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From Southern Charm to Sewing Down South: Craig Conover joins us!
Craig delves into his passion for sewing which he discovered during his eighth-grade home economics class. The memoir of his life experiences, "Pillow Talk", isn't just about making a pillow, it's about surviving a shark attack, confronting bullying, and overcoming odds. While throwing light on his roller coaster journey, Craig lets us in on some behind-the-scenes aspects of Southern Charm, and how his commitment to his ideas, despite the lack of external validation, led to the birth of Sewing Down South. The podcast ends with a Q&A session where Craig answers some intriguing questions from fans.
Welcome to Eden and Amadeus. The show after the show podcast.
Speaker 2:We have a special guest for today. His name is Craig Conover. He's one of the stars of Bravo Southern Charm. He's the co-founder and CMO of Sewing Down South. He's an interesting guy because he's a lawyer. He has been sewing since he was a teenager. He makes these pillows and all of this other home decor. He's into cooking and landscaping and all of the things. But at the heart of it all, a lot of people know him just from being one of these Bravo reality guys, and people know more about him than probably we do. But let's go further ado. Bring on Craig Conover and then we'll tell you where you can actually meet him in person.
Speaker 3:Thanks for having me.
Speaker 2:We're happy to have you. So you're doing the whole meet and greet thing, which I know we have had a couple of winners and literally every winner that has gotten a chance to come and meet you at the Home, and Paddy O Show has said like, oh my gosh, I love him.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they're all huge fans.
Speaker 2:They're just huge fans of yours, so it's been a good ticket to give away.
Speaker 3:Oh good, yeah, we had a good time in Raleigh doing the same thing and I enjoyed doing the sit down and just talking and I was laughing because I was like man, if this was to sell at like a non-profit charity event, and they were like, hey, you can go ask like whatever question you want, Because Craig doesn't know how to not answer questions. So I was like it's self or so much money. But it's a good time. I really enjoy every faster than it and I think that ticket is a fun one for both of us because I love the conversation.
Speaker 1:So for people that haven't seen your show. Tell everyone what it's like about.
Speaker 3:It was kind of I mean, most people at this point know what the housewives are, but it was kind of a male version of the housewives are, you know, kind of take like a little goon of beach, but put it on the East Coast. And you know, it's a group of us that live in Charleston over the last decade and it just watches us.
Speaker 3:You know, try to figure life out and try to grow up in this city where a lot of people don't you know, Charleston is kind of you know a lot of places are referred to as Neverland, but Charleston, you know, there's more girls than guys and there's a lot of family money and there's a lot of boats and the beach and it's just easy living. And sometimes it's easy to get trapped into the vortex of, you know going out every night and stuff, and so you'll you get to watch a show about which I know it's silly, but it's a lot of fun and good escapism. But you get to see us try to work our way out of that and really try to find, you know, happiness at the end of the day, which a lot of times is not. You know chasing those short, little you know voids. You know chasing those long term kind of successes instead of trying to fill the void that a lot of people try to by going out.
Speaker 2:And in the course of all of this, we all get to learn that you are somebody who has been sowing. Since what? Eighth grade.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we um we had home act back then, which a lot of places have gotten rid of them. We actually try to Um, donate sewing machines where we can and try to put back those like care and create rooms. But home back at a huge Part of my life, because it didn't matter what sport you played or or who you were, everyone took home back in tech Ed and so half the year we learned to sew and then half the year we learned to cook. So I kind of discovered my, my love to create back then and ever since I've been cooking and gardening and selling and it's been just unique enough to work.
Speaker 2:So tell everybody about your book pillow talk. What is that about? Because it's more than just about like, hey, here's how I make a pillow. It's about a lot.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's actually, I guess, a memoir about the first half of my life, or hopefully like the first third. I Didn't think that I had. You know I had lived long enough basically to write a memoir, but you know I hadn't gone through this weird breakup on national television and Moved out of my house when we lived together and I just had my sewing machine with me, and I ended up moving to the Bahamas, to Marsh Harbor in the Abacus For two years leading up to Hurricane Dorian. But it was there that I was able to, like you know, stop taking Adderall because of a shark attack and I talk a lot about my, like you know, I was bullied horribly growing up and so that kind of ended up shaping a lot of my life. And then I was one of the first people on you know an NBC program or Bravo program to be able to talk about the casting process for a show on Bravo, and so it was really like I was.
Speaker 3:I was very Careful to not say this is a what actually happened book, but this is a what also happened book, you know Film for you know a couple months a year, and so I was just saying, like you know, I was just filling in some of the gaps, and I enjoyed doing it that way and I think there was a little it's a light, easy read where it just talks about the, the months that you know we weren't filming, and so that's why I think everyone kind of was happy with it instead of me being like well, that's not what really happened.
Speaker 1:You know, that wasn't the goal and then, on top of all this other stuff, going back even further, you're a lawyer I. When I started reading all this, I'm like this guy is fascinating.
Speaker 3:Oh, thank you. Yeah, people, will you? People forget about that part a lot and that's where a lot of the strife came from. A lot of the people on the show with me, um, you know, they just didn't understand why I wanted to settle down and be a lawyer. They're like, just pick one thing and do it. But you know, I just was never me and I don't know if it was because of my ADD or you know, just being like you know, I just always enjoyed having lots of hobbies and lots of different Responsibilities. So, you know, I, I tell people when I go to these home shows I'm like, look, you got to remember Not a single person in the world thought that sowing down South was a good idea.
