Speaker 1: There are people who moved through the world quietly, and
Speaker 1: then there are those who moved through it as a
Speaker 1: reflection of what is truly possible. Anya ayoung Chi is
Speaker 1: the latter, designer, cultural advocate, entrepreneur, mother, and most importantly,
Speaker 1: a woman whose life has been shaped by grace, vision,
Speaker 1: and the deep inner work of returning to herself again
Speaker 1: and again. Born and raised in Trinidad, Anya has always
Speaker 1: found herself as the first or the only in many
Speaker 1: of the spaces she's entered, from the layered complexity of
Speaker 1: her racial identity to Catholic school classrooms where structure left
Speaker 1: little room for creative exploration. Many of us first met
Speaker 1: Anya as the winner of Project Runway, a victory made
Speaker 1: even more remarks by the fact that she didn't even
Speaker 1: know how to sew when she applied. She actually learned
Speaker 1: during the competition now that no sound safe. However, more
Speaker 1: than skill, she shares that what truly carried her and
Speaker 1: possibly led her to win the competition was the moment
Speaker 1: she stopped trying to design or think like a New
Speaker 1: Yorker and began designing like a Trinidadian, and in doing
Speaker 1: so found her edge. Anya is now a mother, of
Speaker 1: two and the co founder of Spool, a platform reimagining
Speaker 1: fashion as an act of independence and creative access. This
Speaker 1: conversation is not just about fashion style or the success
Speaker 1: of her career. It's really about self improvement, self reflection,
Speaker 1: and what did really means to lose and find yourself
Speaker 1: over and over again and to trust that each time
Speaker 1: what's most powerful is already within you. If you're listening
Speaker 1: to the podcast on Apple Podcast, please remember to rate
Speaker 1: and leave a comment below. Also, don't forget to follow
Speaker 1: us on Instagram at Let's Talk the Tings. Now, grab
Speaker 1: your tea, coffee, or a glass of wine and Let's
Speaker 1: Talk the Tings. Hello everyone, Welcome back to Let's Talk
Speaker 1: the Tings, where we discuss personal growth, travel, music, beauty
Speaker 1: and wellness while encouraging you to live fearlessly and fabulously.
Speaker 1: I'm your host, Ash and this week we are talking
Speaker 1: to things with fashion designer, entrepreneur, television host, philanthropist. Miss
Speaker 1: Universe Trinidad and Tobago two thousand and eight, the winner
Speaker 1: of the ninth season of Project Runway and one of
Speaker 1: the most compelling voices shaping the Caribbean creative landscape today,
Speaker 1: Anya I Young Chi, hi Anya, how are you.
Speaker 2: Hi ash, I'm great. Thank you so much for having
Speaker 2: me on.
Speaker 1: Oh, no problem, I'm so happy to have you here.
Speaker 1: So for the first segment, as a little bit of
Speaker 1: an icebreaker for our first time guest and for persons
Speaker 1: listening for the first time, we begin each episode with
Speaker 1: our listener's favorite segment, and it's called DNA Sound Safe.
Speaker 1: So and it's so funny. I've been saying this for
Speaker 1: three seasons and I still laugh every time when I
Speaker 1: say that. So what I'm gonna do is I'm going
Speaker 1: to read messages or social media posts that listeners sent in,
Speaker 1: and if you think it sounds a little crazy or
Speaker 1: a little concerning, you'd say that no, sounds safe and
Speaker 1: explain why. And if you agree, you say you agree
Speaker 1: and explain why. Nothing crazy, just a little bit of fun.
Speaker 2: Perfect, all right.
Speaker 1: So the the first person said Caribbean people have the
Speaker 1: most manners and no manners all at the same time.
Speaker 2: Well, I definitely have to agree with that one. We're
Speaker 2: excellent being yeah, very polite, but having some kind of
Speaker 2: indipendal in the back. Yes, there's always some aspect that
Speaker 2: you know, is that really what you think? Right?
Speaker 1: So exactly exactly. So I would say this one is
Speaker 1: kind of odd because we agree, but maybe it's not
Speaker 1: that safe because maybe we could be a little bit
Speaker 1: more polite.
Speaker 2: All the parents on this scenario. You know, if you're
Speaker 2: around your grandparents and your aunts and uncles, all of
Speaker 2: a sudden, all the manners come out exactly exactly.
Speaker 1: And I think that's what's important, right, Like, that's what counts.
Speaker 2: We're all well brought up good?
Speaker 1: Yes, good brought Upsya is important. That's my favorite word,
Speaker 1: you know, and your people may in front of me
Speaker 1: because it's like old people word, but I love that
Speaker 1: word because.
Speaker 2: Everything says everything in one word.
Speaker 1: Yes, yes, it sure does, all right. The next person said,
Speaker 1: my life dramatically improved when I started seeing people for
Speaker 1: who they are plus what they've shown me, rather than
Speaker 1: romanticizing what they could be.
Speaker 2: Wow, that's deeply insightful. Yeah. Again, I feel like I
Speaker 2: have to agree with that one. And then comes with
Speaker 2: age and experience, you get to really understand who somebody
Speaker 2: really is despite the faces and the performance that you
Speaker 2: may see on the surface. You know, I think I
Speaker 2: have to lean into that that opinion for sure.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And you know, I think it's difficult sometimes because
Speaker 1: people also can either one change or their mask can
Speaker 1: fall off. So I think sometimes when you want to
Speaker 1: see the best in people, maybe you try to like
Speaker 1: convince yourself that, oh, you know, this might be just
Speaker 1: a one time thing, or maybe they didn't mean to
Speaker 1: do it. But I think that's where discernment comes in,
Speaker 1: right to see, like, Okay, is this a pattern or
Speaker 1: is this just a mistake, Because people do make mistakes
Speaker 1: in life, you know, and people do say or do
Speaker 1: things they probably didn't mean to do. But if it's
Speaker 1: something that someone's showing you over and over again, then yeah,
Speaker 1: you have to heed to those warnings for sure, for sure.
Speaker 2: And I would just say, it's really the opposite of
Speaker 2: what this person said. That is the that does sound safe,
Speaker 2: because if you go through life, as you know, I
Speaker 2: cannot admit to always wanting to be the internal optimists
Speaker 2: and give people the benefit of doubt. You can sort
Speaker 2: of allow, you know, repeated levels of mistreatment, hoping and
Speaker 2: praying that this person is actually who you want them
Speaker 2: to be, but not who they actually are.
Speaker 1: Yes, Oh my gosh, that's so true, so so true. Okay,
Speaker 1: the next one, the person said, discern the difference between
Speaker 1: those who come to add to your fire and those
Speaker 1: who come to put your light out. Some who are
Speaker 1: drawn to your radiance will resent you when they realize
Speaker 1: that they can't dim your light.
Speaker 2: M hm, well these are killers. Like I'm just gonna
Speaker 2: sound like the internal person in agreement because yeah, once again, like,
Speaker 2: oh my gosh, my life experience has been one version
Speaker 2: of this after the next of like it's kind of
Speaker 2: related the last one, right. If people are there for
Speaker 2: you half the time, they're there for themselves, and that's
Speaker 2: really challenging thing to accept because you then have to
Speaker 2: be so discerning about who's in your close circle. Yes, intimately,
Speaker 2: and that gets to me a bit lonely at times.
Speaker 1: So yes, yeah, And I think, you know, these are
Speaker 1: so funny because I've had guests on here that are
Speaker 1: like ash, all of these soun's safe. I thought I
Speaker 1: was going to get something crazy, But I think that's
Speaker 1: a good thing because you could be on here saying,
Speaker 1: oh no, that's terrible, you know what I mean. Everyone
Speaker 1: has a difference of opinion, but it always makes me
Speaker 1: feel good because I'm like, see, I know I chose
Speaker 1: the R I guess because you don't you know that
Speaker 1: this sounds safe, you know.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, absolutely, no, totally. I think that you know,
Speaker 2: it's hard to know and project what you don't know
Speaker 2: in yourself. So if you are eternally optimist and genuinely
Speaker 2: want to see people thrive, you kind of, you know,
Speaker 2: erroneously expect that to be projected back to you. And
Speaker 2: half the time it's just a jarring slap in the
Speaker 2: face that like many people do not operate that way,
Speaker 2: and it's it's hurtful. But I think the sooner and
Speaker 2: I can speak for myself like I have been able
Speaker 2: to discern that is, the more I can sort of,
Speaker 2: you know, just not spend too much time trying to
Speaker 2: expect something from someone that they just don't have innately
Speaker 2: in them.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, but it's still tough though, especially if it's
Speaker 1: someone that you do want in your life and you realize, okay,
Speaker 1: I can't have them in my life because it's going
Speaker 1: to turn out badly for me. It's tough, you know.
