Ep 64 | How to Build Something Big Without a Perfect Plan

In this episode, Priya sits down with Roni Hirschberg, founder and CEO of Generation Love, to trace 18 years of building a fashion brand from a waitressing job, a mom's foyer, and $100K that never got spent. Roni didn't go to fashion school, didn't have industry contacts, and didn't take outside funding. She and her business partner cold-called factories, learned every part of production by showing up in person, and worked full-time jobs for five years to fund the company without touching their savings cushion. This conversation is a real-time reframe on what entrepreneurship actually requires and why persistence, not planning, is the thing that keeps most businesses alive long enough to matter.

Takeaways:

• Working a day job while building a business isn't a hedge. For Roni, it was what let her stay ethical, pay her factories, and never compromise the thing she was building.

• You don't need a network to start. You need to be willing to show up, call strangers, and learn the parts of the business no one else wants to know.

• Being your own boss doesn't mean fewer people to answer to. It means more and the ones counting on you make quitting feel less like an option.

• Financial independence isn't about accumulation. It's about having enough to choose, where you live, how you work, what you walk away from.

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Guest Bio:

Born and raised in New York City, Roni Hirshberg has always had an eye for fashion. In 2008, along with her partner Audrey Bressa, she co-founded Generation Love to empower women to feel confident and beautiful every day. Drawing from their shared appreciation of European style and modern NYC edge, the duo set out to create a brand where bold design meets everyday wearability.

Guest Links:

Website: generationloveclothing.com

IG: @rones_nyc, @generationlovelcothing

TT: @generationloveclothing

The Stuff Our Lawyers Want Us to Say:

Stash Wealth is a Registered Investment Advisor. Content presented is for informational and educational purposes only and is not intended to make an offer or solicitation for any specific securities product, service, or strategy. Consult with a qualified investment adviser (that's us) before implementing any strategy. Investing involves risk, including the loss of principal. Past performance does not guarantee future results. There…we said it.

Transcription

I rarely meet people who are as tenacious and dedicated through like banging their head against a brick wall because that is what entrepreneurship is, whose brick is on Roni's gas pedal.

Roni: Like nice things. I don't know. Like I.

Priya: Who the am I to tell you what to do with your money? My name is Priya Milani, currently managing millions of hard working dollars. Enough for a play. Let's talk. Welcome to the F word. Smart money.

Hey guys, welcome to the F word. My guest today has one of the boldest entrepreneurial stories I've heard in a very long time. And when I listened to it, I immediately knew that I had to bring her on and share her with you. If you run a business or even think you might want to one day, there are a lot of lessons in this one.

She's been heads down building her company for 18 years. I kid you not. She doesn't look a day over 27. And if you're watching this, you know I'm not exaggerating. Roni Hirschberg is the founder and CEO of Generation Love, a fashion brand with a boutique on Madison Ave. literally next door to Christian Louboutin, which is awfully convenient.

Roni, welcome to the show.

Roni: Thank you for having me.

Priya: Oh, we're pumped. You know, Ronnie, most of the guests that I bring on, I've known for years. You and I barely know each other, but within seconds of listening to your story, I was blown away by your bravery. I would love if you could take us back in time to what you were doing before Generation Love and how the idea came about.

Roni: OK, great. Yeah, I mean, I love, I love my story, so I love sharing it. It really feels like yesterday. I was born and raised in New York City, so I would come home when I was in college to work in the summer. So I was working in a restaurant called Shazelle, which is a French restaurant in Nomad, which was like a really cool place as a waitress.

And that's where I met my partner, who's now my life partner and my business partner, Audrey. And so we were basically waitresses in this really cool French restaurant. She's French, so, you know, she fit right in. And I was the only American working there.

Priya: How old are you at this time?

Roni: I am 19.

Priya: OK, so you're waitressing and you're thinking there's more for me out there. What what was like the first nugget of was it I want to do something different? Was I want to do something in fashion?

