comes in that I don't.
For me, like I'm not even consciousof, but I know it's really important
for me to like go out and to go seeshops and go see beautiful spaces
and to just like walk down the streetand see people looking cute, getting

(28:26):
dressed and like reading magazines.
And those are all thingsthat might seem leisurely.
But I think those are all thingswhere my eyes and my brain are just
starting to like collect ideas and data.
We have to like fill the tank ofideas for our creativity to be able
to come out and then we pour it intoour work and it depletes itself and

(28:51):
then we have to like fill it back up.
I love that.
I love that description of it.
That is perfect.
Fill your tank when it depletes itself.
Fill it back up.
The whole girl boss era.
I felt for creatives at least, Idon't know about other industries,
but for creatives it just,it's so toxic to go with that
mindset of burn the midnight oil.

(29:13):
Unless you got some oil toburn, then absolutely go for it.
But if you're tired, take some time.
No, I need to sleep.
I need to sleep like eightto nine hours a night.
Yeah.
Like I really, I'm like souseless if I don't sleep.
2022, 2023, I had some health issuesand it really forced me to take a
break and focus on getting better.

(29:36):
I had extremely low iron levels and Iwas talking with the oncologist and I was
telling her all the things that I did.
And I told her about what it was likeon set and everything I was going through
and she was like, so you did all of that?
With low iron.
I'm amazed that you did all of that withyour iron levels as low as they were.
She's like, so I'm gonna tell youright here, right now, stop that.

(29:59):
Anything that raises your heart rate,like you cannot be on your feet for long
periods of time until we get your ironlevels back to what they need to be.
And that was terrifying for me.
'Cause I'm like, I need to work.
I am super lucky that my husbandhelped keep the home afloat.
But I also feel like it saved mycreativity because I was getting

(30:20):
burnt out and I was losing that joy,that spark, that love for creating.
And it really just became about thework, about getting work, keeping work.
It lost its appeal for me.
And now that my health is way better, andI'm doing so much better, it's changed a

(30:41):
lot of things for me because I do rest.
And anytime I feel guilty aboutresting, I just remind myself,
girl, remember when you weren't?
Look what happened.
Look what happened when youweren't taking care of yourself.
So it's like this is now part of the job.
Part of the job is taking care of myselfbecause if I'm not at my best physical,

(31:02):
mental, social health, then I can't dothe work that people are hiring me to do.
Speaking of good days, bad days, you didan interview with the New Maturity and
you mentioned that you love Tuesdays.
I'm one of the weirdos whoactually loves Mondays.
Like I even have a coffee mug that saysMonday and it describes like it's a noun.

(31:28):
I remember.
Exactly.
Yeah.
I feel like that makes sense, right?
Yeah.
I love Mondays
And you said that you love Tuesdaysand it makes sense because it's like
Monday everyone's like, Ugh, but Tuesdayit feels like the friendlier Monday.
So what does a good Tuesday look like?
Yes, that's totally what it is.

(31:51):
It's the new Monday.
What does a good Tuesday look andfeel like in your world these days?
Tuesday it is.
It's like the friendlier Monday.
Well, I just feel like you dive in Mondayand you're like, oh crap, I have to like,
I have a bunch of like to-dos to getthrough or catching up to get through,
or I have to get my mindset resituated.
And by Tuesday I feel like thatstuff scored away, you know?
But the week is still like freshand ahead of you and just, it feels

(32:14):
like, I dunno, like the world'sstill your oyster, you know?
Tuesday, my schedule is a littlebit more regimented now just
because of having a family.
And so I really only have between likeeight and four thirty to I work every day.
And so a good day starts with mykids cooperating and me being able

(32:37):
to get them to school on time.
If I can drop them off at seventhirty, then like I'm at the studio
by eight, which is just like,that starts it off the best way.
And really, there are so manydifferent things that I do
different types of jobs, right?
And prepping for shoots isfun and being on set is fun.
But I will say that right now the bestTuesday I can have is one where I get to

(33:00):
be in my studio and work on my new brand.
'Cause it very much, it's my brand.
this is my vision.
And so much of being acommercial artist is.
Being a filter for somebody else andmanifesting, their vision or their
needs or communicating for them.
And I really have so much freedomwhen I'm doing my own thing to

(33:23):
be me, to be the most me andto think about what that means.
And that feels wonderful.
I love being in the studio andin my head, but also it's also
nice to like get out, right?
And like have a coffee or a lunchdate or like go see somebody and
have a little bit of social time.
Those interactions and conversations arealways refreshing, especially if I've been

(33:46):
spending a lot of time in my own head.
It's nice to bounce ideas off ofsomebody and get new input and
kind of have like a fresh exchange.
So I dunno, like an ideal Tuesdaywould definitely be like getting to the
studio early and getting in some goodcreative time and then like having a
nice lunch date somewhere with a friendor you know, a colleague or something.
Shoot.
That sounds like a perfect Tuesday.