Speaker 2: Well, it's heart breaking, it's gut wrenching because again it's like,
Speaker 2: we don't operate that way generally, you know, who to
Speaker 2: your point, have this genuine desire to see people succeed
Speaker 2: and commit our lives to in various different ways, to
Speaker 2: couraging ways for other people to benefit. Like, it really
Speaker 2: is gut wrenching when you have to sort of cut
Speaker 2: somebody out of your life when they especially when they
Speaker 2: mean something.
Speaker 1: To you exactly exactly. The persons that are just kind
Speaker 1: of fly by night, I think that's the easier thing,
Speaker 1: Like someone maybe you just met or you know, you
Speaker 1: just feel a way about them and you're just like, Okay, no,
Speaker 1: I think that's easy. But like you said, the ones
Speaker 1: that have been in your life for a long time
Speaker 1: and they just are not the same, or you just
Speaker 1: notice things. I just find that those are so much harder.
Speaker 2: Totally agree, totally. But that's our own growth too, you know.
Speaker 1: Yes, true, that's true. So yeah, that's fair. Okay, okay,
Speaker 1: so we both agree on that one. All right, two more.
Speaker 1: The next person said, this is funny. I am so
Speaker 1: nosy that I will literally stop breathing just to hear
Speaker 1: a conversation.
Speaker 2: Oh oh no, well, that is definitely and that will
Speaker 2: sound safe category absolutely, but oh.
Speaker 1: My gosh, that is actually insane.
Speaker 2: Wow. I mean, who does to the person's admitting it
Speaker 2: so openly true, I think that demonstrates the level of
Speaker 2: self awareness that is true, you know, comfortable. But that
Speaker 2: being said, it's like, you know, I think clearly not
Speaker 2: the best use of anyone's time, talent, skills, or ability
Speaker 2: to be in other people's business to that extent exactly.
Speaker 1: And you might want to not stop breathing. I don't know, I.
Speaker 2: Just want to well I didn't even get to that,
Speaker 2: but clearly that is unsafe on the highest level.
Speaker 1: Right, Like, it can't be that great of information to
Speaker 1: possibly cause you to pass out.
Speaker 2: No way, No, absolutely not. I mean that makes functionally
Speaker 2: absolutely no sense. Yes, even carry on with you, curiosity
Speaker 2: if you want to call it that, exactly.
Speaker 1: So once you get the information, no, once you pass out,
Speaker 1: you can't even tell anybody, So.
Speaker 2: It's useless, count intuitive exactly.
Speaker 1: Yes, so that that's sound safe. Our first one, Yes,
Speaker 1: I agree with.
Speaker 2: The first one. That was not. We were not on
Speaker 2: defense about that one.
Speaker 1: No, not at all all right, the next person said,
Speaker 1: I'll never forget one time I was crying over a
Speaker 1: guy and my dad just looked at me and said, listen,
Speaker 1: you have to be tough if you're going to be
Speaker 1: this stupid. And I've never heard more truer words, This
Speaker 1: dad must be a Caribbean because.
Speaker 2: Brutal, brute, but I mean pretty sound advice, guess. I
Speaker 2: mean I think after that she made different choices.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yep, yep exactly. So maybe the delivery is
Speaker 1: not safe.
Speaker 2: Perhaps is borderline abusive, but you.
Speaker 1: Know, exactly exactly. But yeah, I can't tell, but I'm
Speaker 1: almost positive this dad has to be Caribbean because that's if.
Speaker 2: They're not Caribian, they're a Caribbean want to be because
Speaker 2: that is classic kind of yes the point.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Okay, so that was fun, just something a little
Speaker 1: fun to loosen it up a little bit. So now
Speaker 1: we're going to talk the real things. So I would
Speaker 1: love it if you could tell me a little bit
Speaker 1: about what it was like growing up in Trinidad. So
Speaker 1: when you think about your childhood, just in general, but
Speaker 1: particularly in Trinidad, not the achievements, but just the atmosphere,
Speaker 1: the energy, what do you remember most vividly about who
Speaker 1: you were before the world asked you to become anything
Speaker 1: else or told you who you should be.
Speaker 2: Wow, that's a great question because I will say it
Speaker 2: from the backwards forwards, meaning I discovered I was of
Speaker 2: a particular ethnic mix when I left Trinidad and moved
Speaker 2: to New York, and that I would say, working backwards,
Speaker 2: I spent most of my life just you know, quite
Speaker 2: oblivious to that, to anything other than being Trinny, right,
Speaker 2: such a huge gift, particularly where we sit in the
Speaker 2: world now, And so I really value that that my
Speaker 2: identity was solely rooted in being culturally Trinidadian. And I mean,
Speaker 2: I'm not saying that race and necessity did not play
Speaker 2: a part, but I didn't defy myself that.
Speaker 1: Way, right exactly because we're not raised like that, you're
Speaker 1: just Trinny or Jamaica, and like you need grace to
Speaker 1: think about your race all the time, exactly.
Speaker 2: And so I think that had a big influence in retrospect,
Speaker 2: and it I was. I felt very privileged to have
Speaker 2: grown up where who I was culturally was the sort
Speaker 2: of a massive definition of who I was allowed to
Speaker 2: be across the board. And like Trenados, as most of
Speaker 2: the crement is so deeply creative in so many parts
Speaker 2: of life that I think my ability to like express
Speaker 2: myself and of course that evolved into how I expressed
Speaker 2: myself now professionally, Like I you know, growing up, for instance,
Speaker 2: around Carnival and my mother is an avid mass player,
Speaker 2: like creativity, but in this very you know, very it's
Speaker 2: particularly in the eighties, and you know, I was born
Speaker 2: in eighty one. Like there was in a sense to
Speaker 2: how we express ourselves as Trinidadians through music, through you know,
Speaker 2: through sound and dance, and Carnival being the ultimate pinnacle
Speaker 2: of that, at least in my life, and how that
Speaker 2: pervaded life, you know, the ability to sort of take
Speaker 2: chaotic moments and turn it into joyful moments. You know,
Speaker 2: I lived through the coup in nineteen ninety and you know,
Speaker 2: it's there's an essence of darkness to this, but on
Speaker 2: the other side, way we were able to find joy
Speaker 2: in community and survive through celebration. And there's something about
Speaker 2: that that I think informs who I am as an adult,
Speaker 2: and I've never lost And I love the way frame
Speaker 2: the question because you could be that fully until at
Speaker 2: some point in life the world demands that you show
Speaker 2: up some other way, you know, or in some defined,
Speaker 2: predefined way that it has nothing to do with who
Speaker 2: you actually are. So I do feel really privileged to
Speaker 2: have spent the majority of my childhood you know, all
Speaker 2: the WAP until I left to go to New York
Speaker 2: when I was seventeen, in this sort of innocence of
Speaker 2: society that was very embraced of our unique culture and
Speaker 2: expressed in very you know, kind of communal ways, and
Speaker 2: you know, the ways in which we share food and community,
Speaker 2: the way we you know, sort of have our faith
Speaker 2: in community like that. There's just so much about being
Speaker 2: West Indian in general that is rooted in that, you know,
Speaker 2: And so yeah, I have a lot of gratitude for that.