Roni: Well, I loved fashion because I was, I had worked in retail ever since I was 16. Like after school I worked at Intermix and Scoop and I was really good at sale selling. I loved styling women. I loved trying to understand why they bought what they bought. It left like the whole like analytical side of it.

And I loved honestly being independent and making my own money. And that was really the drive I wanted to save money for school. I had to kind of pay my way through college. So I was hungry. I was like super hungry to just make money, save money. And I loved what I was doing.

I loved selling. And then in waitressing you also, it's kind of the same thing. You meet people, it's fun. You can make a lot of money. And I think eventually we just, we wanted our own thing like we wanted, we knew that that wasn't going to be a life for us. Like I didn't want to stay in retailer or waitressing forever.

And it's really easy to get caught up in that because the money can be really good. We're like we need to have. I wanted to have my own business. I wanted to be my own boss.

Priya: That's a very common feeling for a lot of people listening, I know.

The $100K Goal: Sacrifices to Fund a Fashion Brand

Priya: And so how do you go from waitressing? You said you were, you're doing it to raise money definitely for school, but then you had to think about did you raise money to start your business? Did you save money? How do you start?

Roni: I think I just learned the word raise like to raise money like very recently. Like I, we honestly did this kind of like figuring it out, like young and naive, which is sometimes the best way to do something. I didn't even know that was an option to like go get money somewhere or like having like, yes, and you would investors were, but I was like, no one would ever invest in me.

Like why? So yeah, we decided that for a random reason that $100,000 sounded like a solid number to start a business for whatever reason.

Priya: Did you know what business you were raising for or saving? Did you like, were you like, OK, we're going to start a fashion company.

Roni: Yes, yes, we had. We were like talking about a bunch of different things, like some random stuff. Then we decided on T-shirts AT shirt line yes, because there was like a big wave of these like cool high end T-shirts. At the time, this is 2008 and I was, we were selling them an intermix like crazy.

And I'm like, why can't we do this? Like we can do this too and let's give it a try. So we wanted to start actually started. We wanted to, we started as an organic, 100% organic cotton T-shirt line with like really fun inspirational sayings on them and it was great.

We were really passionate about being 100% organic. We use like water based dyes, all this stuff like super, super into just like creating a really beautiful product. So that was our whole, that was that's how we started.

Priya: And was it under the label Generation Love or was there an earlier iteration? Like where did that name come from? Branding is so important these days, and you're so good at it.

Roni: Well, yeah, I think it's it's it's it's fun. It's fun to really figure out the voice and to have figure out the voice along these years and kind of like really hone, hone in on that.

Priya: So you had to save up $100,000? How long did that take?

Roni: It took us two years and we literally like became hermits. Like I did not go out. We were literally like work to go home, like put the money in the bank. It made me happy and like to see the money increase in the bank account like that. That was my joy. Like I didn't need to go see my friends.

I didn't need to like party or be young or whatever. Like to me was like, Oh my God, we have X amount. Like that was what was driving us is because I was like, Oh my God, we're almost at 50K, We're almost at 20 K, you know, And then it's like, Oh my God, we can get to 25 soon. And then it was just exciting.

It was exhilarating.

Priya: That is so inspiring. And again, you said this 100K number kind of came out of nowhere, but it felt like a safe number to you. One of the things that you told me when we met that I thought was just so fucking funny and awesome and bold and brave was that you were like, fuck it, we're going to move in with my mom.

Can you tell us a little bit more about like some of those early decisions you had to make?

Roni: Yeah, which is also how we were able to save the money. Yeah, we made the decision to. We were like, we're starting AT shirt line. Mom, I'm moving in make room for our fabrics. Like literally I had, I came in with my organic cotton rolls, like 6 of them because we bought, I don't know why for like we need sick.

We made a lot of funny decisions for like we've moved in literally. And like, mom, I'm taking over the entryway of your apartment. And it became like a little warehouse. Like I had like my rolls. I had like trims. I had some chains, like whatever we were kind of working on. It was like our spot. Yeah. And I mean, to me, it made complete sense to do that.

