S2 Ep 10: From São Paulo to Charlotte | Renata Gasparyan | Bench to Bold

Boutique fashion, bold reinvention, and the courage to start over — Renata Gasparyan joins Marnie and Alisa in the studio for a conversation as rich and layered as the pieces she designs. In this episode of Bench to Bold, the founder of Renata — a one-of-a-kind boutique on East Boulevard in Charlotte — shares how a career at one of São Paulo's most legendary fashion houses led her to a bonus room in the Carolinas, and eventually to one of the city's most talked-about brands. There are stories about moving from Brazil with two kids and no safety net, panic attacks that came out of nowhere, a stranger in leather pants who became a lifeline, and the husband who said “well, why don’t you just start your own thing?” Plus: the design philosophy she calls sketch to stitch, why her pieces don’t go out of style, and what it really means to dress a woman — not just her body. Consider this the episode where fashion becomes a love language.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS:
00:56 — São Paulo Roots & Starting in Fashion at 21
04:37 — How the Boutique Was Born: From Compliments on the Street to a Bonus Room Business
07:55 — Word of Mouth Only — Building Renata Without Marketing
09:45 — Sketch to Stitch: The Design Process Behind Every Piece
14:57 — From the House Studio to a Real Storefront on East Boulevard
19:43 — Proportion, Tailoring & the One Inch That Changes Everything
22:06 — The Bench Moment: Moving to Charlotte and the Panic Attacks She Never Saw Coming
28:31 — Go For It: Renata's Message to Women With a Dream

ABOUT RENATA GASPARYAN:
Renata Gasparyan is the founder and designer behind Renata, a boutique fashion brand based in Charlotte, NC. Born in Brazil and raised between São Paulo and Westport, Connecticut, Renata spent years working at Zulu — one of South America's most iconic fashion houses — before relocating to Charlotte a decade ago. What started as compliments on the street and a bonus room full of her favorite pieces has grown into a full boutique at 1419 East Boulevard, beloved for its signature blend of Brazilian sensibility and Southern ease. Renata designs everything from sketch to stitch, working with a small team of four tailors to produce limited, one-of-a-kind collectibles that women wear — and reach for — for years. 

CONNECT WITH RENATA:
Shop: 1419 East Boulevard, Charlotte, NC (beside Millennium Nails)
Instagram: @renata_gasparyan

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BenchtoBold

Follow Bench to Bold on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/benchtobold

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:06

Hi everybody. Welcome to another episode of Bench to Bold. I'm Marnie and I'm Elisa. And uh we're so happy to be here today.

SPEAKER_01 0:15

Yeah. So we have a special guest, Charlotte. We're we actually have someone in the studio today. So we're so excited. Well, I know.

SPEAKER_03 0:23

I just feel like I want to I love having guests in person because I know just makes it so much more fun and interesting and like so much more natural.

SPEAKER_01 0:31

Yeah, it's more natural than having someone, you know, come in through Riverside as we've done earlier today. Well, I think either way is fabulous. So yeah. So anyway, we have Renata here with us today, and we are so excited that Renata's here, and she has a fabulous boutique here in Charlotte. Thank you. And we want you to just tell us all about how that became about and and just all about you and all the things that people here in China.

SPEAKER_02 0:56

Well, you know, I think that that's a very interesting question overall, but I think what we should focus on are like the best of the best, right? Absolutely because I think that all of us entrepreneurs, we go through a lot and ups and downs. And um so my start, right? So I am from São Paulo, Brazil. I worked for this incredible fashion Mecca from South America for so many years. And um, I was so lucky. I was very, very young. So that's why I tell everyone like, don't let go of your dreams, like keep your dreams going, you know. So I was very young and I was so lucky to the owner, she absolutely adored me. So I started when I was 21 in sales, and then eventually I went into managing, marketing, PR. We did all the showrooms in Paris, which were absolutely so glamorous, and we did um, you know, Platatene, and it was so fabulous. So um moving to Charlotte was a challenge for me. Um, we moved here for my husband's job, and that was a big challenge because I had to reinvent myself, which I think us women we we reinvent ourselves every day.

