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Kaari Meng: From Jewelry Designer to Creative Visionary
355 Plays1 month ago
Kaari Meng’s design journey began in 1992 when, in search of a simple hat pin, she created a collection of vintage-inspired jewelry using antique glass beads and buttons. She presented her designs at Bergdorf Goodman's open-buy day, and the buyer purchased them all, launching her career. Soon, she was designing for Anthropologie and other retailers, crafting jewelry that blended nostalgia with timeless elegance.
In 1997, after years of designing for shops, museums, and catalogs, Kaari founded French General, a New York City boutique specializing in vintage notions, textiles, and ephemera. When she relocated to Los Angeles in 2003, French General evolved into a creative hub, offering workshops in jewelry-making, stitching, quilting, and more. Today, it’s a destination for craft enthusiasts, with online classes and its signature Stitching From France series.
Alongside her husband, Jon, Kaari has authored six books celebrating craft and design. She also creates quilting fabrics for Moda and home textiles for Fabricut. For the past 16 years, she has hosted immersive retreats in the South of France, inviting guests to experience brocantes, crafting, and the beauty of slow living. This conversation was both wonderful and inspirational!
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Links:
Website: https://www.frenchgeneral.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frenchgeneral
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Transcript
Introduction to Rebloom Podcast
00:00:01
Speaker
Hey, everyone. Welcome to Rebloom, the podcast where we explore the power of change, rediscovery, and living with intention. That's right. We're your hosts, Lori and Jamie, two friends who really love a good story about transformation. In each podcast, we're going to chat with inspiring guests who've made bold pivots in their lives or careers.
Theme: Rediscovery and Childhood Passions
00:00:23
Speaker
They've let go of what no longer serve them to embrace something more authentic, joyful, and true to who they really are.
00:00:31
Speaker
And the best part, many of them reconnect with passions or dreams they discovered as kids. It's about finding the seeds planted long ago and letting them bloom again. So if you're ready for real conversations about reinvention, purpose, and following your creative heart, you're in the right place.
Guest Introduction: Kari Meng's Journey
00:00:52
Speaker
Let's dive in and see what it takes to re-bloom.
00:00:57
Speaker
Lori, I am so excited for our listeners to hear this hour with Kari Meng. What an incredible journey she's had. We're going to France. I just love her fearlessness and really she was very inspiring to me because I kind of, you know, I do take risks at times and I get ideas and I do follow through, but it seemed, I don't know that I dream big enough. And I, I've always wondered that. And I feel like, you know, well, you'll hear, but you know, she decides she wants to buy a Chateau and you know, makes it happen. Makes some version of that happen yeah along with a lot of other really, really wonderful things in her journey. so
00:01:43
Speaker
I'm just excited for our listeners to hear this one. Yeah. If you love creativity, if you love France, if you love antiques, if you love fabrics, if you love taking a really beautiful creative journey and just having the courage to do it, you want to listen to this next this next podcast. It's amazing.
Kari's Creative Path and Intentions
00:02:04
Speaker
Hey Lori, how are you? Hey Jamie, I'm excited about this chat today and I have my friend Amy Butler to thank for reconnecting me with Kari Meng. And I realized like this morning,
00:02:20
Speaker
But I had taken a little jewelry making class from Kari as part of the Mary Englebright Conference probably 15 years ago. So I've always known about her, but never have really gotten a chance to chat. So this is going to be a fun conversation. It is going to be such a fun conversation. And I love the way, you know, worlds collide and they they come together when they are meant to. And I think you and I are meant to chat with her today. And I am beyond excited because she is just so cool and so interesting. So. Well, welcome and welcome, Kari. How are you? Thank you. Thank you for having me. I'm happy to be here and excited to have a conversation with you both.
Career Beginnings in New York
00:03:06
Speaker
So I'll just say a little bit about what I know about you, but we really want to have you take us on the journey through your life and share your pivot points. So from what I understand, at one point you were making jewelry for Bergdorf's, which is very cool. And I actually, I went and Googled some today and there are some pieces on eBay that I wanted to purchase pieces.
00:03:32
Speaker
Um, and then now today, I believe you are selling French, uh, things that you find in France as well as doing workshops and retreats in France, which sounds dreamy. dream Everything that you sell on your website is So lovely and so beautiful. So we just want you to kind of take us back. You can go as early as when you were a young girl, if you if you wish. We always tend to circle back to that anyway, because we're always curious how how what you were doing as a child influenced what you're doing through your life. Okay. Well, um
00:04:16
Speaker
Gosh, how far back should I go? I'm i'm from a big family. I'm from ah you know five kids. And we grew up in Southern California. um you know Big rowdy family. you know Mom and dad, both very artistic. um you know We were skiing and camping and you know running around quite a bit. And I think I always felt that I had this little thread of creativity running through me. but you know, when you grow up in a big household like that, you know, you're just trying to get by, you know, everybody's just trying to find their own little space in a big family. So I think really, it wasn't until I was probably about 18 or 19 years old. And I was in college, I think my first year of college, and I remember just kind of having this moment where I set this intention. And I was like,
00:05:12
Speaker
I'm going to live a creative life. I didn't have any idea what that meant at the time. I just knew I wanted design and art and color and texture. And I was craving all these things that I hadn't had enough of yet. You know, the camping trips weren't quite doing it for me when I was eight years old, you know, as everybody's in the water and surfing. And I think I was just kind of, you know, what what could I pull together to make or be creative?
