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Lauren Sherman
You know, those little habits that quietly upgrade your whole day. For me, it starts the moment I wake up with a giant glass of water. The breakfast of champions. Before coffee, before making my kids lunch, I grab a bottle of Fiji Water to get hydrated. Because hydration is my number one priority in life. Seriously, Fiji Water isn't just refreshing, it's Earth's fun finest water. It comes from the islands of Fiji, filtered through ancient volcanic rock and naturally preserved from external elements. It's bottled at the source and untouched by man until you unscrew the cap. Here's what makes it different. Fiji Water has a perfectly balanced 7.7 ph and has more than double the electrolytes as the other two top premium bottled water brands, giving its signature soft, smooth taste. Unlike the other two top premium bottled water brands, Fiji Water's electrolytes are 100% naturally occurring. Fiji Water is also leading the way in sustainability. Since 2022, their 330 and 500 milliliter bottles have been made using 100% recycled plastic. Fiji Water is the number one premium importer bottled water brand in the US and it's easy to see why. Fiji Water is Earth's finest water Ready to level up Champa Casino is your playbook to fun. It's free to play with no purchase necessary. Enjoy hundreds of online social games like blackjack, slots and Solitaire anytime, anywhere with fresh releases every week. Whether you are at home or on the go. Let Chumba Casino bring the excitement to you. Plus get free daily login bonuses and a free welcome bonus. Join now for your chance to redeem some serious prizes. Click Late Chump A casino today. No purchase necessary. VGW Group Void were prohibited by law. 21/TNCs apply. Hello and welcome to Fashion People. I'm Lauren Sherman, writer of Cruft's Fashion and Beauty Memo Line Sheet and today with me on the show is Katie Storino, owner of the hit beauty brand megabave, body acceptance advocate and author of the brand new novel Sunny side Up. Before we get going, I wanted to remind you that if you like this podcast, you'll definitely love Puck, where I send an email called Line Sheet. If you're a fashion person, you get that reference. It's an original look at what's really going on inside the fashion and beauty industries. Line Sheet is scoopy, analytical and above all, fun. Along with me, a subscription to Puck gains you access to an unmatched roster of experts reporting on powerful people and companies in entertainment, media, sports, politics, finance, the art world, and much more. If you're interested listeners of Fashion people get a discount. Just go to Puck News fashion people to join Puck or start a free trial. Happy Friday everyone, and happy 4th of July. I hope you are not working or if you are working, you're working a little less wherever you are in the world. It's Friday. Don't work that hard. If there was breaking news today, you won't be hearing it from me though, because I am taking the day off. I, you know, I'm recording this Thursday morning. This is famous last words. Anyway, if you read line sheet this week, you did get plenty of intel. I had the scoop on the next Marnie designer. We did some American Vogue content head speculation and Rachel Strugatz told the untold story of the bestselling brand at Sephora. What more could you want for the first week in July? I hope you also enjoy this interview with Katie, whose book Sunny side Up is out now and a perfect summer beach read. It's like Bridget Jonesy but in New York and I highly recommend it. Also, just wanted to know a few hours or maybe it was days after mine and Katie's conversation, she made an announcement on Instagram addressing some sports speculation about her own use of GLP1s. You know, of the Ozempic, whatever the other ones are called. Variety. I know. As you all know, if you read line sheet, I cover these pretty closely because I'm very obsessed with the connection with the fashion industry and the use of these and how it could affect the business. But we do get into the use of them and their impact on society, et cetera, on the podcast. And I just want to say that as someone who is pretty obsessed with these drugs and how they're changing the world, I have to commend Katie on her thoughtfulness and transparency and everything she does. That's why she's successful, because she's realistic and real and also doesn't bullshit people. And I don't know, you've got to love that. So let's get going. Katie Storino, welcome to Fashion People.
Katie Storino
Thanks for having me.
Lauren Sherman
What'd you have for breakfast this morning?
Katie Storino
Oh, I made Kodiak waffles with strawberries.
Lauren Sherman
What are Kodiak waffles? Is this a special brand of waffles or.
Katie Storino
It's a. They claim that they have protein. It's a way that I can eat like French toast sticks and waffles and pancakes and feel like I'm having a protein smoothie instead of just like a five year old's dream breakfast.
Lauren Sherman
I wonder If I should get these for my 5 year old.
Katie Storino
You should. Because I got it, I got this from. He's four, but whatever, four or five, they're gonna love it. My brother in law uses this to make. My nieces and nephews are on probably the same diet as like pro athletes.
Lauren Sherman
They like understood lots of protein eating their weight and protein.
Katie Storino
Protein. It's so they're getting way more protein than I'm getting and like their protein, their veggies. They like haven't seen like refined sugar ever in their legs.
Lauren Sherman
So my husband actually makes my kid. We have tried to be very. Not really talk about food and be like, eat growing food you can have if he wants. If we go out and he wants ice cream or whatever, we get it for him. But we are always like okay, but you have to eat some growing food first. My friend Emily uses this term which I think is good. And just try to like not. What's the word? Not prescribed.
Katie Storino
But you're not going to label the foods like that. Like we can't have any more of.
Lauren Sherman
Yes. However, like he's always like, I would like more like I would like, you know, you know, it's just that. So, so. But every morning from when he was very little. Well, I started and then of course my husband is the one who kept with it cause he is the primary caregiver. But we started making him these little buckwheat silver dollar pancakes when he was little so he could have a pancake for breakfast every day. Had nothing in it but buckwheat. And we would put like a little cinnamon, maybe some peanut butter. He didn't know what maple syrup was for for two years. It. But now it's gotten more elaborate and now they get a waffle, they got a waffle maker and they have any as waffle. So he just expects a lot. So my husband was out of town this weekend. We did have some frozen waffles, but then we ran out of them and he was like, I would like some. I feel like we need these Kodiak waffles as you do in case my husband's not in town. Because I'm not making a waffle on Thursday morning.
Katie Storino
And I'm just gonna, I'm gonna cut to the chase. It's actually the French toast sticks that you're gonna wanna get. Cause those are incredible. Make them in the oven.
Lauren Sherman
Thank you. Thank you. So Katie, we were talking briefly before we started here and first of all you've come up a. Because you have this amazing book coming out I want you to tell us all about it very shortly. But also you've just been coming up in like, not. I, I follow you very closely on social media, but my friend Amanda, who is a very famous podcaster, she podcasts about the movie industry and she has this great podcast called Jam Session. I don't know if you know her, but she.
Katie Storino
Amanda Dobbins, Yes.