SPEAKER_03 2:16

Yeah. Right. And often I think we try to take as you know our best versions and figure out what works and what we need to do to continue to improve and have growth. And that is, I think, what well-adjusted people do.

SPEAKER_02 2:31

Exactly. So that's exactly how I feel. So, how long have you been in Charlotte? So we moved 10 years ago from my husband's job. You moved from Brazil, from São Paulo, Brazil, yes. Wow. All right, yes, wow.

SPEAKER_03 2:45

Yeah, I mean, and so did you speak English?

SPEAKER_02 2:50

Yes. So again, when I was one year old, we moved to Westbrook, Connecticut with my parents, with my family. We still have our house there. And when I moved back to Brazil, I went to the American school. So that way I kept my English. So when we were, you know, transferred to the US for my husband's job, for me it was a really right, it was somewhat easy in in the language sense, not easy in the family and motherhood sense. That was really hard.

SPEAKER_03 3:22

Is your family do you still have family in Brazil?

SPEAKER_02 3:25

We have our um, yes. I mean, we have Gasparian. We are a very big um community in Brazil, in São Paulo. So yes, we have tons of cousins and friends for sure.

SPEAKER_03 3:38

But what about your immediate family?

SPEAKER_02 3:41

My immediate family, yes. So my parents have moved to Charlotte a few years ago.

SPEAKER_01 3:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:47

Um, I don't know if you I lost my sister. I don't know if you know that.

SPEAKER_01 3:51

No, I did not.

SPEAKER_02 3:52

Yeah. So after she passed, yeah. So they moved. And my little sorry, I don't know, say that. But um, yeah. And my little brother lives in Canada. So yeah. So my parents are here in Charlotte close to us because they wanted to be close to the grandchildren.

SPEAKER_01 4:10

And I got to meet your mom. Exactly. At the at the shop on uh Selwyn that we were at. You were you had your exact casing over there and your mother with you. Yes. Yes. Yep. Okay, so you moved to Charlotte 10 years ago when you moved to Charlotte for your husband's job. Yes. How did you decide I'm gonna open up in that beautiful house you were in prior to moving to your new location? How did all that come about?

SPEAKER_02 4:37

So, you know, I think everything is like how it's supposed to be, and they the calling comes like little by little. So when I moved to Charlotte, everywhere I went, people would ask me, like, oh, I love what we're wearing. Oh, I love this. Oh, I love, oh, I love that, you know, and because I was bringing something authentic, something different, something that I wore in Brazil, like a different fashion, you know? And I feel like from then, since I moved here, we Charlotte has grown and all that, but still we um I still bring that to the community. But everywhere I went, people asked me what I was wearing, and I thought that that was very nice. So I decided that, you know, even my husband was like, well, why don't you start your own thing? Because everywhere we go, people want to know what you're wearing. So again, in Brazil, I worked for this the fashion mecca name is Daslu. It was the most sought-after. Everyone wanted to work there, everyone wanted to shop there. It was like the carem de la carem in every in every single way. And um I learned a lot from the owner there, you know, as as I told you, like she really did bring me by my hand. And um, so eventually what happened is my husband one day said, Well, why don't you start your own thing? And I said, Well, let's give it a try. So I started with my you know, most favorite pieces that I wore. So I just replicated them. So like a fun vest or a skirt, but I would always bring together like the like the Brazilian skirt, which which we would wear in in Brazil, but I would also bring in that southern charm. So I had to learn a ton, right? I had to learn a lot. I had to learn a lot about how Southerners dress, about how what is important to Southerners, like, you know, which is very different from what I wore in Brazil on my day-to-day basis.

SPEAKER_03 7:00

Right. But you know, but you have to know your audience. If you don't know your audience, then you know it doesn't really matter how great, whatever it is. It's like, okay, you have to know your audience. So that's smart. You do your homework and then you know your audience, and then suddenly you have a business. And suddenly I had a business.

SPEAKER_02 7:19

Exactly. Thank you. So when I suddenly had the business, I started again, very small, started from my house, my bonus room. Um, when I started COVID hit, and I just kept it very small, and I feel like women just wanted they wanted a shop. So they just came over to my bonus room, they came in, they dressed, they wore my pieces, and I still had my factory running for us. So I just had to keep it going.