00:05:41
Speaker
So I remember having that moment. I had no idea where it was going to take me or what it meant. And I went through college and studied political science, visited Washington DC. Very creative. Very creative. I visited Washington DC and within minutes I knew like, no, these are not my people. Like this is not where I'm going to land.
Transition to French Textiles and Antiques
00:06:05
Speaker
So I went up to New York. I took the train to New York and I was like, yeah. like This could be it. Like, I think I could find my people in New York. So when I graduated from University of San Francisco, my dad um said, I know someone, you know, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
00:06:26
Speaker
and she's looking to hire and she was in the restoration department and I was like perfect I'll start in the restoration department so I moved pack up moved to New York didn't know a soul in New York City um had met somebody on the phone that said I could stay with her a few days and ah I arrived one night we went to dinner And after dinner that night, she's like, okay, you can move in. You can be my roommate. I'm like, thank goodness. you know oh wow So, um, called the museum a few days later and there had been a hiring freeze. Oh no. no Of course. Right. So, uh, she said, the woman said to me, just come to the museum and go to the, um,
00:07:10
Speaker
you know employment, HR department, and just take any job you see in the museum. Take any job because, you know, once you're on the inside, you know, I can maybe, you know, then hire you from within. So I worked, I took a job at the jewelry store, you know, my dad's like, you went to four years of college, and you're working retail, and I'm like,
00:07:32
Speaker
You got to do what you got to do, dad. So i I worked there, not for long, maybe about three months. And while I was there, I met my my husband-to-be. ah He was a tourist and he came into the shop. um So that was kind of fun. That was a good meeting. ah Then I transferred to the film department eventually and worked there for about a year.
00:08:00
Speaker
And then I just kind of realized, you know, I was making $11,000 a year and I needed to do more. So I ended up going back to school to FIT, which is in New York and um took jewelry classes. And then I went to the Bergdorf Goodman Open Buy Day, which they used to do the first Wednesday of the month, I think. And they bought a collection of hat pins.
00:08:27
Speaker
And a few weeks later, they called and said, can you bring in the rest of your collection? You know, we'd like to see it. I'm like, what rest of it? I think so. So I immediately went to work and built up this little collection. And it wasn't any good. You know, it was no good, actually. But you know, they bought it. And I thought, well, I guess the next step is to do the trade shows. So I did the Javits Center.
00:08:54
Speaker
I think it was called the FAE or something. It was the jewelry show. And I met a man named Glenn Sank who was opening up anthropology. And that was kind of how I got started and how it kind of helped me. Wow, you were there in the beginning of anthropology? Yeah. You were just opening the one store at the time.
00:09:14
Speaker
And they ordered my line and then they kind of told me what they wanted, which was so great. You know, well, we want more of this and more natural and more mother of Pearl. And what about buttons? Do you got any buttons? I'm like, I can find whatever you want. Wow. So I did jewelry for many, many years and I loved it and I loved the collecting and putting the colors together. It was some it was kind of what kicked me off. You know, it it kind of started this whole doing something creative every day, which I realized was really good for me. And were you doing all of the manufacturing yourself? So in the beginning, I had one or two employees and then eventually I had 15 employees. Wow. Yeah, 24th Street and I had a big studio and we probably did two shows, two big shows a year and
00:10:11
Speaker
You know, we were with Sundance catalog, Peruvian connection, April Cornell. You know, we just had these great accounts and the
Facing Adversity and Opening French General
00:10:19
Speaker
buyers were were fun because they were all very colorful and creative themselves. And it just, it it worked really well for me until I just burned.
00:10:31
Speaker
la Total burnout. burnout. Was it the burnout of the creative, the burnout of the managing, the burnout of the business? What what was the burnout? It was the business um business that constantly, that fashion, you know, what's next? What's next? What's next? And I think it just started to take its toll on me and I realized It wasn't good for me. It just wasn't good for me anymore. So and initially they told you what they wanted and that was great. Did you reach the point though where they were telling you what you wanted and it was annoying? is that what has so because that When we talk to some people who are doing licensing, it seems like
00:11:11
Speaker
It's great in the beginning, but then they want to be creative for themselves or for their own heart, but they're just being forced to deliver and not really necessarily what they want. Right. yeah I think it was probably a combination because I still really enjoyed like the dig and the hunt and finding all this, you know, the vintage, you know, up in Providence and you know, at all the markets. I just love digging out the old bits and pieces, which I still do. I mean, I still do it even though I'm not in the jewelry business. But I, um there was some employee things that came up and I just thought, mm-mm, not me, not me. This isn't my fight. Like, I don't, that's not my my story, you know? Oh my gosh, I can so relate to this, because I wasn't up to 15 people, but I was up to 12 at one point and just,
00:12:01
Speaker
you know as i as a creative person, and I'm an introvert as well, like managing people was very stressful and trying to make sure everybody feels valued and taken care of and all of those things. it's it's not It's not easy to do that and continue to be creative and feed your soul in that way.
00:12:25
Speaker
right hard Right. It was very hard. and um My sister Molly had come out and she was managing the business, which gave me a little like distance from that, which I appreciated and really loved.