(34:08):
I love that.
Well, that's what I mean.
It's like it's not, I feel likeI'm not like, and then we party
and then we drink champagne.
It's like, we just like wannado my work that I wanna do.
The thing is, like our work, Idon't know if you agree or not,
but for me, like my work really isvery tied to who I'm as a creative.
So other jobs, maybe it makes more senseto really like paint a fine line between

(34:33):
who I am and what my self worth is.
Not in relation to my work because thatis a different thing and that is not
the one whole thing that defines me.
But for me, I think in a lot of waysthey're very intertwined in a way
that I can't really separate them.
I don't know how a creative wouldseparate themselves from their work.
So like, I like to work because it'sme and it's, it's me developing me.

(34:54):
It's me investing in me.
It's me meditating or thinking, orit's me taking in the world around me.
And then sort of reproducingit through my viewpoint.
That's the continual thing in this work.
Being a creative, like taking itall in, and I think that's sort
of universally true for creatives.
'Cause if you think about an artist ora painter or something, they're also

(35:17):
receiving the world around them andthen expressing it through the painting.
And so we were just doingthat with a different medium.
You hit something really, reallyawesome about investing in
yourself, and what that looks like.
What does investing in yourself look like?
And it's not just education.
It's spending time aroundthings that bring you joy.

(35:39):
That's a form of self investment.
And that's so important ascreatives to continuously do.
That's why we continue to evolveas artists because we're continuing
to invest in our creativity.
You know what happens when you stop?
You have to kind of keep chasing magic.
You have to kind of keep chasing thethings that feel exciting and special.

(36:01):
And I think you have to keep learning andlike curiosity and interest is important.
A lot of why I'm starting this newbrand is because I'm really proud of
the career that I've built as a propstylist and I'm really proud of myself
for building that career, for beinga girl who grew up in New Hampshire
who had no idea this even existed, butloved magazines, to like doing that,

(36:23):
to making pictures for magazines.
Like I made my dreams come true.
And that is like wonderful,this bonkers, you know?
But then I have been doing it for a longtime and it feels like, you know, you like
get to the top of the mountain and you'relike, oh, I'm at the top of this mountain.
Oh my God, I did it.
And then like, the view is insane.
It's amazing and it's beautiful andyou're there and you're just, but

(36:46):
then like if you're there for a while,you start to be like, Well okay.
Like, I did this and like, lookat that mountain over there.
Like maybe should I go check that one out?
I really like my job, but I've been doingit so long that it, it's like easy now.
It's like too easy in away where it's like not as
stimulating maybe as it once was.

(37:06):
And so we need to keep growing.
I think if you stagnate as acreative, you lose your spark.
You kind of lose the drive.
If you're staying in the sameplace, then what is the creativity?
Oh yeah.
You mentioned something earlierabout needing to feel challenged.

(37:27):
I find that when I am going throughthe motions and it's very mechanical
for me, then I know I'm not creating.
I'm doing this because it works.
I'm doing it because Iknow it's great for on set.
But as a creative, I need tobe struggling in the studio.
I need to be challenged.
That's how you kind of build a toolkit.

(37:49):
And then you can bring it toyour shoots and employ it, right?
You're like, yeah, ooh, I didthis thing, I did this thing.
And then you do that for a whileand you're kinda like, okay, cool.
I've done that a lot.
So now my lighting for every singleclient is starting to look the same.
Like, I can't be doing that anymore.
Like I gotta switch it up.
Yeah, you gotta shake it up.
One of the reasons why I fell in lovewith theater is the fact that I got to

(38:11):
play a different character every show.
And it was a new story and it wasa new challenge of emotions to
explore and get in touch with.
When I got into playwriting, that wasan even bigger challenge 'cause it's
like, how do I take these emotionsthat I've spent years portraying?
How do I put it in a way thatwhen an actor reads my lines that

(38:36):
they're saying it out loud thesame way I hear it in my head?
And so it's the same thingwhen I'm doing photo shoots.
It's like, how do I create thesephotos that when someone looks at it,
that they feel exactly what I feltwhen I was putting this together?
And when I'm not thinking aboutthat and it's more of just, well,
I'm gonna put this at F-stop 10 andchange this light over whatever.