SPEAKER_01 7:49

And then when was it that you decided to open up shop on East Boulevard in the house?

SPEAKER_02 7:55

Well, I think a lot comes from, of course, my clients who so my so my brand, Renata. So we we have been from day one, we have been word of mouth. So I have never invested in marketing. Everything is self-taught, everything is that's how I heard about you.

SPEAKER_01 8:17

Yeah, word of mouth. Exactly. Everything in your shop.

SPEAKER_02 8:20

Self-done, self-taught. Um, I do, I do have a really big background in the sense of community, having a community, and like how I want to treat my clients and how I want to dress them and what makes it different when you wear a Renata piece. Like, why are you different? What makes you different from other women? Like, why do you want to wear a Renata piece or a Renata outfit? Or why is it so wonderful? It's packable. It's, you know, like this piece that I'm wearing tonight. This fabric is just incredible.

SPEAKER_01 8:56

I think for me, what I like about it is because I'm not the person that likes to go to the the mall and shop. No. And, you know, you have things in such numbers. I like individuality. Yeah. And I don't want to walk around town because I do go a lot of places in Charlotte, and I don't want to see someone else have the same thing on that I have on. Exactly. So I think that's what I like about the Renata brand is you because I know there's been times where I've been in there and I was like, I see I saw you wear this, you know, this outfit. And you're like, I'm sold out. And and that's what I love about Alice and Olivia too, is they always, you know, make things until they don't, right? And they only make so many and then it's gone.

SPEAKER_02 9:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:39

Um, and that's why I like um Renata's.

SPEAKER_02 9:45

So for me, what I think is the most special and important is being authentic, being unique. So I start all of my designs. So I sketch, so I I say I'm, you know, from st sketch to stitch, right? So I sketch everything, and then I have my tailors who stitch everything. So everything is made one by one. So it's all couture. It's um, it's no, it's not couture, but it's almost as if it were a couture. Got it. So it's in every well, you can wear couture, but it isn't, it's a, it's what I my my pieces, I call them collectibles. So it's you're wearing your collectibles every single day. Because you dress them up, you dress them down. There isn't like a and uh, you know, there isn't like a square.

SPEAKER_03 10:39

And so how do you source your fabrics? Like, how do you get um where do you decide like, okay, I want to do this color palette, or I want I'm gonna do this fabric, or is it just um from knowledge of what you've done in the past or just getting inspired from different things or seeing things?

SPEAKER_02 10:57

Or yeah. So essentially to me, I think that my way of designing clothes, it's a little bit different. Okay, so I typically start from the fabric. So I go from the fabric that I fall in love, um, and I can imagine that in a different way. It it can be from a trip that I took or an incredible woman that I looked at, or a movie I saw. But to me, the most important thing about what you're wearing, I know that people love like the denim and the blazer okay, that's fine. But what makes you mysterious? You know? So for me, the whole idea of like showing a little bit, hiding a little bit, so what's behind that? What else is there? So to me, whenever I design something, I always think of that woman. You know, when like you you see a woman and there's like there's something different. Like there's a spark. Like, is it her hair? Is it her perfume? Is it her mascara? Is it is it the lipstick? Like what is different about her? And I think it's all about how we carry ourselves, and again, the authenticity. And fashion to me is a way that you can express yourself in a good way, in a very bold way. Right?

SPEAKER_03 12:28

Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 12:30

So that's why to me, fashion or how you dress yourself, there isn't there, there are no boundaries.

SPEAKER_01 12:36

None.

unknown 12:37

Right.

SPEAKER_01 12:37

You know, you can that's what I love about fashion too. No boundaries. But I also love how you embrace it. And because when I showed up and I was like, I would never put that with that. And you were like, Yes, girl, you can wear this with anything. I love it. Well, of course you can.