Like it was like, if I want to do this, I want to save money. I am from New York City and I can be here and like you don't like my first of all, my mom will be happy. And you know, it was a, it was a win win I guess. And it was, it was great. It was, you know, I could work, I worked full time at the same time.

So it wasn't just like saving money and kind of just like doing a business. We were until we had the $100,000, we didn't really start, which is also kind of interesting. We like we're like we are not ready yet until we have this money in the bank. And then even after we started, I did work full time for five years just to continue like funding the business.

Priya: Oh, I think that is such an important point because so many people think that the runway that you built, you built a really, really strong runway and made a lot of sacrifices and trade-offs as a 20 something, most 20 somethings are like, this is my best life. I'm going to go do all the things and you were like, I'm moving in with my mom.

I'm going to keep working. I'm not going to see my friends. I mean like literally like anything you could cut to go at your dream you did.

The Power of Partnership: Learning Production from the Ground Up

Priya: Would you call it a joint venture? Was it? Do you feel like you were solo pathing this? To what degree was Audrey?

Roni: No, definitely joints like one from the beginning, like our idea together. Actually, let me preface this a little bit. The whole idea was actually because we wanted to be together. So that's where the idea of Generation Love was born. We never saw each other because I was working in retail at that time and then Audrey was working at at night as a maitre-d'.

And so basically we would just be like ships in the night that just like passed each other. And we were sad about it. I was very sad. And like we were sitting one day on the couch kind of like, what could we do that we could work together, that we could be together 24 hours a day?

Like that's what we want to do. And we were like, let's start a business. And then like, if we started business together, we could be together 24 hours a day, seven days a week. And that's literally how it was born. It was just out of love.

Priya: So romantic, I mean, we're 18 plus years into this and any moments at which you wanted to kill each other cuz like couples working together, I mean there's just a stereotype around that.

Roni: Of course we have issue, you know, there are going to be disagreements and there was going to be like homeless spills into life and homeless spills into the work and the work that spills into home. But at the end of the day, when you're working with someone that you trust, like 1,000,000%, like it doesn't matter. Like I know that we can, we will get through it and then we're going to be professional.

So we, we've been in situations where we're can be like so mad at each other. But if when it works, like someone from the office comes in, like I'm professional. Like we leave that to the side that we will never show or never like bring that drama to anybody else. Like that's like our own personal deal with.

Priya: Let's go back to like the earliest days. You bring these fabric rolls into your moms house or you your stuff. I've been to your boutique. Your stuff is so beautifully tailored and so extravagant. Like gorgeous pieces, simple pieces, but all beautifully tailored.

Were you tailoring it in the early days? Were you cutting the fabric and stitching the T-shirts together? Like how? How did you go about that?

Roni: Sure so well when we started so we were really just knits like cut and sew knits, just jersey and we were draping it on us like that's kind of how we like got our ideas. I would like stay. I remember being in front of my mom's mirror, like we were putting just, it's like draping it like, oh, this could be cool, like hold this.

And like, I mean, I still do that today. Like it's still kind of how we get our, our, our ideas. We work to some amazing pattern makers and factories that we met just out of like real like grassroots, like random phone calls going into, you know, walking into factories, meeting people.

So there was one pattern maker in particular that she, I don't know, we had a great relationship with her. We would come visit her. We would. I even did like model castings from her, her studio. Like it was just like a very nice report. She was really gave us a lot of advice.

Yeah. I mean, I was not stitching or sewing any of the garments. They were, you know, we had, we found like the professionals to do that, the experts, but they definitely like gave us a lot of wisdom and like insight.

Priya: That's incredible. And and you found them. You started telling me about this when we were meeting in person, but you found them just like you said, phone calls. And it's like you didn't have this big fashion network in the city. You just built it like from scratch.

Roni: Literally like nothing like no, I didn't know anybody besides in my retail, like my salespeople, sales girls, I didn't know anybody. And I think that's actually something that me and Audrey had that's like a great partnership that she's really good at researching things and like she's good at like finding contacts in some way.