Speaker 1: I always like to ask people questions about their childhood
Speaker 1: because I personally believe who you truly are is who
Speaker 1: you were as a child before everyone told you like,
Speaker 1: no you can't do that, Yes you can do that,
Speaker 1: No you can't be like this, Yes you can be
Speaker 1: like that. And I think as we get older, the
Speaker 1: more that we get back to the things that we
Speaker 1: liked or enjoyed as children that brought us joy, I
Speaker 1: think that puts us in a happier space because it
Speaker 1: just brings us back to a time where we didn't
Speaker 1: have to perform for anybody, you know, we could kind
Speaker 1: of just be free in that sense.
Speaker 2: A thousand, I think Picasso has this great quote that
Speaker 2: says something like, you know, you spend your whole life
Speaker 2: relearning or wanting to become the painter that you were
Speaker 2: as a child. You know, it's like it's this entire
Speaker 2: ar I mean, it's a lot better said than I
Speaker 2: just did. But you know the essence of it is
Speaker 2: that our inner child is who you spend most of
Speaker 2: your life like reconnecting with and and giving yourself that
Speaker 2: permission to be with of course all the learnings and
Speaker 2: experience of your of your your life. But I mean,
Speaker 2: I think I have one thousand percent agree with you
Speaker 2: from the standpoint that your joy resides in your inner child.
Speaker 2: Your joy resides in that untouched on you know, on
Speaker 2: un adulterated. You know, there's a weird word. There's a
Speaker 2: reason why the word is unadulterated. Right.
Speaker 1: I love that. I never thought about that. It's so
Speaker 1: true though, Oh man, Well, in that same vein, you've
Speaker 1: described your work or your life's work as a process
Speaker 1: of returning to your essence of who you are. So
Speaker 1: what has that journey taught you about how identity is
Speaker 1: formed and sometimes reformed? Because, like you said, you weren't
Speaker 1: even aware of your mix until you came to the States.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, I could say it's been a constant recycling
Speaker 2: journey of remembering because I go to phases of really
Speaker 2: kind of like touching the essence of who I am.
Speaker 2: Whether that was the moment that I want Project Runway
Speaker 2: was really an expression of my caribbeanness in that final collection,
Speaker 2: which took me a real deep dive into myself, you know,
Speaker 2: of letting go of well, I'm not going to succeed
Speaker 2: unless I show up like a New York designer. But
Speaker 2: that actually was the complete opposite of what got me
Speaker 2: to where I was going. And it was in that
Speaker 2: final final moment that I remembered and I was reminded
Speaker 2: as well by the judges, like you are a Caribbean girl,
Speaker 2: you have to show up as you. And that's I'm convinced.
Speaker 2: That's a huge reason that I want because the authenticity
Speaker 2: shone through. And so I would say, you know that
Speaker 2: I have particular milestones in my life where I could
Speaker 2: one thousand percent say that was the journey I was on,
Speaker 2: and then I go continuously searching for all the various
Speaker 2: aspects of what make up who I am, because when
Speaker 2: I decided at some point after winning project round me
Speaker 2: that I was relatively dissatisfied with being a fashion designer.
Speaker 2: Only I was searching for work that had more purpose,
Speaker 2: that had more impacts that I could measure, that I
Speaker 2: could be a part of the transformation of other people's
Speaker 2: lives in tangible ways. And that's how I developed that
Speaker 2: I have now my business school, which is, you know,
Speaker 2: we do training for women who come from at risk
Speaker 2: backgrounds how to produce for both the fashion and carnival industry.
Speaker 2: And this is sort of approach yes to circular fashion
Speaker 2: and sustainability on very different fronts is very deeply meaning
Speaker 2: feel to me. And so finding ways to continuously refine
Speaker 2: who I am, because I think the essence of who
Speaker 2: I am, or essence of who anyone is, is a
Speaker 2: continued journey, you know that. I don't think that's there's
Speaker 2: no there's no end point to that discovery process. But
Speaker 2: I do think that there is a through line. I mean,
Speaker 2: there's a consistent thread as I map myself my life backwards,
Speaker 2: you know, and I see a bit consistently searching for
Speaker 2: this definition of how I express my identity and the many,
Speaker 2: many different channels that I have explored to really kind
Speaker 2: of hone what that is you know, right right, So
Speaker 2: I would say it's cyclical, it's ongoing, it's it's the
Speaker 2: deep work, you know.
Speaker 1: Yes, for sure, And in what you're doing now, I'm
Speaker 1: sure you mentor as you said, a lot of different persons,
Speaker 1: particularly women. So what patterns have you seen maybe across
Speaker 1: the Caribbean aspora, maybe just among Trindadians when it comes
Speaker 1: to just kind of like personal liberation and self expression,
Speaker 1: especially for women through the fashion or design industry.
Speaker 2: Gosh, that is a complex question. I think that we
Speaker 2: as women around the world, we as women in this
Speaker 2: particular part of the world, really have to work hard
Speaker 2: to be authentically who we are and succeed in business
Speaker 2: and succeed in professional spaces. It feels, and it's felt
Speaker 2: like for me for a very long time, that these
Speaker 2: two things are in conflict. That particularly when you come
Speaker 2: from creative industry's perspective and you are a woman, you're female,
Speaker 2: and you are you know, all the list of of
Speaker 2: of minorities, minority categories all in one right, and then
Speaker 2: you lift yourself out and you end up in in
Speaker 2: parts of the world like the US, you just start
Speaker 2: to add even more boxes and minorities you do. The
Speaker 2: ability to show up as yourself consistently, both in spaces
Speaker 2: that you don't see much of yourself in. It takes
Speaker 2: tremendous confidence and courage and perpetual self talk. And at
Speaker 2: least I cannot speak for myself, you know, I think
Speaker 2: there are I've probably gone through, like many of us,
Speaker 2: you know, going to Catholic high school and being essentially
Speaker 2: taught to conform is in complete conflict with what skills
Speaker 2: you need to show up authentically. Conformity and authenticity do
Speaker 2: not go together, you know, right, right, So I've had
Speaker 2: to unlearn so much of this, you know, celebration of
Speaker 2: conformity and emerge out of that from the space of
Speaker 2: that back again to the sort of essence of who
Speaker 2: you are and in a child, and but doing that
Speaker 2: in the space in spaces where you know you either
Speaker 2: you're too bold, you're too different, you're too hard to understand.
Speaker 2: Like there's so many things like when I came out
Speaker 2: of Runway again, like I was signed to a very
Speaker 2: big agency in l A and like they just couldn't
Speaker 2: figure out what to place me. You know, I wasn't
Speaker 2: my accent didn't match my ethnicity, my, my, my. This
Speaker 2: mix that I was didn't mix, didn't match the you know,
Speaker 2: what the platforms and opportunities were at the time, and
Speaker 2: it just was it just took too much imagination to
Speaker 2: figure out, like where do I fit? You know?
Speaker 1: Wow?
Speaker 2: But you know, you know that's perfect course of when
Speaker 2: you uh, there's not much precedent for how you show
Speaker 2: up and being setting it. It's a particular choice that
Speaker 2: I think I've made. I've almost always been the first
Speaker 2: or one of the first in every area of business
Speaker 2: and life that I've entered into. And either you do
Speaker 2: that and you you accept, or you choose in to
Speaker 2: be isolated and you're not. You're not looking back at
Speaker 2: any path to follow, like your craft, your crafting the
Speaker 2: path so that I think we as Cribbean women because
Speaker 2: when many times the first in spaces and because we
Speaker 2: break so many barriers intentionally, on on purpose, like the
Speaker 2: ability to do that has strengthened our capacity to be
Speaker 2: authentic and I think that is such a huge, you know,
Speaker 2: asset to have.
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely absolutely, And it's funny. Your story reminds me
Speaker 1: a lot of Malings. She was a former guest as well.
Speaker 1: And you know, I just find that women like you
Speaker 1: and her and other Caribbean women that are, like you said,
Speaker 1: the first in their field. It's really something that I
Speaker 1: love to praise and I like to really talk about
Speaker 1: for even the younger generation or persons thinking of going
Speaker 1: into whatever field it is, because it can be scary,
Speaker 1: you know, to be the only, particularly if you grow
Speaker 1: up in an area where you're not the only, then
Speaker 1: you're used to not having to kind of stand out,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. So I find that a
Speaker 1: lot of times that I always talk about it with
Speaker 1: social media. People just think it's so easy and it's
Speaker 1: so glamorous, and you know, you were just on this show.