SPEAKER_02 12:50

So, you know, in my world, you can absolutely do so many different things. But I have to tell you that when I say you can do a lot of different things, I have learned that after moving to Charlotte. And what does what did what Because I feel like although Charlotte, for you to, you're in Charlotte, and for you to break in to that, you know, because I I have to say I've been very grateful. I've had a lot of people, not not a lot, I'll I take that back. I have had like some people who have who have been my friends, not just friends, my clients. They buy my piece, but above that, so they purchase my pieces, they wear them, and they feel so beautiful and so powerful and so special. And people ask, oh my, that is so different. I have never seen that. Like, wow, where'd you get that from? So, you know, what I love the most is my clients telling me, Renata, I have a this part of my closet, like this big, this that big, whatever. This is all Renata, and I can wear whatever I buy today, what I bought two years ago.

SPEAKER_01 14:06

It doesn't go out of style.

SPEAKER_02 14:07

It doesn't go out of style.

SPEAKER_01 14:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:09

So I don't feel like that about my pieces too. Exactly. Yeah. So, you know, whenever I have somebody come to come up to me and say, like, and it happens, thank goodness knocking with every day. Oh my goodness, I wore your piece last night to whatever, and I have never felt so beautiful.

SPEAKER_01 14:25

And you and get so many compliments. Exactly. Yeah. Because it's different. It is different. You know, the foil skirt that I brought bought from you. Yeah. You get so many compliments on that skirt.

SPEAKER_02 14:35

And I mean, you're gonna wear it forever. Forever. It will never you will not you know, so it's not like you can dress it up, you can dress it up. You can dress it up, you can wear with sneakers, you can wear with boots, you can wear with flasks, you can wear summer, spring, fall, you know, you can wear year-round. So to me, like how you accessorize your outfit, that also makes the whole difference.

SPEAKER_01 14:57

Okay, so from the house to your new location, still on East Boulevard, what was the transition? What what inspired you to do?

SPEAKER_02 15:07

So I think the click is, and it still is, okay. A lot of people who are very intimidated come in. So back when I was at the studio, which was mostly like appointment only, um I had mostly appointment only. You do. And now that we have an open shop, but we still have limited hours weekends of our appointment. So I I still keep it very small because I don't feel that personalized fail.

SPEAKER_01 15:38

Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 15:39

Because when my clients come in, they want a CD. They don't want you know other people in there. Yeah, they want they want me to sell them. So and you know, I'm a mother of three and all that, so I have to also give myself some time to be, yeah. But I think that it came to a point where we had to have like our name there, our shop there open, and be able to have new people, which it has been absolutely incredible. So a lot of people come in and they're like, Oh my goodness, I've been dying to come in here, and I just have not.

SPEAKER_01 16:14

And the parking is so much better where you're at now.

SPEAKER_02 16:16

Oh my goodness, right? Elisa, I mean that other parking was no no no no. I know, and I'm so busy. The parking was awful. It's so hard.

SPEAKER_01 16:24

We can't have lunch in South End because I don't want to park in a parking deck or have to worry about finding a park parking spot on the street. So can we get to a restaurant that has a parking lot? But that's the same thing. Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_02 16:36

But that's a huge worry, of course. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 16:39

And it's part of the experience when you're when you're doing like a high-level experience, it really needs to be convenient for the customer so that they're not kind of driving, you know, out of breath as they're parking and being like, oh, forget it. I've got other things to do, or I, you know, I'm too no. Uh all right. So, what is is there an expansion for Renata?

SPEAKER_02 17:00

So that's a very good question, Marnie. And I will tell you that I have had people come up to me and offer me and all that. Um as of now, I love where we are at being small. But, you know, we're because getting bigger comes with a lot more. Well, it's always a trade-off. And it's always a trade-off, but listen, we never know the next chapters of the next season, you know.

SPEAKER_03 17:32

So, all right, so you dress a lot of wonderful ladies here in the Carolinas. Have people from other um states reached out to you and said, Okay, I need a special. So, do you do like a special occasion dress?

SPEAKER_02 17:45

Like, do you do we do every now and then? One of my most favorite um pieces that I well, not I cannot say most favorite because everything is a favorite. Cannot say that. But um Donna, she is a reporter in New York. So I was at the Hamptons and she fell in love with my pieces and she just, you know, she was like, I need this.

SPEAKER_01 18:09

That's exciting.

SPEAKER_02 18:10

So yes. So sh I know that she wore her dress and she was just absolutely flattered with all the, you know, it's about I so I yeah. So again, I I go back to I know my pieces. I know how they're made. We have our own tailors, we have our own factory. We have like only four tailors who work for us, and they're all made one by one.

