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Italia Thus Far (Milan & Florence)

By on May 27, 2010 in Family

So far Italy has been everything I hoped for and more. Like I mentioned before, I really had no expectations for this trip so I guess that it would be hard for me to be let down, but since the moment I landed in Europe everything has been so much better than anything I could have imagined or dreamed up, so I feel kind of like a princess in a really good fairytale…

Today is my seventh day in Italy and we have already done so much that it’s getting hard to remember everything so I decided to write down some of the important stuff… mainly food, food and more food!! (This is definitely not the right place to visit before bikini season Lol) But I’m hoping that some day if I have a daughter she will read this and want to come on the same adventure as me… But I will have to warn her that this is the “bawler” version of a trip to Italy. My dad has surprisingly pulled out all the stops for this trip, so we’ve been staying and eating at all the best places, but if this was on my budget we’d be eating Mc Donalds every day and staying at Motel 6 Lol…

Milan…

So back to Milan. On our first night in Milan, Garvin took me, Dad & Chiara to this really good family style Italian place down the street from his house. The restaurant is called Bagutta on Via Bagutta Street and if you ever get the chance to go there you have to try the fried squash blossoms as an appetizer. Italians LOVE squash blossoms and the ones there are especially good.

The next day we had lunch at Salumeria di Monte Napoleone which is on Monte Napoleone street, hence the name. If you love caprese salad, amazing pastries and people watching you have to eat at this place. Dining is literally an art form here in Italy. It’s funny because I remember thinking not long before this trip that I could never date a guy that didn’t like to go out to nice dinners. I told my Dad this while we were having lunch today and he laughed and said, “Well that’s because you grew up like this, going out to dinner, drinking wine & socializing. It’s the Italian way.” My mom, who raised me, usually made us amazing home cooked meals, but she also liked to go out to a good dinner.

So that evening, our second night in Milan, we went to dinner at La Briciolla. As I mentioned Garvin’s building is between Monte Napoleone  Street and Via Bigli and this restaurant was a little bit farther away from his house, but still in walking distance. Me, Chiara and Elisa met my Dad and Garvin there after shopping, visiting the Duomo and one too many drinks at the Bulgari Hotel, which is a perfect spot to relax and have a good cocktail away from the hustle and bustle of the city.

The food at La Briciolla is amazing but the people watching there is even better. Garvin compares it to the Ivy in LA and I understood why he made that analogy after watching super models, Italian actors etc coming in and out all evening. And if you love desert this place will overwhelm you. Before they even hand you a desert menu the waiter brings huge glass jars full of everything from cookies to gummy bears and puts them right on your table. You can taste as many of these “desert appetizers” as you want but I seriously recommend ordering the Tiramisu because it was by far the best I’ve ever had in my life!

The next morning which was my third day in Italy, my Dad woke me up at 8am so we could go running before we left for Florence. I groggily drug myself out of bed, made and downed three shots of espresso and was sitting in the living room by 8:30am stretching and wondering why I allowed myself to stay up till 4am writing in my journal and sketching new bikini ideas. You eat late at night in Italy. I guess it’s actually a European thing but my Dad says they especially dine late in Italy. Thus far we haven’t sat down to dinner before 9pm, so I spend all day walking around being inspired by architecture and fashion and then it’s almost 12am by the time I am finished with dinner and am able to sit down and start to try to begin to capture any of it on paper. Oh how magical this place is. If I had two more hands I could write a whole book just about these three weeks. Hmm, Maybe I will…

Florence…

After our run we showered and packed our stuff up and Roberto, Garvin’s assistant drove us from Milan to Florence. The drive was beautiful but the only bad part was that every time I was just falling into a pleasant nap my dad would nudge me and point to something he wanted me to see. I guess that’s good though because I’m sure I can sleep when I’m dead and I don’t know for sure when I’ll be able to come back to Italy…