And I'm really good at, I think at calling them like making appointments. So she would research and I would call. So that was kind of like how we had that set up. And I don't want to say he looked in the Yellow Pages, but it may be like, I don't know, like I don't, I'm trying to think of the source of, of where we got these numbers from, maybe a directory of some sort.

But like we definitely had to go in some sort of directory to get the factory information for it was like the garment district. So we would get the information or I'd call them, and that would show up or like just walk around and just like literally talk to people like I don't know if that exists anymore.

Priya: No, I know it's so funny because I'm also a New Yorker. And so you're talking about the Garment District, which is a whole area of the city that like all the fashion Institute of Technology, all the students like, go there to get their work, their fabrics, like all the like the more technical aspects done in the early days.

You're doing all these things that you need other hands, like interns or were there people that you ran into that kind of helped?

Roni: I mean, I think I was the intern. I was like all of it. So like, I think I was definitely doing the job of a million different people and the intern for sure. Like that's actually I think what made me learn so much and gave me the possibility to know like every aspect of what makes to have a fashion brand because I we were the ones picking up swatches.

We were the ones going to the dye house in the middle of nowhere, waiting for the lab dips that took hours on end or like in the nitty gritty that usually I guess the owner or cofounder so so forth CEO is not doing. But I never once thought of it as like, oh, I can't be doing this.

To me, it was like, look at what I'm learning. Like I actually know how they make they dye this fabric or how they do the tie dye. And I never went to fashion school. I don't know how to sew, but I know how they did it. Like I don't know more, but I know it differently. Like I have first hand experience versus, you know, maybe classroom experience.

And I just felt very grateful for that. And I felt like we made like really great relationships and I don't know, it's just kind of also a lot of like, how do I communicate?

Like how do I get my point across? Like also like what do I want? Like you have to be clear on your vision as well. Like, I think it also made me decide what we want to design as well, because when we're standing there in the dye house and the the guy is like, what, what colors do you want?

How do you want the pattern? I'm like, oh, you know, we're like kind of doing the get together. It's like baking a cake. Like we're like baking a cake together and it was sweet, you know, And like I felt like it was just like a very fun experience. And if I had sent, say, the intern to go do that, I would missed out on that.

So I think that I like, cherish those moments.

Priya: Definitely hands on, nothing better than hands on learning.

How Generation Love's Vision Evolved into a Full Collection

Priya: So you talked about vision. What was the earliest vision for Generation Love and has it evolved and if so, how, in the years from T-shirt making to couture items that you're selling on Madison Ave.

Roni: So I think that visions always stay the same. We wanted to make pieces that were effortlessly chic and day to night. So when we started, he was with our T-shirts. So we kind of eventually moved into T-shirts that had more like kind of gold stitching and embellishments on. And that kind of became like what we were known for.

It was all about back then T-shirts underneath the blazer, like what? What's your cute little tee that you wear underneath the jacket that you feel like good in? And then eventually I'm like, I want to make my own blazer because I love Blazers and I love my T-shirts, but I want a whole look.

So that's kind of how we organically progressed into this full women's wear collection because I just, I was like, I don't want to wear anyone else's blazer. You know, I want to wear my own. So our collection always starts from the fabric. Like I'm always inspired by a certain fabric. So we were really inspired by so Audrey's French, so we would go to France often.

So it's great to see like all the beautiful fabrics over there. It's so it's so inspiring. Yeah. So I think that kind of really gave us the vision to kind of really up the ante on on the assortment. So a like what I want to wear also be growing up, you know, I started the brand.

We officially started the brand where when I was 24 years old and I'm 40, just from 43 the other day, my end use has changed. You know, I'm not doing the same things as I was when I was 24 years old. And I want to dress the part, I guess. So, you know, I think that's also how the brand has evolved over the years.

Priya: I can't stop thinking of more and more questions for you. I want to know how you got the fabrics back from France and how much more complicated is it to do a blazer than AT shirt. I can't imagine like a learning curve is so incredible.