Speaker 1: I'm sure people think it all the time and like,
Speaker 1: you know, all these people and so easy because you
Speaker 1: were on this show and they don't know all the
Speaker 1: stuff that goes on behind the scenes, the amount of
Speaker 1: knows you had, or like you said, you know, you're
Speaker 1: not the right look or this doesn't match, and if
Speaker 1: you're not strong or you don't have that wherewithal to
Speaker 1: push forward and to know yourself and to be authentic,
Speaker 1: it can be very difficult, you know, thou.
Speaker 2: And you know, I've always remembered this quote or analogy
Speaker 2: that says, you know, if you're if you're in the
Speaker 2: Colosseum in the fight, and you're only getting feedback from
Speaker 2: the bleachers, then you can't like you have to be
Speaker 2: in the in the colisseum, you know, to like in
Speaker 2: the fight. If you're in the fight, and then we
Speaker 2: could talk because you know we're through, you know, But
Speaker 2: if you're in the bleaches sort of making comments and
Speaker 2: throwing shade like, then you can't really FUNKI yes, and.
Speaker 1: It's so true, so true, And I'm glad. I'm really
Speaker 1: glad you brought up authenticity because I think it's a
Speaker 1: word that we hear so often, especially online, but you
Speaker 1: live it and sometimes, like you said, at odds with
Speaker 1: expectations of what people think you should be or how
Speaker 1: people think you should maybe even act or present yourself.
Speaker 1: So what do you think if you had to say,
Speaker 1: authenticity has cost you? And what has it given you
Speaker 1: in return?
Speaker 2: Not coming easy with these questions, boy, no, but it's good.
Speaker 1: I love for people to know.
Speaker 2: It's amazing. I much you heard having this level of
Speaker 2: complex conversation. I appreciate it very much, of course, Yeah,
Speaker 2: because yeah, I mean it's cost me. I would say,
Speaker 2: a feeling of belonging, which is such a genuine human
Speaker 2: need is to have a sense of belonging. I only
Speaker 2: belonged really in spaces that I've crafted for myself, and
Speaker 2: that takes intentionality, It takes deep outs of loneliness and isolation.
Speaker 2: It takes constant reconnection with the why of what I'm doing,
Speaker 2: because you sacrifice, you know, sort of everyday niceties of
Speaker 2: like having more friends and more social life and more
Speaker 2: just more what may feel I feel like a buoyancy
Speaker 2: of your life. But you can't sacrifice you're like charting
Speaker 2: your path if you're too much surrounded by the ease
Speaker 2: of conforming and the ease of fitting in, you know,
Speaker 2: like I have never fit in. From very very early on,
Speaker 2: I was aware of the fact that even though let's
Speaker 2: just say, for instance, in the caravan across the board,
Speaker 2: I think academically, once you're good enough for things like
Speaker 2: the science is biology, chemistry, physics, et cetera, there's sort
Speaker 2: of an expectation that you're going to follow a medical path,
Speaker 2: right right, Yes, you know, my father's a surgeon. I
Speaker 2: was always an a student, like there was no reason
Speaker 2: why I would not study medicine. Except for the fact
Speaker 2: that I would have been a terrible doctor, you know,
Speaker 2: and I wanted to be in the creative fields. And
Speaker 2: like I, as soon as that those paths, we started
Speaker 2: to diverge away from my main core group of friends.
Speaker 2: And then they were all this destined to do that
Speaker 2: type of profession and I wasn't. I started to feel
Speaker 2: like this divergence of where I belonged, and that was tough.
Speaker 2: I mean, I was in my teenage years, and you
Speaker 2: start to make everyday choices of like, it's okay for
Speaker 2: me to not fit in, It's okay for me to
Speaker 2: feel awkward, it's okay for me to not always know
Speaker 2: where do I belong. And I think I started building
Speaker 2: that muscle from them, but it continues so today, you know,
Speaker 2: like I, so I think you sacrifice that you sacrifice.
Speaker 2: I suppose a peace of mind that like and not
Speaker 2: that anybody's life goes in any kind of straight line,
Speaker 2: but I certainly know that, like my professional life has
Speaker 2: followed a very security's roots, and so I sacrifice a
Speaker 2: lot of certainty, and I sacrifice a lot of clarity
Speaker 2: of like how do I craft the next stage of
Speaker 2: my professional life? How do I even craft the next
Speaker 2: stage in my personal life. And there's not a lot
Speaker 2: that I can look to to say, oh, well, I'm
Speaker 2: I'm basically designing a life that looks like that, you know,
Speaker 2: I have to kind of id is it out of
Speaker 2: thin air? And so you can sacrifice the sense of
Speaker 2: security even if that security is false, because I don't
Speaker 2: think there's any such thing as like a guaranteed safe job,
Speaker 2: or a guaranteed safe marriage, or a guarantee anything, right,
Speaker 2: But I do think that I've chosen consistently to sit
Speaker 2: in the see of uncertainty in every aspect of my life,
Speaker 2: you know, which is a challenge. Yes, So off the
Speaker 2: top of my mind, I would say those are the two
Speaker 2: main things that I consciously give up to show up
Speaker 2: as myself all the time or as much as I
Speaker 2: possibly can.
Speaker 1: I love that, and I think it's Everyone always says
Speaker 1: that they love my questions, but they're so deep. But
Speaker 1: I think it's important, right because I think a lot
Speaker 1: of times, especially when you get to the level that
Speaker 1: you're at, a lot of times people don't ask you
Speaker 1: questions about yourself, you know. So I think that a
Speaker 1: lot of times that's what creates that perpetual idea that oh,
Speaker 1: you know this, this creative life is so easy. I
Speaker 1: can just sew a garment and you know, be on
Speaker 1: this TV show and then I could have a business.
Speaker 1: And I think it's important when we wear clothing or
Speaker 1: support a business or even follow someone on social media
Speaker 1: that you know what to the extent that you will
Speaker 1: allow right because boundaries, but that they allow you to
Speaker 1: know something about themselves, because you can't be what you
Speaker 1: can't see. So somebody listening right now could think, oh,
Speaker 1: I've really wanted to be a designer, but I come
Speaker 1: from a family that everyone does medicine. There's no way
Speaker 1: I can do that, like I don't. It's not possible.
Speaker 1: And they could hear your story and develop that courage.
Speaker 1: So that's always my hope that somebody hears stories like
Speaker 1: this and they're encouraged to, you know, give it a try,
Speaker 1: and to know that it's not going to be easy,
Speaker 1: but that they can do it and be successful.
Speaker 2: No. Absolutely, I think that the truth telling of the
Speaker 2: reality of what being whoever you decide to be is
Speaker 2: what liberates other people to be themselves. And that's always
Speaker 2: my hope. And sharing stories of my life and you know,
Speaker 2: it's not not cissic exercise. It's actually an opportunity. It's
Speaker 2: an opening for me to be vulnerable. And almost always
Speaker 2: that vulnerability resonates with someone else. I may not manifest
Speaker 2: the same way to them, but you know, the choice
Speaker 2: to be raw and honest and truthful about the challenges
Speaker 2: and the highs. I mean, don't get me wrong, like
Speaker 2: the deep I go in my commitment to my truth
Speaker 2: is higher my life has gone. But it takes that
Speaker 2: depth of dark, hard work. You know, after I had
Speaker 2: this you know, very public sex tape scandal in two
Speaker 2: thousand and nine and twenty ten, and it was extremely
Speaker 2: painful and very public and very exposing. And but it's
Speaker 2: out of the depths of that, you know, in a
Speaker 2: work that came from that, that I won Project Run
Speaker 2: Me a year later, because there's a definite spiritual connection
Speaker 2: between those two things. Because I just I shed so much,
Speaker 2: so many of my own masks, so many of my
Speaker 2: own perceptions of who I thought I was or needed
Speaker 2: to be, or you know, I just let all that go,
Speaker 2: and I think that is what took me to the
Speaker 2: place that that moment in my life happened, but did
Speaker 2: not come without tremendous pain, you know.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And sometimes that's just how life works, right, you know,
Speaker 1: whatever higher power you believe in has to put you
Speaker 1: through something so that you can see that you know,
Speaker 1: that's not the path that you're supposed to be on,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. And that's how I think personally,
Speaker 1: that's how I tend to look at things to try
Speaker 1: to find the positive, even if you don't understand it
Speaker 1: in the moment. I find that always, whether it's in
Speaker 1: two months, two years, twenty years, you realize, oh, that's
Speaker 1: why that had to happen, Like it made no sense
Speaker 1: at the time, like why would that happen to me?