00:12:39
Speaker
but um it It was enough that I just, I needed to step back. And so when I stepped back, I got pregnant, which was great. Perfect. Now I'll just like transition. I'll become mom. I don't have to do jewelry anymore. And um so I got pregnant and I had Sophia.
00:13:03
Speaker
and still kind of chugging along in the business. And I thought, how can I transition this? Like, how can I take this business, which is doing extremely well, and just shift it so that I'm not doing these trade shows two, maybe three times a year and I'm not, you know, at that time,
00:13:25
Speaker
You know, 20, 30 years ago, you know, you waited for your money. That was the way you did it. Barney's had net 60. Oh, now it's net 90. Oh, now it's net 120. So I was, I was always waiting, waiting. And I thought, why am I waiting? You know, they've had my goods. Why am I waiting? So I thought, I've got to come up with a new model, something that works better for me.
00:13:51
Speaker
ah her So I took my mom to France, I guess it was right before Sophia was born, I took my mom to France for her 60th birthday, and my mom's a huge Francophile. And in the middle of the night, I just woke up and I thought, I got it, like French General. It just, it hit me and I thought, that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to do this general store that's, you know,
00:14:15
Speaker
kind of French, but I'm not French, so it'll just be generally French. And I bring over all sorts of you know beautiful French textiles and kind of have a French um home store. So we you know looked and looked you know for weeks down. Actually, we first opened up in our barn up on the Hudson River. We had a house, a 1780 house up on the Hudson River.
00:14:40
Speaker
yeah beautiful in the that yard And I was like, I'll just convert that into French General. Oh, cool. We put the name on the, you know, on the barn, and we were open about once a month. And, you know, friends would come from all over and you know, every month we'd sell out and then we'd fill it up again, you know, and we'd open up again. And eventually my sister Molly said, all right, we gotta make this legitimate. Like this is a business, Kari. Let's do something with it. So we moved it down to Soho.
00:15:14
Speaker
um We went down onto de Crosby Street, um right around the corner from Balthazar, a block down from Canal Jeans, that last lower block of Crosby Street. and It was still kind of you know dingy and dirty down there and we thought, perfect. you know We'll just open this little jewel box. and A week after we signed the lease, I was diagnosed with cancer. Oh my gosh.
00:15:43
Speaker
All of a sudden, I was like, what? Like, you know, if it's on this path, I thought I knew what I was doing. And then boom, I was diagnosed with non Hodgkin's lymphoma. And my family had never dealt with cancer before. So I think everyone assumed I was dying. So my whole family packed up from the west coast and moved to the east coast to New York. Well, half of us went into the house in the country and then half of us went into our loft in the city as we were opening up this space. so
French General's Growth and Creative Retreats
00:16:20
Speaker
Wow. So you were in treatment, I'm guessing, for almost six years. While you were opening this new store? Yeah. over wow yeah Oh, Oh, wow. But it gave me this... um like It was actually a blessing because it gave me the freedom to do exactly what I wanted to do. I was like, that's it?
00:16:42
Speaker
I don't have to do it anybody ever once again. Now it's all about me. Like I'm the one on borrowed time now. I'm the one that's going to do exactly what I want to do. yeah So it it was a real clarifying moment for me. And I can remember even you know down to the logo when we were signing the logo, you know and I'm sitting on the couch and I'm sick as a dog.
00:17:05
Speaker
And I i just remember saying to my husband, who's a ah designer, a graphic designer, like whatever we do, it's got to be in red. Why red? I'm not even a red fan. I don't even love the color red. But for some reason, like that color just spoke to my passion for the project. And I thought, stay consistent. Everything's going to be in red, you know the logo, the name, the signage.
00:17:33
Speaker
So we came up with this logo. My family helped me renovate this old blacksmith shop. Took us about six months to do it. And on December 4th, Corky Pollan from New York Magazine visited us and wrote an article that came out that week. And a few days later, we opened.
00:17:55
Speaker
And not only was I bald, but everybody in the family was bald because they all decided decided in unity, you know, we'll all shave our hands. Oh my gosh. There's a of bald people at this big opening and um you it was, we knew we had done, we knew we were on the right track. We were just like, we're in the middle of nowhere in New York and we've opened this tiny little, tiny little jewel box of a shop and It was, it was the right, it was just, everything just clicked at that moment. And when was this, sorry, when was this? This was 1999. Okay. Wow. So I finished, I finished chemo January, December 31st, 1999.
00:18:43
Speaker
And then that was it. I just put it behind me. You know, I'm like, I'm done. Amazing. Let's take a quick minute and thank our amazing sponsors. Our podcast is proudly brought to you today by Jet Creative and Urban Stems. Jet Creative is a women owned marketing firm committed to community and empowerment since 2013.
00:19:05
Speaker
Are you ready to Rebloom and build a website or start a podcast? Visit jetcreative dot.com backslash podcast to kickstart your journey. They will help you bloom in ways you never imagined. And bonus, our listeners get an exclusive discount when you mention Rebloom.
00:19:24
Speaker
And a huge thanks to Urban Stems, your go to and our go to source for fresh, gorgeous bouquets and gifts delivered coast to coast. Use Bloom Big 20 and save 20 percent on your next order. And don't forget to subscribe to this podcast and follow us on Instagram and Facebook at Rebloom podcast. Thanks to our sponsors and thanks to you for joining us today.
