Speaker 1: This show is produced and hosted by Mark Webber. The
Speaker 1: show is sponsored by G three of Parol. The views
Speaker 1: expressed in the following program are those of the sponsor
Speaker 1: and not necessarily the opinion of seven tenor or iHeartMedia.
Speaker 1: Who is Mark Weber. He's a self made business executive
Speaker 1: here to help you find your success from the New
Speaker 1: York City projects to the Avenue Montaigne in Paris. His
Speaker 1: global success story in the luxury world of fashion is inspirational.
Speaker 1: He's gone from clerk to CEO twice. Mark his classic
Speaker 1: proof that the American dream is alive and well, here's
Speaker 1: your host of Always in Fashion, Mark Weber.
Speaker 2: Mark Weber, take a stand, We stand still self fulfilling prophecy.
Speaker 2: John F. Kennedy made it clear that you can't stub
Speaker 2: your toes standing still, life and decisions must be made.
Speaker 2: Everyone knows you can't make an omelet without breaking eggs.
Speaker 2: So therefore I'm thinking about confidence and decisions and making
Speaker 2: choices tonight. Whether you can or you can't, You're right,
Speaker 2: do nothing, get nothing trying. You got a chance, Babe,
Speaker 2: Bruth's striking out getting your way. You gotta get up
Speaker 2: to bet Okay, Babe, bruth said, never let the fear
Speaker 2: of striking out get in your way. You gotta get
Speaker 2: up to bet. We live in the future. What I've
Speaker 2: said already is in the past. Yesterday's home runs don't
Speaker 2: win today's games. We have to move forward now. I
Speaker 2: could end the show right now. I made my points point,
Speaker 2: made's point taken. I do remember my wake up calls
Speaker 2: in Osaka, Japan. A young girl would get on the
Speaker 2: phone and go, mushy, mushy, mushy, time full wake up.
Speaker 2: It's time for wake up. Whether you think you can
Speaker 2: or you think you can, either one is right. You
Speaker 2: have to take a stay or stand still. What are
Speaker 2: you going to do? Not try?
Speaker 3: What if my name wasn't in lights? What if my
Speaker 3: face wasn't on TV every other second? But if there
Speaker 3: wasn't a crowd around every corner? But if I was
Speaker 3: just a basketball player? Can you imagine it? I can.
Speaker 2: He made it clear he made so many mistakes. I've
Speaker 2: made so many mistakes. Some I've learned from and some
Speaker 2: I should have learned from. I want to think about
Speaker 2: my broadcasting career. I know lots of people listening and
Speaker 2: thank you, I really appreciate it. But I had a
Speaker 2: choice to make. I spent the first two years of
Speaker 2: my career in broadcasting fighting the inevitable. The title of
Speaker 2: the show, always in Fashion, came from my book Always
Speaker 2: in Fashion. It's a strong positioning statement, but I was
Speaker 2: concerned because people would think the radio was just a
Speaker 2: story about fashion, or it could mean, as I saw
Speaker 2: it for the air, looking good is always in fashion.
Speaker 2: Smart business decisions are always in fashion. Reflecting on life
Speaker 2: is always in fashion. Common sense is always in fashion,
Speaker 2: in spite of realizing common sense is not so common anyway,
Speaker 2: I was concerned with the limitation of the show that
Speaker 2: it could have been discounted because it was dedicated to fashion.
Speaker 2: Last week we played an encore presentation. It was called
Speaker 2: Everybody Knows Nobody Knows from May of twenty eighteen. I
Speaker 2: thought it was a great show, and by the way,
Speaker 2: it's worth listening to it. If you missed it, you
Speaker 2: find it an Apple Spotify podcast. Look, Everybody Knows Nobody Knows.
Speaker 2: The point is, at the beginning of the show, I
Speaker 2: spoke to the fact, as I have for the first
Speaker 2: two years of every opening, which began with this is
Speaker 2: Mark Weber, this is always in fashion, This is business
Speaker 2: now this has always been a business show. The course
Speaker 2: of those two years, I realized the title work well.
Speaker 2: And as much as I've been encouraged to come up
Speaker 2: with a different title, I took a stand. I decided
Speaker 2: to go with the brand I was building. Now. My
Speaker 2: favorite sorry on the subject I've told it before, had
Speaker 2: to do with a truck driver who's riding in his
Speaker 2: truck doing his deliveries, whatever it is, and he got
Speaker 2: to the point where the station said coming up next,
Speaker 2: always in fashion. He listened to the opening, he listened
Speaker 2: to woor and he was tempted. When he heards a
Speaker 2: fashion show, he was tempted to change the station. He
Speaker 2: was tempted to walk away, turn the doll, but when
Speaker 2: he heard it was dedicated to helping people find their success,
Speaker 2: he decided to stay with him because he's an independent entrepreneur.
Speaker 2: And he stayed with the show, and he loved and
Speaker 2: he wrote to the station how much he loved it. Now,
Speaker 2: I've given great thought to changing the title, but every
Speaker 2: person I've spoken with, every program director, they start to
Speaker 2: listen and they can't stop the show until it's over.
Speaker 2: I've heard stories. My wife is calling on the phone,
Speaker 2: where are you. I'm in the driveway. I'll be in
Speaker 2: in fifteen minutes after the show ends for another call.
Speaker 2: I'm putting my children to bed. Where are you? Why
Speaker 2: aren't you here? Keep them up? For twenty minutes. I'm
Speaker 2: listening to a radio show. A lot of people love
Speaker 2: the shows, learn so much and I love listening, but
Speaker 2: it puts me to sleep at night. Oh well, thanks
Speaker 2: changing the title. Note, I took a stand like the captain.
Speaker 2: I'll go down with the ship in the end. I've
Speaker 2: been building a brand always in fashion. Now let's be clear.
Speaker 2: I no longer open the show with caveats. It is
Speaker 2: what it is. Spotify, Apple and every other vehicle you
Speaker 2: find the show on will rate us as business, cultural,
Speaker 2: and lifestyle. I can talk about anything that I want to.
Speaker 2: I like the opportunity to have a platform to talk
Speaker 2: about whatever I think is important. Now hold that for
Speaker 2: I've I've mentioned mistakes. My first attempt at radio. Oh man,
Speaker 2: I made a mistake, and there's a lesson. I undervalued
Speaker 2: how tough it is to be on the air. Anyone
Speaker 2: who thinks they can sing listen to American Idol. You'll
Speaker 2: learn to appreciate how good they are. If you think
Speaker 2: it's hard to sing or hard to be great, you
Speaker 2: should do that. I used to be a great baseball
Speaker 2: pitcher when I was in high school. I threw the
Speaker 2: ball eighty miles an hour, putting in perspective. College girls
Speaker 2: playing softball, pitching underhand, pitch faster than I did. And
Speaker 2: I thought it was going to be easy. And I
Speaker 2: got to tell you, being on radio is not easy.
Speaker 2: I wrote a book called Dressed Casually for Success. The
Speaker 2: people who published the book were my agent, so to speak.
Speaker 2: I told them I had a dream of being on radio.
Speaker 2: They had a relationship with Rush Limburg's producer. They brought
Speaker 2: me into the studio to record a radio show. Let
Speaker 2: me tell you what I did, totally unprepared and what
Speaker 2: happens getting ready to record demo tapes. Did I think
Speaker 2: it would be easy? Yeah, I'm clever, I'm interesting, I
Speaker 2: have a point of view on everything. I'll just talk.
