I wanna talk about this,
the first book event that you're
having, and it's in Houston.
What are you feeling right
now? So excited.
I mean, it's just first of all,
you know, I came to Houston
when I was 16 years old.
I graduated from Klein High School.
So this is part of my DNA.
The city, the people here I love so much.
It was my first introduction to Texas,
where it became my forever home.
So it felt right to be able
to do this here tonight,
getting the book into people's hands.
What kind of emotions are you going through?
Knowing that today people will walk out and
be able to read that book tonight, it's
so exciting and scary at the same
time because it was such a process.
It's a very vulnerable book.
I'm very open and honest within the book.
And so with all those emotions,
it's like handing off a baby to the world.
But I'm so excited and I I really
am hopeful that it brings people
a lot of hope and inspiration
in their own lives. Your story
does have so many lessons I
think people can draw from.
They may not all be universally applicable.
But when I wanted to start with
was understanding your focus
and seeing opportunities because
I know you had the hat box.
Yes. And instead of the hats
flying off the shelves,
it was it was the earrings,
right. You know, I think
sometimes when we start something,
we have one vision of like,
this is what it's supposed to be and
the answer to our future could be right
in front of us and we don't see it.
And in my case, it wasn't hands was
the future, it was actually jewelry.
But it took me going through that
five years and learning so much
about retail that that failure.
And I talk about it a lot.
A book of failing forward.
I needed that experience to be able to
build the successful company I have today.
So when we're going through those moments,
it's really hard.
But I promise on the other side of it,
it's your bridge to get you to the
next most amazing place you're headed.
Failure
can really wreck a person's confidence,
their self esteem.
You've talked before about how
that first story you took your
earrings to rejected you and
you had to learn and and coach
yourself through that rejection.
What would you say to other
folks who are dealing with
with something similar today?
You know, I got asked in
an interview yesterday,
how many Nos to yeses did you get?
And I laughed. I said probably 1000 to one.
To be quite honest, I got so many knows,
but part of that was learning
to accept no in a different way.
So if you look at no, it's on in the mirror.
And for me it was a way to just
get the conversation started.
At least now we were communicating.
So if someone said no, I'd say, well,
what didn't you like about my collection?
Could I have made something different?
What are you looking for?
It gave me an opportunity to learn and grow,
and the next season went back to
them hearing and listening to what
they wanted and many times was
able to turn that no into a yes.
So if we start to think about nose
as the first step to a possible yes,
it's going to change the way
we deal with them.
You
also are looking from yeses,
from the people who believe in you,
they finding your champions.
And I know you've had a few
of those in your career,
especially the GAL who gave you
the loan to really get going.
Can you talk about how important
having a support network like that is?
You know, I always say just keep
people around you that see your
light even when you may not see it,
because there's going to be times,
there's peaks and there's valleys,
and when you're going through those valleys,
having a core group of friends,
great mentors and for me,
my amazing Kendra Scott family.
And we were always there to help us
reignite that light inside of us.
And so it's incredibly, incredibly important.
And I also think for so many people,
just having the acknowledgement that
someone believes in them, so they,
you know, getting a loan here in
Texas from a female president,
she believed in me.
And that belief gave me belief in myself.
So it's so powerful,
those interactions that we have.
Your mom.
One thing that you've said in
the past that really stuck with
me is that that just because
you're a mom and you're working,
that doesn't make you less than,
like, you're so much more.
You know, I'm a mom first.
Before I was a founder of a
company and CEO and designer.
I'm a mom and I've created an
environment where you can have a great
career and you can have a family too.
We shouldn't have to choose anymore.
We are over 95% women at Kendra Scott.
Many of us are moms and we are a village.
We love each other.
To support each other and we make sure
that we're there for our family. First.
If you're happy in your family life,
you'll be happy in your career.
And that's how we prioritize
things at Kendra Scott, I know
you're you've covered a bunch of
this in your book, but it is there
the number one take away for for
readers when they get your book.
I believe that all of us have
innate and immense value,
that we were put on this earth for a reason.
We are all born to shine,
and my hope is that not only can we
find that shine within ourselves,
but we can help other people find it.
Within them.