00:19:52
Speaker
So i I have a question about um the jewelry business because I'm sure you didn't just close that down overnight. I'm sure that was a process. I mean, that's one thing we like to talk about on this podcast is change doesn't happen overnight. And, you know, sometimes you have to do it gradually and then and kind of have a vision for where you're heading next. So what did that look like, that whole transition?
00:20:20
Speaker
I don't think I've closed the jewelry business yet. I mean, I'm still okay es is just filled with, you know, I still make jewelry. It's still a passion. It's still something I make as gifts. And, you know, I'm still selling off the notions that I bought, you know, 30 years ago in Providence. So we we actually at the shop in New York, we cut it in half and the back half became production.
00:20:45
Speaker
I held on to three or four employees and we you know we had a long standing work with anthropology at that point and Sundance and I think Peruvian and and we held on to those three clients and we we rode that out. you know We rode that out. We just thought it was almost our bread and butter that allowed us to do French General. right so yeah that That kept going, which was great.
00:21:13
Speaker
and I was slowly kind of trying to figure out the path for French general and I was, you know, I was going to France and going to the flea markets. And so we had a look going. And then one day I was walking home down, I think I was on Broome Street. And um I knew a guy named Herve that owned this French antique shop called Axe.
00:21:40
Speaker
And I used to stop in on my way home once in a while and I stopped in and he was probably smoking a cigarette and drinking a cognac. you know he He wasn't bothered with me at all. And so I was just looking around and I went downstairs and I noticed this door was open and I'd never really noticed this door before. And I kind of peeked inside and there was just this massive room filled with metal shelves and the shelves were packed, stuffed,
00:22:10
Speaker
with antique French fabric. running stairs And And I said to Urve, what the heck is going on down there in your basement? And he said, oh, you know, that's my friend Jean-Louis. He comes every couple of months and sells fabric out of the basement. And I was like, well, can I buy? Can I buy some fabric? He's like, yeah, make a pile. Jean-Louis will be here this weekend. but He'll call you. I said, okay.
00:22:37
Speaker
So I made a pile, you know, some were little scraps and some were bigger pieces. My pile was maybe, you know, a foot, a foot high, maybe a foot and a half high. Right. And I left it. And that Saturday, Jean-Louis called my home phone and he said, you know, come on in. I'm here. You know, bring your checkbook. OK. So I walked back over there and um I thought, you know, maybe it was going to be a hundred dollars.
00:23:04
Speaker
maybe 115, 20, you know, I had it in my head. right right And he said to me, all right, here's your bill. And I looked at the bill and it was $1,250. Whoa. And I was like, excuse me? What are you thinking? And he said, it's worth it. I'm like, well, I i can't afford that. And he said, that's what it is.
00:23:32
Speaker
So I had to leave. I had to like literally walk out of the store. I took a walk back home. I said to John, listen, I'm going to go spend some money. And he said, on what? And I said, on fabric? And he said, no. No. And I'm like, no, I got to do it. like i There's no option here. like I was so moved by this fabric. So a couple hours later, I went back and I ah took him a check. And I'm sure I was just sweating it out. And he could tell. And he said, don't worry. Don't worry.
00:24:01
Speaker
you've bought with your heart, you will never go wrong. With this purchase, it'll take you to places you've never imagined. I was like, what is this, magic or something? You know, I didn't know what he was talking about. ah to use that on my husband this whenever I buy something i bought with my heart honey take places yeah wow took to the shop within like two days it had sold.
00:24:31
Speaker
I went back, I bought again and again and again. And finally I was like, I gotta stop selling this stuff. you know This is like one of a kind 18th, 19th century French fabric. wow So we kind of became known down there as having this collection and we were still going to France quite a bit.
00:24:56
Speaker
um Because of the chemotherapy at my age, I was 32. I went through early menopause. So I'd be at these flea markets in France, just like sweating, having hot flashes. And a dealer said to me like, what's going on with you?
00:25:15
Speaker
you know And I said, you know I'm just hot all the time. And she said to me, here, try this. And she handed me an old, you know and probably 20th, 19th century linen sheet. And I'm like, what but is this big piece of fabric here? And she said, sleep with it tonight.
00:25:34
Speaker
And I did. And what it does, what linen, hemp, nettle do, is it wicks the moisture away from your body. And it allowed my sleep, my deep sleep, not to be woken when I was sweating, right? Oh, wow. So I went back the next day and I bought Oliver's sheets. And then that came into the shop, you know, all the linen sheets and the hemp and the nettle. And and that became what we you know, started offering at French General was textiles.
00:26:06
Speaker
Wow. So that that took us on a really nice ride. Were you selling your jewelry as well in your store or were there other types of antiques or was it really focused on?
Insights on Creativity and Resilience
00:26:19
Speaker
We sold a lot of antique jewelry, but no, the jewelry in the back was the jewelry in the back. That kind of was. okay I was selling the notions and the beads and the buttons. You know, we had big jars, like big apothecary jars filled with you know, old French mother of pearl buttons and hand blown glass beads. So I was selling the supplies, but no, I don't think I saw the jewelry in the shop. I just, ah you know, I kept them really separate. Oh, it sounds dreamy. I wish I had seen that space. Yeah. So so how long did you have the store open? So I think we did it in New York. We had the shop there for maybe four or five years. Um,
00:27:06
Speaker
went through 9-11, which was big downtown. And you know after 9-11, everybody in New York just put their arms around each other and tried to help hold each other up and tried to support businesses, which was really great for us. But it it something clicked at that point. And I thought, Sofia's about to be six or seven. And I think I'm ready to go home.