Roni: You know, it's super. It is much harder to do a blazer than AT shirt. But it's really funny though, because AT shirts not easy either. And that's kind of what I learned very fast because we're like, we can do T-shirts. Why not like that's easy. No, it's not like, I mean, at least the way we wanted it.

I don't know, like it was like we went to so many factories, like no, you're not. The neck is not right. Like gotta, you know, I don't know, like it was just like it was complicated. It became complicated. And I don't know if it became complicated because we were so passionate and we cared so much.

So we kind of like, you know, we didn't let go of the details, which in the end I think also made you successful. Everything is challenging. You know, if you want it right and you want it done the way you want it it, it, there's like there's a challenge.

Why Working a Day Job Kept the Business Ethical and Afloat

Priya: I want to go back a little bit. We've kind of blown through the progression of the brand. But like you, you had mentioned earlier, and I think it's really, really important for people to hear this, that you continued to work for five years. Can you tell us a little bit more about like how that decision came about? You have $100,000. You probably could have stayed living with your mom and just like slowly dwindling that down.

What was the thought process?

Roni: Honestly, the thought of stop to stop working never crossed my mind ever. For us it was kind of freedom because we could fund the business as we grew it. Like we knew this could take a while. Like we, we didn't expect this to become something overnight for a lot of different reasons.

A, we are only starting with $100,000 and B, we didn't know anybody. Like it's not like we had the contacts, it's not like we had buyer contacts, store contact, like everything was literally from the ground up. So actually, really what inspired us is that one of our factories early on told us this like story that one of the vendors he was working with didn't pay him.

And it was telling us how like it was messed up and it was an awful story. And Audra and I kind of looked at each other and we vowed that we would never be like that ever. That no matter what, like, we do not want to be like those people that don't pay their, their factories. Like that's an awful story. So I think from then on, we're like, we're going to keep working.

We're going to pay whatever we're doing with the work we're doing. And so then whatever mistakes you make, which, which you will make, you're going to pay them off. And then you're not like hurting anybody along the way. And also we didn't even touch the money that we saved. We actually never touched our $100,000, which was like another like achievement of like, yes, we never touched it because we managed to, I guess I was working.

So it was basically whatever income I was making was kind of funding all the, all the business that we were doing. So our like for us that $100,000 was like a cushion.

Priya: Holy shit, that is so intense. You had a bit of like a fall back, like you said, you know, it's so interesting because you told me when we met that you're not a business person in the traditional sense and your success is not necessarily attributed to things that you learn in Business School or by putting together a business plan.

You've talked about integrity and care for the details. What do you point to as whether it's something internal within you or something that happened to you luck that you attribute your success to?

Persistence, Not Luck: The True Engine of Entrepreneurial Success

Roni: I don't really believe in luck. I believe in hard work and I believe in like never giving up. I think that's the biggest thing. I think there's been a lot of moments where you're like, you want to like it's hard, it's too hard or you don't think you're going to make it through or what, What's the point? There's been, there were a lot of moments for like, why are we doing this?

Like where is this going? And I think it's those moments where you just have to be like, no, let's keep going. There's something like or just like you need to believe in yourself or we know there's something here. We love what we do, we love what we're doing. We want the life we want, like we want to have business and want to be an entrepreneur.

And I think those are the moments that really guided me. You know, I think then, then that's what's amazing about having a partnership, I think with someone that you really trust and can be, you know, where you can like lift each other up when you're down.

Priya: Can you take us into one of those hard moments like when you were just like, this is too much. You know what, we got it as far as we got it. Was it reaching out to get clients? Was it something with the factory?

Roni: All of the above, all of the above. Like when we first started, we were making everything in the garment district.

And I mean, we had an order once that we were so thankful that we had this order. I was actually for Barney's and it's one of our first orders was huge.

And we were in the factory until at 4:00 AM, like helping packing help 'cause we, the deadline was looming and we had to help pack and they were sewing. They were like doing whatever they needed to do just to get the stuff done. And we were literally in the factory like all night helping like getting the box ready to go out.