Speaker 2: I'll go in the studio, I'll be there at lunchtime.
Speaker 2: I wrote nothing, prepared, nothing, and I can tell you
Speaker 2: I was nothing. I was terrible. I embarrassed myself. After
Speaker 2: the recording session was done, I looked at the program
Speaker 2: director and I asked him. How was it? He said, well,
Speaker 2: I have to edit. It'll be okay. Two weeks later,
Speaker 2: my agent showed up with an edited show, three parts.
Speaker 2: They were all okay, not great, not bad. But I
Speaker 2: walked away because I know good isn't good enough, and
Speaker 2: it was probably the right decision. But there were lessons learned.
Speaker 2: Nothing worthwhile is easy. Good isn't good enough. I would
Speaker 2: tell you the next time you try something, you have
Speaker 2: to think it through, be prepared. Lessons learned, you would think,
Speaker 2: But not me, because I got my next shot at
Speaker 2: radio fifteen years later. Now, whatever it is, I'm driven
Speaker 2: to be on the radio. I never thought about podcast because, frankly,
Speaker 2: eight years ago podcasts were just starting for me. I
Speaker 2: always dreamed of being on the radio. I drove to
Speaker 2: work every day of my career listen to music. Of course,
Speaker 2: at night I started listening to talk radio. I was tired.
Speaker 2: I wanted to be educated, I wanted to be entertained.
Speaker 2: I didn't want to listen to music. I eventually became
Speaker 2: one hundred percent on the radio listening to talk radio,
Speaker 2: and I became enamored with it. And I said to myself,
Speaker 2: these people, man, women, they're interesting they've lived lives, they
Speaker 2: have stories to tell, they have a point of view.
Speaker 2: I said, you know, don't tell anyone, Mark, But you're
Speaker 2: not unlike them. You've lived an interesting career, You're able
Speaker 2: to tell stories, you're able to speak. Maybe, just maybe
Speaker 2: you could do a radio show. And I decided that
Speaker 2: I wanted to do it because I'm driven. And subsequently
Speaker 2: the podcast as well. I love podcasts because you have
Speaker 2: people listening whenever they want. Anytime, I ask a person
Speaker 2: that I meet along the way, do you listen to positive? Yeah?
Speaker 2: I do where in my free time, Sometimes in the
Speaker 2: car blah blah blah blah, And I tell them about
Speaker 2: the podcast. They promised to listen. I don't know what
Speaker 2: my success rate is meeting strangers and telling him to
Speaker 2: listen is, but I know we have a lot of listeners,
Speaker 2: and I think we're doing well. So I've been driven
Speaker 2: to radio. Always in fashion, I hire new agents. This time,
Speaker 2: new agents get me into the studios, a big broadcasting group.
Speaker 2: They set up a week of recording to do demo tapes.
Speaker 2: Now before I come in that Monday, they send me
Speaker 2: a knowe mark a tip. Make sure you're prepared? Am
Speaker 2: I right of course, don't worry. I make speeches all
Speaker 2: the time. If I tell you I show up figuring,
Speaker 2: I'll wing it. I'll just talk. You want to talk
Speaker 2: about lessons learned, You would think I would learn part
Speaker 2: of tonight. I want to talk about mistakes, because we
Speaker 2: learned through mistakes as well. But here I am my
Speaker 2: second choice of radio. I show up at my lunchtime
Speaker 2: totally unprepared. I bomb mean, I was terrible. I was
Speaker 2: all over the place. I was boring, no continuity, nothing
Speaker 2: that made sense from one minute to the night. At
Speaker 2: the end of the day, my agents try to console me.
Speaker 2: I know they were looking to they make a mistake
Speaker 2: hiring me. But they said, Mark, it wasn't bad. But
Speaker 2: I'm saying to myself, wasn't bad. That's my rating. It
Speaker 2: wasn't bad. Give it a thought. What wasn't bad means seven?
Speaker 2: Oh my god. I told them, as they did the past.
Speaker 2: Time I didn't learn my lesson, I said, lose the tapes.
Speaker 2: I promise you I'll be different tomorrow. Whether they believe
Speaker 2: me or not, that remains to be seen. But I
Speaker 2: was different tomorrow because I wanted this. I wanted to
Speaker 2: be on air. I wanted to stand up or stand still.
Speaker 2: I wanted to stand up. I went home that night
Speaker 2: and wrote and wrote and wrote. I organized my thoughts.
Speaker 2: I layered out sequences. I layered it out an order
Speaker 2: of presentation. I constructed a beginning, minus, and an end
Speaker 2: to each performance. I prepared for the next day, and
Speaker 2: for the day after that and the day after that.
Speaker 2: Trust me, I thought I couldn't, and then I realized
Speaker 2: I can. I decided to take a stand and not
Speaker 2: stand still. I knew I could do this. Whether you
Speaker 2: can or you think you can, it's another lesson. If
Speaker 2: you don't think it, it's not gonna happen. You've got
Speaker 2: to believe in yourself and you'll be right. Either way.
Speaker 2: You don't believe that, you won't be well. I decided
Speaker 2: they're no more cans for me. This is Mark Weber,
Speaker 2: this is always from fashion, and here we are, eight
Speaker 2: years later, getting better, always trying, taking a stand, not
Speaker 2: standing still. With that in mind, stay tuned tonight is
Speaker 2: take a stand or stand still? Back in a.
Speaker 1: Moment, Always in fashion.
Speaker 2: Spent a lifetime of my career building the van Usen brand,
Speaker 2: and I am so pleased that they're back with us
Speaker 2: now talking about suits. Men were dressing up again, and
Speaker 2: it's become cool to wear a suit. Suits can be
Speaker 2: won on multiple occasions in multiple ways. You could wear
Speaker 2: a suit formally to go out at night or to
Speaker 2: an event. You can wear a suit to the office
Speaker 2: with or without a tie. If you look closely, now
Speaker 2: fashion trends suits are being worn with turtlenecks or mack next.
Speaker 2: The choices are endless and every one of them looks right.
Speaker 2: You could really really look the part. I believe that
Speaker 2: in packaging yourself is as important does the products you package,
Speaker 2: and wearing a suit is one of those things that
Speaker 2: make men look their best. Venuesn't invented a new idea.
Speaker 2: It's called the cool flex suit. It's been engineered with
Speaker 2: stretch technology giving you the most comfortable fit and mobility.
Speaker 2: Its wrinkle resistant fabric, it's cool moisture wiki. It makes
Speaker 2: it perfect for all occasions. As we discussed just now,
Speaker 2: this new style of looking sharp while feeling cool and
Speaker 2: comfortable is amazing and I'm so excited that the van
Speaker 2: using company is involved in this new technology and is
Speaker 2: embracing the whole idea of dressing up. Let's not forget
Speaker 2: Van Usen made its name with dress shirts. It's only
Speaker 2: proper that the suit business follows strongly in its way.