On a random side note I am still wondering why they don’t have toilet seats on the toilets here?? It really puts a whole new meaning to the phrase “cop a squat.” All the nice hotels and restaurants have them but if you go to any gas station or convenience store there is no chance you are getting a toilet seat. Maybe this is how women  stay so thin here while still eating pastries every morning. Oh I’ll just stop by a few gas stations for a quad workout. Ya, that will do the trick, OK pass me another chocolate croissant…

Which brings me to my next thought. How do Italians manage to eat so much and still stay so thin? I have literally not seen one over weight person since I’ve been here and I’ve also never seen so many pastries and chocolate and cheese, EVER… But I also have not seen a single Mc Donalds. All the fast food places here are little bakeries and sandwich shops. This is how it should be. Food should be good and good for you.

On our first evening in Florence we took the photo that I talked about in my previous post and had a late dinner at Harry’s bar. My dad loves that place but I have to say that between the way, way too bright lighting and the bright pink table clothes that place could be described as Anna Nicole Smith’s dream house, ambiance provided by Rite Aid Pharmacy… And they frowned at me when I ordered by salad first because in Italy the tradition is to have it last. I understand now that it helps with digestion to have it last, but what is worse, having your salad first or being too full by the time you get it it that you can’t eat it at all?! All these little thing are so funny to me. I love traveling!!!

The next day we went to the Uffizi Galleria, (Galleria de Uffizzi) and it did take us about three hours to get through the whole thing but I really loved it. We saw so many amazing paintings by artists such as Rembrant, Michelangelo & Da Vinci.. And I fell in love with an artist called Jacopo Zucchi. There were only  three small paintings of his displays there, but out of the thousands of amazing works of art I saw that day his work just spoke to me and pulled me in.

I stood staring at his paintings for a long time before my Dad came looking for me because I had fallen behind. I started to leave then went back to write his name down so I could look up more of his work. I think what I like most about it, beyond his use of rich, deep colors, is the fact that he depicted amazing fairy tales. I loved The Last Unicorn and The Never Ending Story when I was little and Jacopo Zucchi’s paintings remind me of those stories. Looking at them was like be invited into a fantasy world, where anything you could dream up is possible.

That night my Dad wanted to take me to a hotel in the hills where he and my mom had also stayed during their honeymoon. We weren’t able to find the same hotel but we did go to a new hotel in the hills called Hotel Villa la Vedetta which had a fantastic view of Florence. We ended an amazing day with dinner at a restaurant right on the Arno River, called Burgo San Jacopo, in Hotel Lungarno. We sat on the balcony overlooking the water with a view of the Ponte Vecchio and watched little tug boats troll for fish and chatted about all the beautiful things we had already been able to do in our short time here in Italy…

View of the Arno River from the Westin in Florence

Quiet Alley in Florence

On our way in to the Uffizzi Gallery, Florence

Italy's version of MickeyDs

The Famous Ponte Vecchio bridge, Florence

Toasting at Hotel Villa la Vedetta, Florence

Dusk settling on the city of Florence

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Firenze

By on May 23, 2010 in Family, Favorites, Life Lessons, Travel

On mother’s day this year a butterfly came to visit me. I was sitting outside on my patio writing in my journal and missing my mom more than ever, when out of no where a huge Monarch came and landed on a leaf next to my chair. In the two years I have lived at my place I have never seen a Monarch there before. My mom and I both love butterflies, especially Monarchs so I just knew that it was her way of being with me and for the afternoon I sat and wrote as the Butterfly sat on the leaf by my side. Later that day I sent a photo of it to my little brothers and my step-dad saying that mom had sent me a Mother’s Day visitor.

So when we arrived at the Westin Hotel in Florence or Firenze yesterday afternoon of course all I could think about was getting that picture. Anything I can do to feel connected to my mother still, brings me so much joy. Chiara knew how important this was to me so she called ahead to the hotel and told them about my dream to take a photo just like my mom had. So when we arrived the woman at the front desk told us we could get settled in our rooms, then meet her back at the front to go up to the suite on the 5th floor where my parents stayed on their honeymoon 28 years ago.

