Episode 20 - Jennifer Convy: Celebrity Host, Designer & Champion of Collaboration

Transcript

00:00

Hello, Powerhouse, my friends and colleagues. Here we are again in another very exciting episode of the Powerhouse Cool Collabs. And  just to remind all of you and some of you might be new,  this podcast was created, first of all, it's commutable. So it's about 20, 25 minutes at the most.  I know I could talk to my guest for much longer, especially today's guest. She and I are kindred spirits.

00:27

But really the pillars under this, why are we doing this podcast is I'm introducing you to my dearest colleagues who I admire and respect and who I believe are the coolest leaders in our luxury design build real estate world. And they also believe in living with an attitude of gratitude. And they may not say it in those exact words, but you can just tell. And you will be able to tell from today's guest as well.

00:55

And finally, we all are here to give back and help  humanity in any way possible. So  I like to have my guests introduce themselves and this way they can share their story. But today I'm so excited to share with you my dear friend, Jennifer Convy. Jennifer, take the mic. Hi, sweetheart. Good to see you, Wendy, you powerhouse woman. You too.

01:19

You are and feelings mutual. You're amazing and all you do and you do so much. My goodness. I just want to say commutable. It's laughable. I'm in Los Angeles so you I can't get out of my zip code in 20 minutes. It's true. It's true. Oh my God. I could get out and walk faster. 20 minutes for you is like to the grocery store. Exactly. I should have gotten out and walked. Yeah.

01:46

Definitely. thank you. It's wonderful to be here.  So you want me to say, okay, so I'm  CEO of Women in Luxury Design. Who is that and what is that? That's an esteemed business networking organization  of which you are part of, of course,  since the beginning.  And  yeah, so  we have a wide range. There are only designer communities.

02:12

That's awesome and that's great. We're a wide swath. I believe, you know, we're different in a sense that that's where the opportunity lies.  You know, especially in these times, we know that together we're stronger and  we're all about expanding the circle of relationships, opportunities  and collaborations. So  that's what we believe in.  we are comprised or composed of the leading interior designers, architects, builders, developers,

02:41

people in hospitality, real estate, art, and so forth. So our very first meeting, you we saw business cards flying and opportunity and people hiring people. I did this for TV below and above the line when I was in television and lifestyle design, interior design, interior designer, host, travel expert for Discovery, HGTV, A &E and all that stuff. And I burned out and I came, I left it at a great time. I was very, very

03:11

happy with the body of work. It was pinched me my two greatest interests, you know, traveling culture and design. So that's how this group formed. I felt like a tourist in my own hometown. Yeah. Yeah. So that's how this work. So, you know, you said a lot there, so I'm just going to.

03:31

Obviously the whole women in luxury design, which kind of spells wild, which is so perfect. I love that.  That's how we met. But I started  learning more about you and I'm like, oh my God, she's like my idol. She  has been on HGT.  She understands interior.  Wait, we're like sisters.  we are.  are.  And the wonderful Megan Reiler.

03:56

Riley co-founder, Megan Riley, co-founder of West Edge Design Fair  is the person that put us together and I went, oh my gosh, how is it that, well, we don't live in the actual same city, but it is amazing that I hadn't met you before.  whenever it happened, it was great. Right, so talk about collaboration. So again, we always both,  both Jennifer and I live,  and breathe the fact that, you you build your network.

04:21

not just because it's this scary word networking, but it's about relationships. It's about living and sharing, helping each other.  So you'd think, oh, well, Jennifer kind of does the same thing as one of Wendy's world, which is the powerhouse smart community.  But I'm like, oh my God, let me learn about what you're doing. And you wanted to learn about what we were doing. And then we got to create events together. Tell everybody about what we are. I'm going tell you about that. So, you know, it's nice because we overlap nicely.

04:50

And there's room for everybody. We  foster community, not competition.  That is this group. There is no competition. There is room for all of us to thrive. And we do similar, but different things. have different audiences and participation. it's all good.  It's all good.  So  yeah, we have great collaborations. so excited about. It's our third  annual.