Speaker 3:Like, not one person ever was like, yeah, you should definitely do that, you know, other than my parents. So if you have a good idea, just because everyone else doesn't see it yet, that actually Could be good. But yeah, I have a law firm in Charleston. We just do referrals because obviously I can't, I Don't have the time to spend on it right now, but I, um, I, I enjoyed the law always. My life just kind of took a different turn when the show found me.
Speaker 2:And obviously, and, by the way, in the introduction, we're explaining to everybody. We've explained everybody about sowing down South. But um, what? What I want to know is two things first of all, I'd like to talk more about the shark, and and secondly, I want to know what is the number one question your fans are asking you at these meet and greets?
Speaker 3:You know that's a good question. I, you know you kind of get two parts. A lot of people are curious about the new season of Southern Charm, which is great. You know you can ask me whatever and you know some things I can't answer, but I usually fill in the gaps where I can. Well, I guess there's three parts and then we've got longtime. You know supporters and watchers that have gone me, you know, seen me go on this roller coaster of Iraq. It wasn't always easy and there were definitely some ups and downs who just want to come and kind of share. You know that's like light at the end of the tunnel with me. And then there's a lot of business questions too, because we were able to start the company with no money and we didn't really know what we were doing. And I'm a big proponent of finding partners. I have two partners that kind of were changed Everything. I'm sorry. And what was the other part of?
Speaker 1:the question. The shark yeah, you said something about a shark, oh yeah, no, I mean I.
Speaker 3:so one thing about the book was I just decided to be totally honest because I was like, look, you know, I had started at that point when I was writing, to figure out that people were, you know, starting to relate to me whether it was that mid-20s breakup. That felt like the end of the world at the time. And then you get out of it and you just laugh, you know, and a lot of people have that. And then you know Adderall is basically not really talked about yet because it's, you know, prescription. So the doctors give it to you and you take it and it feels good and you know, in law school it was great, I mean, I, I crushed the bar exam and all of that stuff. But what my buddy on the show used to say was, if you don't have a test to study for a crack, you shouldn't be taking it anymore. But I really didn't realize that until I got to the Bahamas.
Speaker 3:So there was a shark attack and we were spearfishing. Well, it didn't lead to an attack, fortunately, but I couldn't get underwater to warn my friends that sharks were starting to circle us because my heart was beating too fast, because I couldn't. So I couldn't like hold my breath because I had just routinely taking my pill that morning and you know it took that to help me just be like, oh, I don't really need this anymore. And it's not really like that's not an overwhelming part of the book, but I just, you know I, I was like, look, if I can help you know someone out there by talking about these things, where I was like you know I, I got myself in some trouble a lot of times, like I, I didn't always put myself in the best position and you know, and I had a fortunate, you know I, you know most of my, my strife was self-induced.
Speaker 3:I think that's what you know I I try to talk about. It wasn't like everything I was overcoming was because I did something stupid. So I was just you know, and I talk about that, and so I mean it's, you know it's, it's an easy read. I had a great writer that wrote for me. I would basically just ride around in my car and talk for like hours at a time, at a time, and he was able to organize my, my thoughts. So it was a. It was like a year-long therapy session, which was pretty funny because I had never done it up until that point.
Speaker 2:Sounds like a good quick, juicy read. So everyone is going to have an opportunity to come and meet you and we're going to give all of the details on our end. So don't you worry about that, and we wish you safe travels, because we know you're traveling quite a bit these days, and we can't wait to see you here in Jacksonville.
Speaker 3:Thank you. Yeah, I'm excited I've got the first pitch at the Orioles tonight. So I'm nervous about that, but excited, and then I'm going to head down to Florida and spend the weekend with you all. So I am, I, I think it's great, I, I, you know, afterwards, you know, we can take pictures and they can ask me more questions and sign whatever, and I definitely like it to be an interactive experience. So perfect.
Speaker 1:That sounds great, man. We look forward to seeing you All right?
Speaker 3:Well, thanks for having me and, yeah, I can't wait to see you.
Speaker 2:So let's give everybody the details on how they can meet him.
Speaker 1:So the Jacksonville Home and Patio Show is happening this weekend and if you're listening anytime outside of September, it's past, but it's this weekend, friday and Saturday, the 29th and 30th in Jacksonville, florida. And you said in the intro that this guy was interesting. That's an understatement. When I was first reading about him, like this guy is like done it all, he's like a Renaissance man.
Speaker 2:Yep, and he clearly has learned from mistakes, which is something that I think every single one of us, if we're being honest with ourselves, can say that some of the biggest or bigger mistakes in our lives have come from decisions we made. Yeah, absolutely, maybe not to the extent of the things they do on reality TV.
Speaker 1:There's that phrase. You know, you made your bed, you got to lay in it. It sounds like he has made some beds. And made the pillows, and made the pillows as well and laid in them and learned from them and moved on. So good for him.
Speaker 2:His book is Pillow Talk and he will be at the Home and Patio Show at the end of the month and we appreciate you being here with us on Eden and Amadeus the show. After the show