Speaker 2: You can find van using Koolflex men's stretch suits at
Speaker 2: jcpenny are online at jcpenny dot com. Guys, they're great,
Speaker 2: you should go look at them. Donna Karen began her
Speaker 2: career as one of the finest, most successful, powerful women
Speaker 2: in the fashion industry. She developed a collection aimed at
Speaker 2: the luxury market for women on the go, women who
Speaker 2: were powerful in their workplace, women who had lives that
Speaker 2: extended beyond the workplace, and her clothes went from day
Speaker 2: and to night. An extraordinary collection. But the interesting thing
Speaker 2: Donna Karen had a young daughter, and she had friends
Speaker 2: and they couldn't afford to buy the Donna Karen collection.
Speaker 2: And Donna invented DKNY Donna Aaron, New York. It's an
Speaker 2: offshoot of the Donna Karen collection. The same concept a
Speaker 2: lifestyle brand. Then we talk about lifestyle brands, What does
Speaker 2: that really mean? Simply what they say, there are brands
Speaker 2: that follow you throughout your lifestyle. You get up in
Speaker 2: the morning, you start to get dressed. Donna Karen decan
Speaker 2: why as intimate apparel as hosiery as all those products.
Speaker 2: You're getting dressed for work. You get accessorized shoes, handbags,
Speaker 2: and it takes you through the day. The remarkable thing
Speaker 2: about dk and Why clothes for work, they work into
Speaker 2: the evening. The dresses, the suits, the pants, the sweaters,
Speaker 2: the blouses, extraordinary clothes at affordable prices that go from
Speaker 2: day in tonight. Part of your lifestyle is active. You
Speaker 2: have weekends, you have events, you participate in sports. Donna
Speaker 2: Karen's Casual Clothes did that under the DKNY label. A
Speaker 2: vast array of casual sportshere that make women look great
Speaker 2: as they navigate their busy lives. Whether you're going to
Speaker 2: soccer games for your children or whether you're going out
Speaker 2: to the movies, whatever you want to do, DCNY jeans,
Speaker 2: dk Y Sportswear is there for you. That's what a
Speaker 2: lifestyle brand is. I need to mention DKY Activewear, which
Speaker 2: is extraordinary, the leggings, the sports bras, the sweats. You
Speaker 2: can wear DKY activewear certainly in the gym, certainly when
Speaker 2: you're working out at home, and certainly if you want
Speaker 2: on the street, because it's that well done. The quality
Speaker 2: of dk why is nothing short of exceptional and why
Speaker 2: shouldn't it be because it was born from the idea
Speaker 2: of luxury made affordable for women of America. DKY and
Speaker 2: Why a true lifestyle brand that takes you from day
Speaker 2: and tonight, from the week into the weekend. DCN. Why
Speaker 2: you can find DCNY and Macy's DKY dot com.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to it Always in fashion. Here's your host,
Speaker 1: Mark Webber.
Speaker 2: Tonight, I'm taking a stand. You have a choice. I
Speaker 2: can stand or stand still. You decide who you want
Speaker 2: to be. I know tonight I'm taking a stand. I
Speaker 2: have an idea of where I want to go. I
Speaker 2: have an idea where I am in life, and I
Speaker 2: always continue to move forward. After all, we're already in
Speaker 2: the future. When I just told you a moment ago
Speaker 2: is the past, you got to move forward. It's just
Speaker 2: the way it is. I'm taking a stand. I do
Speaker 2: not stand still now. I have the right to talk
Speaker 2: about whatever I want. I'm on the microphone. It's mine.
Speaker 2: I could talk and I try to avoid most times
Speaker 2: the hardcore facts about the world. I don't want to
Speaker 2: talk about the multiple wars going on around us right
Speaker 2: now anyway. I don't want to talk about world events.
Speaker 2: I leave it for the others in spite of the
Speaker 2: fact that I have a point of view, and yes
Speaker 2: I do, but it's not my job to teach the
Speaker 2: government and my view of the situation. I haven't heard
Speaker 2: anyone repeat anywhere. I have my own view, but I
Speaker 2: don't want to do it. I'd rather just talk about
Speaker 2: celebrating wins. I wonder do the Democrats want I want
Speaker 2: Donald Trump to be successful? By Trump? Who is our president?
Speaker 2: I do have to ask do they want a country
Speaker 2: to be successful? Does the liberal media want Donald Trump
Speaker 2: to be successful? I subscribe to a theory I want
Speaker 2: to win. I never want to lose. I don't like
Speaker 2: the other guy, And over the course of time, I
Speaker 2: adopted the principle that I hate losing more than I
Speaker 2: like winning. I don't want to be wrong. I don't
Speaker 2: want to be on the wrong side of logic and
Speaker 2: common sense, but I don't want I can't let my
Speaker 2: competitor win, and a business I would rather be wrong
Speaker 2: than win. I don't want to let my competitors succeed.
Speaker 2: But we're talking about a country. We're talking about a
Speaker 2: president that if he's successful, if he's doing good things,
Speaker 2: getting results, winning isn't that good for the country? Illegal
Speaker 2: immigration through this conversation a billion times. We're a country
Speaker 2: of immigrants. We want immigrants, we allow them in, but
Speaker 2: they're supposed to be vetted. As a system. Taxes do
Speaker 2: we want more? Taxes? Really eliminate waste and corruption, end
Speaker 2: all wars, put America first. Not a single Democrat wants
Speaker 2: to step up and celebrate the successes that we've had
Speaker 2: under the Trump presidency so far. Don't like his personality,
Speaker 2: got it, don't like the things and the chaos he creates.
Speaker 2: I get it. We do about it differently, maybe, but
Speaker 2: I don't think the Democrats, like me and business want
Speaker 2: Donald Trump to be successful. They talk, they behave, they
Speaker 2: cry out against everything. Nothing is good. It seems that
Speaker 2: rather a country turned to crap fail than have a
Speaker 2: successful Republican presidency, particularly a popular Donald Trump. They so
Speaker 2: disliked this guy that they make it tough. Tough choices
Speaker 2: are never good. He's making tough, tough choices to fix
Speaker 2: and solve problems. He's trying for miracles no matter how
Speaker 2: many people dislike him. He goes for can, he doesn't
Speaker 2: go for cant. He stands. He doesn't want to stand still. Now,
Speaker 2: there's a whole lot of people in our country and
Speaker 2: around the world who see a chance for changing greatness.
Speaker 2: Yet I'll admit it, the media, the Democrats seem to
Speaker 2: prefer a failure rather than the country win. I told you,
Speaker 2: In business, I really give some thoughts. I'd rather fail
Speaker 2: than see someone else win. But in government it's embarrassing
Speaker 2: you all want to be on the wrong side of history.
Speaker 2: I leave it at that, Like Forrest Gump. That's all
Speaker 2: I have to say about that. Back to the show.
Speaker 2: What I do want to say is I've been working
Speaker 2: hard to make this show more about life. It's always business,
Speaker 2: and I'm not running away from fashion when it suits me.
Speaker 2: But tonight it's whether you take a stand or stand still.
Speaker 2: I want to take a moment to encourage all of
Speaker 2: us to tackle the tough issues and get them done.
Speaker 2: No one's coming to save you, no one's coming to
Speaker 2: save us. We have to do it ourselves. A few
Speaker 2: thoughts on business. You have to make money. Hey, New York,
Speaker 2: you just voted to raise the minimum wage to thirty
Speaker 2: dollars your losers, Who do you think is going to
Speaker 2: pay for those other people's salaries? I'll let you think
Speaker 2: about that. There's a commercial, an old commercial that was
Speaker 2: done by Smith Barney. I'm going to play it for
Speaker 2: you now.