Speaker 1: Why would that person do that? Or whatever happens, you know,
Speaker 1: and then you realize if a didn't happen, I could
Speaker 1: have never gotten to be you know. So I think
Speaker 1: that's really a powerful way to reframe it. And I
Speaker 1: think that's the only way that we can just live
Speaker 1: a joyful life is by reframing what we see as
Speaker 1: negative and looking at it as like a catalyst to
Speaker 1: get to where it is that we need to be.
Speaker 2: A thousand percent. I mean, one of the main things
Speaker 2: I learned out of that experience, I just mentioned is
Speaker 2: that everything in life happens for you, not to you.
Speaker 2: And when you embrace things happening for you, for your growth,
Speaker 2: for your evolution, for your you know, gradual refinements, then
Speaker 2: you know that major shift in perception. You know. I
Speaker 2: think it's either Albert ein Sein or Marion Williams and
Speaker 2: somebody says, you know, the definition of a miracle is
Speaker 2: really just a shift in perception, you know, like it's
Speaker 2: really the same thing. The same thing can happen to
Speaker 2: you and you could either let it bury you or
Speaker 2: you can take the macro perspective and shift. And I
Speaker 2: think the age and experience has helped me do that
Speaker 2: first and fast in life like that may have taken
Speaker 2: me a year to experience and that growth coming out
Speaker 2: of that scandal I just mentioned, but more recent events
Speaker 2: in my life, like I might I feel bit nown
Speaker 2: for like a day, a week, a few months, but
Speaker 2: it doesn't take as long for me to step away recovery.
Speaker 2: You know, I've had the experience enough times to really
Speaker 2: embrace even to your point, I may not know now
Speaker 2: why this is happening, but at least I can, I
Speaker 2: can I can surrender to the gift that is eventually
Speaker 2: going to manifest exactly exactly.
Speaker 1: And I think that, you know, that's not a hard thing,
Speaker 1: that's not an easy thing, excuse me to deal with,
Speaker 1: but you get through it. And I think that that
Speaker 1: should be commended as well, because there's many persons that
Speaker 1: unfortunately things like that happen to them, or things that
Speaker 1: someone would consider worse and that happened, and they cannot
Speaker 1: get past it, you know, and they end up with
Speaker 1: all sorts of problems and maybe they end up, you know,
Speaker 1: getting intoxicated or just harming themselves in some way. So
Speaker 1: I just look at it from a perspective of you
Speaker 1: took that and put it towards something to like help
Speaker 1: you move forward, you know, rather than sitting in it
Speaker 1: for a long period of time. So I think that
Speaker 1: should be commended as well. For sure.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And don't get me wrong, I did the intoxicating
Speaker 2: things too, so it's not like, I.
Speaker 1: Mean, you didn't stay there, is what I'm saying.
Speaker 2: Because you know, if you're human, you have to find
Speaker 2: with to not Begod. But yes, I think it's yeah,
Speaker 2: nets groups, it's the net positive of your exactly, So
Speaker 2: that's really what comets.
Speaker 1: Yeah, definitely, definitely. And speaking of Project Runway, I know
Speaker 1: you brought it up a few times persons that may
Speaker 1: not have seen it or may not be familiar with it.
Speaker 1: Can you tell us a little bit about the show
Speaker 1: and you know how you even ended up on the show,
Speaker 1: and also the fact that it gave you international visibility.
Speaker 1: How did that change your life in any way?
Speaker 2: So Project run is a and still is probably one
Speaker 2: of the longest standing fashion reality TV shows that is
Speaker 2: about to enter its one hundredth season now. But I
Speaker 2: you know, again, I was in a very particularly self
Speaker 2: reflective moment in my life when I just out of
Speaker 2: nowhere saw a tweet with the application to the show.
Speaker 2: But at that time, the show was really at a peak,
Speaker 2: and you know, it was completely pine the sky idea
Speaker 2: that I would ever get called even to an audition
Speaker 2: fathers to get cast, you know. So I just figured,
Speaker 2: you know, what do I have to lose? I downloaded
Speaker 2: the application, I filled it out, and you know, the story,
Speaker 2: which is the truth, is that I did not know
Speaker 2: how to sew and in the competition, like you know,
Speaker 2: just like any of these competition reality shows, you have
Speaker 2: to actually be able to do the thing on camera
Speaker 2: in front of the judges. So I did not know
Speaker 2: how to sew, and I you know, I didn't think
Speaker 2: they would ever call me, so I just figured, well,
Speaker 2: what's the harm. You know, it's a story to tell.
Speaker 1: Right right.
Speaker 2: They called me and I was like no. I was
Speaker 2: like no, no, no no. By the time I got
Speaker 2: finally cast, like, I told them, no, I can't, I can't,
Speaker 2: Like you don't understand, I can't do the show. I'll
Speaker 2: apply again, you know, And then they call me back
Speaker 2: and they're like, listen, you're already cast, you have to come,
Speaker 2: you know.
Speaker 1: No, it was just too funny.
Speaker 2: No, it was intense. I mean, the first episode ever,
Speaker 2: I'll never forget. I bareieve knew how to thread a machine.
Speaker 2: Like I sat with the camera staring down my you know,
Speaker 2: staring at me for hours, trying to just figure out
Speaker 2: how to I mean, I I had some experience in
Speaker 2: leading up to the show itself, but very, very minimal,
Speaker 2: and I just really approached it with a genuine sense
Speaker 2: of adventure. I had no expectations for myself. I figured
Speaker 2: I'd already one by just even getting on the first episode.
Speaker 2: If I made a fool of myself, God kicked off
Speaker 2: it's just a story to tell, you know. Yeah, Well
Speaker 2: this went on, this went on, and I think I
Speaker 2: just got more and more immersed into the experience itself.
Speaker 2: Was so spectacular. You know, I really took it on
Speaker 2: as a growth experience and nothing was going to change
Speaker 2: whether I got kicked off or not. I was not
Speaker 2: connected to the outcome, you know until the end, until
Speaker 2: the end when I realized, Wow, I was really in
Speaker 2: the running to win this thing that I shifted into
Speaker 2: like competitive Anya, you know. Yeah, and that was a
Speaker 2: different stage of the evolution. But anyway, all of that
Speaker 2: being said, the international exposure has I think of my
Speaker 2: life pre Project run May and post Project Runway in
Speaker 2: that regard. You know, my all of a sudden, my
Speaker 2: brand was catapult into a much more global audience, and
Speaker 2: the show gets syndicated, yeah, Anya, all over the world.
Speaker 2: So it just never seems to stop, Like people start
Speaker 2: seeing it, like ten years later, people are now seing
Speaker 2: it for the first time and time. Yeah. So like,
Speaker 2: you know, that's benefited me tremendously from a brand awareness perspective,
Speaker 2: which of course helps my business, helps my ability to
Speaker 2: you know, reach customers wherever I would like to reach them.
Speaker 2: And that's a huge leg.
Speaker 1: Up, you know, right for sure.