00:27:34
Speaker
Like I think I gotta go back West and just be near family for a while. So we packed up a car, we drove across the country and um I didn't know what we were gonna do and I didn't know where we were gonna land. I just thought I was ready to go. You know, we had friends in New York, great friends, but we didn't have family. And when Sophia was getting to that age where I thought she needed, you know, a grandma and grandma. Yeah, yeah.
00:28:04
Speaker
So we went to we landed in l LA. I have a great friend that lives in l LA, and he's like, here's an apartment. Stay here until you find something. We found a little bungalow in Hollywood, and we opened French General in Hollywood. Just a little Spanish house. It was kind of this funny little house with a big garden in the back. And we kind of got into um placing the antique fabric and all the old linen, hemp, and nettle sheets into homes.
00:28:33
Speaker
So we were working in the Hollywood Hills and in Hancock Park and we were doing, you know, lots of curtains with these old beautiful sheets and upholstery and, you know, bedding. And so we were really heavily, heavily into the textiles. And then one day, like 3.30 in the afternoon, these three women knocked on the door and they're like, Hey, can we come in? And I was like,
00:28:58
Speaker
You know, I've always been the reluctant shopkeeper, you know? i not So can we come in? I'm like, it's just not a good time. You said it's you know, it's 330. I gotta pick up Sophie in a minute. I'm probably having a glass of wine with my lunch. You know, I don't know. I was yeah busy. I was busy. yeah And Joanna Figueroa of Fig Tree Quilts said to me, um,
00:29:25
Speaker
Do you know who this is? and Pointing to the other two women, I'm like, no. And she's like, well, this is Cheryl and Lisa from Moda. I'm like, oh oh, still don't know who they are. You don't know who Moda is? No, I don't. I don't know who Moda is. And she said, well, you know, they're the largest manufacturer of quilting fabric. They manufacture and distribute around the world. And I'm like, fabric? What?
00:29:53
Speaker
Yeah. my ear are per bo So was like, well, come in. So they came in and they're kind of walking through the old bungalow and they, they get to the back. And when we got to the back of the shop, I had just been pulling, you know, fabric left and right. back There was a big old farm table and I just laid out this collection and I said, look at, look at how well these antique 200 250, 300 year old pieces of fabric. Look at how well they go together and look at how modern they are. You know, look at how wonderful. And they immediately just said, do you want to do a collection with us? I'm like, yes. Yes, I do. I didn't know that that's what I was waiting for, but that was it. I was in the fabric business all of a sudden, you know, and I was going to get to reproduce and design
00:30:50
Speaker
you know, fabric that I had been, you know, picking up in France for all those years. So that was, to me, that was kind of when it, so much of it started, you know. And I gave French General kind of this this grounding base. Like, now I knew what we were about.
00:31:10
Speaker
you know, now I knew what we were going to do. So we got into the quilting business. All right, Kari, I have a question because I'm a little bit of an antiques hoarder, just a tiny bit. But as you're collecting, as you're gathering these beautiful linens throughout the years,
00:31:29
Speaker
Did you stockpile some that, you know, you know, are just so special that you because, as you said, many of them were unique and rare. Like, I have a hard time letting some of those go. But did you were you doing that along the way? Absolutely.
00:31:44
Speaker
Absolutely. So, I mean, i I have books and books and books of you know swatches of every single piece of fabric I've ever bought. Now, does it have the whole repeat on it? Maybe not, because back then I wasn't thinking like that. But as I got a little more sophisticated, I realized, oh, I should make sure I save the whole repeat you know in case I want to do something with this. but No, i have um I'm looking at my collection. I mean, I have a very large collection of antique fabric, which you know some of it gets used for moda, some of it gets used for paper ideas, some of it gets used for you know the scrapbooking world. we've kind of you know We're also in the home home interior world, the home decorating world with a company called Fabric Cut. So we we use it across the board. you know It inspires me.
00:32:39
Speaker
daily and I'm constantly pulling, you know, just a small swatch, you know, and it's always on my desk, you know, just it just, you know, anything but, you know, something that's just like 300 years old is just, you know, it sits here because I know I get a lot of you know, daily inspiration and just happiness out of fabric. Delicious. So how often do you go to France? We go every year. We go every year. Like like like multiple times or? No. um So my husband is Basque. So he's from a town called San Sebastian, the northern part of Spain. So when we first met, we would go every summer for about a month. And, you know, his family is
00:33:29
Speaker
you know, they go to the beach, you know, they're up at 8am and they come home at three and then they eat for a few hours. And it just was so different for me, even though I grew up at the beach, I can't, you know, actually put my body on the beach all day long. so For years, i I tried, you know, and I burned and burned. And after about 12 years, maybe, somebody said, well, you know, France is just right there, Cari, why don't you just take the car and go to France if you're not happy? And I'm like,
00:33:59
Speaker
Perfect. I'm going to go to France for the day. So I drove all the way to Toulouse, drove back. I think John went with me, probably Sophia. Yeah, we all went. And we found this little area of France, and it's southwest France, north of Toulouse. And I thought, this is interesting. like there's Really no Americans here. It's very calm and quiet, but the culture and the food and the flea markets, they're all right here. So I i went home and started kind of thinking about this idea. And one day I said to John Sabala, I think, I think I want to buy a chateau. I think that's what I want to do next. I'm i'm going to buy a chateau.