Speaker 3: John Housman for the investment firm of Smith Barney.
Speaker 4: Good investments don't walk up, bite you on the bottom
Speaker 4: and say we're here. Finding them takes good old fashioned
Speaker 4: hard work research the kind they do it Smith Barney
Speaker 4: Smith Bonnie is among a handful of top investment firms
Speaker 4: singled out for their work in research. Smith Barney. They
Speaker 4: make money the old fashioned way they earn it.
Speaker 2: I love that commercial. You got to go out and
Speaker 2: earn the money the hard way. You've got to earn it.
Speaker 2: I've given a lot of thought to everything. No one
Speaker 2: ever gave me anything. No one ever said life would
Speaker 2: be easy. When given a chance, you have to recognize
Speaker 2: that you're given a chance, and then only then fight
Speaker 2: to win. Yeah. I've been thinking about being smart, first
Speaker 2: for myself and then only for others. Tonight I don't
Speaker 2: self be true. And this week something happened they got
Speaker 2: me thinking and I want to talk about It has
Speaker 2: to do with fashion. Maybe you'll get a kick out
Speaker 2: of maybe you own It's a reoccurring thing for me
Speaker 2: this week I walked five miles in one hundred degree heat.
Speaker 2: I was physically exhausted, soaked through and through. I don't
Speaker 2: know if I was having heat stroke or dehydration, but
Speaker 2: I didn't feel just right. And I walked into the
Speaker 2: club that I belonged to near where I live. I
Speaker 2: sat down to have a nice tea who I knew
Speaker 2: from the club. I never spoke to who saw me
Speaker 2: sitting there, and I know I look like a disaster.
Speaker 2: But when I got in there, because it was cold,
Speaker 2: I put on a light sweater. So I'm wearing long
Speaker 2: pants and a sweater and I was soaked through and through.
Speaker 2: And next to me it was a table with this
Speaker 2: woman who started to talk to me. Two men, two women,
Speaker 2: and they started to engage me. First of all, they
Speaker 2: were right, I was drained, wet, physically exhausted. And then
Speaker 2: they said, you know, you don't look like your dress
Speaker 2: properly long pants, white sweater, and I barely managed to
Speaker 2: get it out and I said to him, do you
Speaker 2: know what I do for a living? And they said, yeah,
Speaker 2: we know. And while I didn't want to get into it,
Speaker 2: I did bring it up. You know, I'm very, very
Speaker 2: tired and there's no question it was hot out there.
Speaker 2: But I have to tell you that when you mentioned
Speaker 2: fashion to me, did I ever tell you or have
Speaker 2: you ever heard that I wanted to run for president
Speaker 2: of the United States? And it looked at me like
Speaker 2: I was crazy. I said, yeah, I'm looking at everyone here,
Speaker 2: including the two gentlemen you with and with all the
Speaker 2: respect I'm aiming at them, but I wanted to run
Speaker 2: on a platform of being president that the moment I
Speaker 2: become president, all men of banned from wearing shorts. And
Speaker 2: I looked at the two husbands or guys, and I said, listen,
Speaker 2: present company excluded, of course, But I don't want to
Speaker 2: look at men in shorts. I have seen in my
Speaker 2: entire time here one guy, young guy, really built athlete,
Speaker 2: look good in shorts. Other than him, there is no exception.
Speaker 2: There is no one who looks good in shorts. And
Speaker 2: then my second platform that I would stand on is
Speaker 2: anyone wearing sandals. Any man wearing sandals, I put him
Speaker 2: in jail. They have to go before me in a
Speaker 2: hearing to get out of jail and promise they'll never
Speaker 2: wear them again. So these guys and this women are
Speaker 2: looking at me like I'm crazy. Before I finished, the
Speaker 2: guy starts laughing and he says, i'd vote for you.
Speaker 2: But anyway, I started to be gracious. I was feeling better,
Speaker 2: and I said, listen, you know we've never spoken. I apologize.
Speaker 2: I'm a recluse. I don't particularly like humans, and I
Speaker 2: don't talk to anybody. And now they're thinking I'm really
Speaker 2: a nut. And I was getting a kick out of it.
Speaker 2: I'm in my Larry David mode. But I did say,
Speaker 2: you know, the subject of shorts, and you're looking at
Speaker 2: me and saying, how could I possibly go out with
Speaker 2: long pants? The sweater I put on when I got here.
Speaker 2: I said, you know, if you look at all the
Speaker 2: people that live in the desert, they're all covered up
Speaker 2: by cloth from head to toe. You look at all
Speaker 2: the Arabs living in the middle of the heat, they're
Speaker 2: fully clothed. And I said, there's something to be said
Speaker 2: for that, because you're not taking the heat directly on
Speaker 2: your skin. So maybe I'm not wrong, But for whatever
Speaker 2: it's worth, I would also say I'm hesitant. I can
Speaker 2: only imagine what your tan lines look like, the whiteness
Speaker 2: on your knees and your hips and your arms, not
Speaker 2: for me, and it also got me thinking, and here
Speaker 2: I am. I know I don't look my best. I
Speaker 2: know I'm a mess. I know I didn't serve myself. Well.
Speaker 2: I've always said I'm an acquired taste. And I made
Speaker 2: four new enemies, I'm sure, although I did think I
Speaker 2: was charming, and I did smile a lot while I
Speaker 2: was making a fool of myself and perhaps them. But
Speaker 2: I watch people and I see the way they dress,
Speaker 2: and it drives me crazy, which leads me. The other night,
Speaker 2: I went to a restaurant, cool place in Dumbo. Been
Speaker 2: hanging out a little bit in Brooklyn, across from the bridge,
Speaker 2: underneath the Brooklyn Bridge. Down under the Brooklyn Bridge is
Speaker 2: not what Dumbo stands for. I forget, and I went
Speaker 2: into a very cool restaurant. Everyone is young, The women
Speaker 2: looked amazing. The men. You know, what do I have
Speaker 2: to tell you? You know, it's scary. The women come in,
Speaker 2: they're all dressed well, I mean, they're are women that
Speaker 2: gave up. And I don't understand that. By the way,
Speaker 2: there are guys who gave up and women gave up.
Speaker 2: I'm looking at these couples and I'm saying, is this
Speaker 2: what they look like on their wedding night? Is this
Speaker 2: what they've allowed themselves to become? What happened here? When
Speaker 2: did people give up? I went. I used to celebrity
Speaker 2: golf tournaments. I used to sponsor celebrity golf tournaments Palm Springs.
Speaker 2: I did the celebrity golf tournament for Frank Sinatra. His
Speaker 2: wife was sponsor. They invited me to all the events.
Speaker 2: I ended up one night in Bob Hope's house, a
Speaker 2: usual house in the middle of nowhere in Palm Spring,
Speaker 2: and they had a whole lot of performances. I actually
Speaker 2: sat with Robert Wagner and Jill Saint John and they
Speaker 2: had entertainment coming up. And they had a guy forget
Speaker 2: his name, don Or Dan, who opened for Frank Sinatra
Speaker 2: all those years. And Jack Jones came up. Jack Jones
Speaker 2: back in the day was a famous singer. And who
Speaker 2: was he married to? All people Jill Saint John, who
Speaker 2: I'm sitting next to in the audience round the tables
Speaker 2: like the Golden Gloves, sitting having dinner, and all these
Speaker 2: people are coming into reform. Jack Jones sang the song.
