My 50-Year-Old Mother-in-Law Makes $1M/Year. The Product? You'd Never Guess

Sam Parr

**So how do you create a multimillion-dollar business starting with only $10,000 — without having much of a plan, without doing a lot of research, without even knowing how to use Shopify, or basically having to learn the Internet from scratch?** We have talked about this a little bit on this podcast, but I finally wanted to do an episode with a very special person: my mother-in-law. About five years ago my mother-in-law sat me down and said, "Sam, I have this idea for a business. I want to start this pillow company — can you teach me how to do it?" I gave the most generic advice ever on how to do it, not expecting her to do anything. It turns out she listened, she Googled, and she found actually significantly better advice. She built a company that is now making millions a year in revenue. She started it in her early fifties, and it's killing it. After years of just kind of quietly chugging along and building this epic business, I asked my mother-in-law, **Smithy Sodine**, to come on the podcast and give her story. If you are in your thirties, forties, or fifties and you are thinking about starting a business and you're overthinking or not sure what to do — or even if you're in your twenties and you want to figure out how to change your life — this is probably one of the most relatable and, I think, inspirational episodes that we have ever done. It's a very special episode for me for obvious reasons. I love her to death, but I think you guys are going to like it. Check it out. So let me set the stage here, Smithy. Okay, Smithy — do you even listen to the podcast?

MFM

I do. I do listen to *some* episodes.

Sam Parr

Alright, so the story is this: basically, you came over in your early teens as an immigrant. You had some kids and were a *stay-at-home mom*. Then the kids grew up and you were like, "Well, I'm not really sure what to do next." So you kind of tried a bunch of different stuff. At one point you got your real estate license. You did something a lot of people want or think about — they think, "I want to start something; I want to do something." You thought about it for a couple years, I think, and then all of a sudden we had a conversation and you basically told me what you were going to do. I wasn't sure if I even believed that you were going to do it but, basically, you said, "I'm gonna start a **pillow business**." You had done zero research — no market research — and then, two weeks later, you had an online store. Before I knew it, you had a bunch of sales. Now, after doing this for six years, you've made multiple millions in revenue. I don't know if you want to say what it is or the numbers, but you built a **7-figure business** without any internet experience or any research. We talked about you on the podcast and that was pretty cool. A lot of people have asked, and so we have Smithy here, who's actually my mother-in-law.

MFM

Well, okay — I'll just change a few little bits of information in that summary. I came to the U.S. with my family when I was 16 years old, in 1983. We lived in Miami for a couple of years, and then I ended up going to school in New York City. I wanted to be in the fashion industry. *Sewing has always been a passion of mine.* My grandparents sewed and my mom did, so I learned from them. I ended up just liking it — it was a way to express my creativity. I made clothes for myself, and then I wanted to go to the Fashion Institute of Technology to study fashion. I ended up majoring in pattern making. I also had to work full time while I was going to school part time, so **I never graduated from FIT.**

Sam Parr

I didn't know you went to *FIT*. That's pretty cool.

MFM

Yes. I went to **FIT** [Fashion Institute of Technology] part-time for about a couple of years — maybe two or three years. I was really close to graduation, then I got married, had a child, and we decided that I wanted to move out of New York City. We moved to the suburbs, and there was no fashion industry there. I really didn't want to travel back and forth to work in the city, so I stayed at home. I became a stay-at-home mom for about three or four years. Then I realized, "I'm raising a child but I don't have enough information to raise her. What am I going to do when she needs knowledge? How am I going to help her?" So I decided to go to school to become a teacher. I did a dual major in English literature and education. I actually went to school for ten years while raising my kids and eventually wound up with a master's degree in linguistics. Having children really helped, but I always sewed or did alterations for my neighbors. Vests were in style in the 1990s, so I made vests and sold them on the side. I was always sewing — doing something in that field. When I started teaching, my husband and I owned a business for a while. I helped out, and when the business was winding down I realized I still needed to keep working; I was too young to retire. I brainstormed ideas, and *pillows* kept coming back to me because my friends always asked me to make them. I made them for my sisters and for everybody. It was funny because everyone kept discouraging me. They said, "Why would you want to sell pillows? How many pillows can you sell? This is ridiculous — nobody buys pillows." But I bought a ton of materials and made a ton of them, so I know women like them — and people in general like them.

Sam Parr

And when you're saying "pillows"... when you said *pillows* to me, I was thinking of the pillows I put my head on at night when I go to bed. You're talking about fancy decorative pillows—like throw pillows.

