And what was it like for you to be back in Fashion Week 20 years later since you were first there? You know,

it was so exciting.

I love this city so much.

And to be here with all the energy of Fashion Week was such an amazing thing.

And then Pat Bow, she is this incredible, just joyful Brazilian designer.

She loves color like I do.

We had so many parallels.

Can we just talk about you and

To start the hat box.

Yeah.

And it was, you know, my stepfather who had cancer was really special to me because he basically said, honey, you need to use the gifts that you were given in this life to do something impactful, to do something good.

And you're going to get the most joy out of life by being able to do something good for others.

And he's like, you know, your time on this earth is so short.

So you've got to give it everything you have, like play hard, even when it's scary, push through those moments of fear, because on the other side of fear, usually something great is waiting for you.

And I think that sense of urgency, he died when he was 47 years old.

But how do you decide where it actually makes sense to have a second brand as opposed to double down on the first brand?

It was encouragement from her stepfather that not only made a lasting impression, but also changed the trajectory of her life.

When I was 16, I moved to Texas with my mom and my stepfather and he was diagnosed with brain cancer.

Incredible man.

He served two tours in Vietnam.

He spoke five languages fluently.

Just the most, he'd walk in a room and just radiate, you know, just the smile and everything about him was just phenomenal.

And I was so glad that I had that time with him because he told me, honey, you've got to use the gifts you were given in this life to make a positive impact.

No, I mean, I

Mm-hmm.

we really started to reach out and just say, we've built a connection with our customer.

And I think for anybody that sells anything, it's doing anything with a retail service mind, make a connection first and the transaction will follow.

When you're so focused on transaction, you lose the connection and you don't have that, especially when bad things happen.

Our connection with our customer was so strong over the last 20 years.

We were there in hospitals, 31 hospitals with our Kendra Cares program for pediatric cancer.

We were there in oncology centers the month of October for our Buy One, Give One program, giving a woman battling breast cancer a gift and letting her try to have a little piece of joy.

What's the difference between a few hundred thousand dollar a year or a million dollar business and a billion dollar business? What does it take? emotionally, mentally, and psychologically to really excel to get there? And then what are a few of the things that take in terms of strategy and execution to get there?

Mm, mm

... to make people think that we're Superman or Superwoman, that we are these just, "We've got it all together," you know? And I think it's...

You know, as a mom, I'm always struggling.

The people will be like, "Oh, how do you balance it all, Kendra?" That is a myth.

No, if anyone tells you they've got it figured out, they are lying, okay? That is a total myth.

We- I work every day to be like, "Okay, how do I make sure that I'm there for my kids when they need me?" Or if I forgot, "Is it a bake sale? Oh, my gosh!" You know, I'm racing to the store, picking up cookies, and trying to package them in a Tupperware, so I don't feel like my kid [chuckles] doesn't think I actually baked the cookie.

[laughs]

Yeah.

living vicariously

through you.

We're living through you.

Tell us.

You know, we were in Africa, and he had set up a barge with lanterns, and we came up on a boat, and we got off, and there were elephants on the banks and hippos in the water.

It was golden hour.

I mean, we danced together on the boat, and we listened to that song.

Well,