Speaker 2: And then in the period after winning, from twenty eleven
Speaker 2: to now, so much is evolved the technology that I
Speaker 2: can really leverage that platform, you know, directs a consumer
Speaker 2: e commerce, being able to use digital marketing effectively. Like,
Speaker 2: there's so many ways in which to continue to leverage
Speaker 2: this you know, relatively well known brand, even if it's
Speaker 2: not well into this younger audience, it still has it
Speaker 2: carries a certain amount of cache. And because I want
Speaker 2: in a particular period of the show that you know,
Speaker 2: avid loyal audience of that show were very I mean,
Speaker 2: we had to be shuttled from where we were staying
Speaker 2: in New York to where the workspace was in a
Speaker 2: way that dissuaded all the gossip columns, some guessing who
Speaker 2: was still on the show and who was not on
Speaker 2: the shoe and we would urge. It was the height
Speaker 2: of competitive reality. You know, it was when that type
Speaker 2: of TV was extremely popular. So you know, I benefited
Speaker 2: from doing the show at the right time, doing it
Speaker 2: at the right time in my career, doing it in
Speaker 2: a way that told a whole story about who I am,
Speaker 2: not just as a designer, but just like how I
Speaker 2: take things on in life, like so much of it
Speaker 2: craft did my brand, I think around just you know,
Speaker 2: how I approach life in general. And my brother had
Speaker 2: died only a few years later, and my whole journeys
Speaker 2: are becoming a fashion designer emerged from that also, you know.
Speaker 2: So doing the Project Runway had a lot less to
Speaker 2: do with ever wanting to become globally known or popular.
Speaker 2: It had so much more to do with my own
Speaker 2: in a journey. And all it really proved to me
Speaker 2: is that you know, manifestation is real when you have
Speaker 2: a clear vision and you have committed action, and you
Speaker 2: you know that life is capable of the impossible. You
Speaker 2: know that life and to your point, which I have
Speaker 2: a higher being you believe in, shows up for you
Speaker 2: when you show up for it. You know what I mean.
Speaker 2: And it was a really divine expression of life for me,
Speaker 2: and it manifested in winning. But I didn't go in
Speaker 2: to win, and I didn't go in to have a
Speaker 2: global brand, and I didn't go in to achieve those
Speaker 2: particular things. But they were byproducts of the inner work
Speaker 2: journey that I was on and that has only perpetuated
Speaker 2: in many different ways since then.
Speaker 1: You know, and it's so funny, like as I listened
Speaker 1: to you tell your story even surprisingly how you just
Speaker 1: happened to get on Project Runway and not even knowing
Speaker 1: how to sew it just really I don't know. Something
Speaker 1: in me is like, Wow, that happened on purpose, Like
Speaker 1: I feel like that was something that you needed, you
Speaker 1: know what I mean, because had you not maybe had
Speaker 1: that when all the other stuff happened, who knows how
Speaker 1: you would have been able to get through those things,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean, because it was such a
Speaker 1: big part of your life. So it's just interesting, like
Speaker 1: how we were saying before or whole you don't know
Speaker 1: why things are happening, and before we were speaking about
Speaker 1: it more in like when bad things happened, but even
Speaker 1: the good things that you don't know if they're good
Speaker 1: or bad, you're just confused why they're happening, you know, Like,
Speaker 1: look at what that was able to do for you
Speaker 1: and it's still doing for you to this day. Like
Speaker 1: you said, just by mere fact that you were on
Speaker 1: the show, yeah no, or won the show, let me
Speaker 1: not say that you want sorry, let's be clear.
Speaker 2: Yeah yeah no A thousand seven because you know now
Speaker 2: that I'm at this stage of my life and career.
Speaker 2: I do think back to the attributes of my what
Speaker 2: how I was showing up in my life and it
Speaker 2: sounds so hackneyed, right, but like I was genuinely in
Speaker 2: a state of gratitude throughout that entire experience, And that
Speaker 2: level of gratitude is transferable at any time in your
Speaker 2: life and has the same impact. It has the same
Speaker 2: ability to shift you know how you how you experience
Speaker 2: every day and and that's a choice. So there's applicable
Speaker 2: lessons from that time in my life that I carry through.
Speaker 2: I'm not always great at but I have a very
Speaker 2: tangible memory of the outcome of being in the spiritual
Speaker 2: space I was in at the time, and I continue
Speaker 2: to practice as best as I can the same ways
Speaker 2: of being. And I will also admit that like that
Speaker 2: kind of catapulting into recognition can have a level of well,
Speaker 2: it took me quite a while after that to re
Speaker 2: reel back in why my why? You know, my why
Speaker 2: got a little a little this did in that because
Speaker 2: it's just, you know, all of a sudden, you have
Speaker 2: all this attention and you have all this like you know, people,
Speaker 2: opportunities and directions you can go in and all of
Speaker 2: a sudden, it's like an avalanche of things, and it
Speaker 2: takes and I was quite young, and it took me
Speaker 2: at least a couple of years to reconnect with why
Speaker 2: was I even doing any of this in the first place?
Speaker 2: You know, Yeah, And it kind of helps back to
Speaker 2: the question, Yeah, like the question about what you sacrifice
Speaker 2: for authenticity me really consistently trying to figure out, like
Speaker 2: why am I here? What is my purpose? And how
Speaker 2: do I show up in this life in a way
Speaker 2: that speaks speaks specifically to the legacy that is I'm
Speaker 2: meant to have here in this in this lifetime anyway, right,
Speaker 2: I can't. I have sacrificed quite a bit of personal
Speaker 2: benefits choosing to do work that is impact focused for
Speaker 2: the last six to eight years. You know, you you
Speaker 2: choose I chose a path that was a lot less
Speaker 2: self focused it than it could have been, and that
Speaker 2: that changes your financial status, it changes your professional status,
Speaker 2: it changes your brand. But I have made that choice
Speaker 2: repeatedly because I know that it's just a big part
Speaker 2: of who I am and a big part of what
Speaker 2: makes me feel fulfilled, and and and the journey out
Speaker 2: of winning project on me taught me that there's fame
Speaker 2: and then there's you know, fulfillment, and sometimes those two
Speaker 2: things are necessarily. The ideal is that they can join,
Speaker 2: but sometimes they don't.
Speaker 1: You know, right, No, definitely, And I think it's so
Speaker 1: great that you said that last part. You know, fame
Speaker 1: versus fulfillment, they don't always coincide, right. A lot of
Speaker 1: times there are lots of people that are famous or
Speaker 1: maybe not even famous, people that make lots of money
Speaker 1: what they do, but they're not fulfilled. They're miserable, they're depressed,
Speaker 1: they're just going day by day. So yeah, they might
Speaker 1: be driving a nice car and living in a nice house,
Speaker 1: but they're in that house maybe alone, yeah, you know.
Speaker 1: Or they don't have anywhere to drive to because they
Speaker 1: don't have friends, because they're always working. So there's always
Speaker 1: I always say that everything comes at a cost, you know,
Speaker 1: And it's just about aligning yourself with what's good for
Speaker 1: you and what will bring you joy.
Speaker 2: Yes, yes, and and and there's there's no question that
Speaker 2: that pursuit can find you in bouts of of isolation.
Speaker 2: But I think genuine fulfillments allows you to be like
Speaker 2: really at peace with who you are. And I mean,
Speaker 2: admittedly that's a continuous journey for me, but but I
Speaker 2: think you're much more likely to achieve that through that
Speaker 2: route than the than the autective.
Speaker 1: Absolutely absolutely, And speaking of joy, I just want to
Speaker 1: talk about that for a little while, not surface joy,
Speaker 1: but the joy that comes with real alignment. What do
Speaker 1: you source that joy or where do you source that
Speaker 1: joy now? You know? And what practices keep you grounded
Speaker 1: in it, because, like you said, you're doing something that's
Speaker 1: more for others and for yourself. And you know, obviously
Speaker 1: you still love fashion. I'm sure you still love all
Speaker 1: those things you loved before, but you've evolved as not
Speaker 1: only in your personal life but professionally as well. So
Speaker 1: what would you say brings you joy now? What is
Speaker 1: your source of joy now?