So we made our way up to our rooms which are absolutely beautiful, decorated in old world charm with high ceilings, plush curtains and an incredible view overlooking the Arno River and the famous Ponte Vecchio bridge. We got settled in and wasted no time in getting all of our cameras ready for the picture. And just before we headed down to the front desk again, Chiara handed me the room key and told me I should hold onto it for us. So I pulled it out of its paper slip and when  I looked at it my eyes once again filled with tears. There on the room key was nothing but the name of the hotel and a picture of a Monarch Butterfly. I handed it to my Dad and told him the story about the butterfly and all he could do was whisper “heavy” as he turned away to hide his eyes that were now also brimming with tears. I have only seen my father cry one other time in my life and that was at his mom’s funeral.

I have the word Believe tattooed on my left wrist. I got it when my mom got sick and every day since she passed I look at it to remind myself that everything happens for a reason and this is all part of a bigger plan. Life is sometimes very hard but it is also exciting, fun and beautiful and if you take the time to notice the little amazing things that are happening all around you, it is truly magical and you can’t help but believe… in yourself, in your dreams, in the people you love and in God. There really are no coincidences. Life is tough and things will come your way that you don’t think you can endure, but if you are on the right path and you keep your eyes and heart open, life will amaze you in wonderous ways everyday.

Mom sketching at the Westin in Firenze, 1982

Me writing in my journal at the Westin in Firenze, 2010

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On to Florence

By on May 22, 2010 in Family, Travel

It’s 8am and I’m sipping espresso while I look out the kitchen window down into the courtyard of Garvin’s building. There’s a slight breeze today bringing in the intoxicating smell of honeysuckle. My dad and I are about to go on a run around the city before we leave to head to Florence. We have to be on the road by 11am because there is a huge soccer match this afternoon and Garvin’s driver has to drop us off in time to be back for it. As far as I can tell the only thing Italian’s love more than food, wine and women, is soccer!

I am sad to leave Milano after such a short time here, but I am also overwhelmed with excitement to go to Florence today. My mom passed away from cancer almost two years ago and a few months after she died my father gave my brothers and I framed pictures of her painting on a balcony in Florence on their honeymoon. It is one of the most beautiful photos of my mom I’ve ever seen, sketching away on a balcony overlooking the city. My mom loved painting and from what she told me she also loved Florence.

Before I left on my trip here I took a photo on my iPhone of that picture and vowed to go to that same location and take a photo just like it. I wasn’t sure if I would even be able to find the same spot but this morning my Dad told me that tonight we will be staying at the very same hotel where that photo was taken of my mother. My eyes are feeling with tears as I write this, just thinking about how special tonight will be. On to Florence!

My mom on the balcony of the The Westin Excelsior Hotel, Florence

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Milano

By on May 22, 2010 in Family, Travel

It’s my second night in Italy and I absolutely love it here. The weather is perfect right now, the food is amazing, the shopping is insane and thus far my Dad is on his best behavior… I flew in to Zurich, Switzerland yesterday afternoon from LA. BTW why did no one bother to tell me that there is good food, new movie releases and FREE alcohol on Swiss Air? I can get through anything with carbs, chick flicks, and at least two glasses of Vino… even an eleven hour flight!

So I met my Dad and Chiara at the gate in Zurich. Chiara is a friend of my fathers who he asked to be our “tour guide” for our trip because she has lived in Italy and speaks the language fluently. The two of them spent two days in Zurich on business then met me at the airport for our flight to Milano.

By the time we landed in Italy and the driver had our bags stuffed into the car, which took a while because I packed way too much as usual, I was already almost asleep, leaning my head against the window, trying to keep my eyes open. I was exhausted from traveling for almost a day straight, but as we drove down the roads towards the center of Milano I quickly forgot how tired I was…

Stretching before me was the most intriguing city I had ever seen. I have been to New York & many other beautiful cities but this is my first time in Europe and the feeling became so overwhelming that I just sat in the back seat next to my father as tears silently crept down my face behind my sunglasses. It is such a crazy experience to go from living in a place your whole life that is less than 200 years old to a place thousands of years old, brimming with amazing architecture & culture.

