One of the things that I've always done as one of the brand founders and faces of the brand would literally just like talk to our community, ask them questions, listen to what they want because at the end of the day that's what will differentiate us you know between all these other brands because brands can replicate your product, brands can replicate you know your philosophy but brands can't replicate us as founders so making sure that we're still at the forefront of you know that communication. This is Starved to Storefront, the podcast where we inspire entrepreneurship through truth. Today's guest is Taylor Frankel, co-founder of the beauty brand Nude Sticks. Together with her mom and her younger sister, the three women sought to create a company that would cater to the subtle looks and on-the-go application that today's consumer demands. Though Taylor is still in her 20s, she has been in the game for quite some time now and speaks with the wisdom and maturity of someone far beyond her years. Taylor's mom Jenny has worked in the cosmetics industry for over 20 years and would always enlist her daughter's help in packing boxes or filling orders. In some ways they were all running a family business long before they found a Nude Sticks so it only makes sense that they would eventually make it official and put their combined talents to work. So listen in is we have everything from the challenges of being taken seriously as a young head of company, why trust and communication are two of the most crucial traits to have as a leader and how to adjust marketing strategies alongside the ever-changing social media landscape. Now back to the episode. Welcome to the podcast on today's show. We're talking to Taylor with Nude Sticks. Thanks so much for joining. Thank you for having me. I'm very excited. You have a beautiful space. Thank you. Thank you for coming. For people who don't know what is Nude Sticks? So Nude Sticks is a makeup company now skincare so we have both worlds. Nude Sticks is really about creating beauty products for the modern-day woman today. We call her the woman who has a career, who has a home, who has a family, who wants products that are easy to use, effortless and really just enhance her natural beauty. So I would say I'm kind of like that ideal Nude Sticks customer who is like that anti-makeup makeup essentially. So even back in the day for me, I wanted to use products that really just enhanced what I already had. I didn't want products that masked my beauty, my natural beauty, whatever you want to call it. So that's essentially what Nude Sticks is and we have a collection of products for your entire face. We're in over 850, almost a thousand points of distribution globally. We work with retailers from Sephora, Ulta, Nordstroms, Macy's. Let's go to the beginning. So what made you want to start the company? And you started with the company with your mom and your sister? Yes. So it's a family business. We've talked to couples that have been founders, but never someone with their parent. Yes, it's very interesting. So yeah, take us to the beginning of the company. What made you guys want to launch? So we launched about eight years ago. I was 17 years old and my sister was 14. My mom, Jenny, she's a chemical engineer as we discussed earlier, the brass ring. And she's been developing cosmetics for over 20 years. So she actually started her career at Mac Cosmetics. So one of the leading beauty brands of our generation and she developed many, many products for them. So from the Pro Foundation, I'm not too sure if you're familiar with any of their products. We're not, but it's okay. That's okay. If anyone's listening and knows Mac and some of their cult products, and then in the year 2000, she developed another beauty brand called Cover FX, which she actually started in our basement when my sister and I were literally both in diapers. So you can say that my sister and I were both beauty babies. We literally grew up in the industry. I remember when I was, you know, five or six years old, my mom would call it sticker time and we would be in the basement and we'd be packing labels. We would be putting labels on products and every single day off that we would have, you know, in my entire childhood, my mom was of the mindset of, you know, why do you need a day off? Like if we had days off at school, she's like, well, what are you going to do? Watch TV all day? No, no, you're going to come to the warehouse, you're going to pack boxes, you're going to help, you know, going to help us at work. So we've always been very inspired and around entrepreneurial, you know, parents, both my mom and my dad were both entrepreneurs.  And when you just take it at that, it seems like a very daunting undertaking to start a company then. But when you put it into perspective of, oh, well, we've been doing stuff like this most of our lives on all of our days off, it really helps to see how that train of thought ended up coming around to, well, might as well start a company because it's the next logical progression in what we've already been doing. I mean, was there a conversation that had to take place between your family before you guys took this massive step? Like, had you thought about the ramifications of completing school while starting a company? Yes.  And in high school, when we launched Newt Sticks, we obviously did not know where Newt Sticks would take us. For us, it was really this passion, I wouldn't necessarily call it a project, but we had a passion for this brand. And we were really following my mother's leadership when it came to just business acumen and launching a brand and visiting new markets. And at 17 years old, I was just excited to be a part of something that was very exciting and meeting with press and influencers and meeting with retailers and sitting with executives and building a brand. But I had no intention or even foresight to see, you know, where this brand would take me. So I was actually balancing both school and Newt Sticks at the time. I was in university in Toronto. I was at business school studying actually business management. And after a year and a half, I actually decided to, I call it my sabbatical, but it's been about five years now. So let's talk about that. So as you're in business school, but you're literally running a business on the side, was your mind like, this is so dumb? Or were you like, oh, this is kind of useful? No, like, yeah, it was dumb, right? It was, it was, and I listened to business school while starting a company. And I had the same feeling. I was like, this is so strange. I'm like, I'm not learning anything about business. We took organizational behavior. And I was like, Oh my God, don't get me started about organizational behavior. Okay. So OB and I was like, this is maybe, I don't know. I was like, this is not how I plan to run a business. It just felt very antiquated, which makes sense, right? So typically education will follow innovation. And so it's never ahead of it. It's always behind it. Yes. It was very frustrating. It was very frustrating. And one of the things that really, really frustrated me was my business school wasn't very flexible when it came to my schedule while I was launching a business. So that was really the reason why I decided to take a sabbatical slash break slash dropout of my school and really focus on nude sticks full time. And like you said, launching a business comes with so many sacrifices and hurdles and really, really teaches you how to manage, how to lead, how to work with so many different personalities. You come across so many problems and really identifying how to solve problems quickly, right? And I feel like a lot of business schools or what I was learning back then also wasn't adapting or pivoting to how the market was changing, right? Like social media had a huge influence on business and how to market your business, whether it was influencers, like, you know, you had no idea in business school, like what even influencer marketing was and especially in the beauty world. It's so critical. And even when it comes to, you know, launching new markets, right? You know, you're meeting with so many different people and cultures and, you know, you're really having to adapt based on where you're traveling to. So yeah, I think the experience of launching a business was, you know, an experience that and something you would never necessarily learn in a classroom. Would you call it like that non makeup makeup? Like that's kind of the angle you're going for where it's meant for people to look at. Does that also mean it takes less time to get ready or to get your, I sound so dumb. No, no, no. That was, you know, most men wouldn't even know no makeup makeup. So I'm glad that you brought that up. Okay. That was the whole angle from the beginning. So I guess for anyone listening who isn't familiar with the beauty industry or, you know, doesn't follow beauty, eight years ago, really all you saw in the industry, if you were to flip through a magazine or if you're watching a YouTube video was really about like this more is more artistry, which meant more color, more coverage. Maybe it was a one hour tutorial on how to create the perfect smokey eye, lots of Photoshop. Like think about even like the Kim K. makeup of eight years ago, right? Very, very glamorous. And my sister and I, you know, had this vision of who's wearing this every day.  Like most women are doing their makeup on the go, like on their way to work.  And I don't know about you. I mean, men who, you know, maybe don't wear makeup or, you know, have the luxury of rolling out of bed and putting some water in their hair, right? I'm jealous. I'm very, very jealous. But most women, you know, we want a little bit just to make us feel a little bit more confident every morning.  There's a new documentary, Hillary, about Hillary Clinton. Okay. And there's a part of it where it's basically showing you what a woman goes through when running a campaign of any kind and what a man goes through. And in that, she's like, I'm judged based on my outfits. I'm judged based on this. She's like, also, she tallied up, I guess, how many days she had spent just getting her makeup done. And it was 25 days over the course of the campaign. And she's like, a man doesn't have to do that. And she's like, I'm starting from a point where I have to do this for what? Who am I appeasing? What am I really doing? Why does this matter? Why is this everything that people talk about in the press? And, you know, her whole team, they were just like, this is just something that we have to do. But it's almost like she was creating awareness about women's rights and, you know, really moving that forward. But at the end of the day, she was still being bashed by any decision she made. 100%. And it's funny because even if you watch these documentaries on women getting ready throughout the years, right? So if you see women getting ready in the 20s and then the 30s and then the 40s, right? Each decade, I think women have definitely obviously progressed so much over the years and how, you know, what our beauty routine looks like. But I even remember my grandmother, right? Like she would never, never wear a bare face in front of my grandfather.  