(38:59):
I'd get through these periods whereI know this about myself and there
are times where I'm like, I justneed to get some test shoots out so
that I can write a fucking newsletterto let people know what I'm up to.
Yeah.
And I just don't have the mentalcapacity to go and challenge myself,
and I don't wanna get out all ofmy equipment and I don't wanna do

(39:20):
all the things that I have to do.
As a Virgo, I'm challenging myself tonot plan the hell out of my test shoots.
Just say, this is what I wannado, and these are a few of
the props that I'm gonna get.
And then I'm just gonna go inthere and I'm gonna do stuff.
I am having to learn that notevery test shoot is gonna turn into

(39:42):
this magnificent work of art, andI just have to be okay with it.
Sometimes you're gonna come outwith shit and that's fine, but take
what you learn from this and thenapply it to the next test shoot and
just go with that and get creative.
But I do get lazy sometimes.
I'm like, I just need toget some test shoots out.
The more you force yourself, themore you make it like I have to do

(40:02):
this thing that I don't wanna do.
Like the worse it is gonna turnout, because you're, you're
fighting with yourself about it.
Like I totally know that feeling.
It's like you have to trick yourselfinto it just being like, oh, I just
stumbled into doing this thing todayand I get to do whatever I want.
When you're forcing it, it's a fight.
And when you just like let itflow, it feels therapeutic.

(40:26):
Like it feels good.
Oh, I get so excited whenthose moments happen.
When that creative juicehappens and you're like, yes.
I mean, this is why I'm so like,excited that my health is like
so much better 'cause now I don'thave to worry about that part.
I can just go, hell yeah, let's do this.
I am starting to get out of thatfunk, but it really is, like tricking

(40:47):
my mind like a five-year-old.
Does the photographer wanna do a test?
But I've been obsessed with HotCheetos for the last few months,
and folks who follow me on Instagramknow what I'm talking about.
Y'all are probably sick andtired of me and my Hot Cheeto,

(41:10):
but I will say thatMaria, shout out to Maria.
This is her fault.
But she sent me a picture of HotCheeto flavored mac and cheese,
and I was like, what that exists?
And so we made one box, Aaron andI did, and he's looking at him and

(41:30):
he goes, okay, what do you think?
And I'm like, I feel it.
My brain is saying this is wrong.
This should not make sense.
I was like, but it'sactually kind of good.
Maria's like, well you have to doa test shoot now with Hot Cheetos
because you've been talking aboutthem for the past few months.
Like you've been obsessed with it.
You're having dreams about them.

(41:51):
And so I'm like, I guess Ijust need to do this now.
I love that though, with a test.
Like, get weird.
Like who cares?
It's for you.
And like, yes, it's great if you canput it and your portfolio and it could
attract a certain kind of client.
Like that's always great.
But I think also just beingloose and just letting yourself
run wild is really valuable too.

(42:12):
So I actually wanna move the conversation'cause you mentioned earlier about
your brand and I'm like, Ooh,yes, I wanna hear more about that.
Let's talk about that.
Let's jump into that, yournewest venture Standard Affair.
What you touched a little bit intoabout what inspired the shift from

(42:32):
sourcing props to designing homewares.
But was there like a definitive momentwhere you just knew, I'm ready to do
this, I'm ready to create my own line?
If so, what was that moment?
It was like, not maybe themost definitive moment.
There kind of was a moment,but it took work to get there.

(42:52):
Like a light bulb didn't just go off.
And I have been propstyling for a long time.
Over I don't know, probably like13 years or something by now.
And for the past, I've been working onthis brand for the last two years, and
it's about to launch next month in May.
So it's been a long time in development.
That's so exciting.

(43:14):
Yes, I'm really excited.
Thank you.
But there were a few years, like aftermoving to Portland, I was ready for the
next challenge, but I love what I do.
So I don't want a career change.
Like that's not what I'm trying to do.
I'm not trying to get outof this like I love this.
It's just that I need to like evolve.
I need kind of a next step.
I need to keep going.
And I don't know what that looks like.