Lauren Sherman
She just, I was listening to a podcast she did with one of like an episode of the Big Picture, one of her podcasts, and she was like, Katie Storino's my favorite influencer. I love her. She was going on about Mega Babe, your amazing line of care. There's so many. You have tons of products in there. So I want to talk about that too and how the book and, and, but I, I was like, oh my God, it's so funny that I, Katie is. I'm gonna talk to her on Friday morning. But then I was doing a little bit of research on you and it did come up on. I hope you never look at Reddit because I personally don't any. I'm only on Reddit like twice and it's just mean things. But the, the thing that comes up about you on Reddit is this person is. I don't like influencers, but I like Katie. She's my favorite influencer. Like, people just love you so much. And I, but so I feel like I know you because of what you do. But also I do think we have met. I think we met like 10 years ago. But how did you, how did you get into the fashion industry? What was your way in? Because I think that's probably how we know each other.
Katie Storino
Amanda Dobbins is new to me this week. She talked to me about, she talked about me on that podcast and said the nicest things. And then when I heard her talk, I'm like, are we kind of the same person? So I messaged her and I was like, I think we should just be friends. I don't know.
Lauren Sherman
Yeah, it's so funny. You should go on Jam Session. I'm gonna text her right after this. It's so funny.
Katie Storino
So how did I get into the fashion industry? Well, I came into the fashion industry in a couple different ways. I started on the PR side. So I was doing, I had my own PR company and I was doing smaller, like woman owned accessory brands. And, and then I entered in a different way through like more editorial because of my, my 12ish style, which was the name of my blog, I think. Can you call it a. Like, it was A blog. It's just. What? Yeah. Which I started in 2014. And I started that because there was. There was a lack of representation of, like, girls who were not a size 0 or 2 anywhere in fashion. And it's weird to think about how recently that was in history that we had nothing to look at other than one body type. But that's how I started. And I started. I started doing regular features on Man Repeller and Glamour. And so I came in, like, I came in that way to the editorial side, but had been working in PR for a long time.
Lauren Sherman
You know where I think it probably it might have been is did you ever do anything with Lucky magazine?
Katie Storino
For sure.
Lauren Sherman
Were you in the Lucky Style Collective? I think that might have been pre 12ish if you started in 14, because this is like, I worked there in 2011.
Katie Storino
Were you in 2000? No, I was gonna say, were you there when I brought my dog in to do some twinning with Eva Chen?
Lauren Sherman
No, but I wrote for them when Eva was the editor. Okay. I was a freelancer at that point, But I did write for them, and I remember that maybe I was pitching you. We. You. You might have been. But I don't get PR vibe from you. No offense. I love my PRs. I really do. But I don't get PR vibe from you, so I don't know. Are you friends with John Januzi?
Katie Storino
No. No, that's. Amelia was friends with John Januzi.
Lauren Sherman
Yes. Amelia.
Katie Storino
John Januzzi. And he makes cookies.
Lauren Sherman
Maybe he did make cookies for a while. He was. When. When I worked at Lucky.
Katie Storino
He. I don't know him at all.
Lauren Sherman
Social media person.
Katie Storino
Not at all.
Lauren Sherman
We'll. We'll find out someday. There was some stupid party we went to.
Katie Storino
Okay.
Lauren Sherman
That's for sure. I. I feel a. A party at a store with you. That's all I know.
Katie Storino
Okay. That's, like, what's coming to your, like, energy right now. You're like, store event.
Lauren Sherman
Yeah. Anyway, so you. Oh, you had. And you had an adorable dog.
Katie Storino
Yes. That's how I got into social media. My dog was famous. Toast.
Lauren Sherman
Yes. Okay.
Katie Storino
Yeah.
Lauren Sherman
And I. Yes, John Januzi was obsessed with Toast.
Katie Storino
Okay. That might be why Amelia found me then. So I owe John Januzzi a cookie.
Lauren Sherman
Oh, my God. Toast. So tell us. We'll go very briefly, but tell us about the experience with Toast and what that taught you about the Internet and who Toast was.
Katie Storino
Being Toast dog ager was a life highlight. It really was such a special time. So essentially, I had. I had two King Charles spaniels, and one was Toast. They're both Puppy Mill rescues. And Toast was just a special dog. I, I knew she had, like, a unique personality. She also, she let me, like, pose her and, and like, put clothes on her. And we did, we did these because of my, my PR background. I was like, how do I get this girl some attention? So we used to go around and go to different offices and like, just do meet and greets. And then like, the, they'd post on Social and, and we'd start getting attention that way. So Toast actually ended up getting married on Real Housewives at the, at the.
Lauren Sherman
Which franchise of real original, like, original.
Katie Storino
Cast with like, Sonia and Carol. That's not the original, right?
Lauren Sherman
That's like, I have no idea. I don't, I'm sorry, I don't watch this.
Katie Storino
I'm not, I don't know. Okay. But it was, I was friends with Carol Radwell, so she was the one who like, brought me into that and was like, we can get a lot of attention on the Puppy Mill issue.
Lauren Sherman
Amazing.
Katie Storino
And it was awesome. And she wrote, she wrote a book with Harper Collins called Toast Hampton. Oh, my God.
Lauren Sherman
Yeah.
Katie Storino
No, she had an incredible life and it was so fun being a dog ager. But I learned all the. I basically got to like, mime being talent without being talent. Like, I got to see like, what, what that is like. And then when it came time to, like, put to step in front of the camera, it took me like a year to get comfortable being the one that is, like, in front of the camera, essentially.
Lauren Sherman
Yeah, that's so interesting. It's such. And what. Other than the fact that at the time there wasn't really any. I mean, I remember having this conversation at Lucky magazine, and they were like, should we do a plus size page? And I was like, can we just have people who are not a size 0 in some of the photos like that. That, to me was the solution. And I feel like, I mean, there aren't really magazines anymore, so that's different. But I feel like it, it did get evolved in that way, but other than the idea of there was nothing for people who are not a size 0 or 2. And also that there was just this sort of explosion of women creating their own little magazines, including, I mean, Leandros became a big magazine. Yeah, but, but on the Internet, what made you want to get in front of the camera and do it?
Katie Storino
I did it for, I, I, I guess I did it for me because I wanted to. I, I did it for the Me who didn't have anyone to give them inspiration. And so I was like, fine, I'll do this. And it wasn't always natural and it was cringe and painful for me sometimes. But it, I guess I just, I wanted to provide the example and I, and I was able to see that there, there was a need for that other than my own brain. Because when Man Repeller did a story about me, the comments were all like, oh my God, I never see my body like ever on any of these places. So thank you. And that's when I was like, wait, I should just do this.
Lauren Sherman
And how did. It must have picked up so fast.
Katie Storino
You can tell when something has the right thing behind it because it had, it gets like energy. You know what I mean? Like sometimes you put something out and it's like you like, you gotta push it up the hill. Like my book feels a little like I'm pushing a boulder up the hill. I'm a first time author. It's like, it's, I feel like I'm like, you know, bothering people talking about it. So it's like it's a whole thing. But now it feels like there's some momentum with the book. But I really, I felt that there was, there was like a lot of like positive feedback and people wanted to write about it and people wanted to. Brands wanted to send clothes. Like I felt like that was like those were first signs that it was, it was going to do well.