You know, the exhaustion when like the exhaustion sets in and we're like, I remember being in like the hallway of the factory building in the middle of the night and we're just like, what are we doing? This is crazy. I'm so tired. What?

Priya: Keeps you going in those moments each other.

Roni: I think definitely each other. I think I just think there was something where I'm like, I'm not giving up. Like it wasn't even just like it wasn't even like a question in my mind. It wasn't even a thought like in the minute. Like for me it was like, this is there's no option. That's not an option. Like no.

And then I remember like coming back home one day and after like, I think I was like feeling pretty defeated. I had a fax which that back then I had a fax machine and there was a faxed order that came through from Intermix, which is when I first got my order from Intermix.

And I was like, Oh my God, here's my order from the fax machine. And it's so funny. And I'll never forget that day ever because I was like, Oh my God, here's a sign, You know, like here's my like this order from this amazing store.

Priya: Where you worked.

Roni: Where I worked, so I managed to get us in there and which was more incredible afterwards. And I was, I was able to sell the product on the sales floor and see the actual like reaction from clients, which to me again was like a super valuable gift.

You know, that I was able to see like first hand reactions. I didn't tell them it was my brand. So it's just like to see people love it or hate it, you know, and why and I could get the under, I can understand like first hand why they liked it or why they bought it or why they didn't buy it.

Priya: That's a great lesson to be able to be the one on the front lines. And there's nothing that can replicate that experience of, of like touching your consumer and, and really being with them when they're evaluating what you're putting out there, although that's terribly vulnerable.

At the same time, what you're doing is putting a really real light on entrepreneurship. There's too many people out there who have seen it on TikTok and Instagram and there's so many ads that were bombarded with of like, oh, you'll make $17 million in one year.

Just create this marketing funnel. And it's just not like that. And I, I think a lot of people want to believe it's like that and go down that rabbit hole for a period of time before they're like, no, there's really nothing that replaces doing the research. Being on the ground. I came across a stat recently that said for entrepreneurs above anything else, funding, where you went to school, what kind of degree you had, what caliber team you had.

The number one marker of success was consistency and persistence, Like persistence is persistence is by far the commonality of all successful entrepreneurs and you have it in spades. In spades. You do not strike me as someone who is taking no or giving up.

Roni: My dad says let me see once. It's always stuck with me when, when a door closes, fly through the window. So my parents were definitely there, you know, and like in, in a lot of different ways. And they've both been very, like, motivational and inspirational to me. Yeah. I don't take a note for an answer. That's that's a fact.

Priya: Love it, love it.

Accountability and Parental Pride: The True Face of Entrepreneurship

Priya: OK, so the listeners of this podcast are in their 30s. Many of them have dreams of transitioning to being their own boss. What has surprised you about being your own boss?

Roni: How you're your own boss, but you're also a leader to your organization. So when you have employees and team members that look up to you and that want your guidance, you're not alone. So it's not like you're functioning alone. And I mean, I guess this is when you have a team or even not when you're, when you work solo, you are not alone in the sense that you have, you have clients to answer to, you have factories to answer to.

You have whatever it is like you. It's not EU show. And that's what I kind of like say sometimes it's not the Roni show, It's not what Roni wants. It's not what I only because I want it. It's because this is what I think the clients want, or this is what I think is for the company or this is what it's it.

That's kind of our vision. And that's how I my outlook on things.

Priya: Well said. That's so true because there is a common misconception that when you are your own boss, all your troubles go away. Like nobody wants to have a boss, but you do. Your team, you're accountable to them. Your clients, you're accountable to them. Your vendors, you're accountable to them.

And you end up with a lot more people that you're accountable to. And I think that's a very common misconception.

Roni: You feel like you're a Mama bear of some sort. But in some way, like there are definitely times like, I don't know if I can keep doing, you know, this was like years ago. And I remember my mom telling me, like, Tony, you have employees, like you have a company, like you're going to put yourself together, pull yourself together, woman. Like, and my mom was like, you can't you have responsibilities like this is get it together.