(43:36):
And I wrestled with thatfeeling for a few years.
During that time, I had a kid and thepandemic started and I'm very like,
go make it happen kind of person.
Of course I have ideas, right?
So like I love doing big room sets forshoots and you have no idea how many times

(43:59):
I've been on a shoot where we go into alocation and this was a living room, but
we take out all the furniture and I'vegot a truckload of stuff out there and we
bring it all in and now it's a bedroom.
And you know, clients and the creativedirectors, they're always, very often
people come in 'cause clients are likekind of like in another room doing their
thing, working on their computers untilyou have the shot ready to show them.

(44:20):
So they'll come in and be like,wow, the reaction is always
really satisfying for me.
To like see that moment of surpriseand delight and joy in the client's
eye when they're like, wow, you'vecompletely transformed this.
It's beautiful.
We love this.
And you have no idea how manytimes I've heard like, could
you do this for me for my house?
One of the things I was like, maybeI should like look into like interior

(44:43):
design or something maybe that couldbe an interesting way to evolve.
Being a prop stylist isessentially making a career out
of being a professional hoarder.
I collect and I have all theseobjects and the objects are my
tools that I use for all my work.
This is not a unique.
I think these are common thingsfor prop stylists to think about.

(45:03):
We have this certain skillset, solike how can we apply that skillset?
So interior design is likea potential and then like.
I love all these objects and Ibasically shop for a living and I'm
exposed to all these wonderful things.
So like, of course I could have awonderful shop and I could put all
these things in a shop and peoplecould come and buy these things and
then, and enrich their lives with them.
And that's another place where makingthat beautiful photo is a moment of magic.

(45:29):
But then we tear it downat the end of the day.
I have so many props that are sowonderful and that I love so much,
and they're all just sitting onshelves in the back of my studio here.
They're not getting like real love.
Like nobody's really using them.
I opened a shop for a couple years, soI had these ideas buzzing around like,
could I do this or could I do that?
Or what is it?
And I was looking for a new studio space.

(45:51):
Now that I'm in Portland, I amcollecting all my own props and
having to be my own resource becausethere aren't prop houses here.
And that collection was growingand so I needed more space.
And the space I ended upfinding was a storefront space.
I just thought, you know what, theuniverse is giving me this door.
I'm gonna walk through.
Like, I'm gonna open it.

(46:12):
Let's see what happens.
And I worked on the shop for like ayear before opening it, just kind of
getting all the branding and productselection and building out the space.
And my opening date was gonna be,I think it was like March, Friday
the 13th or something in 2020.
It was like the weekendwe went into lockdown.

(46:32):
So I think I'm opening this retail spacethat's gonna be beautiful and it's gonna
bring people in and, you know, likeretail spaces, whether they're restaurants
or cafes or stores, like, those becomecommunity spaces and no, instead, like
we're all just gonna stay home foran eternity on and off, basically.
So there was like an interestingyear to start a store.
It didn't fail immediately, butit definitely wasn't making a

(46:55):
lot of money or really take off.
I don't wanna get too much intothe shop, but basically I kind of
was like, maybe I'll do this thing.
I didn't think that much about it.
I just thought it would be funto play shop and I knew that
I could make a beautiful spaceand it was really creatively
satisfying and socially satisfying.
I've met so many people through the shop,whether they were makers and artists

(47:19):
that I sold in the store, or people thatcame in, designers or just people who
were attracted to that kind of thing.
Like I've made so many friends throughthat, which was really rewarding.
But there were other partsof it that just weren't.
I had this shop for about threeyears before I closed it actually.
I worked with a coach because I felt likeI got to a point where I was obviously

(47:41):
sort of trapped in my own thought patternsand couldn't really get out of them.
And I wanted help and I didn't wannakeep doing random things, like throwing
darts at the wall and like seeing if, Iwanted to like really find the solution.
I didn't wanna just keep trying.
Also, like my 40th birthday was on thehorizon and you know, like I was just

(48:02):
like, I wanna know for sure what's nextand like get to that part of it instead
of just kind of like being on this hamsterwheel more and like feeling a little lost.
It was through working with the coachthat I was able to work through a lot
of the confusion and murky, cloudythoughts in my head and really get to a
place where I knew what the answer was.

(48:25):
I knew that it wasn't interiordesign and I knew why,
and I was really able to look at theshop close and personally, but also kind
of more from a broad view and figureout like why that wasn't the thing.
And I worked with Laura Sims who startedYour Career Homecoming, and I would
recommend her to anybody listening toyour podcast because it changed my life.