05:16

collaboration  on our West Edge Design Fair pre-tour. So, up and running.  just actually, Jennifer and I just had an earlier meeting with Megan Riley about, this is their 10th year,  it's like, it's so nice.  And wow, what are they're doing, amazing things. And  well, Jennifer and I were chatting and we both said, oh my God, this West Edge Design Fair that goes on every year in Santa Monica, Megan's the founder, co-founder.

05:46

Let's do something with her. And so you and I for now, this will be our third year and it gets better every year like a good aged wine. Yes. You and I are never not no, no, not to not to include us in that. No, no, no, no, we were ageless. So we put together 100 people or 120 this year.

06:10

of again, both of our communities. And we say, you know, you're going to meet the women in, I tell my people in Powerhouse Smart, you're going to meet the, amazing people in women in luxury design, which is women and men. And you tell your school, you're going to meet Powerhouse Smart from all over, from everywhere. We come together and we get to have this pre, I was called a VIP kind of activation, right? It's a sneak peek. So we do this tour. We are the docents.

06:39

you know, one and two, two and one, whatever. And we each split up the group, group one, group two, and we do the entire floor before the thousands of people descend on opening night gala, which is a charity event. This year it's for Habitat for Humanity. And, you know, they do such a brilliant job, but people love it. We did it the first time and it was like, no, because it's really hard to meet the makers on the brand point people. call, we...

07:06

They're expecting us and we have receptions here and certain stops and  all this stuff. So they're already there in time for the opening gala. It's one ticket for both.  And it's just, can't believe we're doing it the third year in a row, new and improved every year.  Absolutely. Cause that's what we do is we reinvent herself every time.  Right. Lessons learned. Okay, let's do this.  So it's going to be great. you'll  today's podcast is about Jennifer, but we wanted to make sure.

07:35

We shared a little bit about how you can see both of us together on November 20th in Santa Monica. And if you're not in the California area, you'll hear all about it and you'll see pictures and videos. But if you are anywhere near or you could fly in, this is  such a cool event. It's one of the best design fairs out there. What she has created and it's just every year bigger, better.  I don't know how  that's possible, but really  it's extraordinary. It really is.

08:04

And she's amazing. I don't know how she does it. Oh, my God. She's good people. She's good team. She keeps creating new aspects of it, which is so. So the link will be below. Somebody's great. Well, you happy about that link? I didn't hear it. Oh, OK, good. Well, more importantly, Jennifer, I've learned every time we're together, I learn more and more about you. And so what I just learned is that you traveled and you had a show and.

08:31

South Africa and we're going on an impact trip.  I want to hear about how  tell me from like what have you. Oh, we've to talk about your impact trip. That's really neat. I did mine for TV and for my own personal  interest. But  yeah, no pinch me.  I you know, my two passions  were interior design and international travel and culture. And  and I got two shows running at the same time on HGTV and Discovery. The Discovery show is called Intimate Escapes.

09:00

It was filmed anywhere but North America.  And so I'd be out of the country for five weeks and in the country nationally on the HGTV series, which was called Awesome Interiors, really kind of cutting edge,  wild do it yourself kind of style and design from all kinds of wonderful people and tours and outtos.  And then the travel show was Relay and Chateau, Relay and Gourmand.

09:24

you know,  mostly Western Europe, Australia, Central America. And then I learned how to produce. I was producing spinoffs of both shows  and South Africa with Safari Style, which aired on the Fine Living Channel a long time ago  and HGTV.  And it was,  you know, I went on a trip. I had a partner that was South African. I was back and forth there a lot. I fell in love with it so much. They're like, we should make you ambassador. I I'd love that, but it didn't happen. Instead, I did a show.

09:54

Wow. it was,  if anyone ever gets a chance and you're about to,  it's life changing to be in the wild. mean, literally, I just went on safaris, you go at dawn and at dusk and I saw the magnificent seven, you go safely in you know, and Humvee and guides and all that stuff. And  we were filming. So  we went all the time and I just said, Oh my gosh, everyone should do this. You're unplugged from the world. And it's just about this magnificence.