SPEAKER_01 18:33

And how many times do you go out of the country to choose?

SPEAKER_02 18:36

So I try to go at least twice a year. But if I if it were New York, I would go like at least every month, I would say. Because uh what what I think about when I design my pieces and when um so when I sketch, so I say it's you know, from sketch to stitch. When I sketch it, and when it comes to life, I think the proportion is something so important for us to think about, right? Yes. So like is the waist at the right place? Is the length is the slit at the right place because you know, I mean, our women, we're so different. And um, I think the proportion is so important because you can either do super good or you can do super bad. So my team in India, they get very annoyed by me because I'm like, oh no, no, no, we're gonna bring this one inch up. They're like one inch. I'm like, yep, we're gonna bring it one inch up because that one inch is going to make it look so much better. Oh, definitely.

SPEAKER_03 19:43

Every woman's body. Oh, I mean, the people, I mean, tailoring is the most I mean, people, it's so it's such an underrated thing, but tailoring, I lived in Los Angeles and I, you know, was in the movie business and you know, button placement, I mean, could make a movie star. I mean exactly. If your buttons are in the right place, you're Pierce Bros. And if they're in the wrong place, you're you know, serving hamburgers at, you know, in an outburger. Exactly. And it it's uh, you know, obviously, you know, with I mean, there's um certain exceptions, but but the way that things are tailored and shoulders and buttons and proportion and everything, the way it fits really makes and you know, back in the old days, obviously the costume designers like Edith Head and they understood how to make movie stars movie stars. And it was all because things fit them properly, and if things don't fit, like you said, if proportions, but that's just like in life, if the proportions are off uh in anything that you do, I think whatever you said was perfect in life. Everything is about proportions, it's all about math.

SPEAKER_02 20:43

Yep, it's all about math and the finding the balance. So, you know, I I am definitely like that designer or that woman. I feel like if you're showing too much here, you don't want to show too much here.

SPEAKER_03 20:56

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 20:57

If you're showing here, you don't want, you know. So they're like there's that balance. And I to me, I feel like the most interesting woman is that flowy, and like there's something beyond that that you can't really see when what she's wearing.

SPEAKER_01 21:14

Yeah, it's not always about the tightest clothes or the shortest clothes. No, or the the most, yeah, that voluptuous you can have new your girls out, right? No, and it's funny you say that about a slit because there's so many clothes that I have loved um in from various designers, but if the slit is too much for me, I mean I'm not buying it. And I'm like, you know, that's unfortunate because if the slit were maybe an inch less, right, you know, higher, maybe an inch lower, I would have bought the dress or the skirt. But yeah, it's it's funny you should say that. So it is all about proportion. Okay, so our show is bench to bold. Um, and we love to hear on our show and for you to tell everyone. A time that you felt benched in your career or in life.

SPEAKER_02 22:07

You know, I feel like the time I most felt benched. And that's a tricky question. That's a tricky question. I felt benched mostly when I moved to Charlotte for my husband's job. Okay. So we moved from Brazil with the two kids. I didn't have Bella yet, so she was a surprise. But I had the boys and I felt benched because again, I worked for this very, very glamorous um fashion mecca in São Paulo, Brazil. And when my husband he's also Brazilian. And when he was offered, you know, for us to move here and do the whole North and South America, um, I was like, yes, of course. Because again, when I was one, I moved to Westport, right? I told you guys, right? Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:54

So you were familiar.

SPEAKER_02 22:56

So I was like, well, I think if I could give my children the experience, the experience of living abroad, why would I not? You know, and Brazil, I mean, São Paulo is a very, it's it's difficult. It's a very violent city. It's not easy. Um, so I was like, well, if I can give them a lot and security as well, why would I not? Right. But when I moved here, I was very um it was hard. Like I went through a really hard time. I quit had panic attacks. I never even knew they existed. And it was really hard for me.