(48:48):
What was great about working withLaura is that she created kind of
like a curriculum where you go throughalmost like a two month course.
Oh, wow.
You like harvest all thisdata about yourself, right?
Who are you, who have you always been?
What do you care about?
What makes you happy?
Do you like working with other people?
Are you an introvert?
Are you an extrovert?
How much money do you need to make?

(49:08):
Do you wanna live in a city?
You kind of like look at your wholelife and your whole desires from
this really like 360 point of view.
Then you collect all the data onyourself and then you're able to use
that to look at the career optionsin front of you and figure out what's
really gonna check the boxes or not.
I feel like before that I was just sortof intuitively taking chances and trying
things and this gave me tools to makean actual thought through decision.

(49:34):
So doing that, like there was a point,it probably was like halfway through the
program where I, I just was like, okay.
This is the thing.
Like this is the thing that'sgonna check all my boxes.
This is the thing I really wanna do.
It makes sense and it like, it'sso synergistic with styling.
I don't have to stop styling.
I think they kind of mutuallyreinforce each other.

(49:54):
Like all of the interior's work I dois being in people's homes and making
them look beautiful photography.
But it's also, it's like, whatare those things that we're
putting on shelves, right?
And I'm thinking about the thingsI design and how people use them
in their lives, and it just allfeels like it works really well.
So I'm very much growing andevolving the skillset, which is

(50:16):
thrilling and fun and satisfying.
It took work to get there, butthen I got there and it just
felt so certain and so clear.
And that was a wonderful feeling.
It almost feels like it was a relief.
Right?
And that's when I realizedI had to close my shop.
Because like, I loved my shop, but I alsoam one person with like a young family.

(50:41):
And I am still styling, you know, doingall my commercial work and interiors work.
And I only have so many hours inthe day, so something had to give.
But I see so much potentialfor this new thing.
It felt really, it felt likethe right decision for sure.
I saw the Instagrampage and I'm like, damn.

(51:01):
Thank you.
I'm so excited that this opens nextmonth, because I'm like looking at some
things, like I, okay, got some thingsI need to order around this house, but.
You describe everything, like it'salmost like, Oh, finally the answer
is here and how we get there,what steps to take to get there.

(51:23):
We can figure that out down the road.
But now I know a decision has beenmade and it feels good and it's a
big relief to know that this is gonnabe the next thing that I'm gonna do.
I did, I really felt like justkind of cloudy for a while.
Like it just felt like there were allthese thoughts in my head, all these
doubts, they just kept circulating.

(51:43):
Like the best way I can describe.
It's like I just felt like therewas this big foggy cloud in my head
and I kind of just couldn't seethings clearly or see through it.
And I would talk to my friends andpeople are really supportive, but
just wasn't like resolving itself.
I finally had a moment where I was like,if you break a bone, you go to the doctor.
I don't have to do it all myself.

(52:04):
And maybe I've tried, but maybe I justdon't, I'm missing some tool that I
need to be able to figure this out andit's okay to go get help or to hire
an expert in the thing so that you canget through that thing more quickly.
Oh yeah.
I mean, you can't DIY everything yourself.
Totally.

(52:25):
If you've got a leak in the roof, maybeyou can fix that, but I can't, and the
hours it would take me to watch YouTubevideos or try to figure out how to.
You know, like I'm justgonna like pay the guy.
I'm just gonna hire the guy tocome fix the leak in my roof.
And that's gonna be so worth it.
It's gonna get done quickly.
And they're probably gonna doa thousand times better job so
that there's not another leak.

(52:45):
Exactly.
I felt like that, you know, I was like, Ineed to just find somebody to get me outta
my hamster wheel and get me moving again.
It was a huge relief.
That's what I love about coaches.
They really do take you out of yourcomfort zone and get you to see
things that you never looked at thingsbefore in a much different light.

(53:06):
When you were making the decision oflike, okay, I'm gonna start Standard
Affair, but if I start Standard Affair,I'm gonna have to close down the shop.
I know that wasn't an easy decision.
It was actually very easy.
So one of the things I loved doingin the shop is, so these shelves
behind me were, this was a shop.