Lauren Sherman
And when did you launch Megababe in that journey? Like five years in or.
Katie Storino
Like two years in?
Lauren Sherman
Oh wow.
Katie Storino
Yeah, two years in. So I only had like fifth, like I think 50 or 60,000 followers when I launched Megabe. Um, I was very clear and careful to try to not make it an influencer brand. Cause I didn't want. Maybe you don't like me or maybe you like hate my face. I don't know. And, but you like our deodorant. So I just, I wanted to have the products stand by themselves. So for two years I wasn't even on the website. I just like, I talked about it on my channel, but it wasn't like, I'm an influencer, here's my brand. Because I really wanted people to attach to the brand without me.
Lauren Sherman
And how did you develop, first of all, can you kind of give the logline for Megababe what it is? Obviously you have a hero product, but it's a lot more than that. And then also how did you develop it? Why did you do beauty not clothes, all of that?
Katie Storino
Yeah, no, I developed it because in that community in those two years talking to people, I was always looking for chafe solutions that were not made for men, that were not toxic, that were cute, not embarrassing. You know, I'm a fashion girl. Like, I have my handbag, I have my outfit outfit. Like, I don't want to bring out like a baldio to like, you know, out of my handbag. So I wanted to make something that people were proud to carry and something that worked. So I talked to my sister and my best friend from camp and we, not. None of us had beauty experience, but we decided that we were going to give this a try. They didn't even. Neither of them had thigh chafe either, that neither of them had experienced it at the time. So they were like, we don't even know what this is, but we'll believe you and trust you. And that was really, it was, it was really interesting because we had the product idea and then we made a talc free boob sweat powder that like you pump into your bra or in your underwear, like, to help like absorb sweat. And so we were tackling these two issues and that became kind of the theme of Megababe. It was like, let's stop the stigma. Let's stop having like, shame about these really normal issues that a lot of us have and that we don't talk about and that, and that we're meant to feel embarrassed about because Big Beauty has not presented us with any options. So it must be a you problem, not like a big problem. So we want. We ended up doing like the minimum quantities were so high. There were 10,000 units of, of each product, which is like, think about, like you're just a person. Like you're, you have no idea if you're going to sell these products. So we put them in my parents garage and they ended up helping us ship, but we sold out of everything we made in the first month of launch. So for me, that was like, it was like the naysayers, the, like, what are you doing? The. All of that. It was a big green light for me. To quote Matthew McConaughey.
Lauren Sherman
Oh my God, is that from his book?
Katie Storino
Did you read Green Lights?
Lauren Sherman
I haven't. But you know, what I have to say is you really need to be friends with Amanda because she certainly has read that book.
Katie Storino
I hope mean that. No, I love, I love Matthew McConaughey.
Lauren Sherman
I can't wait to link to that in our affiliate links at the bottom of this, of this podcast. Speaking of PR and things, this, this is. Reminds Me shout out to Daniel McGrory, oh my God. Your longtime partner, who is one of the best in the world.
Katie Storino
She. She absolutely is.
Lauren Sherman
She is so awesome.
Katie Storino
And her agency community has handled Megababe Press and my press for se7 years.
Lauren Sherman
Hi everyone. Hired Danielle.
Katie Storino
Yeah.
Lauren Sherman
Great person. I also studied abroad with her. She used to have long hair.
Katie Storino
Did it.
Lauren Sherman
Yeah. You know, it's really funny. We met when she worked at Intermix and then she actually, when she went to KCD and she had worked at Intermix and I was like, you look so familiar. I don't know what it is, but I know I know you. Yeah. And then like a year and a half later I had this vision of that we studied abroad. We were not friends when we studied abroad. Like, it was not because she went to bu. I did the BU study abroad program and it wasn't like a thing of. We just didn't know. No, it was a pig.
Katie Storino
Saw you recognized my face from across the room.
Lauren Sherman
Yeah. And I remember she had very long hair, which is so funny now.
Katie Storino
It never goes like, it never goes like an inch below the job.
Lauren Sherman
No. So you, you have all this product. It, it ships fast. It's proof of concept. Have you raised money for it? How did you. You have read. Not raised money. But you're in. Are you with like, what's your distribution like? Are you in a lot?
Katie Storino
For the first year we were. We were direct to consumer. But then Ulta took a chance on us and put us full chain across the country. And then the year after Target put us, and then two, two or three years later, we got into Walmart Boots uk, which I'm very excited about. And then this summer we just launched in cvs.
Lauren Sherman
Wow.
Katie Storino
Yeah.
Lauren Sherman
Good thing you're not in Rite Aid because they've gone through bankruptcy twice and now their shelves are not full. That's amazing. Like, that's a big team. That's a you and you haven't sold it or anything? What?
Katie Storino
No, we, we didn't raise money. We're. We're self funded.
Lauren Sherman
Are you. Do you. Do people try to buy it all the time? I assume so.
Katie Storino
No one's ever trying to buy us. Like, I, I know. I'm waiting, I keep waiting for someone to tell me that they. I know. I'm not. I've been instructed. I'm not supposed to talk like this anymore. But since the first day I started this, I was like, is someone gonna buy us yet?
Lauren Sherman
Because this is cool.
Katie Storino
Yeah. But we're self funded and we, we kept it that way because we just, we didn't want any bosses and I've heard too many bad stories about bad investors and we, you know, we put like, I think like the initial investment was not much and then we just kept putting the money back in, back in. And we didn't hire anyone for years. And then now we have 11 people working for us.
Lauren Sherman
Wow.
Katie Storino
So we're really scrappy, we're really lean. We just started doing out of home, which means like buses and billboards and by buses I mean we have two buses in New York and one bus in Chicago. And it is so exciting to see them.
Lauren Sherman
Oh my God, I love that. I'm going to Chicago in a couple weeks. Maybe I will see see the bus.
Katie Storino
Oh please send me a photo. I will get me on a group chat with me, you and Amanda Dobbins.
Lauren Sherman
Amanda Dobbins is going to be in Chicago too? No.
Katie Storino
Why?
Lauren Sherman
Yes. Because they are filming an episode of the Big the Big Picture there.
Katie Storino
No.
Lauren Sherman
Yes. And I am attending it. What's the date? So it is, let me look, I want to say July. I have July 21st. Is the. Are you going to be there?
Katie Storino
No, I'm there July 9th for a book event. And I was like, hold on, are we going to just meet up?