MFM

Okay, yes — you're right. I should correct that: I made **decorative pillows** — couch pillows, sofa pillows, and also decorative **bed pillows** that people used. I thought to myself, "I really don't want to sell millions of pillows." I just wanted to sell enough, and I also wanted to keep myself engaged in something I was passionate about. I was passionate about working with **textiles**: looking at fabric and shopping for them. I had closets full of fabric, so that's what I wound up doing. It was definitely tricky because I knew how to sew and how to shop for fabric, and I had a pretty good eye for interior design. The problem was I had no knowledge of an online business — the technology part was a problem. So I really had to learn a lot in order to open an online store.

Sam Parr

For the listener and Ari — if you want to see this as well, Google **Smithy Home Couture**. Okay, so Smithy's name is spelled S‑M‑I‑T‑H‑E, but she styled it *Smithy* with a Y: the word "smith" and then a "y" — **Smithy Home Couture**. You guys gotta Google that right now. If you go to it you'll see your website, but more importantly click the Etsy link. I'm not looking at it now; I'm going off memory, but I think it says that you have sold 17,000 orders. Those orders could be multiple pillows. The reviews are like **4.9 out of 5 stars**, and it's like "three or four or 5,000 reviews" — is that right?

MFM

I have very, very, very good reviews. I think there are multiple aspects of the business. There's a consultant side where I help people select pillows for their homes. There's another side where you actually have to manufacture the pillows: we get an order, make the pillows, pack them, and ship to the client. You also have customers — **customer service** is essential. It's a service to the client, so I really try to maintain a relationship with my clients. I treat them the way that I want to be treated. I respond to their questions right away. If they request something that I cannot do, I make sure to say, "Hey, I can't do that, but let's try something else," or I might even recommend somewhere else for them to find the product they're looking for. Customer service is really important to me because I want to be treated well. The reviews are a reflection of that.

Sam Parr

Yeah, they're *crazy high*. Right now—just so people have context—I think you have... I don't know how many employees you have: four, five, or six. How many do you have?

MFM

So, they're really all subcontractors. I use about 5 to 6 subcontractors, yeah.

Sam Parr

And you have, like, a — *I don't know what you call it* — an office, a workspace where you have... I've been there, and you have these five or six... </FormattedResponse>

MFM

Have a workroom.

Sam Parr

Workroom, and you're just sewing—like, I think people... it's pretty cool because a lot of people listening to this will think, "Oh, I'm gonna go find something online and just resell it." But you have five or six people in there with sewing machines, and you're—you're sewing them. You guys actually make them. A lot of people brag about "Made in America," which I love—I love *Made in America* stuff. But you're making all this in New Jersey. It's just crazy how straightforward you made this process, and it has worked really, really well.

MFM

**It's very simple.** We don't stock pillow covers—we don't stock them; we stock fabrics. I have about 400 different rolls of fabric in my workroom. When someone places an order, we make the pillow that day or that week. We ship within three to five days from the time you order—making it, packing it, and shipping it. It's pretty simple. I have people who help me with the sewing, but I do all the buying. All the creative side is me. We also make the actual pillow stuffing there, tag the pillows, and ship them. It was so simple to start this business in terms of financial investment. I started it with **$10,000** and I've never invested another penny in it.

Sam Parr

All right, so a lot of people watch and listen to the show because they want to hear us just tell them exactly what to do when it comes to starting or growing a business. A lot of people message Sean and me and say, "All right, I want to start something on the side. Is this a good idea?" What they're really saying is, "Just give me the ideas." Well, friends, you're in luck. My old company, **The Hustle**, put together 100 different side-hustle ideas and appropriately called it the **Side Hustle Idea Database**. It's a list of 100 pretty good ideas, frankly. I went through them — they're awesome. It gives you how to start them, how to grow them, and things like that. It gives you a little bit of inspiration, so check it out. It's called the **Side Hustle Idea Database**. It's in the description below — you'll see the link. Click it, check it out. Let me know in the comments what you can [unclear]. I retell the story of how I remember it, and I've probably exaggerated it so many times that I don't know what is the truth or what's an exaggeration. You can tell me what is true and what's not. Basically, if I remember correctly, five or six years ago you drove me to the airport. Sarah and I were still living, I think, in San Francisco or Austin — I don't remember — and I was there by myself on a work trip. You drove me, and I was like, "Why do you want to drive me?" You said, "I want to talk to you about something." I asked, "What do you want?" and you said, "I want to start this pillow thing — a pillow business. Can you just tell me anything you think I should know?" I was like, "Oh wow... okay." In my head, I was thinking this is just another conversation I've had tens of thousands of times, where someone tells me something they're going to do and they're never going to do it. But I was like, "Okay, well... I don't really know anything about e‑commerce, but I could tell you what this thing called Shopify is. I could tell you that you probably might want to buy some ads, you probably want to do this." I gave you the most generic thing ever — stuff you could have just Googled. Then, two weeks later, I get a link — I think it was to your website or an Etsy store — and I was like, "Oh, this person has a company named exactly what you were going to name your company." You responded, "No, this is mine. I did what you said. I created an Etsy — or I think a Shopify or WooCommerce — store. I flew down to North Carolina, I bought a bunch of fabrics, and I am now getting my friends to buy the stuff to give me good reviews." And that's where we are. Is that right?