(53:28):
So these were this like alarge part of the display.
And I would come in before the shop wasopen and I would like rearrange things.
We'd get new product or thingswould sell and like that just
for me is like meditation.
Like to just put on some musicand just like start moving things
and kind of styling it all.
And I had been talking to somebodya few months before that who was

(53:49):
a writer and she was saying howoftentimes when she was an editor,
she would have to tell her writerslike, you have to kill your darling.
You have this one sentence,you wrote this one sentence.
That's totally perfect.
It's so poetic, it's so fucking perfect.
But now you can't get the rest of yourarticle or essay or paper or whatever

(54:10):
it is to like fit that kind of.
You gotta get that out so thatyou can make everything else fit.
And you know, that like, obviouslythat stuck with me, that concept.
And I'm in the shop that day before itopened, and I'm just doing my thing.
Styling, letting mythoughts like move around.
And that was my light bulb.
That was my moment where like I just stopand was like, I have to kill my darling.

(54:35):
Like I cannot have the shop.
That is the only answer, andit wasn't, it's like it was
sad and I do miss the shop.
There are certain things in particularthat I miss more but I think that it,
it wasn't that sad because I knew whatthe next step was and I knew what the
greater vision was and I knew why.

(54:56):
And I believe so much more in that thingand how it's going to make me happier.
It's felt like such aworthwhile trade off.
It was like, okay, yeah, I'm sad tosee this go, but also I'm so excited
about that next thing that like yes.
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
That's really how it felt.
That makes so much sense.

(55:18):
Also, some people, I dunno, someof these conversations, I can't
a hundred percent remember.
Closing a shop after just a fewyears 'cause shops take a while to
really get off the ground and it waslike starting to get some traction.
But I think it could be like seen askind of a failure from the outside
and that could be embarrassing.
Like, oh no, I tried to do this thing andit didn't work, but like I did this thing

(55:41):
and it didn't work for me and it's mychoice and I'm choosing and I'm choosing
to go after something different that Ithink is gonna be much better for me.
So it, to me it didn'tfeel like a failure at all.
You know?
It felt empowering.
Like I felt very incontrol of all of that.
Yeah.
And you took everything thatyou learned from that experience

(56:03):
and you applied it to that.
Something I say to folks who ask me,how did you get into food photography?
And I'm like, this is gonna be along story 'cause I found myself in
so many different dippets before Ifound myself in food photography.
So it wasn't like a straight shot.
I started Austin Food Guidejust as a landing page to put

(56:24):
photos that I'm practicing with.
And then that naturally evolvedto restaurants hiring me.
When I graduated from school in 2020,most of the restaurants that I worked
with were already following me onAustin Food Guide's Instagram page , so
it made sense to like connect those.
But then pandemic hits, all my restaurantshoots got canceled and that pushed me

(56:45):
into commercial work and that brandingdidn't work in the commercial world.
'Cause they're like, who is this?
Is this a food magazine?
But I was hanging on to that AustinFood Guide like Super Gorilla Glue.
I did not wanna let it go.
I had the domain.
I was like, it's so good though.
I did a mentorship with ApostropheReps and they're the ones who

(57:07):
ultimately convinced me tolet go of Austin Food Guide.
And they're like, look, you'rea commercial food photographer.
You are the face of your brand.
You gotta let it go becauseit's gonna lead to better work.
But once it was done, it was done.
It gave me something newto get excited about.
As Standard Affairs is about to comeout, what are some expectations or hopes

(57:30):
that you have for this new venture?
I just hope people will like it.
It's me.
It's really me.
The brand is really me on the page.
It's a place where I get to really bemyself and really dig into my style
and my vision and my ideas for whatgood objects are and what contributes.

(57:57):
To what can like better our lifestyles,what can feel good at home, like how
heavy a mug should be, or how your handshould fit into the handle on that mug.
You know, those types of things.
Like I am putting all of myself intothis and I hope to be able to grow it.
The first collection is a dinnerware set.

(58:20):
It's of course, because like I lovefood and I love entertaining and I've
obviously done so much food photographyand love ceramics is probably the biggest.
Those are the most props thatI own are like ceramics, right?
So like, I love ceramics,but I love it all.
Like, you know, I love a vase and Ilove glassware and I love candle holders
and I love bedding and I'm startingwith ceramics because it feels so core

(58:44):
and central to me and my interests.
But I do have a lot of ambitionfor this company to keep growing
it and to be able to expand intoall sorts of other categories.
I don't wanna stop here.
I wanna really like everything thatI used to sell in my shop, which
was pretty, just like kind of alldifferent things for the home.

(59:05):
Like that's really what I wantto create now in my own product.
And it takes time to do that to.
I've invested a lot in this firstcollection, so of course I need to
sell so that I can make some moneyso that I can invest in the next
collection and start to build it.
I'm doing this all by myself, like Idon't have an investor or anything.
It's very bootstrapped.