Lauren Sherman
Oh yeah. No, but, but we'll both look out for it. This is all very, very exciting. So this is the thing. Yes. Someone needs to buy this company. But you're, you're reminding me of my doan queens who raised less than a million dollars and just, just recently raised what I reported as exclusively reported. No one else could find this information out because they weren't willing to share it. But I did. But 25 million and they were like more than $200 million. But they waited 10 years like this. The product range, the thing that I think the thigh rescue, the chafe stopping is the thing that you launched with but then you became a real deodorant brand which I think is challenging for a, a new brand to enter that market because yes, of course, I don't know if it's. If yours is like totally natural or not.
Katie Storino
We are, we're aluminum free and non toxic. And I think what's interesting is that when we started we launched our first deodorant. Rosie pits the in the second year. Yes, we did that because my sister and myself, our mom had breast cancer and we were like let's get out of the aluminum. But what are we going to use? It's not going to be like any of this stuff so we made our own. We wanted like a luxury smelling deodorant and that became such a big part of our business. We leaned all the way in and then with three different founders and three different sets of armpits and they both have had multiple babies during this process. Everyone's like stink has evolved. So we ended up making, we have our Rosie Pits formula, we have our like Smoothie Dio formula which has no baking soda. And then we have a G O D O that has baking soda and then we have a Cream Dio. So we have all these different formulas and then many scents within those formulas which is very confusing. But we just wanted people to have variety and options, knowing that they could find something with us that will work for them.
Lauren Sherman
Yeah. Because there is one natural deodorant that makes, it makes like I get a rash from it. I think it's the baking soda ones. I forget which it is.
Katie Storino
Baking soda is a major, is a major issue for a lot of people. They don't know what it is though.
Lauren Sherman
Yeah, it's interesting. So, so but this is the thing like what you have created. First of all, the branding, the marketing is fabulous.
Katie Storino
Thank you.
Lauren Sherman
But it is also, it's really fun. Like it's, it reflects you as a person, which is you have great sense of style, you're beautiful, you're cool. You also have like, you're very frank and straightforward and it's, and it's just a fabulous brand. And you know the M and A market in beauty is really heating up. So let's get you sold.
Katie Storino
Thank you. I really appreciate that. And I think it's just, I think it's interesting because it's just taken so long for retailers understood us faster. But it doesn't mean that there's like necessarily space for us in those places. So we're in the deodorant aisle at Target and whether you're shopping in Target still or not, like if you're ever in there, just know that our brand is the only self funded brand in the aisle among like billion dollar brands. So you see us, you know, consider us because like we are really fighting the David and Goliath.
Lauren Sherman
Yeah. Well, congratulations. Buying a car in Carvana was so easy. I was able to finance it through them. I just. Whoa, wait, you mean finance?
Katie Storino
Yeah, finance Got pre qualified for a.
Lauren Sherman
Carvana auto loan, entered my terms and shot from thousands of great car options all within my budget. That's cool. But financing through Carvana was so easy. Financed, done. And I get to pick up my car from their Carvana vending machine tomorrow. Financed, Right? That's what they said.
Katie Storino
You can spend time trying to pronounce financing, or you can actually finance and buy your car. Today on Carvana financing, subject to credit approval.
Lauren Sherman
Additional terms and conditions may apply. So you're building this self funded bootstrap brand that is permeating culture, getting rid of thigh chafe, which is a horrible thing. And great that you were able to address that.
Katie Storino
Inspiring a bunch of copycats.
Lauren Sherman
Yes, inspiring a bunch of copycats. At the same time, your Internet Persona and the like. I hate the word content creator, but your life as a content creator is evolving and you suddenly at some point, and I know this isn't the only thing you do a. You really started to advocate. I love your going into stores, trying stuff on, saying, this is the biggest size, how it fits me, that sort of series. And then you have this other series where you do essentially get the look, the celebrity look.
Katie Storino
If super size the look, supersize the look. Yeah.
Lauren Sherman
And this is all gonna intersect when Blake Lively comes up, comes to a book event that you're doing, and you had done a supersize the look with Blake Lively, and obviously you guys have become friends or whatever. But she. She is very. I love that she, like commented and was very. It said so it's like all your worlds together. But when did as. As blogging, people moved away from blogspot or what have you, and now they're on substack, which is so similar to blog spots. So interesting. You on Instagram, you started these series where. Tell us about that and how it sort of as. As you're building the. This business, your other business evolved.
Katie Storino
Yeah. So super size the look started because for a couple different reasons. One, getting new content every day on the Internet is quite hard. And one of the ways that one of the things that supersize the look did for me, which is where I look at the outfit and I copy it to my best ability is very rarely do I get the exact piece. And it does two things. One, it shows women that they can wear the looks that inspire them that like the style that they really like, but they're like, I can't pull that off because xyz, they get to see my body right next to the celebrity's body. And it not only helps deprogram. I hope people from looking at two women and be like, she wore it better, it. It actually helps people be like, oh, you look good. She looks good. I can wear that. So that's. That's one thing that it does. And then the second thing is I get to copy celebrity stylist outfits. So that's like, that is just like a benefit. Then I get to take some of those tidbits and put them into like my own styling life or like outfits I'm wearing and other posts. But supersize the look has been really impactful and it is very exciting. Always when the celebrity like sees it, comments, reposts it and then make my size is something I started doing as I. I gained weight. I started gaining weight. So I started at a 12, 12 ish. That was my whole thing. And then I gained weight, became a size 16 and then I thought I was f'd shopping when I was a size 12, 14. And then I became a 16 and realized there was nothing there. So I started, I started going into stores and being like, you think that I have, that there's clothes in here for me? But let me show you how far away the biggest size you have in this store is from fitting my body, which at the time was the average size woman in America. And then I just continued to do that and that sparked, you know, within the fitting room with like zippers open and buttons not moving and like my underwear hanging out. And that inspired a lot of conversations with brands who were like, all right, fine, like let's talk about it. And I loved that because I got to, I got to work with a lot of brands and help them not only message to larger consumers, but develop their sizing to get to a place where they could service more customers.
Lauren Sherman
So I've done a good amount of reporting on that brand size extension. One thing that smaller brands have expressed to me and look like Rachel Antonoff does it, so it's possible, but that there are some things that happen. One is that the grading of the sizing is on a too small of a model. So instead of doing fit models that are a 2, 10 and a 20, they do a 2 and then they grade up. And that doesn't work body wise. Correct.
Katie Storino
You have to invest in the second pattern, the second fit model.
Lauren Sherman
Exactly. And so a lot of it, they'll say, well, it's a lot more money. And then I make this stuff and not enough people buy it. And I hear that at scale too. And you hear that when like there are controversies like an Old Navy or whatever pulling back on plus size, they'll say we didn't sell enough or whatever. It doesn't make sense given, like you said, the average size of a woman in America is what a 40 is. 16.
Katie Storino
No, no, we're, I think we're at an 18 now.
