EXCLUSIVE: From Fame to Fires & Finding Balance: Celebrity Stylist Maeve Reilly & Real Estate Powerhouse Zach Quittman’s Unexpected Love Story

Summary

The Fame Game with Heidi & Spencer

Episode: EXCLUSIVE: From Fame to Fires & Finding Balance—Celebrity Stylist Maeve Reilly & Real Estate Powerhouse Zach Quitman’s Unexpected Love Story
Date: May 14, 2026
Hosts: Spencer Pratt, Heidi Montag
Guests: Maeve Reilly (celebrity stylist), Zach Quitman (real estate agent)

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Episode Overview

This episode dives into the compelling, rarely-heard personal and professional journeys of Maeve Reilly, renowned celebrity stylist, and her husband Zach Quitman, a top real estate agent and Los Angeles native. Hosted by Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag, the conversation spans from the evolution of fame, resilience after losing their home in the Palisades Fire, sobriety in Hollywood, finding balance amid celebrity culture, and the love story that started on a dating app. The discussion is candid and deeply personal, capturing both the trauma and the growth that Maeve and Zach experienced through fame, loss, and new beginnings.

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Main Topics & Key Insights

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1. Meeting Maeve and Zach: Origins and First Impressions

• [00:32–03:15] Spencer and Heidi introduce Maeve Reilly as an iconic stylist and Zach as an LA legend in real estate, recounting their first interactions and the web of connections that led to the couple’s romance.
  • Funny anecdote about how Maeve and Zach’s meeting on a dating app overlapped with Heidi’s casual mentions of Maeve:
    • “I'll let you guys introduce the Scohati met because that's a great story. I feel like you should get a dating app ad on your podcast.” —Heidi [02:42]
  • Maeve and Zach confirm they met on Raya, got engaged within six months, and share a lighthearted call for the app to sponsor them:
    • “Raya should be paying us." —Zach [03:17]
    • “I'm keeping people on that app!” —Maeve [03:19]

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2. Maeve’s Background: Rising in Fashion & Sobriety

• [04:22–06:24] Maeve shares her New York roots and early start as a stylist, propelled by her father's connection on a TV set.

  • “I started when I was basically 18 years old... I couldn't believe that it was a real job. And I had never been on set before. This was before social media, really... I fell in love with it and I just basically chased it for all these years. It's been 20 years.” —Maeve [04:47]
  • She moved to LA with minimal belongings and built her career from the ground up, crediting her 20 years of sobriety for much of her foundation and network.

• [06:24–08:29] Heidi asks about sobriety in the high-pressure, party-centric entertainment industry.

  • Maeve shares her story of focusing solely on recovery her first year sober and credits her health and boundaries with her ability to stay grounded:
    • “The foundation of my life is my recovery, and I spent my first year really committed to my sobriety… I have been oddly blessed with… clients I've had over the years to be just, like, super normal. Like, none of them were partiers.” —Maeve [07:13]
  • The group reflects on a broader Hollywood shift toward sobriety and wellness:
    • “Hollywood's really changed a lot, and the world is changing a lot. There is this whole movement of being straight edge and sober. It's not as cool as it used to be for everyone to be partying.” —Spencer [08:29]

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3. The Palisades Fire: Loss, Trauma, and Community

• [11:13–13:51] Maeve and Zach recount buying their dream house in 2024 and losing it only about a year later in the fire—six months after their wedding.

  • “Every single morning, Maeve would wake up, look at me and say, I am so grateful for this house… About 14, 15, 16 months in, the house burned down.” —Zach [11:14]
  • The emotional impact and support within the community is highlighted.

• [12:57–15:01] Maeve thanks Spencer and Heidi for relentlessly advocating for fire victims and keeping the tragedy in public view:

  • “On behalf of everyone in the Palisade Sensor, we are so grateful for you… You every single day are advocating for this town and for the people in it, and it really means a lot to everybody.” —Maeve [12:57]

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4. Insurance, Rebuilding, and the Future of the Palisades

• [20:52–27:38] Zach discusses the complexity and ethics of who gets to “rebuild” after disaster, the role of developers, and the skyrocketing costs of insurance and construction.