Speaker 2: Jackson sang the song he' his famous one, Hey Little girl,
Speaker 2: comb your hair, fix your makeup. Soon he will walk
Speaker 2: through the door. Don't think because there's a ring on
Speaker 2: your finger. You needn't try any more. Because wives should
Speaker 2: always be lovers to run to his arms the moment
Speaker 2: he comes home to you. I'm warning you. So here
Speaker 2: I am in this restaurant and looking at the couples
Speaker 2: walking in, and I'm watching how they gave up. But
Speaker 2: the thing that intrigued me more than anything was the
Speaker 2: way the guys look, the young guys next to the women.
Speaker 2: The young women were wearing fashion. They look amazing. I
Speaker 2: think some of the shoe choices were tragic, but by
Speaker 2: and large, the young girls look great. And the guys
Speaker 2: either they look like their little brothers or they looked
Speaker 2: ridiculous next to them, beautiful dresses, dressed heels, not heels,
Speaker 2: whatever the shoes wear, the mids, some of them at
Speaker 2: traffic tragic. But the guys look terrible with the turned
Speaker 2: around hats, the T shirts to beggie short, the sneakers
Speaker 2: or the sandal I mean ridiculous. And I have to
Speaker 2: worry about the future of the American and the world procreating.
Speaker 2: So this is a public service announcement. I'm looking at
Speaker 2: these attractive women who know what to wear, and I'm
Speaker 2: looking at the guys who don't. I'm looking at the
Speaker 2: women looking attractive, and I'm looking at the guys and saying,
Speaker 2: when did you decide to be a little brother to
Speaker 2: this girl ear you're going out with. It's fascinating. If
Speaker 2: I would line up ten women and ten guys, you'd
Speaker 2: never put the ten guys with the right matches. There
Speaker 2: are some guys who are trying wearing nice shirts. They
Speaker 2: thought about the pants, their shoes. Very often the tragic,
Speaker 2: but they're there. Guys, if you don't look attractive, what's
Speaker 2: the future of the human race. We need you to
Speaker 2: get married, we need you to have children, we need
Speaker 2: a future here. I'm going to do this for the
Speaker 2: last time, hopefully, but it's spring and summer and it's
Speaker 2: a mess. Now here's the deal. I could just talk
Speaker 2: like this and tell you that I'm well dressed all
Speaker 2: the time. I get it. I know everything, and hard
Speaker 2: to argue with me. I often have these arguments with
Speaker 2: someone and they try to discuss fashion with me. It's
Speaker 2: hard to argue with me, after all. CEO of two
Speaker 2: big companies wrote two books on the radio podcasting Always
Speaker 2: in Fashion, I do have some good credentials. If you
Speaker 2: will work for the largest paralle company the United States,
Speaker 2: the largest global luxury company. Well, it's hard to argue
Speaker 2: with me, but I admit I don't always look good.
Speaker 2: I make my mistakes. I you know, get up. Sometimes
Speaker 2: I don't feel I can take it a shower, I'm tired.
Speaker 2: I don't want to, you know, mess with my hair
Speaker 2: good enough. Maybe I don't shape, but I know when
Speaker 2: I look good, and I know what I know, and
Speaker 2: I know when I'm trying. Guys, you have to think
Speaker 2: about what you're doing. And that's tonight's show. I hope
Speaker 2: I gave you a good example. Those of you who
Speaker 2: don't greet me with shorts, those of you don't greet
Speaker 2: me with sandals, those of you who think I'm a puffoon, arrogant,
Speaker 2: an acquired taste. I agree with you. No argument here,
Speaker 2: but I do think it's important to take a stand,
Speaker 2: not stand still. I'll be back in a minute.
Speaker 4: Always in Fashion.
Speaker 2: As one of the world's most celebrated fashion designers, Carl
Speaker 2: Lagefeld was renowned for his aspirational and cutting edge approach
Speaker 2: to style. His unique vision of Parisian shit comes to
Speaker 2: America through car Lagafeld Paris. He has women's collections, men's collections,
Speaker 2: ready to wear, accessory, shoes and bags. The fashion house
Speaker 2: Carlagofeld also offers a range of watches I wear in
Speaker 2: premium fragrances. You could explore the car Lagophl collection to
Speaker 2: Carlagofhelparis dot com. But it's more than that. I have,
Speaker 2: for one, love to shop. I love going around and
Speaker 2: seeing what's happening and what catches my attention, what would
Speaker 2: make me feel good to wear now. I don't wear
Speaker 2: the women's wear obviously, but I can appreciate it and
Speaker 2: they look amazing. If you want to look right, you
Speaker 2: want to have clothes that fits you well. You want
Speaker 2: to look like you're wearing something that's very expensive, that's
Speaker 2: exclusive for you and yours. You can find at very
Speaker 2: affordable prices at Macy'socarlagofel dot com Paris. The women's ready
Speaker 2: to wear fashion is extraordinary, as well as the handbags
Speaker 2: and the shoes. I for one wear men's clothes, unlike
Speaker 2: my appreciation of women's clothes. I'm a modern guy. I'm
Speaker 2: gonna look current. I want to look the way I
Speaker 2: want to feel. I go out at night, I'm in
Speaker 2: black and Carl Lagafeld is my buddy. Carlos are great,
Speaker 2: They fit great, and they have little tweaks and touches,
Speaker 2: whether it's a stripe on the sleeve or button at
Speaker 2: the neck or on the shoulder. There's a lot of
Speaker 2: details that go into Carlagathel because he's always been he
Speaker 2: always had been where of the world's great designers, and
Speaker 2: this legacy and goes on and on. I can't speak
Speaker 2: enough about it except to say to you, you want
Speaker 2: to feel good about yourself. You want to know that
Speaker 2: you're dressing properly. You want to clothes that fits you well.
Speaker 2: Carl Lagafeld Paris, Carl Lagofeldparis dot com. My favorite brand
Speaker 2: has always been ISOD. My company at one time bought
Speaker 2: that brand. The CEO of the company handed it to
Speaker 2: me and said, you better make it work. And I
Speaker 2: put everything in my career to make ISOD work. And
Speaker 2: I fell in love with that brand, and to this
Speaker 2: day it is one of the most exciting endeavors I've
Speaker 2: ever got involved with. Isod is an incredibly strong golf brand.
Speaker 2: If you play golf if you play tennis for that matter.
Speaker 2: They make a great polo shirts. I mean great. They're
Speaker 2: fit perfect. The material is unique because it's a piquet
Speaker 2: fabric that waffle leave, you see, and it's made of
Speaker 2: a blend of cotton and microfiber that allows you to stretch.
Speaker 2: And very often they are treated with solar protection as well,
Speaker 2: so they stretch, they're comfortable, and they breathe well. And
Speaker 2: one thing about isa they always fit. They'll never tug
Speaker 2: on you. You put it in your waist that they'll
Speaker 2: fit you great. The colors, patterns are sensational. Now I
Speaker 2: will also tell Isaac makes great shorts and great golf pants.
Speaker 2: You're a golf friend. You want to look good. You
Speaker 2: don't have to think about how do I look. You
Speaker 2: want to think about how you play, not how you feel.