(59:26):
My hopes are really like that it'llwork, that people will respond to it
because there's of course a very realside, like any business where somebody
needs to want to buy your service orproduct, and I really enjoy doing this.
I really pour all of myself into it.
My products are not, they'renot just like white labeled.
I didn't just go to a factoryand say like, cool, that's cute.

(59:47):
Can you put my name on it?
I designed my pieces and it took along time working with the factory
to get them all right, to get thethickness right, to get the glaze right.
I redrew my shapes so many timesbecause I wanted this curve to
just be a millimeter more that way.
Like things that I think that peoplemay not consciously perceive, but I

(01:00:11):
think will be perceived in the use ofsomething like subconsciously perceived.
So, yeah, I hope it resonates withpeople and I hope I can continue
doing this 'cause this is a reallyexciting new path for me and I
wanna see how far I can take it.
I wanna keep going.

(01:00:32):
I wanna be able to explore all thoseother categories and it just feels
like we've been talking about kind oflike how your career evolves, right?
And I feel like I'm at this place,about to launch this new brand and it
feels very much like it's been likea marathon until this point, and I've
worked so hard to get to this pointand I'm reaching sort of like the

(01:00:55):
culmination of a career thus far, right?
It's like I grew up and I went tocollege and I interned and I assisted
and I got my jobs and I built andI built and I built and like feels
like this culmination, but this isnot an end, it's another beginning.
I'm just at the beginning of thisand it feels like that fresh notebook
feel like so much could happen.

(01:01:19):
Like where will this take me?
I just hope I can make it work and likestay on the ride and really get to dig in.
Oh my gosh, I'm so excited for you.
Thank you.
I am curious.
What was the inspo behind the name?
Oh man, that's.
I sat down with a friend one daywho has worked at in marketing

(01:01:42):
agencies and she helped me.
First of all, it's very hard to namesomething these days because you
need to get the URL and you have toget the Instagram handle and like.
Check the copyright.
Yeah.
A lot of stuff is taken.
I'd be like, oh, I like this.
Nope, not that one.
It's already taken.
It's hard.
You go through a lot to get there andI don't think it has like, it's not,

(01:02:08):
there's no emotional history or sortof like meaning in it that is the
face value of it is really what it is.
Like Standard Affair.
And to me that sort of means like it'sa proposal for a new standard, right?
So this should be like an everyday thing.
But that little bit of a fare tome gives it like a flair, like
sort of like this is standard, buteverything should be a little special.

(01:02:31):
But it's still like there'ssort of a balance in it.
I love that.
Thank you.
I love that.
I am so super duper excited for you.
I wanna close out thisinterview with two things.
I wanna do a quick littlefire back, like this or that.
Let's do it.
Great.
It's gonna be real quick, and thenI'll have one last question for you.

(01:02:54):
Okay.
Which do you prefer most?
Vintage or modern?
Vintage,
yes.
Modern vintage.
I mean, it's startingto become a thing now.
Modern vintage.
There's a new name.
I mean, I love both, yeah.
There's a new name.
Yes.
Okay.
Neutral tones are bold colors.

(01:03:16):
I'm gonna say neutral, but,I'm not a person who's like,
everything must be beige.
Like I love beige, but really, I, Ijust don't like bold tones very much.
I'm not allergic to color.
I just like really desaturated colors,like they can be really light or really
dark, but I like, like a dusty color.

(01:03:37):
Ooh.
I recently fell in love with dustypink or like dusty rose and like
Ooh.
Yeah.
Like that kind of mauve-ylike antique mauve.
It's a wonderful color.
I generally appreciate more understatedthings, like I really appreciate like
subtlety, so I think leaning moretowards neutral tones makes sense for me.

(01:03:59):
Okay.
Linen or cotton?
Linen.
Yep.
Linen.
Okay.
This one might be hard.
Antique store or garage sale?
Antique store.
Not hard.
You can find a gem at a garage sale,but for me it's like an antique
store has way more stuff in it.
There's already been a first curated pass.
So like you spend a halfan hour in each place.

(01:04:20):
I'm gonna get so much more atthat antique store than I'm
gonna get at that garage sale.
If you run the stats right?
It just seems like garage sales arejust like, here's a bunch of crappy
shit for you to take with you.
Yeah.
Like here's a bunch of plasticjunk I'm trying to get rid of.
I mean there are some good ones, butit just feels like that to me too.
Where I'm like, I don't reallywanna poke through your trash.
I want to go find some good oldthings that are really interesting.