SPEAKER_00 23:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 23:32

But I met people with my first friends, I met her. I was walking on my street and I had no clue who she was. And she stopped, she's like, Are you new here? Because I was wearing leather pants. And like she's super edgy and cool. And um and I was like, Yes. And she was like, Can I get your phone number? I'm like, Yeah, sure. And then my next door neighbor said, Do you even know who that is? And I said, No, but she was very sweet. And she's like, Oh my goodness, you have no clue who you're talking to. And I said, No. So next thing I know, she's inviting me to go to the all like art galleries and events, and so she just came and picked me up and was taking me everywhere because she thought there was something interesting about me in the community. So I think it takes one person for you to see the beauty and being somewhere else. But that's what I would say was my hardest moment moving to Charlotte.

SPEAKER_01 24:33

Yeah, I think it's it's probably hard to move to a big city and in in your I don't know how old you were when you moved here, but it's harder too to make friends. Yeah, you know, everybody already kind of has their own friend network and it's sometimes people don't welcome you in as easy as you know, like who is she kind of thing.

SPEAKER_02 24:53

And so it's hard.

SPEAKER_01 24:56

So I can understand your anxiety behind that and the panic attacks from it was really bad. That's a huge move. Yeah. But you've settled in now.

SPEAKER_02 25:04

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:05

Yeah. Settled in. Yeah. So and how I met you. Yes, right. And I think it's great. Like you said, word of mouth. Word of mouth for your business, word of mouth for friends.

SPEAKER_02 25:16

So I think word of mouth to me is the most substantial that you can get. Why? Because you're wearing your denim and you love it. And somebody come up to me and says, Marnie, I love your denim. And you're like, oh my goodness, yes, I love it. It's so good. I feel so comfortable. So, you know, so I yeah, so we have been growing word of mouth because I completely trust my product. I know how it's made. I know how long it takes to make one piece. And I know the everything that goes with making it.

SPEAKER_01 25:57

So is your husband still with the same job? Oh yeah. Okay. Does he travel a lot?

SPEAKER_02 26:05

Thank goodness. So sometimes I wish he would travel more.

SPEAKER_01 26:10

Sometimes we just like it.

SPEAKER_02 26:11

Sometimes I wish I could just watch whatever I want on Netflix.

unknown 26:15

Right.

SPEAKER_03 26:15

Well, yes. Right? Snuggle in and everything's a trade-off. That is, you know, oftentimes. But I think it's great that you were able to show your children too about being resilient and doing things. I mean, uh, me and my children moved from California years ago, and we moved, you know, I didn't know anybody here in Charlotte. It was kind of uh uh just it it seemed to fit some of the things that were going on in our life, and but we didn't know anybody here. And I was like, all right, you guys, this is a life lesson. If we hate it, we'll move back to Calabasas. Because we were people were like, What what's wrong with you? Why are you moving to North Carolina? We lived in Malibu. I mean, like, what people were like, what like what's wrong with you? But I was like, well, okay, in the real world, you move for work, you move for relationships, you move for family, and I think it teaches resilience and grit and all these things. Oh my goodness, yes. Also, I was like, we're moving to a place, kids that I don't know anybody. So we're all here, we're all on the same level. Like, there's no, I grew up in Philadelphia, but I'm like, if we were in Philly, it would have been different because I knew people, but here we are, and you figure out how to make it work and figure out what's gonna work and you make new friends. It's hard. It's hard to make female friends. You know, we talk about this often. Um, you know, obviously, if you have kids that are younger and you're like the room mom, which you know, I was when we lived in Calabasas, then you make friends in that way. But as the kids get older, it's harder. And sometimes people aren't so, you know, gracious and they don't want to include you. And um, it's not personal, it's just whatever it is. And so finding ways to make new friends and to obviously then create a business and continue to grow it. And those are great things that you're doing for uh for obviously your clients, but also for your family too. So bravo. Thank you. Yes, I'm sure your children are very proud. Yeah. Well, yeah, I hope so. Yeah, I'm sure that I'm sure that thank you.

SPEAKER_02 28:12

But yes, I think you know, building the business from zero from scratch and yeah, started where I started and where we're at now. That's yeah, it's exciting. But I think most of all, I think I want to have every other woman, everyone else who has like a dream or uh go for it.

SPEAKER_03 28:34

Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 28:35

You know, go for it and don't just trust your gut. Trust your gut. Just do it. Like you know you're doing a good thing, you know you're doing something for yourself and for other people.