After what seemed like only a few minutes we arrived at Garvin’s Flat in the center of Milano. Garvin, I discovered owns not only one flat but a whole building of flats overlooking Monte Napoleone Street, which is the heart of the Fashion world in Italy. In a brief moment of weakness I thought of freezing my credit cards the way my friend Daneé use to do when we were in college, so she wouldn’t be able to go shopping, but after a few minutes in some of the shops on this street I quickly realized that there was no way I would ever be even slightly temped to spend a whole month’s worth of rent money on a shirt or a scarf!

After we unpacked and Garvin gave us a tour of his building, we headed of to dinner and by this time it was already 9:30pm but it was still light out and beautiful on the streets. The Italian food was beyond amazing and I fell asleep around 12am, full and happy, listening to the sound of my father play guitar in the living room.

Today Garvin’s friend Elisa took us on a tour of the city so we walked around and shopped, went to an amazing lunch and when the guys were too tired we went on shopping without them, went to see the Duono & then had drinks at the Bvlgari Hotel. And tonight we had another exquisite dinner, with way too much food!

We are leaving tomorrow and I wish we had another day here, but I am also very excited to see Florence and to head on down to the South to meet my relatives in Sicily and see the countryside and the Mediterranean Sea. My dad asked me today if I could ever live here and I said the answer is and will always be no. I love visiting big cities, but I am a small town, beach girl and no amount of shopping will ever change that…

Making the most of my 45 minutes in Zurich

Arriving at Garvin's Flat

View from my room

Shopping with Dad

My favorite Italian Bikini by Missoni - only $400 Lol

Elisa & Chiara at lunch in the city

By far the best Caprese Salad I have ever had!

I never imagined pastries could be so elegant.

Armani on Monte Napoleone Street

Outside the Duomo

Duomo di Milano

Inside the Duomo was the most beautiful stained glass I have ever seen.

And after church naturally you head to the bar...

Elisa convincing us to stay for another round.

BVLGARI Hotel

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Three Weeks with Dad

By on May 17, 2010 in Family, Favorites, Happy Endingz® Eco Swimwear, Life Lessons, Surf & Snow, Travel

I have never spent three weeks with my father. In fact I don’t think I have ever even spent three days with him. The last time we went on a vacation together I was eleven years old and we went to Maui. He made his girlfriend at the time sit in coach with me and my brothers and her daughter while he sat in first class. That about sums up the whole trip.

So in two days I am doing something very brave. I am going to spend three weeks with my father… and I am beyond excited. We are going to Europe and I have never been! My family is Italian on my father’s side, and we have relatives in Sicily that I will be meeting for the first time! My god-mom, Sue, said that she hopes we all come back in one piece because my dad is a very difficult person to be around. I just laughed at the this and explained that I have no expectations. I just feel blessed to be able to have the opportunity to have this experience.

And on top of being able to go to Europe I get to test out the first ever Happy Endingz® Eco Bikini on a boat off the coast of Italy. My Dad’s friend Garvin Brown, has a yacht called Lady Trudy and we are going to spend the last week of our trip cruising around the Mediterranean. So even if my Dad is on his worst behavior, I’ll still come back with some amazing photos and a great tan!

From: GARVIN BROWN

To: RIVERS JOHNNY

JOHNNY, I HAVE PUT TOGETHER SOME THOUGHTS FOR YOU TO LOOK AT WHEN YOU HAVE TIME.