Speaker 2: Well? I definitely continue to enjoy designing, and I actually
Speaker 2: just just designed a new capsule collection, and it's been
Speaker 2: quite a long time since I've done that. No, truly,
Speaker 2: it's been I think I needed the long break because
Speaker 2: I forgot I didn't want to continue to push for
Speaker 2: something it wasn't feeling in alignment at the time. But
Speaker 2: I think now that I have school, which is my
Speaker 2: training facility and manufacturing facility, and that part of my
Speaker 2: business has been structured and it's very much connected to
Speaker 2: the impact work. Like I mentioned, you know, it's a
Speaker 2: livelihood training program, so the women who are producing have
Speaker 2: come out of that program. So the circularity of you know,
Speaker 2: how the line is being produced and by whom and
Speaker 2: how it's impacting them while I build my brand back
Speaker 2: to a place that I think it can get to,
Speaker 2: ideally that entire ecosystem of sustainable and you know, the
Speaker 2: practice of honoring every part of the process and having
Speaker 2: the ability to like I own the vertical of how
Speaker 2: that happens, with the exception of course, of how I
Speaker 2: source the fabrics. Just yet that part I still have
Speaker 2: to outsource. But either way, I've gotten closer to a
Speaker 2: model that I'm now touching on all the points on
Speaker 2: my creative side, my impact side, my entrepreneurial side. And
Speaker 2: the days that I get to have a combination of
Speaker 2: buying fabric and you know, designing the collection and then
Speaker 2: working with the women that are part of my team
Speaker 2: and seeing the joy that this brings them as well,
Speaker 2: It's like those are the most magical moments, you know,
Speaker 2: those are like all the light bulbs are going off,
Speaker 2: all the touch points of what bring me joy are
Speaker 2: happening in this very dynamic way. So I would say that,
Speaker 2: And then of course it's like, you know, I have
Speaker 2: two kids now, I have a son who's six and
Speaker 2: adult who's three, and so you know, parenting has been
Speaker 2: a challenge, especially COVID and coming out of COVID, And
Speaker 2: but I think you know, their their joy is, without
Speaker 2: a doubt, like the most immediate and tangible and undeniable
Speaker 2: joy that I then get to feed off of an
Speaker 2: enjoy and have myself, you know. But I yeah, that
Speaker 2: has been its own journey in parallel to building these businesses.
Speaker 2: But right, but I have started to really embrace what
Speaker 2: the experience of being their mother and the experience of
Speaker 2: their joy feeling mine, And that honestly took me quite
Speaker 2: a few years to surrender to her embrace, right, But
Speaker 2: now that I'm much closer to that and and do
Speaker 2: have those moments with them on a daily basis, like
Speaker 2: it is undeniably like there is no other joy like
Speaker 2: than that.
Speaker 1: It's just so much beautiful. I love that. And is
Speaker 1: your daughter, I know she's still young, but is she
Speaker 1: kind of you know, into your design stuff or do
Speaker 1: you think she'll get the bug or you're not sure
Speaker 1: yet it's too early to tell.
Speaker 2: Right now, she's as tomboyish as they come, like I
Speaker 2: can't she is not interested. I mean she I caught that.
Speaker 2: Of course, that's what life would give me. You know,
Speaker 2: I can't get us hearing I can't nothing nothing.
Speaker 1: Of course, But don't worry. There's still time. I used
Speaker 1: to be a tumboy where nobody would believe that because
Speaker 1: I love to dress up and I don't go anywhere
Speaker 1: with what I hear, so trust me, there's no time
Speaker 1: for a change.
Speaker 2: And I said, you know, the parents is such a
Speaker 2: lesson in surrender, and it is such a lesson On
Speaker 2: the flip side, she's extremely own way, which is how
Speaker 2: I am. You know, like, okay, oh yeah, you can't
Speaker 2: have nothing, and so I know that in essence she
Speaker 2: inherited that for sure. So gosh, however that manifests orally,
Speaker 2: we shall see, but I know that, you know, it's
Speaker 2: it's also a stage of life, and I'm not gonna
Speaker 2: have any I have no expectation or desire to control
Speaker 2: how she expresses herself.
Speaker 1: Right in anyway?
Speaker 2: Yeah, but a lot of it is that, you know,
Speaker 2: she loves her older brother. She's she just wants to
Speaker 2: bess wear his clothes, be like him. Say what was
Speaker 2: the same way?
Speaker 1: Yeah, because that's who she sees and thinks it's cool.
Speaker 1: So she doesn't know the difference between what boy, what's
Speaker 1: for boys, and what's And I do not.
Speaker 2: Want to have super imploy that on her, you know.
Speaker 2: But yes, it is like we're always fighting because I
Speaker 2: just I kind of get her to brush your hair, like.
Speaker 1: Oh my god. Okay, So before we transition to our
Speaker 1: final segment, I have been allowing guests to ask me
Speaker 1: one question this season because you guys don't get to
Speaker 1: ask anything. So is there anything that you'd like to
Speaker 1: ask me?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'd love to know why you do this podcast
Speaker 2: and what is your why within this this self expression
Speaker 2: of yours.
Speaker 1: Oh I love that question. So to make a very
Speaker 1: long story short, I attended Harvard University, and when I
Speaker 1: was there, I did a particular project where I wanted
Speaker 1: to look at the violence against women and girls. It
Speaker 1: just seemed like girls and women in the Caribbean and
Speaker 1: in the diaspora right were just being targeted. And I
Speaker 1: really didn't understand, and I'm very aware of how media works,
Speaker 1: and a lot of times these things are always going on,
Speaker 1: but it's not that they weren't going on before. It's
Speaker 1: just they're being reported more, right. But I really wanted
Speaker 1: to look into the why, and when I did, I
Speaker 1: phoned that through my research, a lot of the men
Speaker 1: that developed these this type of anger towards women, it
Speaker 1: stemmed from their childhood and so when they got older
Speaker 1: and they developed relationships with women, it's kind of like
Speaker 1: it was their turn. Now, No, they're in charge. So
Speaker 1: it just always stemmed from like something to do with
Speaker 1: that relationship. And then when you talk to those mothers,
Speaker 1: to them were children themselves, you know, young mothers trying
Speaker 1: to figure it out, or they were treated a certain
Speaker 1: way because they were brought up in a certain subset
Speaker 1: of society where it was just like, oh, you can't
Speaker 1: be anything, You're going to be just like every other
Speaker 1: girl around here. And they never really had it seemed
Speaker 1: like from the stories I read, I should say, they
Speaker 1: never really had an outlet. So I just wanted to
Speaker 1: create a space where initially it started as Caribbean persons,
Speaker 1: Caribbean women coming on here, having conversations, you know, persons
Speaker 1: of different subsets of society, whether it's just my friends,
Speaker 1: you know, millennials just talking about life or what it
Speaker 1: is that we do, or different things that we go
Speaker 1: through as Caribbean persons growing up in America, or I've
Speaker 1: had lots of celebrities on here and it's just now
Speaker 1: a space for anyone to come. But they know that
Speaker 1: if you're not Caribbean, you're going to learn something about
Speaker 1: our culture. And I would say the final thing is
Speaker 1: it would always bother me when I came to this
Speaker 1: country that persons would associate being Caribbean, particularly Jamaican, with
Speaker 1: you know, dancing or maybe something vulgar or just something
Speaker 1: that's very like stereotypical. And I find that we have
Speaker 1: so much more to offer, just as the Caribbean in general,
Speaker 1: not even just as Jamaican's, but as Caribbean persons. We're
Speaker 1: very smart, we're very you know, we have a lots
Speaker 1: of brought up see like we talked about earlier, you know,
Speaker 1: like we're very big on religion, on school, on being respectful,
Speaker 1: all of those things. And I just thought, how nice
Speaker 1: would it be for someone that has that perception to
Speaker 1: hear a podcast like this where we talk about nothing salacious,
Speaker 1: no gossip. You know, everyone always says it's not a
Speaker 1: let's talk the things episode if I'm not dying laughing,
Speaker 1: because I love to laugh, so I'm gonna laugh, you know.
Speaker 1: So you know, I just want people to at least
Speaker 1: get an hour or so allt of their day where yes,
Speaker 1: they can experience joy and they can laugh, but they
Speaker 1: can also learn something and they can walk away saying, wow,
Speaker 1: Caribbean people are really more than what I thought. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so yeah, that's a long answer, but no, I.