And I'm like, OK, you're like, OK. And like I had to like get myself together. She's right. Like I have people are sending their kids to college on my, you know, I felt like I felt responsible. I felt like I can't just be sad and like be upset and like I'm not a little girl.

I'm not like I'm not just doing a hobby. This is a business. And I have people working for me that rely on a paycheck, that want, you know, you know, get yourself together. I'm.

Priya: Curious what your parents think from the days of the fabric in for the T-shirts, the rolls of fabric in the foyer to what you've built today. Would you share a little bit of that with us?

Roni: Sure. I mean, they're so, so proud. I mean, both of them, like they, they didn't graduate college, neither did I actually. But you know, also being like immigrants to the United States, I think they are so proud that I did what I said I would do in a sense, like I put my mind to something and I didn't give up.

I think that's number one, what they're proud of because I think a lot of people say they're going to start a business or they're, they want to do XYZ or they want to become let it up. And I think, you know, I said it and I did it. And, you know, they also at some point, I'm sure thought that it wasn't going to happen.

You know, my mom was definitely a little judge mental in the very beginning, you know, but and I think in the end of it was good. It was a good feedback because in the end of the day, like criticism is important. And never my mom, I don't know, like many of other moms, like she's very critical. So yeah.

But she's they're so proud. They're so proud of what we've grown this to become. And yeah, I mean, I, I, I think they're very, very happy, proud.

Priya: I can only imagine and there's a difference between criticism and constructive criticism. A lot of people confuse constructive criticism for criticism and immediately take it personally. And it sounds like you converted it into What is the message I'm supposed to receive here and how can I use it to push me forward?

Why 'Liking Nice Things' Fuels Financial Independence and Choice

Priya: I want to ask you a question that I've been asked and it took me a long time to figure it out. I rarely meet people who are As tenacious and dedicated through like banging their head against a brick wall because that is what entrepreneurship is, Whose brick is on Ronnie's gas pedal.

Roni: Like nice things. I don't know, like I, I grew up in a middle, middle class family, but money was definitely a problem, like a struggle. So I think I grew up in a rank control department. I'm so grateful for that On the upper side. I loved, you know, it was a beautiful childhood.

I learned the value of working very early on. I think also because I wanted to ultimately buy Kate Spade bag as my book bag that was like my like, I want this bag from high school and I'm like, I'm going to get a job and I'm going to go buy it. So that's really the beginning of all this.

But, you know, in the end of the day, yeah. I mean, I heard, you know, money was a struggle. It was difficult. And I think I just didn't want that for my life. I wanted to have more. And I'm not putting down in any shape or form like my parents have, you know, their upbringing, but I just a little bit more for myself.

And I think Audrey maybe similarly like we both just wanted to create a life for ourselves that we loved.

Priya: It's such a valid answer like I like nice things is such a valid answer for why you want to make more money. We grew up in the society where we're made to feel bad to be that way, but it's like one life. If you want to earn money and buy yourself nice things or start a company or chase your dreams, it's.

Roni: Your dreams, I mean, look, I think everything comes full circle. I love that we're doing all these charity components like then we can give back. I think it's a it's a cycle. And I think independence is freedom. You know, to be financially independent is freedom and that you can decide to do what you want to do with your life that you can live where you want to live.

Like you can decide if you want to move cities, remove country is like, I think that that's the key. I think it's more like, oh, I want to go on a trip, I can do that or oh, I want to take a some extra curricular classes or take a pottery class. I can do that. It's not just about material things, but we live in a society that you have to pay for everything.

I mean, that's the bottom line. So, you know, I didn't grow up actually, you know, having any of those like extra school activities I didn't have, I didn't like to play sports. I didn't do any of that stuff. I didn't have my parents didn't have the money to send me. I went to public school. So I feel like maybe now I'm kind of making up for lost time in a sense.

I'm like, well, I want to do it. I'm going to do it. Like I'm going to have fun or I'm going to just, you know, I work very hard. I work a lot and I'm not complaining, but you know, I also enjoy myself.