SPEAKER_00 28:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 28:46

So you know, just do it, go for it, make the best of it and inspire other people.

SPEAKER_03 28:53

So, all right, those words of wisdom were those things that were echoed throughout your childhood, or is that just stuff that's really come up through the past, you know, decades of you growing and maturing and oh no, I think the words of wisdom, my my parents, like my mom has always been my role model.

SPEAKER_02 29:13

My role model. Like she is an incredible woman, like everything she's done, and she's had to like I forget words in English, but she's had to be like so many different w w women. Like she's had she's had to be so many different people at once for her children. So she has definitely been my role model. Um my father always like working and working and working, but um I think that us women, you know, just focusing on women, I think that we we do need more grace, but I think that we do need more recognition, in my opinion, as like moms and wives. Wives. Yes, right. Business people, it's hard. We carry a lot. I mean, we definitely so much.

SPEAKER_03 30:05

We definitely wear a lot of different hats. Yeah, many different, you know, so many different roles. I mean, and it's like I, you know, you have three, I have three, like the phone does not, I mean, and I'm grateful for it. I don't want it to not be different, but it's like every single question and thing, like it's it's amazing. No, everything. And I don't know, I mean, and I don't drink or do drugs, and I'm like, some days I'm like, you know, how am I not clinging to a bottle of tequila with that kind of day? How am I not? I'm like, but I'm not, but I'm not because I've got too many other things to do and that doesn't interest me. I'd rather do our great friends, yes, and call and vent today. That's true, and I'm very fortunate for that. And so it's like, those are just things as women. I think being able to know that there are other um, that we have friends and that we are human beings. We're not robots, we don't program ourselves at night, and that we're just kind of living this great life, but that there are things that are gonna be, you know, part of our day and part of our routine that sometimes we're just like, oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_01 31:06

And we have great friends that remind us of that, of how great we are, right?

SPEAKER_02 31:10

But I feel like, you know, we're always us women, we're always like balancing the plates, right? So today I had this event and I have been like this year has been my allergies have been horrible. I think everybody's everybody's I am like red all over my eyes. It's horrible. I'm like puffy and everything. And then I was like, okay, I'm gonna get a blowout. So when I'm on my way to the blowout, my oldest son calls me. He's like, Can you come pick me up? I'm like, no.

SPEAKER_01 31:37

I feel like Marnie has to go through some of that herself.

SPEAKER_03 31:40

I'm like, I'm like, sorry, my hair's kind of gross today. I'm like, I did not get a blowout. Yeah, but I did. I know, yes. Uh so but that's okay. But the thing is, Alisa was like, No, your hair looks great. Like, even I mean, and and I'm like, Thank you. I probably not, but thank you. But you know, I think that's we always criticize ourselves for it. We do, yes. We do too much.

SPEAKER_02 31:59

Right, we do Twitter service. We do. So thank God again for our friends to share upon ourselves.

SPEAKER_01 32:05

We really do, they make us feel better.

SPEAKER_02 32:07

But yeah, so I think that's what friends are for, and you know, connections. And I'm a big um Marnie's really good at that.

SPEAKER_01 32:15

She connects people really well. Well, she's a big connector.

SPEAKER_03 32:18

Yeah. Well, I feel like that's such a gift. I mean, I want people to, if I can figure out if I'm like, oh, I know that person or that, and I then you but the thing is about that also is that um you I like to do things authentically and genuinely. We're almost there, there's no quid pro quo with anything. It's like you just want people that you love and that you care for to have success and to feel all of those things. Like those are the things to me that get me excited. And so I'm like, if I know somebody that can be helpful, I want to connect that person. I want them to go and succeed. And it's not a um, it's not a what have I done for what have you done for you lately or whatever. Because we talk about this, like my mom always said, like if you do things in that capacity, then and expecting the same results from, but it comes in a different way. And it doesn't even have like you feel good about making good connections for people. That's what you're supposed to be doing.

SPEAKER_02 33:15

Yeah, I I think that the whole sisterhood is so um we need that.

