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Susan Feldman - Ageless Style & Artful Collecting: From One Kings Lane to In The Groove
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Today’s guest is Susan Feldman, founder of One Kings Lane & In The Groove. She’s a born collector with retail blood and when it comes to collecting, she loves nothing more. After starting One Kings Lane in her early 50’s, she got exposed to working with some of the best designers around who opened her eyes to the beauty of traveling and vintage sourcing. A host and an entertainer, she’s collect a closet full of napkins, and dish sets, and boxes, and the list goes on. But these days, she’s doing more curating of her collections and focusing on the things that matter. After selling One Kings Lane, she’s started her next venture In The Groove targeted at inspiring women 50+ to own their age and style. As a collector, she’s curating content for this demographic and there's no one better for the job. So without further adieu, this is Susan Feldman, for Collectors Gene Radio.
Susan Feldman's Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/susankfeldman/?hl=en
In The Groove - https://getinthegroove.com/
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Transcript
Introduction and Life Philosophy Shift
00:00:00
Speaker
I think when you're 35, all you can think about is like, what can I get? How much can I get? Which I think makes sense. You're building your home, your family, whatever. But I think you get to a point, you realize you don't need all that stuff. Absolutely. And actually, when you take some of it away, you can really enjoy what you have, I think, so much more.
Introduction to Collector's Gene Radio
00:00:24
Speaker
What's going on, everybody? And welcome to Collector's Gene Radio. This is all about diving into the nuances of collecting and ultimately finding out whether or not our guests have what we like to call the collector's gene. If you have the time, please subscribe and leave a review. It truly helps. Thanks a bunch for listening. And please enjoy today's guest on Collector's Gene Radio.
Meet Susan Feldman, The Collector
00:00:49
Speaker
Today's guest is Susan Feldman, founder of One Kings Lane and In The Groove.
00:00:54
Speaker
She's a born collector with retail blood and when it comes to collecting, she loves nothing more. After starting One King's Lane in her early 50s, she got exposed to working with some of the best designers around to open her eyes to the beauty of traveling and vintage sourcing. A host and an entertainer, she's collected a closet full of napkins and dish sets and boxes and the list goes on.
00:01:17
Speaker
But these days she's doing more curating of her collections and focusing on the things that matter.
Susan's Career Journey and Retail Passion
00:01:22
Speaker
After selling One King's Lane, she's started her next venture in The Groove, targeted at inspiring women 50 plus to own their age and style. As a collector, she's curating content for this demographic and there's no one better for the job. So without further ado, this is Susan Feldman for Collector's Gene Radio. Hi Susan, what a pleasure to welcome you on Collector's Gene Radio.
00:01:44
Speaker
I'm so happy to be here. Nothing I love more than talking about collecting. Well, you're the perfect candidate then. So growing up, you moved around a lot some eight times or so and your father was actually a retail executive, is that right? Yep, exactly right. So retail was kind of in your blood from a pretty young age. Yeah, I definitely think it's in my blood.
00:02:10
Speaker
So a little bit fast forward to your life growing up and you finished school and you eventually climbed the corporate ladder at brands like Ralph Lauren and Liz Claireborn. Was this always the plan for you? I mean, it kind of seemed inevitable for you to get into retail with your upbringing, but was that always in the back of your mind?
00:02:29
Speaker
Yeah, it's interesting. I think when I was younger, high school, college, initially, that wasn't my plan. I mean, I did always work in retail part-time when I was in high school and college. I thought I wanted to work with kids, but the more that I kept being involved in retail, the more I liked it. So that was definitely the path that I took. I graduated from Stanford and actually went into an executive training program at a department store, which
00:02:58
Speaker
which now doesn't exist in Los Angeles, but it was actually kind of interesting. I did really well and I was moving up the ladder quickly, but then I sort of stopped and I said, oh my God, maybe I'm supposed to be like an investment banker and I don't even know.