MFM

That's basically how it happened. I wanted to understand what an *e‑commerce* business entails because, again, I know how to sew. But someone my age—or most people my age—have a very hard time understanding the e‑commerce concept and all the lingo that goes along with it. Like, what is **SEO**? What are **conversion rates**? All this stuff. I wanted to understand from your perspective what you understood and, really, "should I buy ads or not?" What is this exactly? I was able to pick your brain and I got a lot of information about it. Also, I needed encouragement from people who were maybe young entrepreneurs—people who were doing it. You were always creating new companies; you were always talking about businesses and what you're up to. So I wanted some encouragement, and you provided that. That was cool.

Sam Parr

"How did your *first* customers find you?"

MFM

**Etsy is a wonderful platform.** Etsy made it pretty easy at the beginning. You're right — I needed a couple of reviews. I had sold to so many of my friends and family, so I had to get a couple of people to buy a few pillows in exchange for a couple of reviews. But the first time I actually had a client I had never met order something, it was amazing. It was exhilarating. I was so excited. That feeling you get when someone says, "Hey, you're worth something..." And then when it kept happening, I really kept doing it. It really helped. I started my business in January 2020. I opened my Etsy store in March 2020. We shut down for COVID, so COVID really helped launch my business. I think in the first month, January, I sold about $300 worth of pillows; February maybe about $500. But by March–April I was selling multiple thousands of dollars of pillows. The issue was I couldn't keep up with the demand. I couldn't make them all by myself, but I did for the first nine months — I made them all myself, packed them, and shipped them. Eventually I had to find help.

Sam Parr

So I'm known on this podcast. It's so funny—I have my home life and then I've got this public life. People in the audience know me as someone who *asks very blunt questions*.

MFM

Yes, you do. I know that too.

Sam Parr

I was like, "I'm still gonna ask **blunt questions**, but I **respect you too**. You can—you can respectfully tell me, 'Sam, I'm not—I'm not answering that.'"

MFM

"I will *definitely* do that."

Sam Parr

"When were you able to pay yourself?"

MFM

I was able to pay myself the *very* first year.</FormattedResponse>

Sam Parr

"Do you remember how much? Or do you want to say how much, or no?"

MFM

I think the first year, maybe I made **$60,000**. It wasn't a lot.

Sam Parr

"What was the most money you made as a teacher?"

MFM

Probably about $67,000.

Sam Parr

So you beat—or you match—your teaching, your "almost job," in one year? </FormattedResponse>

MFM

The first year, yeah.</FormattedResponse>

Sam Parr

"That's pretty awesome. How's that feel?"

MFM

Oh, it was... it was great. I *did* enjoy teaching as well, so I don't regret it. It was fun, and I thought it was rewarding as well. But it's nice to be able to do this and get paid well for doing it.

Sam Parr

"In order to give the *viewer and listener* some context, are you able to say how much revenue, profit, or sales you're going to be doing in 2026 or 2025?"

MFM

So I can tell you this: in **2025**, my business—my revenue grew by **100%**, so we are in the **seven figures** now. In terms of profit, I make a very healthy profit. I'm very happy with the income that I make.

Sam Parr

So, I know what it is, and *I'm not gonna say what it is*. But I'll say that I know people who have businesses that do $20,000,000 in revenue — e‑commerce businesses that do $20,000,000 in revenue — and I have a feeling you're making more money than they are in terms of...