And when she woke up, she looked flawless. I actually don't even remember my grandmother not wearing a lipstick or, you know, eye shadow. Her hair until the age of 89 was always perfect.  It's really about what makes you feel good. And that was kind of our vision, right? Like what you said, no makeup makeup. It's like, you know, we want to obviously feel good and maybe men have the same type of routine, but in different ways. Maybe it's, you know, I'm going to use a certain cleanser that makes me feel good in the morning. When you were launching at the beginning and you needed to get these influencers on board, right? Because at the end of the day, like social media is what hits today. Was it difficult? Was it like when you pitched them on your concept and they were so used to seeing all these like a lot of makeup, essentially, was it hard for them to understand it? Or were they on board? Did they see it right away? Yeah. Well, it's interesting because I think you mentioned earlier, like when you wear no makeup makeup, does that mean it takes more time? And in some ways, you know, it's not necessarily that it takes more time, but it does take a little bit more even expertise and thoughtfulness when it comes to the products you use, the textures and the tones. So it also comes down to a science in a way, right? Because we're developing shades that are really suitable for all skin tones and really matching your skin tone and your undertone. So, you know, someone like myself who's more of like a fair to light skin does have more pink to my skin tone. So what type of neutrals do I need that just enhances what I have versus someone who's a medium skin tone versus someone who's, you know, of a deep skin tone? So there was a lot of education because we're not masking. We're not just like throwing on full coverage or like throwing on color that, you know, creating this canvas. It's really about creating product that will just melt into the skin to look like you. And I remember going to retailers, my mom would like meet with Sephora and these big retailers and she'd say, okay, I have this concept. It's less is more makeup, right? It's like less product, less time. And they said, well, what do you mean? That's not going to sell product. We want to sell more. Like that was why there is this whole trend about more is more makeup because we want to get as many products on our customers face as possible. So it was difficult at first. Did you guys raise capital or did you bootstrap at the beginning? So in the beginning, we did bootstrap, you know, it's a family owned business. So both my parents did invest quite a bit personally. And then we did ask a few of our friends who are in business and we're supportive of our brand ideation and just vision and invest in the brand as well.  Now we have, you know, had multiple kind of rounds of investment and work with a private equity group as well. But the family still owns majority of the business. And what was that like for you guys when you decided to finance and go away from bootstrapping and what was the barrier that you hit where you were just like, okay, if we're going to continue to grow this, this is the next step. Like what was that like for you? Well, it was actually very challenging because so my mom, she sold her previous company to private equity and she had a very, very negative experience because they sold majority, but she was still involved in the business. And so she had absolutely gave herself a job pretty much. Yeah. And she slowly, you know, she left out of it was her decision, but it was not, I would say it was an easy decision for her. And I don't think it was something that she initially wanted to do. So she was always of the mindset, especially with her two, you know, daughters involved. She said, I am never going to do that again. You know, if, if we lose majority, we're selling the business. So when we continue, they should teach you that in business. They should, right? I know. It's one of the things that I feel like, especially whenever I do panels, like business panels, talking about, you know, how to raise money and like how to even work with investors and, you know, brands who are looking to invest because you also want the right investors on board. It's not just about people throwing money at you. And we've always been of the mindset. It's like the last thing you want to do is raise money when you're desperate, right? Because then you're like, I'll just take money from anyone, anybody versus, you know, for us over the, over the years, we've worked with people who we've genuinely have good relationship with who have the mindset of, you know, they still want the founders to, to lead and, and to have majority and have our best interests in mind. It's good that you were able to maintain control because I think that's a very important lesson that your, your mom learned. And then you guys were able to take a lot of tidbits of information from that so that you didn't have to repeat the same mistakes. It's also a freedom thing. Like entrepreneurs in general, I think, like if I got asked to stay around at a company, it would be prison because I don't have that. I don't have it where I need it. Like if I have to report to somebody or attend a board meeting or put together a PDF or a bunch of people aren't going to read it like that, that's not me.  I don't want it. That's me though. That's like a me thing.  And now you've given yourself a boss, but it's common. A lot of people make that mistake. Do you guys ever get flack?  Yeah, I feel like when we, especially when we first launched the brand, and listen, I was 17 years old. So I was in my 11th year of high school. I obviously had very little idea how to launch a business or how to launch a brand. I was very passionate and knew new sticks so well because that was essentially our baby. But I wasn't going to pretend like I launched this business all by myself because that's just not the case, right? I'm so lucky that my mom was able to take our vision and bring it to life with her knowledge of business and her expertise in product development. And I think a lot of young women or even men who are looking to start a business at a very young age, one of the things that I definitely learned over time is firstly, it's so important to have a mentor who can really help you lead and help you make really difficult decisions. I think as a young leader as well, you encounter things like whether it's employees who aren't working out and building a team. I would say building a team is one of the most difficult things you can do just because when you're first in hyper growth mode, you're just filling roles, right? You're not as conscious or as picky when it comes to the level of quality or the quality of people.  I need someone in the seat right now to just execute. As we've grown, we've been able to actually hire quality people who are very aligned with our brand as well. And I think that's also created a really nice environment to work in. And also being a young leader, it's really hard for people to take you seriously, right? Like if you're sitting in board meetings or if you're sitting with retailers, I always called it this kind of imposter syndrome back in the day because I'd be 17 years old and I'd be sitting in a board meeting or with retailers and I'd have to put on my hat and say, okay, we're going to fake it till we make it and kind of have this almost blind confidence in a way, which obviously now is not as much the case, but it's definitely talented. Do you still deal with that or no? Or less? I would say I definitely still have a little bit of imposter syndrome, especially when I travel and I kind of have to put on my hat when I'm working with influencers or even doing things like this. And I'm like, okay, I'm in business mode. I'm in nudes ticks mode versus when I go home. I feel like when I'm with my friends, I'm a little bit of a different person. So yeah, definitely have that for sure. The way I look at it is like, it doesn't matter what you're doing in business or who you're with or even how you got started because you had to do a lot of things right to remain and to be where your company is today. Because I have businesses or friends on all spectrums of this where it's like some started from nothing. Some have parents that have literally paved the way. And in this, it's interesting how it's like we judge these humans, but we shouldn't because the fact that they're still in business five, six, seven years later is a testimony to their ability to remain in business. And it's not easy, right? And so you're talking about a lot of the things that you've learned, and it's like, that's what it takes. And it doesn't matter where you start. It really has nothing to do with it. It's not like one is worse than the other has everything to do with, do you stay? Well, it's funny that you said that because I used to feel very self-conscious if that's the right word because of the way the brand started, right? Because my mom was such a pivotal player and still is to this day of brand growth. And so I've always felt almost indebted to that and maybe not as confident in my position because maybe I never felt like I truly earned this, right? You know, I think a lot of entrepreneurs, you know, if they do start something or maybe have money upfront or didn't start from nothing, right?  Like I don't technically earn, you know, this role or this position or where I am today because maybe I didn't work as hard as someone who had built this brand or a business from the ground up. I just say good. I'm like good. Yeah. Like Gary Vee, right? He has like his parents had the wine company. For him to be where he is now, like no one even knows the wine. Who cares about the wine company, you know?  It'll go, it goes away over time. Yeah.  