1.  ROBERTO RUGGIERI WILL PICK UP YOU AT MALPENSA ON MAY 2Oth (SWU 1622 @ 17:40) AND BRING YOU TO MILAN.  THE 3 OF YOU WILL STAY IN MY GUEST APT. THAT IS ONE FLOOR DOWN FROM MINE.  ROBERTO WILL SEE THAT YOU GET TO FLORENCE ON THE 22nd.
2.  I SUGGEST THAT YOU TAKE A TRAIN TO BARI FROM ROME ON THE 27th..  I WILL SEE THAT YOU GET AROUND BARI, ETC..  LADY TRUDY WILL BE IN A MARINA NEAR BARI AND YOU WILL STAY ON HER.  NO ARGUMENTS, HUH.  MY PLEASURE TO SEE AN OLD FRIEND AND MEET NEW PEOPLE!!
3. AS FOR PALERMO, I SUGGEST THAT YOU KEEP YOUR FLIGHT AND WE WILL MEET YOU THERE WITH “THE LADY”.  IT SHOULD TAKE 3 DAYS, MAYBE LESS GIVEN GOOD WEATHER AND NO OTHER DELAYS.  WE WILL KEEP IN TOUCH BY CELL PHONES (DO NOT FORGET, ALL OF YOU, TO TELL YOUR PROVIDERS THAT YOU WILL BE GOING TO SWITZERLAND AND ITALY, BEFORE YOU LEAVE)!!
4.  WHEN I ARRIVE IN PALERMO, WE WILL PICK YOU UP AND GO STRAIGHT TO THE AEOLIAN ISLANDS FOR ABOUT THREE DAYS.  I, ALSO, SUGGEST THAT YOU CHANGE YOUR TICKET TO ROME TO DEPART FROM REGGIO DI CALABRIO (ACROSS FROM MESSINA-HAS FLIGHTS, STARTING AT 06.00 TO ROME).  BY THE WAY, WHAT TIME DO YOU LEAVE FROM ROME FOR LA/SF ON JUNE 6th.?

WELL, I GUESS THAT WILL BE ENOUGH TO GET YOU THINKING.  I AM SENDING YOU SOME PHOTOS FOR YOU TO GET THE FEELING…

AS ALWAYS…..ALL THE BEST.

GARVIN

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Less is Moore. Really.

By on March 17, 2010 in Family, Favorites, Life Lessons

I’ve been procrastinating on writing a new blog post because there is so much to write about that sometimes I get overwhelmed and just don’t write about anything. So tonight I decided to procrastinate by reading my email. After scanning through dozens of “will get to those later” emails I decided to open one I found from Daneé Shows. Daneé is my best friend from college and rarely emails me so by now I should know that all her emails are either going to be profound, or something about the two things she knows I love, love, love, surfing & snowboarding. Tonight unfortunately her email turned out to be from the profound category and therefore did not help me at all in the procrastination department…

A few nights ago I watched the new Michael Moore film, Capitalism: A Love Story, which focuses on corporate dominance on the everyday lives of Americans. This is an amazing film that touches the very essence of what is wrong with America. (No offense. I love America but we are far from perfect.) I sniffled as I watched a family lose their house in foreclosure and cried as I watched them desperately accept $1,000 from their lender as payment to clean out and burn their last belongings, leaving them with nothing and nowhere to go.

In the film there is also a story about how Wal-Mart profited from a life insurance policy it took out on a young woman who died unexpectedly leaving behind her young family. Stop. Read that again. Yes, Wal-Mart and many other huge corporations have taken out life insurance policies on employees, somehow feeling they deserve to benefit from the death of their workers. My mom recently died from cancer. If I found out some corporation made thousands or millions from her death it would take every single one of my friends holding me down to keep me from burning their building to the ground! (OK I would never really do something like that, but that’s how I would feel).

And in one of my favorite scenes from the movie, Moore drives an armored bank truck up to the front doors of American International Group, announcing that he is there to collect the taxpayers’ money that they received from the $700 billion government bail out. So to put it in perspective the same people who are loosing their homes because they can’t afford their mortgage are forced to pay taxes which go to bailing out the richest companies in the US. How is that even close to fair or right?