Speaker 2: Mean, you candense a lot in a in an answer,
Speaker 2: So thank you. And there's there had to be a
Speaker 2: reason I asked you that I didn't know that was
Speaker 2: going to be a response. But the reason I found
Speaker 2: it school is because I was doing sort of activism
Speaker 2: work through my foundation prior to this. And the one
Speaker 2: campaign that really really, it really shook me was an
Speaker 2: anti Jenabe's balance campaign that we designed her internet at
Speaker 2: call Leave She Alone, inspired by Calypso Roses. Calypso called
Speaker 2: leave Me Alone, and it was a very very kind
Speaker 2: of pivotal moment I think in the rate of domestic
Speaker 2: violence and and jenas violence that were I mean, it's
Speaker 2: unfortunately does not seem to be dying down, but at
Speaker 2: the very least at that time anyway, I was very
Speaker 2: connected to the woman that I, you know, got a
Speaker 2: chance to understand the circumstances within which they were exposed
Speaker 2: to this level of abuse, and that school was really
Speaker 2: an intervention to respond to that, because I wanted to
Speaker 2: sort of from my own space be able to create
Speaker 2: tangible ways for livelihood for women that you know, because
Speaker 2: that could move the needle oftentimes is financial independence and the.
Speaker 1: Ability definitely truthfully, you know, having.
Speaker 2: Choice clearly connected on that level, yes.
Speaker 1: Very very And it's so funny. I feel like I
Speaker 1: say this every time, so I'm just going to say
Speaker 1: it again. Those of my avid listeners are probably laughing
Speaker 1: already because they know what I'm going to say. I
Speaker 1: also think that God is rooted in this podcast because
Speaker 1: every single time that I speak to somebody something like
Speaker 1: that happens, they say, oh my gosh, it's so weird
Speaker 1: you ask me, even in the dat noos and say
Speaker 1: if you ask me this, oh my gosh, I'm going
Speaker 1: through that right now, or like you know, oh my gosh,
Speaker 1: I was like you just said, I had this organization
Speaker 1: I was working with. That's why I did it too.
Speaker 1: And I keep reminding people these guests and you can
Speaker 1: you can vouch for it, or you can back me up.
Speaker 1: They don't know the questions I'm going to ask. We've
Speaker 1: never spoken before, so it's like, what else could it be?
Speaker 2: You know what I mean.
Speaker 1: It's definitely alignment. So I'm so happy when I hear that.
Speaker 2: Thank you, thank you for the opportunity to ask your question.
Speaker 2: That's quite unusual in an interview.
Speaker 1: To me, it's not really an interview. I think of
Speaker 1: it more as a conversation. So I'm like, I wish
Speaker 1: they could ask me something. And sometimes people do, just
Speaker 1: like randomly, they'll just ask a question and I get excited.
Speaker 1: But I'm like, I'm like, okay, let me at least
Speaker 1: put a section in there. So if they don't, you know,
Speaker 1: they feel like they're involved as well. So yeah, I
Speaker 1: appreciate that. All right. So for the final segment, I'm
Speaker 1: going to ask ask you seven quick, rapid fire questions
Speaker 1: and you have to give me the first answer that
Speaker 1: comes to mind. Okay, all right, what is your favorite
Speaker 1: Caribbean dish?
Speaker 2: Doubles? Ooh?
Speaker 1: Nice. I love doubles. Okay, name a textile or material
Speaker 1: that you feel spiritually spiritually connected.
Speaker 2: To mm hmmm, silk, chiffon ooh, I like.
Speaker 1: That, any particular like color?
Speaker 2: No, I mean my whole vibe is prince so it
Speaker 2: would have to be in some way Okay, yes, abstract
Speaker 2: or you know, print oriented is my go to?
Speaker 1: Love that? Love that beautiful? Okay. What is something you
Speaker 1: had to unlearn in order to grow?
Speaker 2: Hm? Wow, how not to conform in an effort to
Speaker 2: be truly who I am?
Speaker 1: I love that. Love that and you spoke a lot
Speaker 1: about that on this episode, So I love that. Hmmm.
Speaker 1: If you could have anyone living or deceased where one
Speaker 1: of your designs, who would it be?
Speaker 2: Immediately? Who comes to mind as Lauren Hill? Yeah? I
Speaker 2: love that. I know. I just have had always so
Speaker 2: much respect and you know, love for her style. Yeah,
Speaker 2: it's really more her than even like you know, whether
Speaker 2: or not my designs suit her personality, but just acknowledgement
Speaker 2: from her, you know, just because she's just so singular.
Speaker 2: She's just yeah, she is.
Speaker 1: She is two more. If you could travel anywhere in
Speaker 1: the world, all expense paid, where would you go.
Speaker 2: Hmm, not a good one. Wow, all expense. I think Alaska.
Speaker 2: Really why I think because, I mean, I'm very very
Speaker 2: blessed in many, many many places in the world. But
Speaker 2: I think, Okay, going somewhere that like is really kind
Speaker 2: of outside of my prior experience would be, you know,
Speaker 2: I think something that opens your eyes a whole other
Speaker 2: way of living.
Speaker 1: Yes, for sure, for sure, And I know it gets
Speaker 1: like very dark there, and yeah, it's definitely different. So
Speaker 1: I love that, okay. And for the final question, you know,
Speaker 1: I have to get a little deep one in there.
Speaker 1: So when the world kind of shuts off and there's
Speaker 1: no expectations, you have to think about what part of
Speaker 1: your younger self are you most grateful? Would you say
Speaker 1: that you never abandoned.
Speaker 2: Oh, I mean a thousand percent my love for fashion.
Speaker 2: It was very, very very early on that I was,
Speaker 2: you know, figuring out how to stand myself in a
Speaker 2: certain way, and I was always like deeply connected to
Speaker 2: self expression through clothes, and obviously that has never gone anywhere.
Speaker 2: It continued to be my way of living, and I
Speaker 2: feel very grateful every time I realized that this is
Speaker 2: what I get to do as opposed to something that
Speaker 2: I have to wait to do.
Speaker 1: You know exactly exactly? Wow. I love that gratitude is
Speaker 1: a most like coffee says Yes, I would just like
Speaker 1: to do my little thank you. I tell everybody try
Speaker 1: not to cry, but it's very important to me to
Speaker 1: thank my guests. So, Danya, you are a multi hyphen
Speaker 1: it in the most meaningful sense. In my opinion, you're
Speaker 1: a designer, philanthropist, cultural worker, community builder, and a storyteller.
Speaker 1: But to me, what's most striking isn't the number of
Speaker 1: things that you do. It's the integrity with which you
Speaker 1: do them. And I think that based on what you've
Speaker 1: shared with us today, in every role, your purpose remains
Speaker 1: clear to uplift, to question, to hold space, especially for
Speaker 1: Caribbean people navigating identity, creativity, and transformation. So to me,
Speaker 1: you remind us that success doesn't require a sacrificing softness,
Speaker 1: and that evolution doesn't mean disconnection from your roots. And
Speaker 1: your presence in this conversation and really in this world
Speaker 1: is a gift to all of us. I think that
Speaker 1: your commitment meant to living your truth has made space
Speaker 1: for so many of us to even consider what ours
Speaker 1: might be. So thank you for sharing your voice, clarity,
Speaker 1: and your vision with us. I think that it's not
Speaker 1: just inspiring, but it is liberating. So yeah, thank you
Speaker 1: for coming to talk thinks with me.
Speaker 2: Oh my god, good thing. You gave me the disclaimer
Speaker 2: not to cry.
Speaker 1: I had to start doing that because you guys are
Speaker 1: not going to come on here and mash me up.
Speaker 1: Because me love crying.
Speaker 2: That exceptional Wow. I am going to keep that recording
Speaker 2: for every time I have a bad moment or a
Speaker 2: bad day and just gosh, don't make me cry. Wow.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Ash. That was a gift, And so is
Speaker 2: this conversation and your you know, to the point of
Speaker 2: early on, just adapt with which you engage in this
Speaker 2: conversation is truly truly wonderful. Thank you so much.
Speaker 1: Oh, of course you're so welcome. It was a pleasure
Speaker 1: having you