But you know what I mean? And so it's almost like, yeah, you got to lean into it a little bit, I think. Yeah. And with that, as we grew personally, all of these new tasks would come along and I'd feel the need to absorb them onto my plate. And Diego has constantly reminded me to delegate, you know, like don't, don't take it all in for yourself. Nick's still learning how to do it. I'm still learning very much so. But like, you know, as our podcast has grown and we've expanded our team, I feel like our roles at both times become more defined. And also you might have to pivot and take on new tasks that we're not there in the future. Like with you and the progression from 17 to where you are now, do you feel like your role has gotten more defined and you're able to more delegate things that, that maybe you shouldn't be doing or that other people are perhaps better at? You know, how do you view that progression? Yeah, I know, I think it's really hard, especially as a brand owner, a brand founder to delegate because, you know, I think we're always in the mind, we're very independent people. And when you do build a brand and, you know, it started with you and maybe one other person, you're very used to doing things on your own. And sometimes definitely have the mentality of, oh, if I just did this myself, it would just get done that much faster. But you've built your team for a reason and you've, you know, surround yourself with amazing people. You need to kind of trust, you need to trust them. And also when you trust your team, you know, they feel more confident in their role as well. And also guiding them. Like I think that's also one of the most difficult parts about leadership is firstly, like trusting your team and communicating. I've had issues communicating as well. And that's also why I wasn't able to delegate as much because I maybe didn't even know what I needed. But when you have a clear idea of like, this is exactly what I need and I need you to bring this to life, then they're also that much more confident and clear and then can execute those things moving forward. So the first conversations always, I think the most difficult. And then after that, you know, you just have to trust that you've hired well and that they're going to do their job well. It's hard. Yeah. All this is hitting home. Let's talk about music. So as you think about 2021, 2022 post COVID, you mentioned everything going remote. Are you guys leaning more into branding with influencers? What is it that's like top of mind for you when it comes to marketing and building your brand? It's funny. I actually just had a podcast earlier today, kind of about the shift in influencer marketing and in social media. Because eight years ago when we launched Nudestix, Instagram was really just starting out. And we were one of the first brands to really just use Instagram as a marketing vehicle. As most brands were either using classic traditional advertorials, so in magazine, billboards, or we're on Facebook. So Instagram pretty much is what Facebook was eight years ago to what TikTok is today. Right? So when we first launched, Instagram was this free platform. It was very authentic, organic, easy to build relationships with influencers because influencers were just looking to build relationships with brands. They're like, oh, I just want to get free product and get exposure and build my following. Now it's a pay to play kind of industry. So it is definitely getting difficult and more expensive, especially with paid ads and SEO. It's getting a lot more competitive. So we're being a little bit more challenged and having to pivot. And I'm only 25 years old and now we're pivoting to TikTok, which we launched in the beginning of COVID when TikTok had its moment. And now I'm asking my sister and her friends, what are the trends on TikTok? Who are these Gen Z influencers that you're following? Which is so strange to me because eight years ago, I was telling people what to do on Instagram as a millennial. So yeah, it's definitely become an interesting time and having to shift our comfort zone. And also when it comes to influencers just being very, very conscious of who we're using and very strategic and who's used the brand before. How authentic is this? Because at the end of the day, it's so saturated and influencers are using new products, having new brand deals every day. Their audience also can see right through it. So it's just finding ways to work with influencers in an authentic way and also kind of change the platforms that we're using. Is the competition like pretty fierce in the beauty world or is it something like where there's space for everyone? It is very fierce for sure. I think what makeup is today is what fragrance was like 10 years ago where every single celebrity is launching a makeup brand. And actually I remember even in fragrance when that happened, a lot of luxurious and prestige fragrance houses lost integrity. The whole industry I think lost integrity and I think it's really difficult right now to compete with makeup brands that have these insane celebrities and influencers attached to them because their following is just so influential. So we're really having to do a lot of grassroots campaigning and really just go back to connecting with our consumer again. One of the things that I've always done as one of the brand founders and faces of the brand would literally just talk to our community, ask them questions, listen to what they want because at the end of the day that's what will differentiate us between all these other brands because brands can replicate your product, brands can replicate your philosophy, but brands can't replicate us as founders. So making sure that we're still at the forefront of that communication. How do you guys do that? How do you guys build community? So we have a few ways. I'm like, well, let me tell you. So firstly through social, right? Like I will create content for our community, whether that's through like stories or lives or responding to DMs. We just recently did a pop-up in LA on Melrose and we invited our community to come and shop Newt Sticks, IRL and really kind of give- You didn't go pop up here? You could have done it right here. I know. Now I know that you guys have a storefront here. Next time. Exactly. All right, so you do a bunch of events. Yeah. So events, we also have just like exclusive kind of like virtual experiences for our community. Even over COVID, we were very quick to kind of like adapt to this new virtual lifestyle. So it was like hosting virtual events and, you know, with exclusive like with makeup artist and with influencers and hosting like meet and greets. And during when COVID first hit, I know everyone was kind of like exhausted of all the lives that were going on, but I did a live like every day because I knew my customers were just like sitting at home and maybe, you know, dealing with anxiety or stress or, you know, maybe out of work. So I did like a live for an hour a day just to kind of talk to everybody. Did like wellness virtual events. So like things like that where it's more holistic than just makeup. Do you know, I think Iris Palmer is her name? Yeah. Given how closely she is with the Kardashians, is it easy for her to get to work with other brands? Like, does she do that or does she just stay loyal to this family? Well, it's interesting because like we've worked with celebrity makeup artist and stylist that do work with the Kardashians. And I think for them, like they're so used to being behind the scenes that it is difficult to work with brands or kind of now be this face or this influence. But no, we definitely work with, you know, those types of people just because they do have that credibility because they do work with like these, you know. We're speaking to her in a few weeks. Oh, are you? Nice. For the bright, we do this live session. And I'm like, I'm always curious about that. You know, it's like, do they have to remain in their lane or are they open to working with whatever is happening in the beauty industry? Because in some ways they have to do that. In some ways they have to remain sort of on top of it all. But I don't know, sometimes their loyalty keeps them sort of bucketed to certain products. Yeah. I mean, I think it depends on who you work for. I know that a celebrity artist that we used to work with, her name is Mary Phillips, and she's the makeup artist for like Kim and Kendall. Now she does a lot of J-Lo, but she'd never had an exclusivity with anything. Like she can use any product she wanted to. And I do know that based on conversations I've heard and people I've talked to, the Kardashians are like very good at like allowing you to kind of like work with brands. And obviously like these artists are still very supportive of them, but they also, you know, have their own independent career. Here's a very LA story for you. So we lived in this building two years ago. And I would always see this like really small woman like just in a black hoodie outside, basically at my window.  Okay. And it was Kim Kardashian. And like Kanye would drop her off some days. She would come in and I would be like, I think this is like, I'd be on, I'd be outside.  So I'd be outside like sunbathing essentially. And she'd be like right there, right where you are. And I was like, I think this is Kim Kardashian. So weird. Nobody like no bodyguards, no paparazzi just getting out of a car. There was a guy, I'm pretty sure it was Kanye dropped off a couple times. And then her mom came the second time. And it was like every Tuesday she was doing this thing. And what I would notice is she would leave and was decked out when she would leave after maybe three hours, like full wardrobe, full makeup. And they're all of a sudden be paparazzi now. Right. And so they would be capturing her as she was leaving. And then like after two months, she came out with esthetician. And so it was like giving her the press. Same thing. And it was like, what is happening? It was like the weirdest thing. Well, you know, they call and alert them. This is the time that you want to be there. They don't tell them when they arrive. I learned that. I was like, oh, this isn't really, they're not really being followed that much at all, actually. Well, if you think about it, like how would the paparazzi find them? I mean, I'm not sure where you live. But they make a way too. Like they would be, it was the weirdest thing where the paparazzi would be out there for an hour or an hour and a half just waiting. I used to work at a production company. It was the same production company that did the Kardashians. And so they had this interview building. And it was always like, you knew when the Kardashians were also filming there because like an hour beforehand, the paparazzi would start lining up across the street. And it was always this like, I don't know if it was like a written rule or unwritten, but they would have to stay across the street and could not cross until the Kardashians got there. And even then it was like this big pomp and circumstance event where Kendall or Kim or Chris would pull up in whatever nice car that they were in. This was when I think Tyga was also involved in that family. So he would pull up as well. And then all of a sudden the paparazzi would swarm across the street. But it was always like they got out of that car. It was probably after leaving the esthetician.  