Lauren Sherman
18. So, so that is, it doesn't, it's not computing.
Katie Storino
No.
Lauren Sherman
Talking to these brands and knowing what you know about the market, what do you think was actually going on? And, and, and have they, looking back now over the last 10 years, has there been progress made or has that all been walked back?
Katie Storino
No, I mean, so there's been, I have a couple things to say. One, when I started make my size again, I could not shop a size 16. So this is 10 years ago. In the past 10 years, you can now find a size 16 at most brands. That's a huge deal.
Lauren Sherman
That's awesome.
Katie Storino
Yeah, so that's a win. Even though it's not totally size inclusive, not everyone can wear it. The fact that like we've pushed a couple inches, that's big for me. Two, I would say you've got brands like Rachel Antonoff who have not only committed to. And they're, I mean that's a smaller brand. Tanya Taylor, the Hill House even she started with, she started with like, I, I remember she made large robes right away. Like she was like, oh, I didn't know people couldn't find robes. And so she made the, the, the robe in several sizes. And I think it's interesting because yes, you have to invest a little bit more but the, the payoff if you do it right is great. Even a brand like J. Crew, like when they started their extended sizing, it was off. Like the sizing was off. The 3X was a 14. Like it was bad. Now they've committed to it. Most of their SKUs are available in extended sizes and they're, I, I think that they're crushing based on nothing. No one's told me that. But like they keep doing it and I feel like that's great. And one difference you'll see is from a brand who maybe is going to launch a size 1x and a 2x, put it on the site, maybe send a few out to some influencers even, but none of their marketing has anyone but thin people. None of their social has anyone but thin people. Their website has no one but thin people. So how, how am I supposed to know that I'm welcome here? And how. And also in a first size run, how do I know that this is going to fit? This feels like I'm going to order it, it's going to be way too small and I'm going to have to send it back. So there's an emotional hurdle with a plus size customer that I think brands are either unwilling to stomach or it very convenient that they don't have to do it because they're like, oh, I did it once. It didn't sell, it's over. Like Stao did that they did. They did extended sizes for maybe I think a season or two and they were really good. And then they just disappeared. That was it.
Lauren Sherman
Shout out. Shout out to our buddy John Zeider, who's going to get really mad, but he's the CEO of Stud and he will, he will. Someone will send this to him and bring back John. What are you doing? Bring it back or talk to Katie about it. I bet that, that we can arrange that.
Katie Storino
Yes, it was great. I wore, I wore a dress that you made like so, so many times for so many different press things.
Lauren Sherman
It was really good as they, they also just raised some un money. They will not confirm with me, but I know they raised it so which you can read all of this online sheet so maybe they can work on this for, for part of it. I will, I will hook you up with, with John. He's the best. Also really good at pricing the like king of getting stuff to a good price where they, they save money so he can, he can make it work for them. Okay, so I, I want to talk to you about what has gone on in the last couple of years with this movement and GLP1s and all of that because I'm very interested for your point of view. But first let's talk about the book and also how you wove in like your business history and your person maybe I'm sure your personal history a little bit. It's fiction, obviously. It's a great summer read. But how you wove all this into the novel.
Katie Storino
Yes, I wanted to write this book because after I got divorced I needed something that told me that I was okay in the body I had. That I didn't have to go get a revenge body, do two a day workouts and then show up and then I can find love. Then I can be confident. I wanted to put a character out in the world that was already cool, already confident, already like in, you know, in her prime. But she needed, she needed some new friends and she needed some new conversations in her own head to make, to make her life better. And I feel like that is. That's the character I wanted to put out in Sunny side Up. I also like something I really love about this book is. Well, not only is it fun and I hope you think it's funny, but. And there, there is a lot of, like, body acceptance messaging, but hopefully you're not, like, bored by it because there's a lot of juice in it too. It's steamy. But I made Sunny, the main character. I had her launch a swimsuit line, and then I made the swimsuit line in real life, and that launched this month with a brand called Kitty and Vibe. Because as I was writing it, I was like, I love these suits. And then I was like, why don't I just make these suits? So we made the suits to match the book. And I don't know. I. I'm really excited about that part.
Lauren Sherman
What's your favorite style of the.
Katie Storino
Of the suits?
Lauren Sherman
Yeah, I'm looking them up now.
Katie Storino
It's a tomato print. It's Kitty and Vibe. It's a tomato print. And that's another example of a small business who's been doing size inclusive stuff from the start. She's bootstrapped, she's small, and she makes an extra small to a 6x with two different butt size measurements. Like, that's a lot.
Lauren Sherman
Oh, my God, these are so cute.
Katie Storino
Do you like them?
Lauren Sherman
I love them. I'm very. I. I like the color block. The. The. The blue. Yellow, Light blue. Navy. Yeah. There's a long sleeve. That's so good. And then a very cute bikini. I never wear bikinis. Maybe I will. Maybe I'll get this one. It's so cute. And the tomato print with the stripeys is so cute. And then there's a heart print. This is so adorable. I love it. Your hair looks so good. I'm gonna use this as a. Not only for my colorist today, but also when I go to get blowouts, I'm gonna say hi.
Katie Storino
Thank you. I had extensions in and obviously it was professional.
Lauren Sherman
Done.
Katie Storino
Done.
Lauren Sherman
So you look awesome. Can I.
Katie Storino
Can we just do a really quick pause and talk about the. The bob. The haircut?
Lauren Sherman
The bob, yes. Yeah, sure.
Katie Storino
What's called hunty little bob?
Lauren Sherman
I.
Katie Storino
All I want to say is you and I have like a similar hair. Like, texture.
Lauren Sherman
Yes.
Katie Storino
Can you imagine getting.
Lauren Sherman
So I will say I had my hair was. That was a bob for a long time.
Katie Storino
No.
Lauren Sherman
Yeah.
Katie Storino
So what happened?
Lauren Sherman
So I. My vibe for the 10 years that I had, I. I didn't have it super short. It was usually the long hair is. Is new for me. It's baby 40s. Oh, my God. I. I mean, I, I'm having a little. A little mid, like, crisis, and the long hair is part of that. My inspiration was baby from Dirty dancing for about 10 years.
Katie Storino
Okay.
Lauren Sherman
So I used to do keratin, like late 2000s, early 2010s. I had Japanese hair straightening keratin. Trying to look like Francois Hardy, but it looked like I had my hair straightened. Blowouts constantly was dry bar. Every single week, dry bar. And 10 over 10 nails. Like, shout out to Adair, who sometimes listens to this. I love Adair. She's so great. She's so great. I hope she listens to this. Yeah. And they also worked with Danielle there. You.
Katie Storino
Yeah, I'm going to. I'm going to tell. I'm going to tell her to listen.