00:03:14
Speaker
Because all I've really done at this point work-wise is work in retail. So I actually went back and got my MBA at UCLA trying to, you know, just expose myself to other opportunities. I think it's not all that uncommon for kids to sort of follow closely in their parents.
00:03:31
Speaker
footsteps. So I ended up at UCLA and I was all ready to sign on to what would have been a much more of a corporate marketing position with a company like General Mills. And somebody I knew had gone to Macy's, New York to run their HR and I just was in New York and went in to talk to him and I got
00:03:54
Speaker
all excited about retail again and decided not to take that job in General Mills and moved to New York and went back to Macy's. So I guess it was good. I gave myself an opportunity to find out if there was something else that I wanted to do. But at the end of the day, I think I really love, you know, and that was a good place for me. And I think it's important you love what you do. So that's that's where I ended up back in New York at Macy's. I was a buyer for a year.
00:04:23
Speaker
And after that, I actually went to the other side, to the wholesale side, and actually sold and really ran sales and marketing organizations for a company that were selling to retailers. I would say the move going back to retail worked out for you. Yeah, I think so. You know, I think when you're passionate about something and you love it, it works, you know? Couldn't agree more.
Founding One King's Lane During Economic Crisis
00:04:46
Speaker
So it's 2008. The world's kind of going into crisis mode.
00:04:52
Speaker
Yeah, I think imploding is the right one. Yeah, but you actually had different plans. Can you tell me about that? Yeah, the world was imploding and we had moved to California in 2005 and I was again working for a manufacturer and I don't know, something, it just wasn't fun anymore. The, you know, sort of the dynamics between the wholesaler and the retailer I felt had gotten kind of,
00:05:20
Speaker
Adeline and i really wasn't happy but i have been thinking about an idea for a business actually for about a year this was in because i started thinking about it in two thousand and seven. And sometime in the middle of two thousand and eight i said to my husband i think i have to leave this job i'm really not happy and i don't know i was fifty three is like maybe i should just retire.
00:05:50
Speaker
I don't know, what is stopping me? He's like, what's the worst thing that could happen? And I said, well, I guess it wouldn't work. And so he says, well, then I think you should just do it. And it was such an interesting time because I mean, the idea of starting a business in 2008 when the world was literally imploding
00:06:11
Speaker
I think seems so foreign to a lot of people, but we did it. We, you know, put our blinders on and we had this idea for One King's Lane and we went at it. I found a business partner, Ally Pincus, so we did it together. So that was nice to have a partner in crime. And we created something really special and it was an amazing journey for sure.
00:06:37
Speaker
It's not too often that you find a business partner that you mesh with that is able to ride the whole wave with you. Yeah, that's probably like a whole other podcast, but I'll give you the quick version of that. So I wanted to find a business partner.
00:06:52
Speaker
didn't have anyone in mind. And my husband met somebody who he told her about this idea that I had. And she said, Oh, I think that's like an amazing idea. I'd love to talk to her about it. So this is somebody had started a company called blog her.com. Her name is Lisa stone.
00:07:08
Speaker
So I called her and the first thing she said to me is, how can I help you? Which totally blew me away because coming out of the apparel and fashion industry, that isn't usually the first thing people say. No, you don't hear the word help at all. I was like, wow. Well, I'm looking for a business partner, somebody who has a digital marketing experience. She said, well, you know what? I actually think I might know somebody that would be interested. Let me see if she is and if so, I'll connect you as a great.
00:07:35
Speaker
So the next day I get an email from Lisa Stone introducing me to Allie Pincus, and she lived in San Francisco. I was in Los Angeles. We started emailing and talking on the phone. Anyway, long story short, she came to Los Angeles. We hit it off, and we literally both took a huge leap of faith. We knew each other, I think, six weeks when we went and formed our LLC for One King's Lane.
00:07:59
Speaker
But we said we were going to do this. We're at 50-50 partnership. We bootstrapped the business. So we both put in a little bit of money into the business. And we made it happen. And I think the one thing I think that, well, the big reason why it was a successful partnership is because we really complimented each other really well, just in terms of our total skill set, our personalities, everything. It just was like a very nice yin and yang type of compliment.