00:34:42
Speaker
And he said, you are never going to be able to afford a Chateau. Never, ever. I'm like, I'm not? He's like, no, we can't afford a Chateau. I was like, God. Like, I thought we could. You know, I just thought we could do what we wanted. So a few weeks later, a customer came into French General and said, would you ever be interested in taking my family to France? You know, I'd like to pay you to take us to France. And I thought,
00:35:11
Speaker
Wow. isn't yeah yeah I don't want to take your family. Like I don't want to take your little two year old and your five year old. No, no, I don't want to do that.
Creative Experiences and Personal Growth
00:35:22
Speaker
So I went home again that night and said, I got it. I figured out how I'm going to like live in a chateau. I'm not going to buy it. I'm just going to rent it every summer. So for 16 years, we've rented, you know, a chateau, a very, very, very large home. And we fill it up with women.
00:35:41
Speaker
that want to go for a week to France. So we we now go for um about two and a half months every year. So we go May through the end of July, something like that, you know? That's dreamy. I do know friends who have come on your retreat. Really? Yeah. And love them and feel pampered and so well taken care of. And it's been on my dream wish bucket list. Another trip for us, Lori. Another trip. I know.
00:36:12
Speaker
So do you go to the same chateau then every every year? We had the same house for about 10 years. And then we jumped over to the house we're at now. And I think we've been there for six years, six or seven years. So now we're in one house that's north of Toulouse, about an hour north of Toulouse. So we cover that whole little area, like this this golden triangle. um You know, we go can go up to Cahore, St. Antonin.
00:36:41
Speaker
Cords are Seal, Al B. So we try not to travel more than like 40 minutes in the car each day. And we we have a good balance of like a field trip in the morning, and then we come home and we work in the studio. And we have a a um we always are often take an artist with us, and then they teach in the studio. So actually, Amy Butler is coming with us this summer for two weeks. Oh, that's great. I love her. We're finally back together because we took her it It's got to be like 10, 12 years ago, she came for a couple of weeks. and then um And so she's going to come back this summer too. so That's wonderful. evening yeah And do you hear antiquing usually during the morning? and and are you are you And in the afternoon, when you bring the creatives in, do they have to be very creative? Are you looking for for artists? Or are you looking for anyone that just wants to have a creative retreat?
00:37:38
Speaker
So, um absolutely looking for anyone that is interested in Southwest France, because even if you're not crafty or you don't want to be in the studio, it's like, take a bottle of wine and go to the pool, you know, just make it your own week. um But we find that most women, you know, even if they've never really had needle and thread in their hand, when they get into that community and into that studio that we've got in France, it's just something happens where You just all of a sudden you just feel like you are able to do maybe something that you didn't give yourself credit for before or you give yourself permission to just
00:38:19
Speaker
sit and stitch. And the studio is filled with you know old and new fabric and threads and all sorts of materials. And we really encourage people just, oh, you don't want to use needle and thread? Oh, come on. Come on over over here. What about making jewelry? That's not your thing? Oh, let's go and you know one day and we're going to do woad dine outside. So we really try to mix up the creativity or the craft so that everybody feels comfortable at their level. But there's I mean, maybe we get some really, really super creative people, but at the end of the day, it's just people that love France, I think.
00:38:58
Speaker
Yeah. And people that love to create. um That's one of the things I love about teaching is like when you're, like you said, when you're in that setting and you have concentrated time just to be creative. So, so much magic happens, I think, especially when you're in a place like France, because it's so inspiring. And just i too and the in the junking, like finding those, oh,
00:39:26
Speaker
It sounds dreamy. gives um So we love nametags. I don't know why. It's just an old throwback to, you know, teaching at retreats for so many years. So we always do nametags. But now we do them on, um well, it's jewelry, basically, you know, we do them on chains, and then we really encourage everyone. We're like,
00:39:45
Speaker
you know, find your charms, like go spend a year. Okay, don't spend more than five, you know, just try to fill up your necklace and have fun. And then at the end of the week, okay, let's all, you know, tell your story. Like, what did you find? And how did, how did this week, you know, we always like to know how people got there. And then when they When they leave, you know, what did you get out of this week and what, what are you taking home with you? So it's fun. We do it, you know, every week for seven, seven weeks. So, um, each group comes for one week at a time. So it's amazing. Um, it's interesting cause each week the, it shifts. The group is a little different, you know, there's a different focus. The artist is different. Um,
00:40:33
Speaker
This year we have Amy for two weeks and then a woman named Mart who owns a business called Queen Marie. ah hu I don't even know her. I've never even met her. I just fell in love with her work on Instagram and I wrote her and said, do you want to come to France for a couple of weeks? That's not a bad email to get. Yeah. One of these days I have to FaceTime with her though and just actually meet her so that.