10:23

in nature  and  I was  at seventh heaven  and then the rest of it was the culture you know when we you know but anyway collaborations  um  you know you know all about this talk about your trip to Africa I've never been to where you're going I love your aspect of it because you really got to see it from from a travel and a design perspective right  and we're going and we're going to meet architects builders and designers and we're also going to see some of the philanthropic

10:52

communities that they've built. We too in the special. We went to the schools. I went to the schools to see them.  Right. It was really special. Yeah, we did do that. Of course going to feature all aspects of the communities. Yep. At the chills, the impact, right? I've been creating that impact.  Impact. Yeah. So you said, well,  I don't know if the focus of it was certainly a focus  in that special,  but you tell us. was in Bob.

11:20

Yeah, so we're going on our first, so it's already closed, meaning that there's a group already committed. But if this goes well, I think, you I've already had people approach me, will you do it next year? And I was just talking with our tour guide who's from Zimbabwe, his name is Blessing and it's called Love for Africa.  He said that just one person going, just the cost that we pay to go, which is a very reasonable cost because it was a group, actually,

11:46

supplies one adult  a full-time job for a year. our contributions are huge.  So there's  a bunch more about that. So we're really excited. And you know what? Now that I know you are like, is like you have this all this experience. The second time we go, you're coming with us and you're going to be part of like guiding us through and don't have to twist my arm to  get to  anywhere in Africa. I think  it's extraordinary.

12:14

It's extraordinarily beautiful too. Yeah, that's great. So I want to hear just a little bit for the audience  about Wild and what your goals are for Wild and how many years have you been doing it and what do you want to do next? And didn't you expand and have an event  on Arizona too? Oh yeah, we've been doing Arizona. We do everything from, we do events from San Francisco to San Diego, Arizona, probably New York coming up.  You know, we're going to participate in Solone and other

12:44

design event fairs,  you know, it's all good. So basically,  our goal right now is to launch a podcast officially.  We had a webcast and I started this right, literally I had an event three weeks before COVID hit and the world shut down. That's when we launched our website. We had a big event, everything was going great and then crickets, you know.

13:10

Yes, of course. Yes, like the calendar and all that. And that's when I started the webcast. you know,  it's it's  you know, you just keep shifting and reinventing. And  no, we've grown, we grew actually  faster during COVID than before it. So  I don't know. But I will say the power of connection, the power of in person meeting is really  where it's at. You know, we don't

13:35

We are  virtual right now, but  we see each other in person. I tell everybody, never underestimate  that. The 30 seconds of FaceTime, I don't mean this kind of FaceTime, I mean real FaceTime will carry you through all the ancillary ways  of our digital age, because that's how we get disconnected if we only rely on that. And how do you foster new relationships if it's all virtual? You must.

14:02

That's why you do events constantly. mean, you're all over the country.  We do events constantly. Any excuse to get together, we want to inspire them. We want everyone to meet in the room.  That's why we do this. We want to expand the circle period of opportunity relationships as you do.

14:22

Yeah, I mean, it's just, you know, cattle, it's a catalyst for all the people in your community that either are members or guests that come to events. I mean, we're really helping them, you know, see the power of those relationships and sharing and giving. We're not always with expecting something in return, but just the power being together. Right. It's true. It's true. But things happen. I mean,  look at us, you know, we're it's not just designers and people offering services.

14:49

It's people like you and me collaborating. It's brands collaborating. You're seeing that across fashion,  across film, across, you're seeing it everywhere because I think everyone understands we're in the age of collaborations.  It is much more powerful together.  You're bringing other things to the mix.  And I would just say for any designer or builder architect, it just seems like everyone is starting from the ground up and trying to build those relationships.

15:18

so that they can grow and do projects together, you know, instead of being brought in later. So,  if you're in any of the areas and you'll see all the connections of how to get a hold of Jennifer and Women Design Below, she's got events at the PDC, which is in Los Angeles. One of our partners, yep. That's great. And she's got some great brand sponsors, which we couldn't do what we do without our brand sponsors.

15:42

We're grateful and they get  a tremendous amount of face to face exposure that they would not have normally gotten.  Can I  just ask if you're still doing your personal consulting? Because when I first you and I first talked, which was already five years ago, believe it or not,  you were sharing with me that you have and you do love doing personal one on one consultation, teaching people, speaking skills, present, you know.