Speaker 2: ISOD is the brand for you. I know I was
Speaker 2: there when it was created. The strategy behind that brand
Speaker 2: is brilliant. It's one of my favorite brands. While I
Speaker 2: talk about it, I should tell you about the men's sportswear.
Speaker 2: ISOD wasn't enough being a golf brand. It wasn't enough
Speaker 2: being just great polo shirts with logos without logos, incredible
Speaker 2: brand and story and history. ISAOD makes salt weather programs.
Speaker 2: They have great printed woven shirts, short sleeves that look
Speaker 2: excellent with colors, excellent with shorts, excellent with cotton pants,
Speaker 2: of which they also make this whole salt order relaxed
Speaker 2: line from ISOC, whether it be fleece, cotton sweaters, knit polos,
Speaker 2: woven shirts and pants of a range of colors and
Speaker 2: fabrics that are perfect for a guy wants to go
Speaker 2: casually in the spring and summer of this year. And
Speaker 2: here's the thing, ISOD is affordable. Everyone listening to me
Speaker 2: talk about this brand can afford to buy it and
Speaker 2: know that there are a lot of other brands that
Speaker 2: also have a look like ISID. Although I don't believe
Speaker 2: it's fun as Eyaona is. The brand has a lot
Speaker 2: of energy in it, but at the price points no
Speaker 2: one can compete. You can find eyes That at You're
Speaker 2: leading retailers and online at ion dot com. Talk to
Speaker 2: you later, guys. I wish you are very happy springing summer,
Speaker 2: and I help you by telling you if you were
Speaker 2: eyes On, you're going to look great.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to it. Always in fashion, here's your host.
Speaker 2: Mark webber Tonight, take a stand or stand still. That's
Speaker 2: what I'm thinking about. You either stand for something or
Speaker 2: you don't do anything at all. I suppose either one works.
Speaker 2: There are times where you have to step on the brakes.
Speaker 2: If you take time to think about it, you don't
Speaker 2: want to move forward. You need time to ponder. You
Speaker 2: need a moment, very pause, a pregnant moment to make
Speaker 2: sure you're going right. You need to say no, fine,
Speaker 2: I get it. But most times, or more times than that,
Speaker 2: you'd have to take a stand. And that's what life
Speaker 2: is about moving forward. You think of some of the
Speaker 2: greatest people in the world. They've taken stands. They've done
Speaker 2: what needs to be done to do the right thing.
Speaker 2: In every facet of light and politics, sports, life, people
Speaker 2: are taking stands. You got to be smart about it.
Speaker 2: You got to be well chosen. You got to think
Speaker 2: about all the ramifications. You have to think about unattended consequences.
Speaker 2: In business, you're making decisions every moment, every second, to
Speaker 2: make a decision on whether or not to go forward.
Speaker 2: I get it, I respect it. But on a personal note,
Speaker 2: don't ask me why. Maybe it's the summer, maybe spring,
Speaker 2: the fact that i'm outdoor, sitting in the beach or
Speaker 2: sitting out back looking at the water or the grass
Speaker 2: or whatever. I have time to think, and I started
Speaker 2: to think about mistakes I've made. And I've also thought
Speaker 2: about one story in particular where I've corrected something that
Speaker 2: needed to be corrected and I was a part of that.
Speaker 2: But first, I want to tell you a story about
Speaker 2: the summer. Story that I'm about to tell you is
Speaker 2: older than most of you listening. It's something that I
Speaker 2: didn't do, but I should have done something about, and
Speaker 2: it haunts me to this day. If you're on the radio,
Speaker 2: you just heard Garden Party by Ricky Nelson, and that's
Speaker 2: what I want to talk about. If you're not on
Speaker 2: the radio, you're on podcasts listening. Picture the song garden Party.
Speaker 2: It's a cute song. Anyway. I was the president of
Speaker 2: the Venues and Shirt Company and we were having a
Speaker 2: sales meeting in Biscayne Bay, Florida. We rented out the
Speaker 2: entire resort. It was an incredible event. We had a
Speaker 2: couple of hundred people and I was a senior most
Speaker 2: guy at the event. My executive VP was the number
Speaker 2: two guy. I had my nine regional sales managers and
Speaker 2: all the people from Bridgewood, New Jersey, and New York
Speaker 2: who came and descended upon this event in Florida and
Speaker 2: Biscay Boulevard. I forget the name of the resort, I apologized,
Speaker 2: but it was great. I had my own bungalow and
Speaker 2: we had the greatest food and everybody was happy. Was
Speaker 2: during the spring, so everybody was dressed. The women wearing
Speaker 2: flower dresses. All the men came to the parties dressed
Speaker 2: in appropriate pants, sport coats. You know. We were shirt
Speaker 2: companies who with shirts and ties pretty much that time.
Speaker 2: All dressed up wearing our nice jewelry, nice watches. It
Speaker 2: was evenings were elegant events, and they were appreciated it
Speaker 2: by all. Tables were set up beautifully for buffet dinners,
Speaker 2: and we made speeches even at the event. And we're
Speaker 2: outdoors for this evening. And I was a young president.
Speaker 2: I was thirty four years old at the time, and
Speaker 2: I was so proud to be there. And when I
Speaker 2: looked back, I tell you what happened. You'll judge for yourself.
Speaker 2: Maybe I was too young, maybe I had the wrong
Speaker 2: mindset on. But I can only tell you all these
Speaker 2: years later, I'm telling you, I still feel guilty. So
Speaker 2: what happened. I made a speech, and I talked about
Speaker 2: how proud I was being the head of the company,
Speaker 2: how excited I was to be with everyone, how the
Speaker 2: fact that we were doing so well as a company
Speaker 2: allowed us to have an event like we were going
Speaker 2: to have over the next few days where we bring
Speaker 2: the entire company together. We also had people from our
Speaker 2: warehouses and school Belhaven, Chattanooga, Tennessee. We had people from
Speaker 2: our factories. At that time, headquarters was in Potsville, Pennsylvania,
Speaker 2: So we had all these guests and people there and
Speaker 2: it was a great event. And made the speeches and
Speaker 2: I did well, and I was very proud of myself,
Speaker 2: and I was very corporate, and I had learned how
Speaker 2: to speak. And after dinner, everyone was standing around the
Speaker 2: pool having cocktails, talking, having a great time. And we
Speaker 2: were in a circle of people at the time, and
Speaker 2: I was holding court. Next to me on my left
Speaker 2: was a regional sales manager and a reginal salesman, a
Speaker 2: couple of and my executive p And as I tell you,
Speaker 2: the event was really elegant, and one guy in particular
Speaker 2: always well dressed. His name was Joe. I tell your
Speaker 2: entire name, but I don't know where Joe is. I
Speaker 2: don't know if he wants me to retell the story.
Speaker 2: And of course to my right was the executive vice
Speaker 2: president of our sales division, who I enjoyed. I really
Speaker 2: liked him. We were friends, and we're all around the pool.
Speaker 2: I got a little boisterous. So one time my executive
Speaker 2: VP decided to be funny and he hipped banged Joe,
Speaker 2: who was wearing beautiful brown swede shoes, brown pants, a
Speaker 2: linen a crew blazer, a linen dress shirt and matching tie.