It was this big event for them. I cannot imagine having to get that done up every single day. Like to be photographed. It's exhausting. Like I feel for them in a way. I also will say like seeing her without makeup quite the transformation. I was like, oh my God, if people saw you. Yeah. That's why the paparazzi aren't there at the beginning. Right. And that's why she's wearing her hoodie. I mean, we talked about so far, like the progression of makeup trends in the country and back from, you know, your grandmother's day in age. And even now, like the, you know, Hillary Clinton taking 25 days of makeup, Kim taking three hours to do her makeup. Where do you see the industry trending towards in the future? Like where do you see the shifts coming? Because you talked about even eight years ago. What do you want it to go? Yeah. As someone who's literally, to some extent, you have influence. You can kind of control. Yeah. Well, it's interesting because, well, I think COVID has accelerated this, but minimalism in all aspects of life. Right.  Are you familiar with Mary Condo? Yeah. Yeah. Keep whatever sparks joy.  It could be beauty. It can be furniture, fashion, people. I'm just kidding. Hey, that's true. It can be people. Yeah. It can be people. It's easy. So I think that the trend of minimalism is here to stay. Just because, you know, especially with COVID, I think we've identified what aspects of life are important and what we really, truly need. I would say that, you know, there's so many trends that come and go. There's so many trends that are recycled over the years and also come back. Like think about, you know, right now we're having a huge surge in Y2K trends, right? So early 2000s are all coming back right now, whether it's like low waisted jeans, really thin brows, lip liner, like all of that is coming back. And I'm like, not mad about it, but I'm also kind of mad about it because the Gen Z community is only bringing back like the really good trends of early 2000, not like the layers of clothing. Like, I don't know if you watched any of the red carpet, like of like early 2000s, but like a lot of these celebrities would wear like 10 layers of clothes. They would wear like a t-shirt and then the tank top on top. And then they'd wear like shorts and a skirt on top. It was kind of insane. For me, what I would love to see moving forward is really that and really this like the beauty community really adopting the whole concept of like less is more and really enhancing what they have and feeling good and feeling confident in their natural beauty. And I also kind of see a trend towards men, male cosmetics as well. I think we're all seeing a few, you know, celebrity, male celebrities from Pharrell who just launched skincare. And then you have, I think like A-Rod is launching like men cosmetics shortly. Yeah, A-Rod getting into the beauty world. Listen, every single person, sorry. Will you guys get into the men's skincare world or the men beauty world? So, Newt Styx is fairly gender neutral, but I know to most men it's not the case. And it's interesting because my boyfriend and I talk about this a lot because, you know, whether it's because he wants to cover up a pimple or he always talks about how intimidating it is to walk into a beauty retailer.  But I do think that there will be a shift towards men wearing makeup, but there needs to be a brand that makes it feel really masculine. So I kind of picture like a Jason Momoa as the ambassador. Specimen. Interesting. Yeah. Specimen. My wife was just with him, oddly enough. Really? My wife went to the premiere of 007. Wow. And she was like, I'm here with Jason Momoa. She's like, wow. Wow, just wow. That's it. You're like, thank you very much. Pretty crazy. Yeah. Yeah, I was like, that's his specimen. Did it make you want to start hitting the gym? No, no. He's like, if I were next one, I'd be like, wow. Yeah. Like it's like, I don't have that. I don't have that. I'm just like, you are an amazing looking human. Yeah. That's interesting.  And I didn't think anything of it. I was like, thanks. That was very helpful of you. But if I didn't have the sister. I did not. And I can tell you that I did not have that access. She was older and it wasn't like a choice thing. She would just do it. I wasn't like, hey, can you help me? It was like, you're not going to school like that. I was like, oh, thanks. As you have or are talking to the private equity firms, what is on like, what are the metrics for growth now? Is it more stores? Like what are the things that you guys are leaning into? Yeah. So I would say, obviously it's having a diverse distribution is really important. So for us, we have a variety of retailers globally. So in the US, we have Sephora, Alta, Macy's, Bloomingdale's. In Europe, we have multiple retailers as well from like large department stores like Selfridges to, you know, Douglas. Great store. Great store. It's my favorite retailer in the world. And, you know, a few, you know, new retailers in Canada as well, Shoppers Drug Mart, which is one of our biggest retailers. Shoppers Drug Mart. Yes. Interesting. Shoppers Drug Mart. Doesn't sound that cool. It does not. No, it's, it's really not that cool. It's, but it's convenient. You know, people like convenient. Maybe that's like our CVS. It is kind of, it is actually exactly like your CVS, but they have more of a prestige beauty boutique as well. Good. So they have both. It's a little bit more of an elevated CVS. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, but similar to a CVS because it has the pharmacy. So more distribution. More distribution, really looking to our digital business. So this year has been the year of digital growth. So we just, we're actually relaunching our own Ecom site, nudesticks.com in a month from now. So we've been spending the past six months redesigning our entire site. We're redesigning our affiliate program or redesigning our loyalty program as well. So really honing in on our own community, right?  So increasing our subscriber base, increasing our database. Do you guys text your customers? We do. You do. We have SMS. We obviously have like your, you know, traditional, like email subscription as well. You see, you have a monthly subscription that they can sign up for where they just get shipped products or whatever they might need. We don't, but that's also something that we want to get into just because it's a really great way for us to look at SKUs that are maybe selling as fast as our core SKUs and kind of create this like loss leader subscription box, right? Where it's like $10 a month, you get like five to 10 products and it's maybe it's a surprise. Maybe there's a theme to it similar to, you know, boxes that exist today, whether it's ipsy or birch box or this birch box still exists. I don't know. I don't think so. So yeah, that's kind of what's really important, I think, to brands and I think brands that, you know, will be very interested in nude sticks are brands that also do have a really big digital footprint because they're going to be very interested in our distribution because we do exist in over 30 countries globally. And so that's like, there's so much opportunity outside of North America. Is there anything about your customers that have surprised you? I think the most surprising thing was when we're launching new markets. So one of my favorite things to do was to travel, whether it was India or Southeast Asia or, you know, Australia or Europe. And I would meet with our customers and it doesn't matter where you are in the world. They would say the exact same thing to us. They would say, I'm a mom. I love nudes sticks because it's easy and fast and it makes me feel like the best version of myself.  And I think that's very rare because not only does it transcend generations, but it also transcends where you are in the world and where you live and culturally, right? Because the culture here, you know, in the West is very different than the East. And the fact that, you know, the woman is so similar globally is also, it's really nice, especially since, you know, on the news, I mean, the past few years, like, all they talk about is how different we all are, right? But as, and I know it's, it's beauty and it's makeup and it's not serious, right? Or as serious. But when you have a community of people globally that have this same ideology and, and love the brand for similar reasons, it really just goes to show how similar, you know, as people we are. So that's one of my, my favorite things. I would think it would also help reaffirm that's your market. That's what you're solving for. And there's a universality to it. Like you said, it transcends class, location, all that good stuff. And I would think help you narrow and hone in on where you're trying to take the company and how you can reach more people with that same message going forward. Yeah, exactly. And just the importance of, you know, I think there's so many brands over the past year that have had to pivot and like have really altered the way they speak to their customer is because of trend or because of where the world is going. But something we've been able to do is be really, really consistent with our messaging and philosophy so that we're not alienating our customer or we're the same, you know, brand and we have the same philosophy as we did eight years ago. So I think that's really important and also contributes to sustaining yourself as a brand. Well, thanks for coming on the podcast. Well, thank you for having me. Tell everyone where they can find you. Oh, you can find us at sephoranewtsticks.com. Thanks, Taylor. Well, thanks, Taylor. Appreciate it. Thank you.