16:06

presenting themselves and building that confidence, being able to- On camera mostly because people in Zoom, designers is like,  but you guys, designers, people doing presentations, builders, anything,  we all have to do presentations. So if you've mastered that or if you'd like to master it, I you're going in person,  the audition, so to speak, I come from acting and showbiz family and I was an actress.  It starts from the minute you walk in and you got to bring it, right? So it's no different.

16:36

being relatable and talking and being, know, your best you.  the pressure's on me. But anyway,  but you know what I'm saying? Yes. I still do on-camera coaching because I produce panels and moderate panels and I hand pick. And sometimes  I've worked with people. I have a lot of publicists in the design sector that have clients that I've worked with. It's sort of just under the radar, but I do do that just to get them prepped and primed. It's mostly just getting comfortable.

17:06

No, that's so beautiful. That's really helpful. you know, just because you're a fabulous, talented, what your superpower is doesn't mean you're a speaker. And so nobody should feel, you know, we all need each other. know, we can't. No one likes to do it, I think. And then it becomes really fun when you don't think about it. You're thinking about what you want to say instead of how you look saying it. You know, I'm looking at you. I'm just looking at you. Yeah.

17:34

No, I think that's so wonderful that you do help  others share that,  pull out that  ability to be able to communicate and  to put their best foot forward. So I love  that about. I'm from Pacific Palisades. You may have heard it burned off the map and I'm not being glib, but it is devastating and so many people are devastated  from all the fires,  eaten Palisades. And so  just, was a way to  process.

18:02

I threw an event  with all the people involved, StepFast LA, LA Can Do,  right in the beginning in February when the fires were still burning.  Why aren't we building fireproof communities? Look what's happening  around the world.  Right now it's Greece, New Jersey. We can't change climate change  fast enough to save lives and communities, but we do have the technology and materials and the know-how and the talent.

18:29

to build cities that are fire hardened, fire resistant. It's time. It's just time.  So it's a mission. So however I can get the word out, I'm speaking about it wherever  the stage is. I love that. Bringing the people together I know are involved. Yes, absolutely.  Wonderful. I can't wait to hear them to be continued. So I always end our podcast and they're always too short for me because you and I could.

18:57

for a long time here. There's so much more to share about you. The depth of view is much bigger than just this little snippet. We didn't even talk that much with you.  I  know it's already,  the 20 minutes is almost up. So I always like to ask my guests a question. And so my question, my farewell question is,  Jennifer, can you define for me, and I know you'll be  so deep with your answer. It'll be so inspiring.  Pressure. What is a well?

19:26

lived life. What is your definition of a well-lived life?

19:34

For me or in general?  you, your definition, my dear soul sister.  I  think a well-lived life is loving what you do. And if you don't love what you do, find something else to love that balances it. And I think a well-lived life for me and the juggle and the struggle is  to find the balance.  Cause I do love what I do.

20:04

but I also love my friends and my family and I love to travel and you know, things get thrown out of balance easily. mean, you know, women who have a job and have children, I'm in awe of you. It's just. Yeah, it's a bad. I think to live life without regrets as much as possible and really try to find

20:33

all the happiness you can and do something you really love.  Love is so, so key. think that's  exactly what I think of when I think of you. Cause every time I'm with you, I just feel this great bond and I'm just feel warm and  I know you're here. really, are a caring, it's not just about, okay, let's get this next event going. It's about, care. And I want to make it  a good experience for you and for everyone that's here when we walk away.

21:03

walk away saying until the next time, my dear friend, right? Until the next time, my dear friend.  Absolutely. Okay. Absolutely. You're the best. Gonna have to reschedule so we can hear about your Ted talk and this next trip to Italy that you're going on next. Oh yeah, that's next week.  Oh my god.  And then. And I want to hear about Africa. So yeah, we'll have a recap. Yes. And then we also have November together where we get to do West edge.  It's in a blink.

21:33

I know. So all of you, you're listening to this, sign up and meet us at West Edge. I'd to. Contact Jennifer and join Women in Luxury Design. to her event. PSH. Yes, of course, of course. And you know what? Please just feel the love and know that living with an attitude of gratitude. I am so fortunate to have you. Love that. Love that. You're the best. Thank you. Love you. Love you too.