Speaker 2: He looked amazing. He was well groomed guy, very good taste,
Speaker 2: and I remember he was wearing a beautiful Cartier watch
Speaker 2: I think it was Cardia with the tank watch with
Speaker 2: the brown leather strap. He hip bumped him and he
Speaker 2: went into the pool. Threw him in the pool. In
Speaker 2: the midst of this event, in front of everyone. Joe
Speaker 2: was shocked, and I pushed him into the deep end.
Speaker 2: He came up, he was sputtering water. He was shell shocked,
Speaker 2: shell shocked, couldn't believe in a company event that this
Speaker 2: would happen to him, and it visually affected him. He
Speaker 2: got out of the water. He was more upset than angry.
Speaker 2: He looked at his watch and he said, you ruin
Speaker 2: my watch. And the guy Phil was laughing, and I
Speaker 2: was laughing. And it was one of those awkward moments
Speaker 2: life that people laughing and people weren't laughing. And as
Speaker 2: I said, I was a young president. And when I
Speaker 2: look back, now, what should I have done?
Speaker 4: Now?
Speaker 2: I did walk over to Joe and say, hey, I'm sorry.
Speaker 2: I don't know what to say. And he went and
Speaker 2: he disappeared, and he had to go back and change
Speaker 2: his clothes and dry his hair. And he did come
Speaker 2: back eventually later because I think he said to himself that,
Speaker 2: you know, I can't just disappear. It doesn't look right.
Speaker 2: But what I didn't do is I didn't take philis
Speaker 2: side and say what are you doing? What you did
Speaker 2: was totally unacceptable. You should go over and apologize. And
Speaker 2: I have to tell you, I don't know what this
Speaker 2: does for your career. I don't know that you could
Speaker 2: stay with the company behaving that way. I didn't do
Speaker 2: any of that. I thought it was funny. And as
Speaker 2: I tell you all these years later, that error in
Speaker 2: judgment on my part has never been forgotten. Now, maybe
Speaker 2: the lesson I learned is in life you have to
Speaker 2: be Dudley, do right. You always have to take the
Speaker 2: high ground. You can't allow people to behave that way.
Speaker 2: If people behave that way, there has to be repercussions.
Speaker 2: That guy who pushed him in the pool didn't belong
Speaker 2: with the company anymore, and I didn't know enough to
Speaker 2: deal with it. I don't care how important he was.
Speaker 2: I don't care whether I liked him or didn't like him.
Speaker 2: I didn't take the appropriate action. All these years later, now,
Speaker 2: maybe thirty four I wasn't smart enough. Maybe thirty four
Speaker 2: I wasn't young enough. Maybe maybe maybe it can only
Speaker 2: tell you a summer. Maybe one of you out there
Speaker 2: is going to be at a pool party and think
Speaker 2: it's funny to push someone in. I don't know, maybe
Speaker 2: this is helpful. You have to take a stand or
Speaker 2: stand still. I stood still that day, and I'll never
Speaker 2: forgive myself and I'll never forget it. Now. Having said that,
Speaker 2: take a moment to you absorb it. I'm really serious
Speaker 2: about it. I'm upset about the way I behaved, but
Speaker 2: I learned, and maybe maybe over time good comes from
Speaker 2: these things. Maybe I can tell you another story that
Speaker 2: I did good. I was part of a team that
Speaker 2: good good, And I'll tell you a story. It's a
Speaker 2: different one. As I said, I have time to think,
Speaker 2: and I think about all these things. And there's never
Speaker 2: been a swimming pool I've stood around where I haven't
Speaker 2: thought about that event. And there's never been an event
Speaker 2: I've gone to where it's outside by a pool where
Speaker 2: I haven't thought about it. And I'm embarrassed and I'm
Speaker 2: disappointed in myself. But I have to believe and learned.
Speaker 2: There's a different part of it. Here's the other side
Speaker 2: of the world. I work with a guy in marketing
Speaker 2: and advertising who's elder states than me. Once again, his
Speaker 2: name should be left out to protect the innocence. He
Speaker 2: was a great guy, and he and I became extraordinarily
Speaker 2: close friends, working together very close. I admired him because
Speaker 2: he was twenty years my senior, fifteen years my senior.
Speaker 2: I had another area of respect, and frankly, you knew
Speaker 2: a lot more about the business than I would ever know.
Speaker 2: And we worked very closely together and developed this long term,
Speaker 2: lifelong friendship until he passed away a bunch of years ago,
Speaker 2: and we're working and it was my first involvement, hands on,
Speaker 2: direct involvement with advertising. And don't ask me why. I
Speaker 2: can't explain it. There's certain things in life that I'm
Speaker 2: good at, and there were certain things in life that
Speaker 2: I was great at. When it came to the creative
Speaker 2: and visual I'm great at it. I could look at
Speaker 2: something and know it's great. It doesn't mean I have
Speaker 2: to create it. I can help create great. I'm a
Speaker 2: good editor. But when it came to the visuals and
Speaker 2: fashion advertising, I knew what was great. And he and
Speaker 2: I started to work together and there was a catalog
Speaker 2: around the same time and fan Using were talking that
Speaker 2: was being put together every year showing the dress shirts
Speaker 2: in the best light that they could be shown in.
Speaker 2: And it was terrible. It had no energy. That's the
Speaker 2: word I'd give it. It had no energy. Taste levels mediocre,
Speaker 2: it had no energy. It turns out that the company
Speaker 2: that was doing the Cauntagogue was a friend of then
Speaker 2: Larry Phillips, the CEO of the company Phillips. Fan Using
Speaker 2: say it was a friend to Larry and he was
Speaker 2: grandfather this deal, and he'd be doing this calagogue for
Speaker 2: multiple years and it really was garbage. I was embarrassed
Speaker 2: by it. I always was. I didn't know who to talk,
Speaker 2: how to keep my mouth on. Now I'm in charge,
Speaker 2: so I talked to my associate and I said to him, listen,
Speaker 2: we got to change this. This is terrible. I can't
Speaker 2: work this. Bring the guy in, let's talk about what
Speaker 2: needs to be done. Brings the guy in, the owner
Speaker 2: of the company, Larry Phillips friend and I start to
Speaker 2: talk to him, and right away I could see his
Speaker 2: back is up. Who's this young guy telling him how
Speaker 2: to do a catalog? And I said to them, listen,
Speaker 2: you know, it's not a question of whether or not
Speaker 2: you guys are capable, but this is not the image
Speaker 2: I want for the company. I want it youthful, I
Speaker 2: want it more energetic. I want the photos to be shocking.
Speaker 2: I want to see them. After all, I learned from
Speaker 2: one of your counterparts that the number one rule in
Speaker 2: advertising was break through the clutter. There's a million things
Speaker 2: being advertised. If you think about it, that that way
Speaker 2: hit what advertisements all over the place. Everything we do, billboards, taxis, television, online.
Speaker 2: You have to be seen. You have to break through
Speaker 2: the clutter. David Altman Altman, Stoller, and Weiss learned that
Speaker 2: lesson from him all those years ago. I can't believe
Speaker 2: I remember the name of the company. I said this
Speaker 2: to the guy, and he's looking at me with the
Speaker 2: dull face, and he's looking at me with that face
Speaker 2: that you know what. Larry phil is my friend. I'm
Speaker 2: going to do what I gotta do. He does the
Speaker 2: first catalog for us. We take it. It's worse than
Speaker 2: any of the others. So I go to my friend
Speaker 2: and said, we've got to get rid of him. We
Speaker 2: gave him a chance. You got to get rid of him.