MFM

I don't know about that, but I would say that I do very well. I love what I do — I never think about it as "work." I love it. You know that, but I think it's a viable way to measure your success, so I do try to... I pay myself. In 2026, our goal is probably to grow the business by, like, another — by a fifth? At least 50%. That's crazy, and I think I can definitely do that. I have a very clear path ahead for how to grow the business, and I know — you think it's really funny — that's how we started.

Sam Parr

One of the many reasons I wanted to do a podcast with you was because—well, you know me and Sean—we get all these people reaching out who say they want to start something. They write up these complicated reasons or these complicated business plans, and we're like: that's just not important. **Just start something in a week.** Move fast. Build *momentum to your first dollar.* I don't know if this is genetic or if people can become this, but there's this weird thing that I tend to have—Sean has it, you definitely have it—where I almost call it *being a caveman*. You're smart, you can be really smart, but at the same time you see it as simple and straightforward. You're not going to overthink it. You're just going to do "step one, step two, step three," whereas a lot of people tend to overthink things.

MFM

Well, think a lot of people would think about it—they don't take action. So I'm okay making mistakes; I've always been that way. But I've also taken action on the things I wanted to do. I'll give you a quick example: when I moved to the US I **was 16**. I went to high school. I went from Catholic schools in the '80s to high school in one of the worst neighborhoods in Miami. High school was horrible. I didn't know the language; the students were awful to us in general. I wanted to not stay in high school—I had three years left, but I was like, "I really don't want to be here." So I decided to go to night school as well. I did three years in high school and two years in night school without knowing English. I graduated and got out. I just knew that there are ways to do things. If you really want to do something, there's always a path to take. There's always a way to do it. For me, it was that I learned how to— I can definitely say that I know my business from the inside out. I knew how to manage the website, how I take all my photos, and the learning curve was really huge because I had to learn Photoshop, Canva, and tons of other programs. But I also knew that I could learn it. I **never doubted that I could learn things**. So you just break it down into small chunks and learn a little bit every day. At the end of the month, it's like—suddenly you know how to use Photoshop. I know your audience is generally really young entrepreneurs, but I was thinking, what kind of value can I add to your podcast? I think the value would be for people who are maybe in their fifties and don't want to retire or want a different kind of career—people who really had a passion they didn't have an opportunity to follow. For me, that's what I did.

Sam Parr

**It's pretty crazy.** I remember looking at some photos of you when you were still in Haiti, and I thought, isn't it incredible that in such a short amount of time—in one lifetime—you can go from living in an entirely different country to living in one of the busiest parts of America: New York City, Manhattan, where you own a multimillion-dollar e-commerce business? I was just... I'm so inspired and fascinated by how far someone can come. I was reading Barack Obama's biography, and he was telling a story about—I think it was his father's father, so his Kenyan grandfather, or maybe it was his Kenyan aunt—who came to America for the inauguration. They were from Kenya, living in the countryside, not in a very nice setup. And I thought, isn't it incredible that in two generations you go from being a person in Kenya to holding this baby and saying, "This baby is going to be the future president of America"?

MFM

And I.

Sam Parr

It was like, "It's just *incredible*—how far the journey of two or three generations has come." Then I was like, "No, it's pretty *incredible*." I've got a bunch of immigrant friends and immigrant family members now, you being one of them. The place where they are is so far from where they started, and I think that's *very inspiring*.

MFM

Well, immigrants don't feel like they have a lot to lose. I consider myself to be a first‑generation immigrant, but my parents really were the first generation. They came here when they were already in their forties, so it was too late for them — they sacrificed a lot so that we could do well. If you've traveled this far — left your homeland and come to a foreign land to make a new life — immigrants kind of feel like they have nothing to lose. They have to give it their all because you're displaced; you feel displaced all the time. You're not fully from one place or the other, so you really have to go for it because the opportunities are here. We left there because there weren't any opportunities, so we wouldn't want to be here and not take advantage of the opportunities offered to us or try really hard. I love New York, though. Even growing up in Haiti there used to be a 7 Up commercial that was filmed in Times Square — I thought it was amazing. I wanted to be right here in New York. You know how obsessed I am with New York City.

Sam Parr

"You're the *most New York* person I know. When we walk in the street, I'm like, 'Swinthi, you have to slow down.'"

MFM

Well, yeah. You kind of—once you leave here, you become a little bit more aggressive. But I do like the energy of **New York**. It's a really cool place. I had that idea; I even knew I would be in **New York** at a very young age.

