Kendra Scott

We had young children.

We'd bring them to the office.

We had pack and plays at our office.

We'd be passing around babies in between calls with buyers.

And we were this village of support where we could just be ourselves.

We could come in and talk about our day being difficult or, you know, and it was amazing.

But I think, you know, on the outside, I felt like I had to be, because I remember going to market in New York City, for example.

and setting up my little trade show booth and these buyers coming in and be like, oh, where are you from?

And I'm like, Austin, Texas.

This is now, you have to remember, probably 18 years ago when we were doing our first markets.

No, it's not what now people know of Austin.

And they're like, oh, well, you can't make it as a designer if you're not on the coasts.

You need to be in New York or LA.

In San Francisco.

But in my heart of hearts, I knew that Austin was the special place.

It was part of the DNA of our brand.

So even though I had insecurities about some things, I had total dedication to others.

Like we are an Austin, Texas brand.

We have our own voice.

And when you walked through markets,