Speaker 2: And I noticed, you know right away, he said, Mark,
Speaker 2: we got to do what's right. I don't care if
Speaker 2: he's Larry's friend. So we get rid of the guy.
Speaker 2: A couple of days later, I get called into a
Speaker 2: room by Larry Phillips. I'm there with my boss and
Speaker 2: a counterpart of mine. Three of us bruce me allan.
Speaker 2: Larry Phillips walks in. He said, I have some disturbing
Speaker 2: news to tell you. He said, my friend, this is
Speaker 2: the guy who makes the catalogs, told me that my friend,
Speaker 2: the guy I work with, canceled the catalog business with him.
Speaker 2: Which is okay and in of itself, except that my
Speaker 2: friend borrowed a thousand dollars from him and hadn't paid
Speaker 2: him back. So I'm looking and listened to I said, so,
Speaker 2: what what's the point here? He said, we're firing him,
Speaker 2: my friend. And I remember I was shell shocked, and
Speaker 2: I said, but he's been with us for thirty three years.
Speaker 2: What am I missing? He borrowed money, he'll pay it back.
Speaker 2: And he looked at me, Larry, and he said, you
Speaker 2: don't borrow money from suppliers, let alone not pay them
Speaker 2: back right away. He's fired. I remember the three of
Speaker 2: us after he walked out, crying. We loved this guy
Speaker 2: in our company. He was a great guy. He's an
Speaker 2: elder statesman, and what possessed him to borrow money? And
Speaker 2: how bad was that? And I'll never forget. I got
Speaker 2: a call from the industrial psychologist in our company at
Speaker 2: the time, doctor Joel Goldberg, another guy, a older statesman.
Speaker 2: What did you tell Larry today? I said, what are
Speaker 2: you talking about? This is one of the many times
Speaker 2: that Larry Phillips wanted to fire me. You told him
Speaker 2: that it was okay? What the other guy did? I said,
Speaker 2: I did nothing of the sort. I'm very close to
Speaker 2: this guy. He's with the company thirty three years. I
Speaker 2: was taken aback. You didn't believe he just to be
Speaker 2: fire And now I remember again compromising because of fear,
Speaker 2: and I said, look, it's not for me to decide
Speaker 2: whether it's right or wrong. I was just taken aback.
Speaker 2: If Larry Phillips doesn't understand that, I'm sorry, but it's
Speaker 2: his decision. I respect it. So now I got a
Speaker 2: black mark against me, and it was really ugly. I
Speaker 2: want to fast forward two years later. The guy we
Speaker 2: fired suffered, suffered, couldn't get a job, couldn't get a
Speaker 2: job where he was. I don't want to go into
Speaker 2: the personal details. He was really having a tough time.
Speaker 2: We were worried for his safety. And as life would
Speaker 2: intercede or luck would have it, Larry Phillips had left
Speaker 2: the company in a proxy fight with my friend who
Speaker 2: became the CEO, Bruce. He was angry at something going
Speaker 2: on in the company. He didn't want to support an
Speaker 2: acquisition that we were making of Gant and Isaart, and
Speaker 2: he said, I'm not supporting it, and the board said,
Speaker 2: we want to support the younger team. In the company.
Speaker 2: At the time, Larry Phillips was sixty six years old
Speaker 2: and Bruce and I were in our early fifties, late forties,
Speaker 2: early fifties. Said Larry, you're sixty six, you're thinking about retirement.
Speaker 2: We know your energy levels that day. You're a wealthy guy.
Speaker 2: If you put it to this this way and you
Speaker 2: make us fight it out, we're going to choose the
Speaker 2: other team. And as it worked out, Larry chose to
Speaker 2: leave the company if in fact we could get someone
Speaker 2: to buy his shares, and my friend Bruce went to
Speaker 2: Hong Kong and found one of the most prestigious companies
Speaker 2: in Hong Kong, great family suppliers, friend stores who invested
Speaker 2: in the company, became board members and made a lot
Speaker 2: of money. Eventually, with the stock they bought out Larry's shares.
Speaker 2: Larry left. So it's two years later industrial collegist calls
Speaker 2: the three of us together against we have to hire
Speaker 2: our friend back. He's in bad shape. I'm fearful where
Speaker 2: it'll become of him if we don't hire him back.
Speaker 2: And we did, and I'll never forget how happy I
Speaker 2: was that we brought him back. He explained to us
Speaker 2: the problem he was having financially had every intention of
Speaker 2: paying him back, and he said to me, Mark, do
Speaker 2: you think I ever made a decision in business based
Speaker 2: on whether or not I borrowed money. You know me,
Speaker 2: my reputation is the toughest guy to do business. And
Speaker 2: I was tough with this guy. He loved me all along,
Speaker 2: as I thought he was a friend. But the minute
Speaker 2: I didn't give him his catalog anymore, which frankly, was
Speaker 2: your decision, not mine, which I agree with wholeheartedly, the
Speaker 2: guy goes to behind my back and tells Larry, I'm
Speaker 2: a bad guy. So that dirt bag destroyed my friend. Well,
Speaker 2: we brought him back. We gave him a new life.
Speaker 2: I work with him, hand in glove. I'm patting myself
Speaker 2: on the back right now. As I said before, I
Speaker 2: had a vision for what our advertising should look like,
Speaker 2: and he had a vision on how to execute it brilliantly.
Speaker 2: Him and I worked together for ten years. We were
Speaker 2: words in music, the closest of friends. I loved him.
Speaker 2: I believe he loved me and my family. We brought
Speaker 2: him back in the company. We gave him a life.
Speaker 2: My friend Bruce made the decision to do it. I
Speaker 2: was the one who worked with him to give him
Speaker 2: his dignity and give him his life back. And the
Speaker 2: point of tonight is sometimes you take a stand and
Speaker 2: sometimes you stand still. Either way could work. I believe
Speaker 2: in taking a stand. And when I did it with
Speaker 2: this guy whose name shall continue to be left out,
Speaker 2: to protect the innocent, we saved the life, we saved
Speaker 2: the family, and we did great things. And for that
Speaker 2: I'm internally proud. I immediately as proud of the role
Speaker 2: I played in bringing him back as I was in
Speaker 2: embarrassed by not taking the right stand at the garden party.
Speaker 2: So when you listen to this, we all have choices
Speaker 2: to make. I tell you, nothing worthwhile in life is easy.
Speaker 2: We all don't have the answers. We all make right decisions,
Speaker 2: we all make mistakes. We all applaud our successes, we
Speaker 2: applaud our winds. We try and win whenever we can.
Speaker 2: Nothing is easy, Nothing worth while in life is easy.
Speaker 2: But here we are where individuals, we are families. We
Speaker 2: have to make decisions and business it's every minute, every day.
Speaker 2: You have to be proud of yourself. You have to
Speaker 2: have integrity. In my case, I've had my wins, I've
Speaker 2: had my losses. I've done a lot right and I've
Speaker 2: made mistakes. But one thing I can tell you, you
Speaker 2: have a choice, take a stand or stand still. I
Speaker 2: vote for taking a stand. Good Night,