Demons are spectacular matchmakers They take this person with these Soul wounds and this person with these soul wounds. They don't match and then they cause them to fall in love, huh and Then it goes well for a few weeks, and then guess what happens hell comes to breakfast and we get what a Divorce how do people survive soul wounds? Well, let's check it out. They develop with the help of demons defense mechanisms Demons help you develop a defense mechanism. This is the person's mind protecting their soul and They develop these defense mechanisms many times unconscious subconsciously. They don't know they're doing it Well that that would be Freud's term an alter ego, but I don't like to quote him too much. He was a coke head But anyway Here's the definition


Hi, welcome. First of all, welcome. Playwrights, actors, designers, and assorted other random people who happen to be here for lunch. My name is Andrea Lange, and I'm a faculty member in the English and Humanities Departments at Metro Community College, and it is my pleasure to converse this afternoon with our honored playwright, Kia Corthruyne. So welcome. Thank you.  I told Kia, I said I like tend to be kind of an overachiever when I do these things. And so I like write excessive amounts of questions. And then I have to sort of dial it back. So I will be dialing it back to allow you to ask your own questions. So but I will get I will get this started. And and then I'll open it up in a little bit here. OK, so Kia, the first thing is just and I'm just kind of starting here and then I think maybe we'll work backwards. But so you won the 2014 Wyndham Campbell Literature Prize, which was kind of awesome. You know, I you make your living primarily as a playwright, right? So I mean solely that way, not no extra other sort of gig. So what what what does winning something like that that particular kind of prize? What kind of impact does it have on your life like personally and professionally? Huge because because it was a in my case, it was well, it was a it's a huge monetary award. And in my case, yes, I I have made my living primarily as a playwright, which has meant the last couple of years, particularly has been kind of in poverty. So so I mean, like, seriously, I've been like living on savings from previous years. So it actually is a huge impact that I won't have to worry about homelessness for a while. That's that's always good. That's about homelessness. Do you do you think that that it has become I was going to ask this question later, but seems like a good place now, do you think it's become harder for playwrights to make a living in theater? Like in the last few years, I don't know. I I do feel that I feel like careers go through different periods. And so I I don't know that it's definitely been hard for me. I don't know that all playwrights would say that. But sure, if it's getting harder or if some it feels like there are less agents, I think there are, actually. And that seems to indicate that there are less opportunities. I don't know. That's it. Maybe some of you will speak to that when we open it up, see what your experience of it. So I know that you identify yourself as a political playwright. And start with an issue. And I've been immersing myself in your in all things Kia lately. So here. So I so I made like this kind of like short list of themes that I that I saw in your work.  So OK, so here's a few of them. So one. So and I'll I won't give you the long list. But I was like, well, obviously, racial inequality, the one that interested me. I mean, they all interested me was environmental racism. And I don't know. I think that interested me in particular because I teach at an urban community college campus. And a lot of the issues that I've seen in your plays are things that I hear about from my students. So and I and like when I'm you know, like lead poisoning, for example, that is an issue that has come up multiple times. Medication of poor children to keep them in line definitely has come up. Infant mortality, all of those, I think, of sort of environmental racism. Some of the other things income income inequality. I think casual attitudes towards violence, domestic violence, violence in general. Certainly the perils of poverty, all of these things are tied together. I'm just kind of separating them for and I also thought about economic policies that hurt the poor, I saw a lot. And even those are sometimes well-meaning policies that ultimately end up sort of not working and ties to history. Like what are the repercussions of history and in effect, ineffectual rehabilitation efforts. So those are just some of the things I saw. I'm sure that I just, you know, I'm going vague because I'm thinking which play is that and I can't remember if you said the play would be able to be clearer about it. Well, God, I don't even know if I could do that at this point. I've read so many things, I think they're all I was just like kind of taking notes like this is my cheat sheet notes. And veterans and I mean all kinds of things. So so my question was, did you start out since you start out with this issue, you know, there's like always like a political issue. And then it involves, I always think, when I was reading your plays into something larger, you know, more about just humanity in general. But did you start out with a conscious goal of being, you know, a political playwright or did that just kind of evolve from your interests and experiences? Yeah, it's more of the second.  And I remember actually I went to grad school at Columbia and the head of the program there once he was just sort of talking to the whole group. And he and he was just sort of yack, yack, talking of Versailles. And he said, and Kia is the political artist. And then he was just sort of saying that he went on and was talking about other students. And I remember that was the first time I realized that I was any anomaly because I guess I mean, it's not that the other students were writing political. I just thought, oh, these are their practice plays before they write the political place because for me, that's because it's so charges me in in what I read. It's the the impetus, the start of everything that I guess I just assumed that was for everybody. And so and so it wasn't a conscious thing. It's just that's that's where my drive comes from. When do you think that that I mean, do you feel like you were always aware of of sort of what's going on in the world and about politics and about issues that are often controversial when you're growing up? Or do you think you just develop it since you're clearly, you know, that's what, you know, that's what drives your work. That's what feeds it. What do you feel like you that started earlier in your life or did or was it just as you went to when you left Maryland and or left your small town that you were in and then went to college?  And whether you're conscious of it or not, I mean, it's just so much about oppression is so much there. And so it's something you live with and are I don't that you're aware of it in any sort of intellectual, sociopolitical way, but you're aware of that's the way the world is. And then. And you're also aware that there's something wrong with it. But but then when you grow up, you can sort of more so clarify and actually not even grown up, you know, along the way, what exactly that is and what can be done at least towards addressing it. Does that answer that question? Yeah, yeah, actually. So OK, so that was that actually leads beautifully to a question I had about about a couple of two related questions. First of all, do you think that it is considered? Do you think that there is a stigma attached to being a political writer? First of all, and also in second, and I don't know if it's it's a related question in my mind, it is. But like how how do audiences react?  What are you hoping happens as a result of that? The first question, I mean, I think there definitely is, which is why I always say I'm a political artist. I mean, it's important for me to own that.  And then the idea that the true art transcends the political and I see what she bae, you know, the Nigerian writer who thinks he's fall apart. Apparently it's attributed a quote to him.  I kind of love that. But yeah, I mean, and it's funny because I always say what I write is not adjit prop. And I don't say that as. As any sort of disparaging remark about agitation propaganda, I actually many years ago was briefly with this group of artists. They were mostly this visual artists and the group is called art slash work. And it was about artists, activists, and they would do things like they'd gone to different parts of the world, like some of them were older, sort of during the issues in Latin America. I'm sorry, Central America, Nicaragua and El Salvador in the 80s.  And and that stuff is really it as art, you know, and that's in an art piece. And that stuff is really immediate and really important. It just doesn't happen to be what I do, which is I think rather than going on a completely heady way, which is this is what we must do is that it comes in more of an emotional place and connecting with the characters.  