Anyway I won’t go on and on (because I could)…. The point of writing this is to encourage you to watch the movie, if you haven’t already, and to remind you to stop and really take some time to think about what you want out of life. I’m no expert on what you should or should not do in life and I’m certainly not rich but I’m beyond happy and I feel blessed every day to be alive. I think one of the worst things about our society and the one thing that is holding all of us back from being truly happy is our greediness and obsession with material possessions and having more, more, more. I’m not saying being succesful is bad. I hope to be very succesful one day, but not at the expense of others and not at the expense of enjoying the journey. I’ll keep trying till the day I die to achieve my dreams, but if I’m never “successful” in the eyes of our society, I will still be happy because I’m already doing what I love.

The following story is from Daneé’s email to me:

A boat docked in a tiny Mexican fishing village.

A tourist complimented the local fishermen on the quality of their fish and asked how long it took him to catch them.

“Not very long,” they answered in unison.

“Why didn’t you stay out longer and catch more?”

The fishermen explained that their small catches were sufficient to meet their needs and those of their families.

“But what do you do with the rest of your time?”

“We sleep late, fish a little, play with our children, and take siestas with our wives. In the evenings, we go into the village to see our friends, have a few drinks, play the guitar, and sing a few songs. We have a full life.”

The tourist interrupted, “I have an MBA from Harvard and I can help you! You should start by fishing longer every day. You can then sell the extra fish you catch. With the extra revenue, you can buy a bigger boat.”

“And after that?”

“With the extra money the larger boat will bring, you can buy a second one and a third one and so on until you have an entire fleet of trawlers. Instead of selling your fish to a middle man, you can then negotiate directly with the processing plants and maybe even open your own plant.

You can then leave this little village and move to   Mexico City , Los Angeles , or even New York City !

From there you can direct your huge new enterprise.”

“How long would that take?”

“Twenty, perhaps twenty-five years.” replied the tourist.

“And after that?”

“Afterwards? Well my friend, that’s when it gets really interesting, ” answered the tourist, laughing. “When your business gets really big, you can start buying and selling stocks and make millions!”

“Millions? Really? And after that?” asked the fishermen.
“After that you’ll be able to retire, live in a tiny village near the coast, sleep late, play with your children, catch a few fish, take a siesta with your wife and spend your evenings drinking and enjoying your friends.”

“With all due respect sir, but that’s exactly what we are doing now. So what’s the point of wasting twenty-five years?”

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Naked Pictures of Cisco Adler & Princess Leia’s Niece

By on January 24, 2010 in Family
Shwayze & Cisco Adler

Shwayze & Cisco Adler

Tonight Malibu is coming to Santa Barbara. More specifically Shwayze is playing at Velvet Jones and I have to go, not just because I love, love, love his music but because I have something to clear up with Cisco Adler. He and I apparently go way back according to a little rumor…

I had forgotten all about the Cisco rumor till last month when I attended a holiday party at John Paul Dejoria‘s house in Malibu. JP is the owner of Paul Mitchell & Patron Tequila so naturally the party was wild and packed with tons of celebrities. Out of all the people there I noticed a guy who was in Cisco’s band Whitestarr and to my surprise on his arm was my girlfriend, Sarah, who I use to play soccer with in high school and haven’t seen since graduation, over nine years ago!

Sarah & I at the JPMS Party in Malibu

Sarah & I at the JPMS Party in Malibu

We started chatting about her boyfriend and I explained that my dad, Johnny Rivers use to be very good friends with Cisco’s father, famous music producer Lou Adler. Apparently they had a falling out at some point, which is why I don’t know Cisco personally now, but there was a rumor going around that there are naked pictures of Cisco & I playing together as kids. Sarah and I laughed about this. Imagine the headlines; Naked Pictures of Cisco Adler and Princess Leia’s Niece!