Priya: So relatable. So many people feel guilty. A big part of our company is moving away from this stigma of financial advice, which is just saving for a rainy day. And it's like, no, you save it to spend it, to enjoy it, to live in richer life, to do travel, have experiences, give.

There's so many great reasons to push yourself for, you know, a more economically stable situation. You know, it's self-serving, but it also opens up opportunities for you to serve others. And I think that's a really, really well said.

Roni's Best Bite, How to Connect, and Priya's Final Reflections

Priya: OK, Cerrone, we always end the show with a segment that I call Best Bite. I am a huge foodie. I love to eat out. I take myself out. I always sit at the bar. I love to chat with the bartender. I love good restaurants, whether it's in here in New York or anywhere.

So my question for you is tell me something you've had recently, whether you made it at home or you went out somewhere in New York or or when you were traveling. Give me your can't miss recommendation for where I need to go and what I need to try.

Roni: Well, that's easy because I just went to this amazing restaurant for my birthday. It's called the 86 and it's very, I don't know if you've heard of it, but it's super cool. Very New York, very, I don't know, like back I felt like I was like back in like the 20s or something was just a very cool ambience.

But the cake because I love dessert, the desserts were like phenomenal. And they had this cheesecake which was like very like New York cheesecake. I don't know, I just was like this, I was like, this is the best cake in the world. So I highly recommend the 86 and getting the cheesecake.

Priya: Oh my gosh, this is the second cake I've been recommended recently. I have a carrot cake I need to go get from Jean George. And now the cheesecake from the 86. I'm dead. I love a cheesecake. OK, I'm going. Don't need to tell me twice. That's awesome. Where can people stay in touch with you?

Roni, tell me your handles. How do we keep in touch with your amazing, amazing journey and also your clothes? We want to be able to shop. And I understand you have a giveaway. Tell us your handles and we'll talk about the giveaway.

Roni: You can follow up US at Generation of Clothing on Instagram or my own handle, which is not huge or anything, but you can follow me at Roans under Score NYC and our website generationofclothing.com.

Priya: Your channel, your platform is actually really fun to watch. I've been following for some time now and you guys do great posts and show the styling and the new pieces and seasonal and you throw in some founder lessons as well. It's a really, really great. It's a really great platform, really great channel.

As far as the giveaway goes. So listeners of the F Word podcast, if you go to generationloveclothing.com from the date this episode goes live, April 2nd through May 2nd, they are offering listeners a 15% discount. You just have to use the promo code the F word.

No spaces, no punctuation, All 1 The F Word for 15%. Off to her fabulous designs, which you can see her wearing right now. Ronnie, you're styling me. At some point I'm coming in. We've got to do it.

Roni: It's a date.

Priya: I'm so excited. Thank you for being here. So so grateful to you. This was so fun.

Roni: Great. I had a, I had a blast. Thank you.

Priya: I'm really glad we found each other. Your story is a good reminder that you don't have to have a perfect resume or perfectly mapped out business plan, which I think a lot of people think. But in order to build something meaningful, you can just go for it. You need conviction, resilience, and I guess the willingness to keep going when it would be easier not to, as you've proved to everyone listening, if you've ever wondered if you could build something on your own, I really hope this conversation helped expand what you feel is possible.

If this episode resonated, share it with a friend who's sitting on an idea or someone who's been talking about maybe be leaving that stable job for years. Sometimes just hearing someone else how they did it is the nudge you need. So make sure you're subscribed. Don't miss future episodes. We've got a lot of exciting guests coming up.

We've got a lot more to share. So if you have a minute, help people find the show by rating it, reviewing it, like follow, subscribe, all the things. And that's it for today. We'll see you next time.

Thanks for listening to the F word with Priya Milani. If you like what you heard, hit subscribe wherever you're listening and leave us a review while you're at it or approval junkies. Don't forget you can find a ton of great resources, content, courses and other freebies at stashwealth.com. Now for the capital F stuff our lawyers want us to say Stash wealth is a registered investment advisor.

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