Which isn't to say there isn't head stuff because I'm always having like lots of information. I do lots of research for every play, but the connection should be more emotional and I it's a big thing for me that I do not stand on the fence. So I also for me anyway, I don't think I think there are certain people that they will they feel it's important to just balance both sides. For me, what's important is the truth and and sometimes which means that if you bring up both sides, one of them may come to the top. And also, I do have opinions, so political opinions. So a play of mine called Life by Asphyxiation, which takes place on death row. I never ever say in it there should be no death penalty. But if the audience leaves the theater and doesn't know that's what I thought, then then I failed because there's it's in that case, it's a man who's been on death row for 31 years. He's about to be killed. And this teenage girl who was the the person he raped and murdered, the reason why he's in there keeps coming back to haunt him, whether she's a ghost or in his head, that's for the audience to decide. It was important to me, first of all, to make it a heinous crime because I think it's easy to be anti death penalty for the innocent. Of course, you know, but but what about when it's somebody guilty? So it was important for me to go to that place. He isn't the same person he was then, but he did it at that time. And and there's a part where she says to him towards the end when she's talking about the fact that he's about to die, murder. Once it happens, once it happens to you, you don't wish it on nobody else. And so that's, you know, through her. And I should say, when I when I wrote that, I'm going too much on one question. No, you're fine. It's I also always wanted to write a play with with Nat Turner and Crazy Horse. So I had this character on death row, but also Nat Turner was in the other cell and Crazy Horse and another. And then I had and they were all in death row and I had it was then I had to do it. There were different reasons for that. I had to make it a shorter, shorter version. And so so Crazy Horse got cut, but then he came back later in a longer version. But but then I realized I mean, I was running it pretty quickly. And at that time, I also wanted to address the death penalty. So I just combined them in the same play. And and then it occurred to me that something was missing. And I realized it was the victim's point of view. And so by it, she's so important. And it was actually in bringing her into the play.  And she likes to taunt him and I sort of make it in a weird, playful way that it's almost like because he feels terribly guilty that it's like he's the kid that she can always do whatever she wants to with. And then there are moments when her pain comes through. But but by doing that and showing that other side, I came to a truth which again, whether or not you leave the theater feeling differently, you certainly will know where I came from. And the second answer, the second answer, the second question.  The second one is much shorter because I have a pat answer because I always say because you said what I would like the audience to leave is I always say that if at least one person leaves the theater feeling a little differently than they came in and thinking a little differently than I feel that I've been successful. And I should say that a zillion years ago I read I read because it just came up Theater of the Oppressed and how I mean what it was billion years ago. And I don't remember much of it, but the one thing that really stayed. I mean, it really affected me at the time. I just don't remember for good so long ago. But one thing that really stayed with me was the idea that with political theater, if what you write is so devastating that at the end, all the audience can do was just leave and throw up their hands and despair. Then you haven't really done anything because then people will say, well, there's nothing to be done. This is just too terrible. And the whole point is to hopefully to get that person who might do something. I'll say one really quick thing besides that. Which is which is I I got this commission grant years ago. The Guthrie Theater picked nine American playwrights.  So I went to Liberia as they were transitioning out of their civil war.  There were bullet holes everywhere. It was but for the people there, it was I mean, there was still some stuff going on because with no electricity, nobody in the bush knew that the war was supposed to be over that the UN came in. So there was some activity still going on. But for the most part, people felt that it was over. But for the most part, people were also very depressed because there was no money. There should have been and that's a US issue. But I won't go on that beat right now. But because of stuff that we owe them and that's a whole other thing. But so the whole country, the whole infrastructure is completely destroyed and there's empty pockets all around. So there was this. Depression, I mean, relief that there were guns everywhere anymore, but depression at the same time. So the thing is about that the giving that I say about giving hope. Yes, I always have to give up the thing about with that because it cannot be forced. It can't be a forced happy ending. It has to be truthful. It has to be true. And I felt this might be the one time I can't do it. Even though I promised myself after in the end of the press, I would always have this hope that I may not be able to do it. And I wasn't going to lie. So so I wrote it and I wrote it and it started back in the 19th century with. You know, it's a whole long story, but US Americans, Black Americans colonizing. It started out with a white group. It's a whole other thing, but free blacks colonizing Liberia. And it goes the couple of the 19th century. And then it comes to the present with the combatants and a whole other thing and how that goes down anyway, going through that whole history. And I kind of wrote the first draft in order. And I didn't know what was going to happen where it was going to go. It actually is probably the end is probably the most hopeful inspiring ending I've ever written because it just sort of going through that history of black people from Africa who came to here and then went back and back to people who'd always been Africa and how that somehow the survival of that it actually became really inspiring. This huge, I don't know if I would call it a happy, but you know, a very, very, very inspiring ending. It was happy. I'm glad you brought that up. That was actually one of my questions, and I read Splash Hatch and Breath Boom, which I loved, well, I loved both of them. And I was thinking about Pree's, like the finals. I don't want to be all spoiler alert on you if you haven't read it, by the way, but Pree's journey at the end, you know, like that we're on this journey. And you talked about the tough characters, and I think a lot of the characters, especially the women in your play, seem to be very, they're very tough people, they're survivors. And I was thinking, you know, it's hard to read Hope in there, but yeah, you can see it. But there was something else about that play that I wanted to talk about besides the hope, the kind of glimmer that you get at the end. And sometimes that's all, it seems like it's just a glimmer. It's a glimmer, and it can go either way, but it leaves the door open. It's the very last word. Yeah, but one of the things that struck me when I was reading that play is that idea of magic and about how, and not just in that play, though, but how, for Pree, that is her dreaming about designing and, you know, fireworks, right? And for time when I read Splash Hatch, it seemed like magic for her was the knowledge that she got out of books about how dangerous and toxic the world, our physical world, can be, right? So there, and that those were like different kinds of magic that kind of sustained the characters in these very difficult situations. So my question is, what is your magic, would you say? I love fireworks, too, but I've never designed them. Do you mean my inspiration? Yeah, well, it could be anything, you know, what do you think is, for you, what is, what would you consider magic?  Yeah, fireworks. I know, that's what I think. Right? I didn't, you know, it's interesting, this is a cultural thing. But that actually partly is because I love fireworks. And and in New York, the Fourth of July, it's like millions of people. I mean, like two million or something seed. It's like, you have to be there early for hours.  But but and that's why I gave it to her because I wanted her to have something joyful and that's what was joyful to me. But this is a little beside the point, but I was first done in London and I had to teach them to like the cast of like the fireworks because this is an interesting thing. They're their association. They were talking about, oh, it's so cold. And I was like, cold. And it's because with them, it's Guy Fawkes Day, which is in November when they have it and their fireworks all over. And so it's funny because that was one of the cultural things I am that I had to teach them. Can I can I say an interesting anecdote? Another cultural thing there's a part. This is yeah, there's a part in the play because it's about the leader of a girl's gang and other girls and gangs. And and it takes place. I mean, I wrote it in the 90s. It's sort of the the height of the the crack explosion. And and there's a part in prison. The girls prison when they're having this counseling session and there's a girl who is from Texas and talks about or was originally from Texas, her family moved there. But she talks about because there are in certain places, usually in certain cities like New York and L.A. Girl gang members can be unspeakably violent in other smaller cities and often more sort of Midwest cities. The violence perpetrated on them by the boys gangs is unspeakable because it's sort of they're they're boy toys. And in this case, she says this whole game. She talks about when her sister loved to play games and she loved to get boxcars double sixes because it was lucky. And blah, blah, blah, she could always win. And but when she had to be initiated into the boys gang, I mean, I'm starting to the gang, but it was through the boys that she was initiated into it. She said she threw boxcars. But this time it wasn't so lucky. Biggest boy was engine smallest boy caboose. So I so gang rape was the was the initiation. I when I did it in Lund, which was the first one, and I remember the first production and the actress did it so beautifully because it all comes clear depending on how much the actress puts into the pain of it. And I remember both the director and the and the actress, they just didn't think the audience would get it.  So the director sort of went off was doing something else. And I was through it by myself a second.  