(01:04:44):
I just love antique shops.
Okay.
East coast mornings or West Coast sunsets.
An east coast morning is kind of cold,but also like I grew up on the East coast.
Okay.
Minimalism or clutter.
Okay.
So like, I wanna say minimalism becauseI think in theory I'm all about that,

(01:05:07):
but in practice I totally am for clutter.
Like before I had kids, my homewas more decorated and there were
like precious things everywhere.
And I would make all these vignettesand then I would take photos and.
Oh no, you got a baby proof that.
Yeah.
So like, they're all gone now.
Now it's just like toysand kids books everywhere.
And I'm just like, but I like,I scrammed it all to the studio.

(01:05:28):
'Cause I was like, you're gonnabreak my beautiful ceramic vases
that are irreplaceable, you know?
But back then I'd make allthese pretty vignettes and I'd
post them on my Instagram andmy hashtag was beauty clutter.
Beauty clutter.
Like in theory, like I love minimalismand I think it's beautiful and I
really respond to that in photos.

(01:05:49):
Also, like I said, like a moreunderstated approach to a lot
of things really appeals to me.
But when it comes to small objects, inpractice, I end up just adding them on.
Like kinda like more is more in that way.
I might be more of a minimalist'cause in my house too.
It's like everythinggoes in the same place.
Like in the cabinets too.
All of the glasses have their place.

(01:06:10):
The kids' cups go here, the taller cupgoes here, the small cup goes here.
It's not all just like mixed in.
Some people are like, wow, you'rereally rigid about, like, this always
goes here and that always goes there.
But I'm like, I thought about it once andnow I never need to think about it again.
That's how I think.
It's like I Tetris'd this shelf once.
Like, okay, it fits best if the platesgo here and the bowls go here and now

(01:06:31):
if I just keep doing that, it worksand I don't wanna look for something.
I don't wanna be like, where's that mug?
Is it behind this other thing?
Like, I'm like, no, it justgoes back in the same place.
You are thinking just like a cancer.
Because it's literally the sameargument that I've had with Aaron.
Aaron's like, you wouldn't haveto look for your keys if you put
'em in the same spot every time.
Well, exactly.

(01:06:52):
If I shut you
stay I, I, yeah.
It seems like that should be the Virgotrait though, to be like everything back
in the same place, but somehow it's not.
'Cause I had to really trainmy husband on that too.
And like he loves to Tetris thedishwasher like a different way.
Each time I think he'skinda like, Ooh, fun.
Like, how am I gonna do it this time?
And I'm like, no, the big plates go here.

(01:07:14):
The small plates go here.
Like I just, whatever I have,like I'm trying to dedicate
my brain space to other stuff.
I mean, I told Aaron, I was like, look,it looks like a mess to you, but I know
where I put everything and yeah, I mightbe everywhere, but I know where I put it.
One thing my mom used to do whenI was a kid and it drove me nuts.
My mom would just come in and justclean everything and drive me nuts.

(01:07:37):
'Cause I couldn't find anything.
And then she would get mad that Ikept asking her, well where's this?
Oh, where's that?
And so Aaron does the same thing.
He'll clean his stuff, but heleaves my stuff where it is because
he would rather have the peaceof mind of not having to answer.
I put it here, I put it over there.
Like he tried to trainme, bless his heart.
Like he's like, I'm gonnaput her keys there and she'll

(01:07:57):
start putting them there too.
And I go, Nope, justthrow 'em on the counter.
And that's where I remember havingthem every time and he's like,
but you have a key chain holder.
Why don't you just put iton the key chain holder?
Like it made sense to him.
Okay, last one.
New prop or tried and true favorite.
It depends.
I'm just gonna say new prop.

(01:08:18):
There's always like a, somethingexciting about a new, something
that you're, that you're like,oh, I can't wait to try this out.
Okay, last question.
Where can the listeners find you, followyou and uh, keep up with Standard Affair.
You can find me and StandardAffair in our respective places.
My website is Kira corbin.comand my Instagram handle is

(01:08:40):
the same at Kira Corbin.
So straightforward there, and just asstraightforward for Standard Affair at
standardaffair.com or at Standard Affair.
Thank you so much for being on the show.
Thank you so much.
I loved everything about thisconversation and we're besties
now, like you stuck with me.
Thank you again for being on the show.