Sam Parr

You know, on this podcast we've talked to billionaires and people from companies worth tens of billions of dollars ($10s of billions). Sean and I always say we're equally impressed by them as we are by a small business that is small but does great work. What we love are people who *blaze their own path* and turn dreams into reality. It doesn't exactly matter how big the reality is — it's just really cool to see people *make their dent in the world*. I think the takeaway when I talked to you, and why I wanted you on, is that **inertia** is strong. People tend to do the same thing for years, and it's hard to break that. The older you get, the more inertia there is: you've been doing the same things for a long time, so you don't want to change. What was fascinating was — I don't know if it's true that you had been wanting to start something for a while — but I do know you were... </FormattedResponse>

MFM

I did.

Sam Parr

I think you had—maybe you had thought of it. I think I heard you brainstorm out loud. What was interesting was you went from talking about all these other things to talking about a pillow business, and then launching it literally in two weeks. Before I knew it... I don't remember what you did in your first year, but I remember the first time you told me you crossed **six figures**. I was like, "Are you serious?"

MFM

I think a lot of people like to change the look of their home. It's a *new season*, and it's really a **very easy way** to transform your space without spending a huge amount of money. The way we were able to build our website was that we also worked with interior designers. Interior designers buy tons of pillows.

Sam Parr

Is there a world where you would want to go really hard and turn this into a big **100,000,000+** company? </FormattedResponse>

MFM

I don't know. I think I really like working *one-on-one* with clients. If it were to be really big, I think I would lose that aspect of it. I am considering a wholesale program, though, so stores will contact me because they want to buy the pillows. I've done some business with smaller local stores. If I wanted to sell the pillows on a national or international level, they would not be made to order anymore. I'd have to stack the pillows or get a lot of orders ahead of time. Maybe Bloomingdale's might want to order 100 of them for their store in New York, or something like that. That would be wholesale: they would be buying by the gross, which is 144 of them at a time.

Sam Parr

Are you going to do anything besides *pillows*?

MFM

For the time being, no. But there are different kinds of pillows that I would like to consider—maybe *throws*. I actually hired a group of artisans to make throws for **Smithy Home Couture**. Do you know what a throw is, Sam? Just like a blanket for your couch. Alright.

Sam Parr

"I thought a *throw pillow*... yeah, I don't know. I thought *throw*—I thought *'throw pillow'* was a term. Wait, I've been telling people *'throw pillows'*. Is that the wrong word?"

MFM

Same thing: they'll say "throw pillows," but a *throw* would be like just a blanket. So people often ask, "Do you have throws to match with your pillows?" That's something I will look into. I am looking into it.

Sam Parr

On one hand, I'm like, "I don't want you to do this," because, you know, you watch your grandkids on Wednesdays — and I'm a huge beneficiary of that, so I like it. But on the other hand, I'm like, "Man, you totally could become **Martha Stewart**." I could totally... Because this is for the listener: if you guys ever go to Smithy's house, it's the most perfectly decorated home. It looks insane. The way you make dinners — you are basically **Martha Stewart**.

MFM

Yes. I like home decor, gardening, and cooking. Yes.

Sam Parr

And I'm like, "You could definitely become a thing and make this a thing." And I'm like, "That sounds awesome."

MFM

I’m just conflicted. Do I want to change the business model or not? This year will be the year I think I will make that decision. Right now, I love working one-on-one with clients. I also have a great work–life balance. I have very flexible hours; I can spend a lot of time with my grandkids [or "your children" — unclear in the original]. There’s a lot to lose by going bigger, so I have to really consider if that’s what I want to do. It’s so interesting because I listened to your podcast about the young entrepreneurs, and I think it’s amazing how well they’re doing and how excited they are. They take really small businesses and scale them up really fast, and I want to do that. But by doing that, I believe I’ll have *a lot to lose*.