And they never heard of that. And I realized I wasn't even conscious of that, but that's part of our culture that you need that reference for that to make any sense. And so I had to write it very literally for that case and then brought it back to that language when I brought it back to the U.S. All right, so I'm okay. It's like you're reading my mind here with this question. So one of my questions was, and again, when I was reading is you have a really unique voice. Like your language is very, and if you're not familiar with the work, you'll see that tonight, but that it's really unique. It's almost like there's a, I don't know. Well, I thought of it as kind of like a music almost. There's like a rhythm to it. And where did that come from? Like where did that idea originate for that? I mean, and also is what are the challenges with actors with that? Does there any rules or anything you tell them when they're learning that language? Because it is very unique. They tend to inherently get it on audition or they don't. It's kind of in there. And part of it is I just play around with language because I mean from scene to scene and moment to moment and word to word, I just want to surprise the audience. I don't want them to know what's coming. So I play that way. Part of it I think is I've lived in New York, mostly Harlem since 1988, but I grew up in this hick small town in the Maryland and the valley of the Appalachians. You could walk to us Virginia. So part of it I think is like Kia. It's a half-hick and half really urban and sort of all comes together or something. It does. It was just interesting the way it was punctuated too. Like that was, you know. Yeah, it's the way I hear it. Yeah, it was really, really cool. All right, well I, and again, I have like so frighteningly many questions, but I know that you would like to answer, ask some questions as well. So I'm gonna open it up to the audience. I would like to think that always happens unless it's completely solved because I mean, and I don't know how much it's a conscious thing because it is true that once I've written about something, I mean it is interesting because I wrote a novel and they're four main characters a couple of years ago and one of them is a lawyer and it so happens I've written two full length play since then and both of them have lawyers in them. So I think there's something about that information that really stayed with me. I tend to keep coming back to characters in prison. So I think there's something about that that draws me, not consciously, but I tend to keep coming back to that whether it's women's prison or men's prison or this was teenagers in Breath Boom and so I've written a couple of plays that dealt with the environment splash hatch on the E going down was one and another is a cool dip in the Baron Saharan Crick which is about water issues and so it is the environment but in a different way so yeah, I guess there are certain things that I come back to but not in a conscious way. I feel like I'm done with it for now. I'll come back in a different way sometimes later if it hasn't been fixed, which is unfortunately usually true. Questions? You're so quiet. We're just covering so much ground. Anybody? Nothing? Oh, there we go. There was a couple. Amy? Well, yeah, I always do start with a lot of research and then I come up with the characters and actually what I'm trying to think is maybe if I can go through a specific process. Okay, my play that's the newest play which is called Sling Shot and deals with tort law which is lawsuits and which, so you know my point of view from the very beginning is that it is one of the few places left where a little person can be against a big corporation and if all things, right, they should be on an even level. There's been this whole thing of tort law reform which is really about corporations trying to act as if these little people, so these big corporations are really just, they're the greedy evil ones, right? So the play, because there has been reforms in the play is addressing how important it is that we need to get that back because it's originally in the Constitution that we should have that right. And so there, it's actually one of my corkier plays. Some of it, and some of it is kind of very riddly real. So I have, I went through a lot of cases. I came up with a case that was interesting to me of a person who was in this lift. He was a, I forgot what his job was, but he was a working class person. I think it was a painter in a building and there was supposed to be something propped to lock it into place, but they did not have that with the machinery, I mean, the mechanism, so he fell. He did not, he did survive, but I sort of went from there because it wasn't necessarily that I wanted to take the, I wanted to be inspired by the case, but I didn't have to go through all those, all the details. So for example, then I made decisions that actually, it would be, I think much more horrible if he didn't die, but that if he was, I have, he's 22 and that he was this very strong athletic boy, and now he's in a wheelchair and can barely speak, but I actually thought that's more powerful. So that was a decision I made. Then I made a decision that the lawyer, who's a woman, is actually usually a corporate lawyer, but she's doing this pro bono, and she thinks what she does, which is basically gentrifying neighborhoods, has nothing to do with this and how this sort of comes together, so that's her journey. The other person's actually the father of the boys, sort of the two of them, but then it gets, I have like these quirky things. I was, I went online and I was looking for just some corporate lawyer stuff, and I found this show, it's like a local cable access show out of Brooklyn, and it's got this black man, and it's all about urban professionals, and it had this lawyer on there, this black lawyer, and it's to encourage people that are upwardly, upscale black people, right? And it had this lawyer, and he really was, I mean, this is actually what inspired that I had her be this gentrification lawyer, because it was really interesting watching him, because he was very tense, but the guy who was the host of the show was just happy to have these professionals on, and I remember he would say things, which were really like inciting, which the guy never questioned. Like, you know, he sort of said, well, sometimes when there's a place, I have it written down all the technical language, I forget it all, but that can be, that's, gotta kick it the words right, that he was saying something about, basically this neighborhood can be moved for a shopping center or an upscale building, that sometimes it's good if the people there that may have to move, that if the person coming to talk to them kind of looks like them. So it's like, it was like this completely inside, which they never, so I wrote these kind of weirdly quirky things with this guy, and the show I made was called Urban Upward, and so it becomes this humorous thing that keeps coming back, but it's actually the way the lawyer is sort of dealing with these questions, and the thing is that he's never challenging her, but it may strangely makes her challenge herself, because she starts to really think about what she's saying, and then I had this other weird thing where it's actually a commercial, which is much like the reform commercials where it's sort of, like they do these things like, like fire fighters who say, if only they didn't sue us, we'd be able to come and put out those fires, but we're just, they literally had these commercials, so I threw in a commercial, but did that answer it at all, Amy? I mean, it was just, it was my most recent place, I just thought I was kind of fresh on my process on that. Yeah, and the end is, you know, when you get to the end, it's not so funny, but the, but I think sometimes it actually becomes richer that way because it becomes ludicrous, and then suddenly it's not at all, and where it goes with that, so. Connie. Hey, Connie. You have a sister who's also a little late. Yes. But I have just two children who are both playwrights, so I just want to hear a little bit about her siblings. Yeah, that's sweet. Well, I have one sister, I have two sisters. One is Kim, who was 15 months older than I, and Kara, the playwright who was 16 years younger than I, by the same parents, and this was in Western Maryland, my parents are no longer living, and my father worked in a paper mill, he planned the shipments for them, and because it was very much, well it was kind of a booming factory town and like the paper mill and that, by the time I came along, it was a depressed town, and that's one of the few places where people could work. I actually didn't really think about how much they overworked him, and my father actually went to college at, oh God, I can't believe I'm going blank, it's in Baltimore, it begins within AM, at that time it was like an all black college, and because things were still segregated then, and he didn't finish, he married my mother when he was three years, after three years, so he didn't finish, and for that reason actually, which I didn't know until after he died, suddenly, of an aneurysm, that for that reason, because he hadn't gone that last year, he worked all those years, and all these white men, he would train them and then they would become his boss, and he would do their work when they were on vacation, but they said, well, you don't have the degree, and so my mother was a, she was a homemaker, actually when I was very little, she was a nurse's aide, and I think before then, she had done, worked as a maid in like hotels and things like that. She was a very good sketch artist, but she just became a mom, so she never really pursued that, and my older sister had a bunch of kids and stayed there, and we're not very close at all, and my baby sister grew up and became a playwright. And yeah, it was a small town, you could walk to West Virginia, you'd let the West Virginia cousins, and actually tonight, there will be, I'm reading like three pieces, the last one I will bring in my Cumberland dialect, you'll hear the way I talk to growing up. It's kind of hard to do now, but I'll be able to do that. Okay, so we're about out of time, I wanted to ask you one final question, so we have a lot of young and emerging playwrights in the audience, and what advice can you leave them with today? And one of the tenants of the conference is that when we give feedback, we know we don't allow anybody to rewrite your play, we know that, but what other kind of advice could you give them, or something hopeful? We have to end on a hopeful note. I guess I mean to keep writing what you're passionate about, and to stay with that, and not to get drawn away from it, despite whether you're getting the productions, or if you're getting this commission, or that to keep with it, because that's going to be the best work that you'll be doing, and eventually, it'll, in one way or the other, it's going to pay off to be writing for your heart, and not for anybody else. Kia, thank you so much for talking to us today. Come see our work tonight, and the work of some many fine artists in the North Omaha community.