Lauren Sherman
Oh, my God. I. She's. She was. She was so cool, but. She is so cool. But, like, I did all that stuff and then I stopped. I. There was some. I started getting my hair. I started getting a bob from Roz at Bumble and Bumble in who I still go to when I go to New York. And then something happened and I was like, I'm just gonna try not to get it. Because also, hair products changed so much in. From the time I was 18 when I started doing this crap, to the time I was 30 when I stopped. And it was completely manageable. My hair was much. The curl was much tighter.
Katie Storino
Wow.
Lauren Sherman
And. And so I'll. I'll send you some photos. I have started to do this defrizzing treatment.
Katie Storino
Okay.
Lauren Sherman
The guy is named Rudy at Julian Farrell. He. He or Pharrell. He comes to LA too. But I do, you know. You know Claire Mazer and Erica Cerulo?
Katie Storino
Yes. I mean, not like, well, but yes.
Lauren Sherman
Yeah. They. Claire also gets this done.
Katie Storino
Okay.
Lauren Sherman
She gets it done very frequently. Her hair is basically. It's like a half. He says it's some proprietary thing. I don't know. It's. It smells like keratin. Okay. And your hair, I think is a little straighter than mine. Do you get a treatment on it?
Katie Storino
No, I. My hair. Oh, yeah. Hair is straighter. I just. I feel like it, but it has like a poof to it. And if I got that bob. Because that slick ass bob is like. So I also just watched this Jessica Biel movie for like one episode. No, it's a show. Just.
Lauren Sherman
Yeah. What is this show called?
Katie Storino
Because for the other sister, the bad. Let's look at her.
Lauren Sherman
Yeah, it's something sister.
Katie Storino
And her hair is in that. She got that cabin.
Lauren Sherman
The bet. The better sister. I've heard that her clothing on the show. I've gotten many requests to. To write about the clothing. Oh, yeah. I mean, so I did. First of All. I never do a. I rarely do a middle part, so I feel like you could do this for sure.
Katie Storino
I.
Lauren Sherman
This is slick.
Katie Storino
Not even physically picture it. That's like. I don't know why. I just feel like I'd be far quad you.
Lauren Sherman
I feel like you could do it or you could do a wavier version of it. That's a little more relaxed. Honestly. Her hair looks great long. I was just looking at pictures. I got served photos of her and Chris Evans when they went out in the 2000s. Wow. This week, I think because of that movie Materialists. And like, she's in the mix because of this.
Katie Storino
That materialist thing. I don't really know what it is. They talked about it on. On our friend's podcast, the Big.
Lauren Sherman
Yeah, you should go see it.
Katie Storino
Should I ever. They were like, the first 10 minutes is so great. And then the rest, you're like, why is this happening?
Lauren Sherman
So I went to go see it before. I listened to. I often listen to Amanda's podcast and don't see the movies.
Katie Storino
Yeah.
Lauren Sherman
Because I'm like, I'm never gonna see this movie. But I think it's interesting to hear you discuss it. That movie. Here's the thing. The movie is reductive. I gave Amanda. I actually had dinner with Amanda on Wednesday night with our children.
Katie Storino
Do you live in LA?
Lauren Sherman
Yes. I moved to LA in 2020. Oh.
Katie Storino
We just. We didn't connect on that one moment because I didn't know that you were in la.
Lauren Sherman
Thank you. Yeah, I moved there and so we went to dinner and that's how Amanda and I became friends. We live in the same neighborhood. We have kids similar age, and we had mutual friends. But that is. Was sort of the impetus of us becoming friends. But. And I gave her my review, which I'm sure she was like, I don't want to hear this from. From you, but it's very reductive.
Katie Storino
Okay.
Lauren Sherman
And it's like you're kind of like, this doesn't make sense. Like, the story doesn't really work.
Katie Storino
Okay.
Lauren Sherman
And also the character. There are not. There's not. There are people in the movie that you're like, these people will never have sex because they're not attracted to that sex of people. You don't get. There's no heat with several of the characters. That said, I like all three of the actors a lot. And there's like. The interesting thing is the apartment is worth looking at the ideas in the movie, even though I don't think they were, like, executed in the way that I think they could have been like there's one scene where the one guy works in private equity and there's a woman he wants to date and she's like, I'm not basically, I'm not rich enough for you to date date. But the thing is she's Dakota Johnson. So like that gives her status. So it doesn't matter that she's not rich. They don't, it, they don't like explore.
Katie Storino
That is, is it violent or like.
Lauren Sherman
No, it's just a, like a, it's not even a romantic comedy. It's just.
Katie Storino
Well then I will see this for some.
Lauren Sherman
You have to thought it was going.
Katie Storino
To be like there was going to be like, like awful things that I couldn't handle.
Lauren Sherman
You have to see it. There are great apartments. Everybody looks good.
Katie Storino
I, I please that's like those like Netflix shows like with Nicole Kidman that are like not good but like I.
Lauren Sherman
Must watch them and, and it's I would say like a million times better than any of those. It's still worth seeing. I think the filmmaker Celine song is really, I loved past lives and I think she's really interesting and it's worth, it's worth seeing. It's a no, it's an annoying. You leave and you're like, why are, why didn't, why wasn't as good as it was supposed to be.
Katie Storino
Now I should say so I'm going to watch it and be like, oh, that was pretty good. I don't know whatever I'm talking about.
Lauren Sherman
Yes. Yes.
Katie Storino
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Lauren Sherman
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Katie Storino
But did you know about skirts with built in liner shirts, shorts so you.
Lauren Sherman
Can still jump for the Frisbee and.
Katie Storino
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Lauren Sherman
I don't know how we're going to get back on track to your book, but the thing is, your book may end up being a movie.
Katie Storino
Great. You know what? That's a great segue because my dream would for be would be for Sunny side Up to get turned into a show or a movie. A lot of the reason I like that is because I want a successful, like, example of a plus size woman living life. And I feel like so many of the, I mean, survival of the thickest, she's thriving. And I love that show on Netflix if you haven't watched it.
Lauren Sherman
But a lot of the shows, it's awesome. Yes.
Katie Storino
That feature curvier or just plus size women. It's about their struggles and it never really gets better. And they survive and they like thrive in spite of their body size. And I just think it would be so cool to have this on screen for people.