00:40:58
Speaker
You know, I'll recognize her when she gets to France. That's wonderful. That's amazing. And I'm sure too, Kari, like when the women come or the gentlemen or whoever's coming to these retreats, it must be a huge gift to you when you see them just bloom. I mean, that's one of the things that Lori and I have talked about privately and with others too, is that when you go to these retreats, I think people often arrive a little nervous, maybe a little apprehensive, and then you see that magical switch. And then it's like, oh, and it's what a gift. What a gift that you're giving to, you're helping them to re-bloom. Definitely.
00:41:40
Speaker
So it seems to me that you have these aha moments or epiphanies or feelings throughout your journey that you are not afraid to act upon like you know picking up and moving cross-country and opening up a store in New York when you're going through chemo, like you feel like, to me, you seem like a pretty fearless person. So would you have advice for people that might not be quite as fearless as as you are? And am I reading you right? Are you fearless or? Yeah, and i I don't know where it comes from. I i honestly don't. I mean, I have to
00:42:24
Speaker
hope it comes from my mom and dad, who were both incredibly independent pioneers. You know, they married in Wisconsin and then packed up their life and came to Southern California because they, you know, wanted a better life or a warmer, my mom wanted a warmer life. And um and I think, I mean, all of my brothers and sisters, all five of us are are like that. And i so i've I've got to assume it comes from my mom and dad.
00:42:54
Speaker
but every one of them lives creatively every day and independently and really has pursued their craft, which, um I mean, we're somehow we got lucky, you know, we got, um yeah I mean, I always tell people like it's not, there's a couple pieces of advice that I really have stuck with me throughout the years, ah one being,
00:43:20
Speaker
um from Ira Glass. So he's a an American writer and a radio host. And I believe he call he calls it The Gap, or also known as The Taste Gap. And it's about how, you know, we get into this business, this creativity business, because we have this amazing taste. And we all think, you know, well, we've got this amazing taste. So I've got to be creative. But then we start to do the work. And in fact,
00:43:49
Speaker
our work isn't as good as our taste. And so there's this there's this gap between you know what we can actually produce and make and then what is in our head, you know the taste level we have. And he says that many people give up when when when they find this gap. That's it. you know They just throw in the towel. But it's the people that that keep at it and keep working and know and know that the more work they put into it, they'll close that gap. And so I actually, I mean, I keep it, I keep it on my my desk, because he talks about how closing this gap will eventually, you know, it's it's what your ambition is, you know, it's to close the gap. And say in one of them he said,
00:44:41
Speaker
He says, it is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. um And he ends it with saying, I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I've ever met. It's going to take a while. It's normal to take a while. You've just got to fight your way through it.
Innovation and Future Plans
00:45:00
Speaker
So oftentimes, when I you know will meet somebody at a retreat or at market, and they'll show me their work, you know and they'll say,
00:45:10
Speaker
it's It's this, but I wanted to do this. I'm like, just keep doing it. Just keep doing it. Do it every day. Do a little bit every day. Because I think it's those of us that really put the time in and do the work that actually see it you know at the end of at the end of the day, at the end of the year, or whenever it is.
00:45:30
Speaker
Oh, my gosh, this is so I'm loving this because it is true. I mean, I keep at it every day. I've created my whole life. But you're right. Like sometimes I'll have a vision in my head. And when I try to execute at the end result is not what I had in my head. So this is giving me hope that the more and more and more I work, I'm going to close that gap. I love this. Totally. Yeah. um Do you know the um Do you know Karita Kent, Sister Karita Kent? Yes, yes, yes. So you know she, um she way back when when she was the head of the art department at Immaculate Heart College, she did a list of rules, the art rules. I think there's 10 rules, but number seven is the only rule is work. And she says, if you work, if you work, it will lead to something.
00:46:22
Speaker
It's the people who do all of the work, all of the time, who eventually catch on to things. So between those two, you know, Ira and Karida, you know, I really, I kind of, I heard that early on when I was building French, both of that those bits, when I was building French General. And I think, you know, my dad's work ethic was, it's already ingrained in there and it was just something that,
00:46:51
Speaker
I understood early early on, you know, do that. I understand that too. And, you know, when I'm teaching often people, not all of the people that attend, but some will say, well, I'm not an artist or I'm not creative. And I always say, well, I'm not a saxophone player, but if I had the passion for it and I wanted to put the time into practice and learn,
00:47:15
Speaker
I could be and so I often say you know there's this weird thing that people think you're either an artist and you're creative or you're not and it's somehow born into you and they don't attribute it to hard work and practice.
00:47:32
Speaker
Well, and Lori and I have talked about that a lot because my I'm a photographer and so I love to be created creative with my camera. I love to be creative in different ways. So my head will think something, but my hand doesn't isn't necessarily trained to do things. And it's not that it can't be, but I do find my creative outlet through my photography. And that's the thing, it's finding that path where you can be creative that you that both brings you joy and is, and it's, I don't want to use the word successful, but that you can feel success because it's, and for myself, I mean, I tried all kinds of things and and i am I am creative, but I'm ah very differently creative, creatively than Gloria's, but we're both creative.