Sam Parr

I think what you have is actually the ideal situation, which is *intentionality.* I think that there are a lot of people — myself included, even though I try to be really intentional — who do things without thinking. It's sort of like a "ready, fire, aim" approach: they kind of just do stuff and whatever happens, happens. We were actually just talking about this on a previous podcast. If you don't do things intentionally, you can eventually build your own prison, where you're trapped in something you created. You seem to have a good attitude of knowing what you want and who you are, versus the dopamine rush of *more, more, more.*

MFM

Well, I would say that I had that in my thirties. It was a time to build a career, a family, and to make sure that you're financially stable for your family. I did have to pay college tuitions for our children. We worked really hard so that I could have this time where I could really think about what I want to do moving forward and truly follow something that I like and am interested in. I *wake up every day* excited to go to work. I spend hours online looking at fabrics — I love this. We had to grind first in order for me to have this time, and I think there are a lot of people who do that. I’m in a situation where, later on in life, you still want to work but you don't want to do things you don't enjoy doing. I do very well financially selling pillows, and I love doing it. I'm actually making money doing something that I used to do for free for people — so that's amazing.

Sam Parr

I remember one time I tweeted out your story. I think — I forget what's the guy's name: **Marcus Lemonis**? You know what I'm talking about — the guy who is the chairman of *Bed Bath & Beyond*.

MFM

He's from Bed Bath & Beyond. Yes.

Sam Parr

And he's part of the TV show — I think it's called *The Profit*. I think he's a pretty big deal. He tweeted at you and said, "Hey, email me. Let's get you in Bed Bath & Beyond." I remember I was like, "Sweetheart, I think this is a huge deal." You were very calm and collected and were like, "That's interesting. Maybe I'll reach out or something like that." You were just smooth — there was no... well.

MFM

I really believe **no one will give you anything for free**. If he wants to talk to me, there's something in it for him, so I have to evaluate: what is it that he wants out of this? Is it going to be worth it for me? As it turned out, I think it was a good opportunity, but it just didn't work out for us. I didn't like their business model. We did have our pillows on Bed Bath & Beyond, but after two or three months I pulled them out. "I don't have to do anything I don't want to do," which is great. It's a great place to be in. I really like that. We're on Wayfair. We do very well on Wayfair; we have a very strong presence there and I love Wayfair. I know a lot of people complain about Wayfair, but I like it. I like working with them. Their software is very simple and we do great business. I know Wayfair sells a lot of stock items, but we're still a made-to-order company on Wayfair. We get tons of orders for Wayfair, we make them that day, and then we ship them. We have very low returns on Wayfair — I think the return rate is about 5% — so it works for us. If it didn't work out, I'll just not sell on Wayfair. Our website is doing very well, and between Etsy, Wayfair, and our website, we are doing very well. There's also another service that we offer that interior designers really like, and some of our clients use it too: we allow clients and interior designers to ship their own fabrics. If they can't find a fabric that they like on my website, they ship their own fabrics and I provide the labor to sew the pillows and ship them back to the client.

Sam Parr

This is fun. I love celebrating your success. **Last—last question:** Explain the first time that you met me when I was dating Sarah.

MFM

Oh, yes. Okay — well, that was our *first* trip to San Francisco. I think I went there and dropped her off in San Francisco because she landed a great job. So I took her to San Francisco and made sure she was settled. The next time we went, she said she was dating someone and she wanted us to meet you. As parents, we were really concerned: "Oh my God, who is she dating all the way in San Francisco? We live in New York," and all that. You insisted that we go directly from the airport to your — to your space, to your house. I was like, "Wait a second — why can't we just... why can't he wait for us to meet him tomorrow at dinner, like a normal family would do?" So I was like, "Mom, can you please just go to his house? He really wants you to meet his dog." I was like, "Oh my God. All right, fine — I'll go. We'll go to his house to meet his dog." Your dog turned out to be this huge, massive pit bull. I was terrified at first. I was like, "Oh my God." And then, of course, he started doing all the tricks with him and with Sid. I was really cool.

Sam Parr

"I thought the first time we met was when I was eating a *hot dog* or something."

MFM

"Oh yes, that's the next day. Do you want me to tell the story of the next day too?" "Yeah. Okay."

Sam Parr

Yeah.

MFM

Oh, first I have to say: the night before we left your house, as we were leaving, I was like, "Goodbye, Sam." And you said to us, "Oh wait—you didn't say goodbye to Sid." I thought it was *very cute*. I was like, "Oh my God, he thinks his dog is a baby." The next day I think I mentioned that I wanted to go to the botanical garden. I love flowers and all that. You said you wanted to go with us, and I was like, "What? He wants to go to the botanical garden?" I thought you were really cool to want to spend time with Sarah's parents. Most guys would be like, "Oh, it's nice to meet you—bye," but you wanted to spend time with us. I thought it was cool. We drove there. You ended up going on your motorcycle, and you walked up to us with a hot dog dripping with sauerkraut and ketchup—it was like falling to the ground. I was like, "Ew, what is this?" I was just awful, like, "Sarah, do you want to date this guy?" But I *really* trusted Sarah. I felt like she's an amazing person. I always felt she was an amazing person, and I really trusted her judgment. She really seemed to like you, and I was like, "Okay, so I guess we really should get to know Sam." As it turned out, you're *pretty cool*.