Lauren Sherman
Okay, so that is another great segue into the. The final thing I wanted to discuss with you. I write a lot about GLP1s. I write about the fashion industry. They, I started at Puck right when they were sort of coming to prominence where a lot of fashion industry people were using them. And I became interested in the psychology of what hap. Following the money. Like, what happens if A, this is a medical miracle that is saving people's lives. B, it is also a new way to extend life. It's a new way to make money. If you lose a bunch of weight, you have to buy a new wardrobe. I've heard about brands, big mega brands, having conversations about what if our sizing chart goes down? How do we fix that? Like having to change their business if this evolves in that way. So there's the money part of it to me that's interesting as a business reporter. And then there is this societal part and psychological part. And we still don't know, maybe this stuff, 10 years from now it will go away. I have a feeling it's not going to. But I think for there has been so much progress of like body acceptance, just people thinking these are our bodies and this is how the world has evolved and quit trying to like, be something you're not and then suddenly snap suddenly. Personally, as someone who's like, been a size 16, been all the, like gone up and down my whole life and like, have has felt for like the last 10 years of like, I'm really comfortable with my body. I feel good. I feel really healthy. Suddenly I'm like, wait, should I just go on? GLP wants to be skinny for once. Cause I'm like. And look, I'm the thinnest I've ever been. And I'm still like, should I just do it? Because, like, a. I had just gestational diabetes, and I'm, like, worried about that stuff, but also so I don't have to think about it or worry about it or anything. And so I'm curious, as a person, who you are a public advocate for body acceptance. I am sure constantly people are asking you, should I go on it? Are you gonna go on it? What do you think about it? When I Googled this, I found a lot of stuff from last year where you had publicly been interviewed about it. What do you think? And it's also, weirdly to me, connected also to what's happening politically, where everything. We're all trying to go back to a time when being bad to yourself was okay. All that to be said, like, what is what? How are you feeling about all this stuff right now?
Katie Storino
So there's a lot to unpack in what we just said. I think one thing that is a really interesting misconception is that being thin means you don't need body acceptance anymore. And I think that I'll start there, because one of the most interesting things I found out when I started this work is that the thin women were coming to me and saying, you inspire me to wear shorts. You inspire me to wear a tank top. And I'm like, you're the size four. You're the size six. You are the one that they expect to wear the tank top. Um, so that is. That's interesting, because if you asked most women who are listening right now if they are happy with their body image, I would say you would get an answer of no for most women, no matter what their size. So that's because we are trained to be dissatisfied and chasing that next size down. So, of course, it's really tempting when your whole life you've been told, like, just keep striving for smaller. Keep striving for smaller. Don't ever just be okay with where you are now. There's a. There's a shot that says, like, hey, we can help you lose that, like, five pounds that you're always chasing. And I think that that has been one of the most harmful parts of the introduction to this medication in our society, because you see people who were just regular thin get back to, like, early 2000 late 90s, like body size, which is really hard. I also think you see a lot of larger bodied people in the public who have lost weight. And I think, I think it really depends on the way that they talk about themselves, whether that's like a neutral thing or a negative thing. Because I also see people who, they've lost the weight and they love talking about their new skinny body and oh my God, I look at pictures, I can't even look at my old self. And I think that that is really hard and isolating for people to see because they're like, wait, I'm in my quote unquote before body and you just told me that it was okay to be me and now you're telling me it's not. So there's like a lot of emotion around that. And then of course this is a drug that is helping save lives for people who need it. So there's like that, that's a real thing. So it's, it's really complicated. And I have been asked point blank by a lot of people in a lot of different parts of this business. Don't you just think that plus size people won't exist soon? Do you think we still need to make extended sizes? Because no one's plus size anymore. These are massive misconceptions. And all you have to do is leave LA or New York and go out into the rest of the world and just see that like no, not no, like that's, that's just not happening now is. Oh God, now I have to mention this, we also like, we also have like a food system that keeps us craving food. And like there's a reason that our bodies have gotten like bigger and bigger and bigger over time. So it, it's really complicated. And I think just to boil it down for anyone who feels really confused about like this movement, is this movement over? No, this movement is more important now than ever because every commercial is for a GLP1 article. Headlines are GLP1. It's such clickbait. It's everywhere. And I talk to regular size people in my life all the time who are just like, maybe I should just go on on it to lose that five pounds. And I'm like, do what you gotta do. But like, ah, can I say one.
Lauren Sherman
More thing to please?
Katie Storino
Okay. It's also interesting because then you have people who have lost £100 or more on the drug and now they've got to get plastic surgery for sagging skin. They don't like the way that their face looks, their leg Looks, their thighs look, they, it's like, it's like trading in one set of body insecurities for another. So what I'm saying is if you are not solid in yourself, like in, in your self image and you do a drastic thing like that doesn't leave you in a good place.
Lauren Sherman
Yeah. Look, like I, I've had much less drastic experience with this stuff, but I, I would say like I've gotten thinner the older I've gotten. Like every 10 years I've lost a little more weight. Not because I, I mean I wanted to, but also because it was just like healthy and changing and I'm happier. Like, I don't like my life changing food habits, things like that have never gone on a diet. Just like been careful, like, just thought about like it's more about self acceptance and all this stuff. But the funniest thing is I am much more insecure about my body now than I was when I was much fatter, I think because when, when I was a size 16, I was like, I think I was like, well, you know what if someone doesn't like me or want to be around me because I'm this size, they're an asshole. Or date me because I'm this size or whatever. Like if you don't fix the issues internally or like try to heal yourself internally, like being thinner isn't going to make you feel better.
Katie Storino
Then it's gray hair and it's wrinkles and it's, and it's. You had a baby and your body changed and like it's just. You have to learn to transcend the feeling of like physical. I don't know. And that doesn't mean you can't look good or like want to look hot. Like, that's not what it is.
Lauren Sherman
Katie, how much of your job do you feel like you are therapist and like that must be emotionally draining for people to be messing. Messaging you constantly. I'm sure you don't message all respond to all of them, but you, I'm sure you respond to a good amount of people and feel like. Do you feel a weight or is this just who you are?
Katie Storino
No, I, I do. I mean, I think it can, I think it can be overwhelming maybe in person sometimes, but I think being able to like respond to people through the Internet and on my own time and I don't know, I think it's, I feel lucky that I'm even able to provide that type of help or inspiration. I, it is, it is a line. I give some very sad stories in my on my Internet, but I feel more lucky that I'm able to help.
Lauren Sherman
Well, the. The thing is that you make a lot of people happy, and that is 100% true. And this book, sunny side up, is also going to make a lot of people happy. And now you're going to sell it, and they're going to make a movie or a TV show, and it's great. I can't wait.
Katie Storino
And I don't know who to cast. I think I'm a cast. Hunter McGrady as Sonny.
Lauren Sherman
Great. Yeah, you heard it here first.
Katie Storino
That's right.
Lauren Sherman
Katie. Congrats on everything. I really admire you, as do millions of other people, and I appreciate you taking the time.
Katie Storino
Thank you.
Lauren Sherman
Fashion People is a presentation of Odyssey in partnership with Puck. This show was produced and edited by Molly Nugent. Special thanks to our executive producers, Puck co founder John Kelly, executive editor Ben Landy, and director of editorial operations, Gabby Grossman. An additional thanks to the team at Odyssey, JD Crowley, Jenna Weiss Berman and Bob Tabador.