00:08:29
Speaker
And so you start one Kings Lane and it actually takes off right away. I mean, you beat your revenue goals for the entire year within the first two months. Yeah. Crazy, crazy stuff. It was nuts. Like I don't, I don't, this doesn't happen very often, but no, it doesn't, it doesn't, but you were taking models from brands like guilt, right? Where they would do these more exclusive drops.
00:08:50
Speaker
Yes, exactly. The way I would describe it is like an online sample sale almost, right? Because it was limited products for a limited amount of time, but you were able to access it. You didn't have to be in New York and go down to wherever the sample sale was and wait in line. You just hopped on your computer at 8 o'clock in the morning and went crazy shopping.
The Growth and Success of One King's Lane
00:09:13
Speaker
I mean, Guilt, I was just fascinated actually with that model because I'd been in retail for so long and literally
00:09:20
Speaker
In 20 years, I don't think there had been any kind of new distribution channel that I had seen come up. I may be off-price stores, but that was someplace like maybe in the early 70s when Ross and TJ Maxx and all those places started popping up. But I hadn't seen anything new and I was so fascinated by it, which is why I had this idea about home. I wanted things for my home that I couldn't find online.
00:09:45
Speaker
They weren't doing home and I'm like, well, why not? Why couldn't this work in the home space? And it did. It did in a big way. So One King's Lane is in growth mode and you're being exposed to more and more items for the home. Is this when you started to collect things for the home or were you always a collector?
00:10:05
Speaker
I think I've always been a bit of a collector, but definitely during the years at One King's Lane, I became much more of a collector because I think I just had access to so many incredible things and places and people, to be honest.
The Collector's Passion and Influence
00:10:23
Speaker
Being able to travel around the world, it's hard not to be a collector.
00:10:28
Speaker
Absolutely. What type of things were you collecting because legend has it you have a whole closet just for napkins that you collect and you have dish sets and an elephant collection and all sorts of amazing stuff.
00:10:41
Speaker
The first thing I started collecting was elephants, because our logo was two elephants with their tests up, which meant good luck. So on my first trip to India, I bought myself an alley, these beautiful silver elephants.
00:11:01
Speaker
with their tusks up. And from there, it was like every place I went, I just started buying elephants because that was our logo and collecting them and people would give them to me and I had artwork that had elephants in it. Any elephant and any type of material, I had them because it was fun and that was our brand. So that was really a lot of fun.
00:11:24
Speaker
But also we had an incredible vintage business too so there are things that you know i gravitated to that i started collecting crystal match strikers and i feel like a lot of times these collections started on a travel like i was in london
00:11:40
Speaker
shopping with Martin Lawrence Blart and we went into a store and he got very excited about these. And I'm like, what is that? That's so beautiful. And then I started collecting them, which is fun. I've always collected boxes too. So I have a lot of boxes and certainly got a lot more of those during my One Kings Lane days. And yes, napkins is something that I have a weakness for.
00:12:04
Speaker
I guess it is a collection. It's not intentionally a collection. It's just I love to entertain and I'm always looking for new ways to set my table. I love it. So you mentioned going to London and shopping with Martin Lawrence Bullard, but that kind of came about. There was a show that came out on Bravo called Million Dollar Decorator, and One King's Lane was featured quite a bit. Yes. And although the show was short-lived, unfortunately,
00:12:31
Speaker
It's back on Netflix now, season one. Just like they relaunched the seasons and you could watch them? Yeah, they relaunched it. You can see it on Netflix now, season one. Check out episode six. That's where you'll see me shopping with Martin in London. It was a great episode. I loved it. Yeah. Was that a pivotal moment for you in the business when that show came out and One King's Lane was being featured a lot?