00:48:22
Speaker
And your creative car. It's what we all have our creative passions and it's just being authentic to who that is and just letting yourself explore it and find it. And that's what we hope our listeners will do, is just not say no. And it's the interesting thing that I love that we've heard often too, is yes, you're courageous, but also you didn't say, you didn't let, no, you just kept going. You're like, okay, I'm going to do this. Okay. i'm going And you said yes to that next development. And that's huge. That's huge. Absolutely, absolutely. yeah i um In France this summer, somebody said, oh, you know next summer, everybody should be in a you know in a French general pair of pajamas. And I was like, yeah, yeah, they should. So when I got home from France, I wrote to a company in India. And I said, listen, I want to make pajamas. Are you are you up for this? I got a map of India on my desk, a book of India crafts, and a pair of pajamas. And it's like, um'm I'm still at that point where it's like,
00:49:21
Speaker
whatever pops up or whatever ideas you know that people have, I'm like, yeah, why can't we make pajamas? you know That sounds like something fun to do. Why not? Yeah. So I think it's there's also that bit of just not not getting bored. you know and always Because once you get bored, I think then that slows down that you know that daily work habit. And so I work really hard on just what's new, what, what else can we do? Even if it's not necessarily, I don't know, I don't, I'm not the best financial person. You know, I don't think that way. I have someone that works for me named Mogul who's like my right arm.
00:50:06
Speaker
She thinks of that, you know, she adds up the numbers and it really frees me up to say All right. Well, where are we gonna go next? exactly Hey, if we're gonna go to Mexico, maybe we should do a retreat in Mexico. That sounds good to me so me We go through this constant, you know ah having lunch or whatever it is, you know where we sit and just kind of brainstorm and think of you know, how can French general How can we be different than everybody else? What can we do that makes us stand out a little bit? Are you still designing for Moda to this day? 16 years of Moda. Wow. People can find French General online. Do you have a brick and mortar still? That you tell people to leave at 3.30. We still have a brick and mortar.
00:51:02
Speaker
We are only, so it's in Los Angeles, it's right near Dodger Stadium on Riverside Drive, but we are only open for special occasions. that's a year Once a year, we were just open last weekend for our holiday party and workshops. So we'll have artists come in from you know from England or you know New York or work you know people come in from all over and then we'll do like a two or three day workshop.
00:51:28
Speaker
in person with them. And then if they can't come in, then we do online workshops and we just do it through Zoom. So once um the pandemic kind of kicked in,
00:51:40
Speaker
We had to really, you know, how are we going to do our workshops? So they all went online, which ahhu everybody loved because all of a sudden women in Florida, you know, could take our workshops.
Conclusion and Encouragement
00:51:52
Speaker
But I say in the last year, we've now gotten back into in-person workshops in the brick and mortar shop, which is downtown, well, not downtown L.A., but on the east side of L.A. Yeah. So I live north of L.A. in a little town called Fillmore. Tiny little agriculture town. So we go down there about once a week, you know, and have fun at the shop. Nice. Love it. Love it. Where all your teachers, are they fabric based? What they're teaching, is it textile oriented? All over, like lots of dyeing. We do weaving. We do block printing. um
00:52:31
Speaker
mixed media, you know, it it can be really it's. It's, we have a big space. So we have one, two, three, four, five, six, you know, six foot, eight foot tables. So we can seat about 30 students. Oh, wow. It's, it's all different, all different, you know, I mean, I love it when they, you know, come in and say, Oh, I want to use French general paper, or French general fabric. So I'm like, yes, here, use it up. We've got to keep using up all these supplies. But, um,
00:53:03
Speaker
it's all yeah its It kind of runs all over, which is which is nice. We started a project 10 years ago now. So we um we collect fabric for the Navajo Nation. So we often get big donations of fabric and sewing supplies. wow We push all that out to the Navajo Nation to the um um almost like the community centers where the others can go and then learn to quilt and build community out there so that people can almost start their own business, you know. um We've got a wonderful partner named Susan Hudson
00:53:46
Speaker
So yeah, we get all sorts of people that come through the shop. They either come to donate fabric or they come to take workshops. um no That's amazing. yeah just come me what' that amy told me Amy mentioned the Navajo Nation project, so I'm glad you brought that up. but's yeah it's it's That's I think almost 10 years old and it's it's been great. It's been great to see how um quilters and sewers in the Navajo Nation just took on the initiative of saying, great, yeah yeah you know, here's 20 pounds of fabric. Let's get it out there and get it to the elders and let them start quilting again and making things that will keep their family warm. So that's fabulous. That's been a fun project. That is fabulous. yeah Well, Kara, you have been a delight. What an incredible journey you have been on.
00:54:40
Speaker
ah Our listeners, this is going to be just, I i know they're going to love listening to this your story as much as we've enjoyed being with you today, so thank you so much. That's pretty dreamy. like yeah every Every piece of it. yeah Very, very dreamy. what ah What a lovely life. I now know how I can pitch a chateau in France to my husband now. Brilliant, brilliant. yeah Well, thank you so much. Thank you for joining us. And to our to our wonderful listeners, Peace Love and Re Blue. Life is too short not to follow your passions. So go out there and let your heart plant you where you are meant to be and grow your joy.
00:55:26
Speaker
We will be right here sharing more incredible stories of reinvention with you. Make sure to subscribe to our podcast so you never miss an episode of Rebloom. Until next time, I'm Jamie Jamison. And I'm Lori Siebert. Peace, love, and Rebloom, dear friends.