Fashion People Podcast Summary: "Everyone’s Favorite Influencer"
Episode Information:
In this engaging episode of Fashion People, Lauren Sherman welcomes Katie Storino, a dynamic figure in the beauty and fashion industry. Katie is celebrated as the founder of the successful beauty brand MegaBabe, a passionate advocate for body acceptance, and the author of her latest novel, Sunny Side Up. The episode delves deep into Katie's journey, her entrepreneurial ventures, and her perspectives on evolving body image trends and the impact of GLP1 drugs.
Lauren Sherman begins by exploring Katie's entry into the fashion world.
[08:13] Lauren Sherman: "How did you get into the fashion industry? What was your way in?"
Katie Storino shares her diverse pathway:
[10:04] Katie Storino: "I came into the fashion industry in a couple of different ways. I started on the PR side with my own PR company working with smaller, woman-owned accessory brands. Additionally, I ventured into editorial through my blog, 12ish Style, which I launched in 2014 to address the lack of representation for plus-size women in fashion."
She emphasizes the importance of representation:
[16:05] Katie Storino: "I wanted to provide the example and see that there was a need for that other than my own brain. When Man Repeller did a story about me, the comments were all like, 'I never see my body on any of these places. So thank you.'"
Lauren transitions the conversation to Katie’s entrepreneurial success with MegaBabe.
[17:50] Lauren Sherman: "When did you launch MegaBabe in that journey? Like five years in or…"
[17:51] Katie Storino: "Like two years in. I was very clear and careful to try not to make it an influencer brand because I wanted the products to stand by themselves."
MegaBabe's Product Development: Katie discusses the inception of MegaBabe, focusing on creating non-toxic, stylish products that address common issues like thigh chafing and underarm sweat without compromising on aesthetics.
[18:43] Lauren Sherman: "Can you kind of give the logline for MegaBabe? What it is?"
[18:43] Katie Storino: "I developed it because I was always looking for chafe solutions that were not made for men, that were not toxic, and that were cute. I wanted something people were proud to carry."
Marketing and Expansion: Katie highlights MegaBabe's strategic growth from a direct-to-consumer model to being featured in major retailers.
[22:38] Katie Storino: "For the first year, we were direct to consumer. Then Ulta took a chance on us, followed by Target, Walmart, Boots UK, and recently CVS."
Lauren praises the brand’s self-funded success:
[23:06] Lauren Sherman: "Good thing you're not in Rite Aid because they've gone through bankruptcy twice and now their shelves are not full. That's amazing."
The discussion shifts to Katie’s role as a content creator and her initiatives on social media to promote body acceptance.
"Super Size the Look" Series:
[30:34] Katie Storino: "Super Size the Look started because getting new content every day is hard. It shows women they can wear the styles that inspire them, regardless of their size."
Advocacy for Body Acceptance: Katie emphasizes the importance of showcasing diverse body types in fashion media.
[33:53] Lauren Sherman: "One thing that smaller brands have expressed to me is…"
[34:34] Katie Storino: "Brands like Rachel Antonoff and Tanya Taylor have committed to extended sizing, which is a huge step forward."
A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to discussing the rise of GLP1 drugs and their multifaceted impact.
[54:48] Katie Storino: "One misconception is that being thin means you don't need body acceptance anymore. Most women are dissatisfied with their body image, regardless of size."
Psychological and Societal Implications: Katie explains how GLP1 drugs, while beneficial for health, introduce new challenges in body image and societal expectations.
[58:28] Katie Storino: "People who lose a substantial amount of weight with these drugs may develop new insecurities, trading one set of body issues for another."
She further elaborates on the complexity of this issue:
[58:30] Katie Storino: "Our food system keeps us craving more, and our bodies have evolved to become larger, making this a complicated issue."
Lauren and Katie discuss the ongoing struggles and advancements in achieving true size inclusivity in the fashion industry.
[35:06] Lauren Sherman: "Brands often grade up from too small of a model, which doesn't work body-wise."
[35:16] Katie Storino: "We pushed sizing up, and now you can find a size 16 at most brands, which is a huge deal, even if it's not fully inclusive."
Katie underscores the persistent gap between consumer needs and brand offerings:
[38:21] Katie Storino: "Our brand is the only self-funded brand in the deodorant aisle among billion-dollar brands at Target. We're really fighting the David and Goliath battle."
Lauren explores Katie’s new novel, which intertwines her personal experiences with broader themes of body acceptance.
[39:31] Lauren Sherman: "How did you weave your business history and personal experiences into the novel?"
[41:03] Katie Storino: "I wanted to create a character who is already confident but needs new friends and conversations to improve her life. Sunny Side Up is fun, steamy, and packed with body acceptance messaging."
Katie proudly connects her literary work with her entrepreneurial ventures:
[41:08] Katie Storino: "I had the character launch a swimsuit line in the book and then created the real-life line with Kitty and Vibe to match the book."
The conversation takes a lighter turn as Lauren and Katie share personal stories about their hair and friendships within the industry, adding a relatable and personable touch to the episode.
[42:12] Katie Storino: "My hair is straighter and has a bit of poof to it, unlike Lauren's recent bob cut inspired by a mid-life crisis."
As the episode wraps up, Lauren and Katie reflect on the importance of body acceptance in today's society and the ongoing challenges posed by new trends and technologies like GLP1 drugs. Katie expresses her hope that Sunny Side Up will inspire and uplift readers, and she hints at potential future adaptations of her book into film or television.
[61:51] Lauren Sherman: "Congratulations on everything. I really admire you, as do millions of other people, and I appreciate you taking the time."
[61:51] Katie Storino: "Thank you."
Notable Quotes with Timestamps:
Katie Storino on Creating MegaBabe:
[18:43] "I wanted to make something that people were proud to carry and something that worked."
Katie on Body Acceptance Misconceptions:
[54:48] "Most women are dissatisfied with their body image, regardless of size."
Katie Discussing GLP1 Impact:
[58:28] "People who lose a substantial amount of weight with these drugs may develop new insecurities, trading one set of body issues for another."
Katie on Fashion Sizing:
[35:16] "We pushed sizing up, and now you can find a size 16 at most brands, which is a huge deal."
Lauren on Personal Growth:
[60:09] "I am much more insecure about my body now than I was when I was much fatter because I didn't fix the issues internally."
Final Thoughts
In this episode of Fashion People, Katie Storino offers an insightful look into her multifaceted role as an entrepreneur, advocate, and author. Her candid discussions on body acceptance, the challenges of maintaining a self-funded business, and the societal impacts of emerging health trends like GLP1 drugs provide valuable perspectives for listeners interested in the intersection of fashion, beauty, and personal well-being. Katie's authenticity and dedication to empowering individuals of all sizes resonate throughout the conversation, making this episode a must-listen for those passionate about inclusive fashion and positive body image.