00:12:56
Speaker
You know, it definitely helped. I don't know that there's one pivotal moment. I think our biggest pivotal moments were really in the beginning of the company in the first six months of the business where we just had this incredible
00:13:14
Speaker
rocket ship took off and then we had things like we were featured in the New York Times. We launched in March and we had featured in the New York Times home section in May. I mean, that was like insane. Right.
00:13:28
Speaker
Back in the day when Goop was just going through in your newsletter about that same time, she actually genuinely loved One Kings Lane and she wrote all about us. And that was like a big moment for us also. So each of these things kind of led, I think, to building the business. I don't think there was really one thing, but definitely a million dollar decorator was great.
00:13:52
Speaker
Part of that was the evolution of the business, too, and that's why we were able to do Million Dollar Decorator. When we started, it was just, you know, these flash sales, right? And then we realized, like, this, you know, speaks to the collecting. The people kept bringing us one-of-a-kind things, and we're like, oh, we just love these things, but, like, how do we do this? Like, as a, you know, flash sale where you've got, you know, inventory against an item and you're selling it.
00:14:18
Speaker
So then we created what we called taste maker tag sales. And that was really fantastic. So basically, we would curate every Saturday morning. That's how it started out. It was the same type of sale, but it would be like a designer and all their vintage products or some
00:14:38
Speaker
antique person or vintage person. So that was like really cool because you could go on Saturday morning and whatever you bought was one of a kind. It was just if you got it, you got it. It was like super exciting. And it was hand-picked.
00:14:52
Speaker
very hand-packed and curated by mostly designers. And then from that, it was like, okay, this is really cool. We can give people the opportunity to collect and buy these special one-of-a-kind items. What about if we were to actually go travel someplace and curate a container of products that was basically one-of-a-kind and bring it back? And then we started doing what we called container sales, and that was
00:15:19
Speaker
what the million-dollar decorator, that was what that episode was about, that Martin and I went to London and curated an entire container of products and brought it back and then was on the site and we sold it and it was amazing.
00:15:35
Speaker
Yeah, I love that because, you know, that's kind of what collecting for me is all about is flying and go, not necessarily flying for no reason, but going and traveling to these different places. You know, you've done India and Morocco and London and you source these items and you bring them back. And whether they're for a business in this case or they're for yourself, it's just so interesting to find things in other places around the world. And you get to see the things that people collect in those areas.
00:16:01
Speaker
Yeah, and I think it was so great to be able to do that. So not everyone can go to these places, right? So it was our way of bringing our customers there. We
The Joy of Collecting During Travels
00:16:15
Speaker
would tell a whole story because I think we were really great storytellers. So we didn't just go to London and
00:16:22
Speaker
buy stuff and put it up there was like a whole story that went with it and where we shopped and about Martin and you know whoever the designer was and we had you know one amazing trip after another and it was kind of fun because I never I didn't know designers would want to do this but everybody that I asked was like yeah let's go and then I would let them pick where we would go and it worked out great so
00:16:45
Speaker
Yeah, we went to Belgium with Bunny Williams. I went to Peru with Nate Berkus. I was with Tom Felicia in Italy. I mean, we just had amazing journeys for sure. And I think to your point, when you go to these places and you
00:17:02
Speaker
get something that you bring back. There's something extra special to it and it's just kind of wonderful to have those things in your home because every time you walk by it or touch it or use it, it reminds you of that amazing trip that you took.
00:17:19
Speaker
Right. Yeah, there's a significance behind the things. It's different than going down the street to your local antique shop and finding something you like for $30 and bringing it home. It's this memory of a trip and the exact antique shop and all these things. Exactly. A story similar to that that I have that I've probably told on this show before is my wife and I were in Lake Como recently and it was Easter Monday and
00:17:47
Speaker
I had no idea that that was what was going on. It was a big deal, especially in Italy. And there's one little antique shop in the town in Lake Como. And I called the guy and I didn't realize that I was bothering him during a holiday. And he's like, you know what? I'm right down the street. Let me go open up the shop for you.
