It feels like it was forever ago at this point. I used to make matching dresses for my dolls and I with my grandmother when I was younger. In high school, a friend and I launched a small business in which we started off making prom and quinceañera dresses and accessories. That eventually turned into a full-fledged company that we ran for nearly eight years. Fast forward to today, and I’ve had my current business since 2013.

Exciting, exhausting, inspiring.

I honestly wish Elizabeth were an option, but the only right answer here is obviously Mary-Kate. If you were to make a “Who’s more interesting?” chart, Mary-Kate would win by far. Both have the Dualstar years and the Row under their belt, but MK is married to the half-brother of a former French president, was the first one called (before 911!) when Heath Ledger’s body was found, and was a full, willing participant in the movie Beastly.

I think our time together would be basically her staring at me slack-jawed while I unleashed my entire stream of consciousness at her, peppered with occasional question marks. There’s a good chance she might just try and swim for it before our year is up.

I’m going to go against the cuff and pick an accessory. I recently made a copper collar in which I had a series of stemmed and domed flowers arranged on. The petals were made of fabric I took a blow torch to. I’m particularly proud of it because metalsmithing was a new skill set for me, and it has been a blast to incorporate that into my new work.

“When we’re walking and split a pole, she makes me go back and walk around to her side. She thinks it’s bad luck.”

Chipotle is the Arby’s of Mexican food. There, I said it. From a fashion perspective though, I’m going to be a Debbie Downer. I think we will eventually witness the demise of fashion shows. As someone who loves going, it’s not a fun concept, but as someone who has shown during both NY and LA Fashion Weeks, shows can cost thousands of dollars, but almost never bring in the type of money you need to cover those show expenses. Especially as a smaller company.

Larger companies like Calvin Klein or Tom Ford can afford to drop $100k without an immediate return, but that’s obviously a much bigger risk for the little guys. Or even big companies who are looking to trim fat. You don’t want a company to choose a flashy show over keeping jobs. As retail struggles, you have to evaluate what works. I feel a bit like the fun police by pointing it out.

I have a memory of watching The Fashion Show and FashionTelevision at some ungodly hour with the volume on low (so as not to wake my siblings), quietly eating off-brand Kix, waiting to watch the runway shows broadcast from New York. I remember being so mesmerized watching Naomi Campbell walk down the runway, and holding my breath when Isaac Mizrahi did an interview. He was always so relatable in the way that he spoke, and his girls always looked so happy and confident.

Watching him go on about his collection inspiration and fabrics and then talk about upcoming trips to places like Paris and Milan was probably the most glamorous thing a little girl from Texas could have been watching at 4am.