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Keep Believing… Even without Panties

By on December 23, 2009 in Family, Favorites, Happy Endingz® Eco Swimwear, Life Lessons, Surf & Snow, Travel

Last night I watched the new George Clooney movie “Up in the Air” with a couple of my girlfriends. After the show I sat in my car in the parking lot just thinking for a while. I forget to do that sometimes, just stop and think. This is definitely a great movie to get you contemplating and motivated; Perfect for going into the new year. It made me re-realize how short life is and how you only have one shot to make it count…

Just sitting there in the quite, no music, cell phone still turned off, my mind had a chance to drift back to how I got here: college at UCSB, my graduation, starting two companies (still struggling to make them profitable), traveling around Hawaii & sleeping in my surfboard bag on the beach, moving to Lake Tahoe just for the sole purpose of living in the snow and teaching snowboarding…. All of this I love, even the nights I couldn’t sleep, my mind racing through every idea of how I could somehow make everything I have dreamed of more then just a dream.

But as time goes on and you get older I think it just becomes easier to settle and give up on your dreams. I saw a quote yesterday that said something to the effect of “for the majority ‘impossible’ is a comforting excuse for inaction.” I worked for over two years and spent every penny I had to launch the my organic lingerie line, “Happy Endingz”. Afterwards I took off to Hawaii to celebrate my accomplishment only to realize that the real work had just begun.

Happy Endingz™ Lingerie in Vegas for the International Lingerie Conevtion

Happy Endingz™ Lingerie in Vegas for the International Lingerie Conevtion

Starting the company, I now understand, is actually the easy part. Keeping it going and making it profitable is the hard part. You have to love what you’re doing and be insanely passionate about it or it will never work. That is how I came to the conclusion that “Happy Endingz” should be an eco bikini line, not a lingerie line, because if you know me at all you probably know that most days I don’t even wear a bra or underwear but I do spend a lot of time in bikinis, teaching surfing.

Now I could just throw my hands up and give up saying I should have started a swimwear line in the first place, but as Eric Greenspan, the CEO of Make It Work once said to me, you need to change, adapt and grow to become and stay successful and that can apply to you personally or a business. And you have to be passionate and stay passionate, somehow. On my left wrist I have a tattoo that simply says “Believe.” I got it when my mom was diagnosed with cancer. You have to believe in yourself and your ability to make anything you want bad enough possible.

Now I know all of this might not be very compelling coming from a blond, 26-year-old surfer girl from Santa Barbara, but it is pretty compelling when you hear it from the man who first told it to me. His name is John Paul DeJoria and he has the best rags to riches tale of anyone I have ever known. John Paul is one of my dad’s best friends and is also the Founder of two companies you may have heard of, Paul Mitchell & Patron Tequila.

Last week I had the pleasure of attending JP’s Holiday party in Malibu. While I was there I overheard some guests talking about how lucky he is. (I have no idea how they could possibly be overwhelmed by an entire snow covered hill in Malibu, five bars, In N Out Trucks, real Reindeer, Natasha Bedingfield and Sean Penn). But what I would have told them, if I wasn’t on my third mango margarita & very busy taking pictures with Santa, was that luck had nothing to do with it.

Me & JP on our way back from the New Orleans Jazz Festival

Me & JP on our way back from the New Orleans Jazz Festival

John Paul was homeless, living in his car in east LA when he started Paul Mitchell. He was almost forty years old when he and his business partner put together the first $700 to get the company started. JP then went door to door selling Paul Mitchell shampoo & conditioner. The black and white labels, which are now considered classy & “sheek”, were first chosen because color bottles were too expensive. After making Paul Mitchell a success he went on to brand and grow Patron.

On a trip back from the New Orleans Jazz Festival a few years ago I had the pleasure of flying home with JP on his G4. This gave me some very rare one on one time with this amazing man. I took that opportunity to chat with him for a while about business and he told me that the best advice he could give me as an aspiring entrepreneur is to never give up, stay passionate and keep believing.

Last year my mom passed away from cancer. The one thing she left me with though, that I will always have, is a passion for life and all its possibilities… And of course our mutual dislike of wearing undergarments.

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