00:18:05
Speaker
And it's this tiny little place and we walked in and we got this set of espresso cups to bring home. And I probably would have seen the same type of espresso cups in a store here in Arizona, for example, and wouldn't have thought twice about it, but it just has that significance.
00:18:20
Speaker
I always try and encourage friends and family and people I meet that want to talk about collecting to go and explore antique shops when they're on vacation and find the joy out of it. Even if antiquing is not really your thing, you will find something I guarantee to bring home that will put a smile on your face. I couldn't agree more. I mean, I'm sitting right now looking around my living room going, oh, that was a good trip.
00:18:45
Speaker
Well, let's talk about that because a mutual friend of ours, Nate Berkus, and he's been on the podcast before. And I know you and Nate and Jeremiah are all very close and you've traveled quite a bit with each other. What's it like traveling with other collectors and going to these markets to hunt for things together?
00:19:03
Speaker
It's amazing. I mean, I have to say with each designer that I traveled with, I learned so much. You know, it's like I felt like I was a student of collecting, you know, watching these people that really are top of their game, you know, how they, how much, first of all, how much they know about everything. It's kind of amazing. But then, you know, how they think about things and they look at it and it was
00:19:29
Speaker
It's really special. I really did feel like I was a student and getting right up close in personal education and how to think about collecting. Right. It's pretty amazing that you take someone like Nate who
00:19:46
Speaker
doesn't necessarily design Peruvian interiors, but he goes to a place like Peru and knows about all the things that are antique or vintage there and can tell you about them. He knows. So it's kind of mind-blind. He knows so much. He's so well-read and educated in all different kinds of things. And by the way, he picked Peru. He was the one who wanted to go there. So it ended up being an amazing trip, on top of which, Nate and Jeremiah got engaged on that trip.
In The Groove: Empowering Women 50+
00:20:16
Speaker
Oh, can't beat it. Yeah, that was pretty special. Love it. So you've since sold One King's Lane and you're on to your next venture, which is in the groove and you focus on inspiring women to own their age and their style. Tell me about this because it's very exciting and it seems like a very underserved market.
00:20:36
Speaker
It is complete. Well, that's why I did it. You know, when we sold One Kings Lane, I was like, uh, cause I am a late bloomer. I mean, it started One Kings Lane at 53 and started, you know, in the groove at 62. So I've got a little bit of a late start, but, um, you know, what I realized after talking to a lot of friends and colleagues coming out of One Kings Lane women,
00:21:00
Speaker
is that this weird word, invisible, kept coming up. And I was like, whoa, that's like really crazy. Like I wasn't feeling that way, irrelevant, invisible. Those words, like literally everybody I talked to, that word came up. And I'm like, something's not right here. And like, who's speaking to us in the way that we want to be spoken to? And I just couldn't find anything digitally online that was really, I think, serving
00:21:26
Speaker
our demographic well. And so I was like, wow, this is a huge opportunity, but like, how can I go at it? It's so big. It's like, it was a little bit daunting. How was I going to actually go at it? And I realized, you know, look, at the end of the day, that's what I do. Well, I'm a good curator. And so let me curate what I can and help women, you know, give them information and
00:21:50
Speaker
give them my curation on fashion beauty and health and wellness, and hope that it helps them feel better about themselves and live their kind of best life. So that's what we created getinthegroove.com five years ago, and it's been fantastic. I mean, it's still a very underserved demographic, but it's so much better today than it was five years ago. So I think we're moving in the right direction, which is exciting, but still a long way to go.
00:22:19
Speaker
I mean, in a way you're collecting and curating all the best content that you can for women in this age range.
Reflecting on Collecting Less and Curating More
00:22:26
Speaker
Would you say having a collector's mentality allows you to be a bit more successful in this realm? I think so because, you know, like I said, I mean, I call it curation now, but I think it's, you know, sort of the same thing, right? So I can look at something that somebody else may not even see and say, that's a great
00:22:47
Speaker
jacket or dress or top or something for, I think, a woman who's 50 plus and help them understand that better. I think the other thing as a curator, especially at this age, which is a
00:23:01
Speaker
I think it's taken over my whole mindset is it's all about, I think I spent the first 50 years collecting as much as I could. It feels like a lot of stuff right now. I feel like 50 after 50, it's like just getting rid of the stuff you don't want and it really
00:23:21
Speaker
seriously curating what works in your life and what makes you happy, whether it's in your house or in your closet or wherever it is. So I think that's a big part of this journey as well.