Sam Parr

Ari, you guys will have to Google *samparfat* — you'll see photos of what I looked like back then. I was significantly heavier than I am now and much sloppier. When I look back at those photos, I'm like, "Oh my God, I can't believe Sarah talked to me." I think we were dating for six or twelve months — I don't remember exactly. When I first met Sarah, I was nervous and stumbling. I remember saying, "You... you seem kind of fancy. Did you go to a good college or something?" She said, "I went to Penn." I replied, "Is that a good school? I don't know anything." She said, "Yeah, it's called Wharton." She didn't say it rudely — she explained, "It's this thing called Wharton... it's kind of big... it's part of the Ivy League." I was like, "What's the Ivy League? I don't even know what that is," and I had to look it up. Then she said, "I'm from New York City. My parents live in Manhattan." I remember thinking, "People live in Manhattan? That's a thing." Six or twelve months later, I went to New York for the first time ever. I was... I don't know how to describe it — a little bit of a hillbilly. I remember seeing her apartment; it was on floor 50 or something. I thought, "This is the highest I've ever been in a building. I can't believe someone lives here." I walked in like my parents were recording something on video — I was recording everything on my iPhone. I kept saying, "I can't believe someone lives here." It was crazy.

MFM

Know that, of course, my husband tells this story all the time because we're like, **"we thought you were a keeper that day."** Literally, that day made a huge difference. You walked into the apartment — I must say we had an amazing view. We could see all the way downtown. It was just spectacular. You weren't in the apartment for like five or ten minutes when you pulled out your phone and FaceTimed your parents. You said, "You have to see this view." Jeff and I thought it was so endearing that the first thing you wanted to do was reach out to your parents to share the moment with them. So, well... I thought, "this guy is amazing." If he likes his parents and has this kind of relationship with his mom, maybe he'll be all right. Maybe he'll want to do the same thing with Sarah — and so far, it's been proven true. So that's really cool.

Sam Parr

I think... I think people—so my parents are entrepreneurs as well. You guys are entrepreneurs. Jeff, your husband started a really successful company as well, and my parents have a successful company too. I think—*not at all?* Have my parents, or you, or Jeff ever said, "Are you sure you should go and start this business versus going and getting this job?" When I told my parents I was going to leave school and move to San Francisco, they were like, "We'll come help you pack"—that kind of support. I remember, before I started Hampton, I would brainstorm different ideas, and there was never a "Are you sure?" It was always, "That sounds interesting."

MFM

Yeah, I can. *I can't wait to see what you do next.*

Sam Parr

Well, what I mean is: having entrepreneurial parents who *emotionally support you*, instead of saying, "Are you sure you don't want to play it safe?" is such a huge advantage. When I started my business, my parents—**I purposely didn't ask for any money**—I wanted to do it on my own. But what I had was even more valuable, which was emotional support. And I think that's a—yeah—huge advantage.

MFM

I agree. I think it's a huge deal. For us, it's—like I said—I really think it's very exciting. You have such great ideas; everything that you try to do, I'm always excited to see the outcome. When you're able to do it, it's a challenge, and I think that's how we grow. We take on challenges, and sometimes they work out and sometimes they don't. **But if you don't try, you will never know.**

Sam Parr

So let's promote you here. Alright. So, **Smithy**, I'm going to Google it. Do you want people to go to "Smithy Home"?

MFM

**smithyhomecouture.com**

Sam Parr

And then, do you use *Instagram* at all?

MFM

Yeah, I do have an Instagram: **smithyhomecouture**

Sam Parr

I think you've got to promote yourself sometimes. I think getting people bought into your lifestyle is a win. Are you never going to do that?

MFM

"I'm *afraid* of cameras."

Sam Parr

*Thank God* you're doing this podcast.

MFM

I know.

Sam Parr

This is Beta Camera.</FormattedResponse>

MFM

I know—it's interesting. It's probably because it's *with you*, too, so it's not so intimidating.

Sam Parr

Alright. Well, thank you for doing this. Let's see what happens. And that's it — *that's the pod*.