We're gonna focus today on a trend short hair, little bit messy, kind of a mop top. Today we're gonna focus on the wet mop and the difference in that, I'm gonna go a little bit longer with the sides and just make it a little more shaggy. So we're gonna start off sectioning and in the sectioning I wanna keep it very simple. I don't like to over section anything.  Gonna work from about middle of the eyebrow here. That's where I'm gonna start my U shape. I'm gonna work a U through the crown in the back. I'm able to take that section so simple because I already combed everything in that direction. So you really wanna make sure that you work around the head and comb the hair in that direction first. So I've got the hair flowing in that direction. I go right from that mid crown and I work my way around. Not perfect, but it's okay. So this one right above the eyebrow, I'm actually gonna clean that up just a little bit. Like that. And then come over to this side. And this side is too low. You need to go to the middle of the eyebrow. So I just continue my line through the middle of the eyebrow. Up. Oh, that's pretty good. So I twist that away and clip it. And honestly, that could be the only sectioning you do for this cut. Just separating top and bottom. I don't even have to really separate front and back because I'm gonna be working a round shape all the way around the head. We're going to be doing it clipper over comb. I really love working clipper over comb. It's just a faster way to work and we're gonna work off of the face.  All right, so I got babyless clipper. Here, I'm going to go all the way closed with the clipper so it's as close to the comb as possible. So I want the clipper to go directly against the comb and flat on the comb. So just like this, you can see the little bevel here of how the blade kind of works in. So when I say flat, I don't mean this part. I mean flat this part, okay? So not flat this part, flat this part. And work it across the comb just like that. So in and out should glide right across. So now combing the hair towards the face, at the ear, scoop this hair up and I'm gonna work towards the face, running my clipper along the comb. So I scoop it back up, scoop it. And a lot of this, I might just try to get some of the bulk off first, then go through and really define what I want that shape to look like. Same thing here. So comb the hair forward, basically separating where I want to scoop and part. I scoop and work down the hair shaft. And I'll leave some of this fringier hair around the edges to mess around with later. Do the same thing on the opposite side.  I should plug it in. When you plug in your blow dryer, you get a much better result. So I blow dry this around his head, work it towards the front. And this isn't for the end style guys, this is for the haircut, because I'm gonna re-wet it because we're going for a wet mop top for the haircut portion because I can already see where the weight builds up a little bit there. I wanna dry it. We just did a quick rough clip over comb, just remove some weight and now I really wanna fine tune it, okay? So let me go through. And I'm doing the same thing. So we're cutting forward towards the face, but now we're just fine tuning all the little bits that maybe we missed in the wet cut. And this fringier hair up front, I'm gonna go scissor a detail work on that. Now I'm working horizontal on the back, align everything up, give it a nice shape back here. Still thinking of this as a line, I'm working horizontal here, but my line looks like this, coming straight up from the head. You can see the head shape peels away right here. As I work, watch, cut, cut. My comb comes out to the same spot as I work. And then naturally, because of the line that I'm creating, starts to work even more away from the head because the head starts to peel away in the crown. So the head's starting to move. I'm coming straight up still, because this is my line, right? So this hair gets longer and showcases the head shape. So we build up a little bit of weight and showcase that. This edge here all has a little bit of weight because that's where the curve is. That's okay, you want that weight, but I just, I wanna take out a little bit of bulk without actually elevating it anymore. So I'll work diagonal into the hair, just like this, all the way around. Take some of that weight out. I'm just working, the weight line was all through here, so that's where I'm sliding in at a diagonal. I'm just removing some of that weight. I'll do a little point cutting in the crown. This, I'm gonna bring back to life. Let me work the sideburns real quick and I'll go, I'm just gonna go right onto this sideburn and go a little closer to the head. You could even comb up this hair that I don't want to work into it and put a Velcro clip. Velcro clips are awesome. So then that way I'm only working on the little area that I wanna work on. Exposes the ear just a little bit. Then I take that out and I've still got that texture over top of it, but nice cleaned up area. This from Deco. Port it, lift it and then you slide the Velcro clip in, holds the hair. Now, we'll let out the top. It'll already start to get a little mop top-ish. I'm gonna go scissor here. I also feel like I would go tri-raiser too, but I don't wanna over complicate this cut with using too many tools today. Center point is in the calic. So I comb everything around that calic in the direction that it's going to be worn. And we are going to work high shape sections in the back. So this is one. When we go two, when we go three, when we go four to halfway, when we go two, three, four to halfway, that's the back. All of that is traveling and we're working our way around. So what I'll do is I'll take section one. I connected to the underneath part of what we cut previously and I cut that. Then I take section one and I bring it over to section two. When I grab section two, I comb section one to section two and I cut that there. Then I drop section one off back at its house, right? I bring section two over to section three's house. That, cut it. Then I drop section two off at its house, bring three to four's house, right? We cut it there. That's how we're gonna work through this whole entire back section of the cut. Vertical section, section one, tying it in to section two and I'm going to use point cutting to give myself a little bit of texture. Section one is going to be brought over to section two. That, point cut, drop section one off. Section three, comb it out, bring two over top of three, cut it point cut to back where it lives and finish off section four. Same thing on the opposite side. I'm going to cut over top of my fingers though for this one. So section one, combing over to section two. Top is simple. I wanna keep a lot of this length and I wanna keep most of the length in the middle of this haircut. So what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna, if you imagine, taking a parting along the top and bringing everything over to this point and you should be able to see if you take a little bit less, I'm gonna take a little less so you can really get an idea of what I'm talking about. We're gonna work our stationary guide here but look through here. See how you see a little bit thicker? Right here, you can see that line underneath. That's where you're gonna cut it. I'm gonna work and remember this line is gonna continue like this, not like this and it's working away from the head shape. You'll get your length. You need that length for it to be the mop top. So think about that. As you go in the cut, you want that length in the front here. So I take another section across and what's happening now as I'm moving up the head, taking hair from further away and bringing it further away from where it lives to cut it. So what's that gonna do? It's going to create length so that longest point is now working its way to the other side. The same thing on this side, guys. Click or bring it over, see your guide underneath, point cut and work that line. You'll see all that length that we get. What I notice that most kids are looking for is they want it to be not in their eyes. They want it to be just above it. I like to go with the wet cut and they're gonna kind of wear it wet. So don't pull too much tension down. Just come into it, light tension. I'm using wide teeth of the comb and then I just kind of go a little bit to the eye and then I'll lift up a little bit and I'll just start point cutting into it right across the bridge of the nose because no matter what, if I hold that in my hand, it's still pulled flat. You can see how flat it is right there. When I start to kind of mess this up a little bit and add that little bit, this is what they do. They kind of rough their hair up, work through it, scrunch it a little bit. They'll even take their hand and kind of just mess into it a little bit. So then you can see where it starts to rest, right? Starts to rest above the eye. So you have to like take that into consideration because if you don't, all of a sudden their hair is gonna be too short. So one product I'm really loving for this wet look, Maverick Grooming Cream. This product is perfect for this look, whether you are going to wear it dry or you're going to wear it wet. If you put it in your wet hair, you're gonna get more of a wet look. If you put it in your dry hair, it'll just give you a little bit of a textured look. Work that into my hands. We're gonna work that, scrunch it into the hair. Let me show you the whole result.