00:23:35
Speaker
Yeah, I agree. I think there comes a point in everybody's collecting journey where you start to look at all the things that you have and say, am I really enjoying all of this? Or is there really just a group of it that I'm enjoying that I would be so happy to have or just one, one thing that, that just works so well for me. Uh, but I think that's what's so really cool about this whole demographic and 50 plus is that I think it takes,
00:24:03
Speaker
a lot of experience and a lot of maturity and a lot of understanding to actually be able to do that and appreciate that. I think when you're 35, all you can think about is what can I get? How much can I get? Right. Which I think makes sense. You're building your home, your family, whatever, but I think you get to a point where you realize you don't need all that stuff. Absolutely.
00:24:28
Speaker
And actually, when you take some of it away, you can really enjoy what you have, I think, so much more. Absolutely. If you're not reaching for all the things that you have every day or every week or every month that you get to enjoy, then you have to put some other things to the side and make room for either new things or make room for honing in on what's best and what works.
Artistic Legacy and Family Influence
00:24:52
Speaker
Exactly. Exactly.
00:24:55
Speaker
So your father became a painter late in life and you've been collecting his paintings. And to me, it seems like a fulfilling and kind of a full circle moment for you when it comes to your personal collecting.
00:25:07
Speaker
Absolutely. I mean, what he did, it was pretty remarkable. I mean, he went back to school, California College of Arts in San Francisco at 78 and worked for two years to get his MFA. He was the oldest graduate, I think still remains the oldest graduate of the program. And he went on to paint pretty voraciously for the next eight years until he passed away. And
00:25:35
Speaker
It was really kind of amazing and such an amazing example for all the things that like I know today really do make a difference as we get older. You know, being, staying curious, continuing to learn, you know, spending time with other people, spending time with younger people. I mean, all the things that he did just, you know, made him pretty incredible. And his art was pretty good. I mean, it kind of took off, didn't it? I mean, he was getting quite a bit of recognition.
00:26:05
Speaker
Yeah, he had, I think he ended up having four or five shows, mostly in Northern California, because that's where he lived. And it was really cool too, because when we did one Kingsland, one of our art vendors heard about this collection that I had. I had all my dad's, you know, I had a big portfolio of his work after he passed away, because he was very prolific.
00:26:27
Speaker
We went through it together and she actually has reproduced, I think it's about five pieces of his work that she now sells. And she enhanced them like a little bit, like they come framed, but she put maybe like a little piece of gold, all with my approval, but really just beautifully well done. And it's really pretty cool to see, like actually they carried out one Kings Lane, I think they used to, I don't know if they, I think they still do. Anthropology has sold it.
00:26:57
Speaker
So it was really fun to see his art stay alive in a different way. Amazing.
Collector's Regrets and Future Plans
00:27:04
Speaker
Susan, let's wrap it up here with the collector's dream rundown. You can answer these questions based on any of the items that you collect, whether it's been napkins or experiences or travel, whatever it may be. Sound good? Yeah. All right. What's the one that got away? My dad's paddock belief watch. Where'd that go? To my sister.
00:27:28
Speaker
I keep asking her if I could borrow, but so far she has not agreed. I don't know. I think my mother had a weak moment. I'm not quite sure how she came to that conclusion, but my sister has it and it's pretty special. That's a tough one. Yeah. One day she'll let me work. She will for sure. I think she might just be ignoring your text right now, but she'll get back to you.