SPEAKER_03 33:23

Yeah, I have to when and we have to pass it along. Yeah, well, it's a currency that I think is tradable in a good way. So I feel like the social currency of being a good friend and being reliable, being consistent, those are things that are it's a that that's my currency. That's what I value myself on that currency. Sure, you know, financial and material things are great, but it's like the currency of being who you, you know, who you say you are, that um to me is what I think matters. And that's what I look for in other people that I'm friends with as well. Exactly. Because if they're, you know, if they're not real, then like that novelty wears off very quickly.

SPEAKER_02 34:05

Oh no, I I posted something yesterday that said if shoes and people hurt you, they're not your size.

SPEAKER_03 34:12

Right. I love that. Yeah, that's great.

SPEAKER_02 34:14

So I think that's a really good if shoes people don't fit your size.

SPEAKER_01 34:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 34:19

No, they hurt you. They're not your size. Yeah, they're not your size.

SPEAKER_01 34:23

I love that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 34:24

So yeah, and I think, you know, us as women, it's it's cruel. It can be really cruel out there.

SPEAKER_01 34:30

Mm-hmm. 100%.

SPEAKER_02 34:31

Right? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 34:33

It is. So Okay, so we're gonna wrap up, but before we wrap up, I want everyone to know how they can get in touch with Renata. So tell us all the social ways, where you're where you're at on East Boulevard.

SPEAKER_02 34:46

Yeah. So I am at 1419 East Boulevard. Um, so we are right beside everyone knows Sally's Opticals or Millennium Nails. People go there. Oh, I got my nails there done. I go to Saturday.

SPEAKER_01 34:57

Or I got some cool sunglasses.

SPEAKER_02 34:58

Oh, yeah. So, you know, we're in a very sweet spot. Um, and oh, and the new restaurant just opened, Dozo. If you have not been there. Oh.

SPEAKER_01 35:07

Oh, good.

SPEAKER_02 35:08

We'll try it. We love a good new restaurant. It is so good. Okay. So good. And the owners are incredible. So we're there. So I typically do weekends by appointment. Um, just in FYI, because, you know, with the three kids and I'm very on top of everything and my clients and they, you know, they want me to style them and all that. So, but I do do everything a lot by appointment on weekends. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 35:33

And then what about on social media?

SPEAKER_02 35:36

Social media, I, you know, I'm I'm a older generation, so I only do Instagram.

unknown 35:43

Right.

SPEAKER_02 35:44

I cannot do TikTok.

SPEAKER_01 35:46

Yeah. I'm getting used to it.

SPEAKER_02 35:48

I I I would love to, but TikTok is still not my I I can't go there right now. So I'm as of now just very focused on Instagram. And yeah, so it's very personal. It's a little bit, it's well, it's a lot of me and the products and a little bit of my family, mostly Bella. So, you know, my surprise daughter, she's my best friend and she's my little, you know, I'm like, hopefully she'll be able to run my business one day.

SPEAKER_01 36:17

And yeah. Good. Okay. So what's your Instagram handle?

SPEAKER_02 36:21

Oh, it's um Renata underscore Gasparian. Okay. And it's it's difficult because I'm Brazilian, so I can write it down.

SPEAKER_03 36:28

Okay, we'll attach it. We'll we'll make sure that everybody knows how to follow you on Instagram, not TikTok. I don't, I know TikTok is a whole, it's a universe. The whole like yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 36:42

Like, I'll I'll do it, but you know, right. I mean, I would love to do it, but we'll we can try.

SPEAKER_03 36:48

Yeah, we'll try. Maybe we'll try the TikTok. I think we'll try it. Yeah, we'll try. We'll do a TikTok. We'll come to your shop. We'll come to your show. We'll come to your shop and do one. Yes. Yes, we'll do it. Well, thank you so much for sharing your story and your journey and your success and uh in your fashion and all of it. It's beautiful. Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 37:07

Well, I hope to inspire other women.

SPEAKER_03 37:09

Yes. Well, that is a great message. So do we. That's what we have to do. That's our job. Always. Yeah, definitely. So thank you everybody for tuning in to another episode of Bench to Bold. I'm Marnie.

SPEAKER_01 37:20

And I'm Alisa. And uh we'll see you soon.