00:27:50
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. What's the on deck circle? So this is something maybe that's next for you in collecting something you're working on curating for the new website or a set of napkins you've been after. Yeah. Um, you know, I have some very nice jewelry. I have two daughters. And so I think about those things and where they're going to go. So like I'm trying to collect almost in twos now for
00:28:17
Speaker
just special pieces that I have. I love Sydney Garber jewelry, and I'm fortunate to have some of those pieces, but I'm thinking I might need an extra one so the next girl can have one. So that's sort of what I've been thinking about. Love it. The unobtainable. So this is something that is just either far too expensive. It's in a museum, private collection. It's just complete unobtainium. I think about art a lot because I love having art in my home. I have some
00:28:47
Speaker
nice pieces, but I also think it would be, and I have a lot of my dads, but I think it's nice and fun. It's kind of like in a weird way, it's like a high-low type of thing, which is like very much my MO in terms of dressing and style. So there's probably some fabulous, you know, Rauschenberg or something somewhere that, you know, maybe has my name on it. It would be nice to get your hands on it. Yeah, exactly.
00:29:13
Speaker
the page one rewrite. So if you could collect anything besides all of your current collections, money is no object. What would it be? You know, I was thinking about this and I think it goes back to what we were talking about before. I think it's more about not getting this stuff, but actually like getting rid of things. Yes. I probably have the reverse mindset than maybe a lot of your other guests
Admiration for Ralph Lauren and Collecting Philosophy
00:29:40
Speaker
right now. So,
00:29:41
Speaker
It's more about getting rid of things so I can really enjoy what is here already. Right. So the page one rewrite for you would be maybe not purchasing some of the things that you added to the collection. Yeah, I think so. Yeah. Okay. I think that's right. Yeah. The goat. So who do you think is a great collector? Maybe someone you look up to in the collective world.
00:30:05
Speaker
I think you'd have to be Ralph Lauren. I was fortunate enough to work in a couple of different businesses for them. Wow. It starts with him and he's got this amazing team, but those people know how to collect. 100 percent. Yeah.
00:30:24
Speaker
Yeah, he's got a great gentleman that works for him, Doug, that is his vintage collector who just travels the world and just collects things for him personally, collects things for the stores, for his different homes. What a job. I don't know if you've had Doug on or not, but they have a warehouse someplace, I think in New Jersey or maybe more than one, where all these things are there.
00:30:51
Speaker
They're constantly using them also from a business standpoint for references and inspiration. It's pretty cool. When I was working there, you could go out and pull things. As you're thinking about a new collection or something, use those for inspiration is pretty fabulous. Wow. I would love to- Yeah, you need to get into that warehouse. Well, I would love to get Doug on too. He's a tough one to reach. Yeah.
00:31:21
Speaker
All right, the hunt or the ownership? Which one do you like more? I love the hunt. I would say with all the sourcing trips that you've been on, that would be likely. Yeah. Well, I think that's what makes traveling fun is, you know, to your point when you're in Lake Como and you can get somebody to open a store, you happen to stumble across something and it's like a surprise. I mean, it's so cool. And then to bring that,
00:31:48
Speaker
that back here. Actually, I'm laughing because I'm sitting in my living room and I have a huge agate that I brought back from Peru. And I literally brought back rocks. I mean, there were all these amazing rocks that I brought back in my suitcase. My husband was with us and he's like, you're out of your mind.
00:32:09
Speaker
I had to have that. That was part of the hunt. It's great.
Born with the Collector's Gene
00:32:14
Speaker
Then when you do get them back, it makes collecting all that much more fun, I think. I couldn't agree more. Most importantly, do you feel that you were born with the collector's gene? Yeah. I think it comes with the retail gene, right? Yeah. You had no option when you were born. I did. It was not a choice. It just was there. I had to double down on it.
00:32:37
Speaker
Susan, thank you so much for joining me today. What a pleasure to chat with you, and I hope we get to do it again soon. I gotta come see that napkin closet. Yeah, come for dinner. I would love to. All right. Thank you. Okay, thank you. Bye. Bye. All right, that does it for this episode. Thank you all for listening to Collector's Gene Radio.