  • “People see pure devastation as an opportunity to make money and rebuild and develop… We want to preserve the Palisades. We want to keep it mom and pop, a family community, but… no one knows really what's going to happen.” —Zach [20:52]
  • Maeve: “We just couldn't live in limbo… so many people are going to get priced out of here. And it's sad.” —Maeve [23:11–24:35]
  • Detailed discussion on the impact of insurance—how costs have soared, and coverage is minimal or unavailable.

• [27:38–29:47] Tangents into Malibu’s challenges, environmental requirements for new homes, and systemic failures at the government and regulatory levels.

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5. Finding Balance: Grounded Amidst Fame

• [30:09–31:56] Spencer and Heidi ask how Maeve and Zach maintain “a simple life” despite working with elite clients and high-flying circles.
  • “For me, it came with age... it only fills one cup… I needed to fill the other parts of me.” —Maeve [30:43]
  • Both prioritize hard work, time at the beach, and down-to-earth values over industry drama.

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6. Modern Love: Dating App to Marriage

• [32:38–35:26] The couple recounts their unique dating app success story, including a period of hopeful “manifesting,” FaceTiming for hours before meeting, and an immediate connection.
  • “Honestly, the God honest truth is luck. I had my eye on Maeve for two years before I saw her on a dating app.” —Zach [32:38]
  • “Be clear about what you want, ladies. …She manifested it in. Two weeks later, her surfer husband showed up.” —Maeve & Zach [35:18–35:26]

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7. Career Highlights: Styling Hailey Bieber & Shaping Celebrity Culture

• [36:27–41:46] Maeve discusses her longtime professional relationship with Hailey Bieber, starting when Hailey was a teenager and evolving as one of the most visible examples of the new “street style” era.
  • “She and I got to create [street style] together. …No brands were loaning clothes for girls for just like walking down the street… now, those girls wear clothes and it's sold out in three minutes, you know. It's life changing for brands.” —Maeve [37:46–40:05]
  • Maeve helped design Hailey’s wedding dress in collaboration with Virgil Abloh:
    • “We worked on that dress with Virgil… a special process, especially with him being gone now. I can't believe that we got to do that with him.” —Maeve [40:32]

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8. Escape from the Fire: A Harrowing Survivor Story

• [42:33–51:44] The most gripping portion chronicles the day of the Palisades Fire:
  • Details of chaos, near-death evacuation, running with animals, shut-down roads, and witnessing others’ losses.
  • “The fire department and the police department were running down Sunset saying, get out of your cars and run for your life. There was no way out. All the cars were just stuck and… engulfed in flames. It was absolutely like Armageddon.” —Zach [43:13]
  • “We had both of our cars. Her car was parked at the bottom of the Highlands… I picked her up on a Super 73E bike… She filmed the whole thing, literally on the back of the E-bike with embers… and then we got home and… you couldn't breathe.” —Zach & Maeve [45:04–45:41]
  • The aftermath—processing true trauma and gratitude simply for survival.

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9. Advocacy & Lessons for LA

• [52:05–54:00] Maeve and Zach emphasize the lack of systemic change after the fire and urge government response and preventative action.
  • “No one in the government is like, this could happen somewhere else. Let's make sure these other parts of LA are safe. …No one learned any lessons from what's happened to us.” —Maeve [52:05]
  • Spencer and Zach discuss feasible solutions like brush clearance (even using goats), and share frustration at unwillingness to invest in sensible safety measures:
    • “The shocking thing is it's not that expensive… even goats can clear the brush… but they just stopped doing it.” —Spencer [53:43; 54:24]

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10. Moving Forward: Healing, Gratitude & What Remains

• [55:18–56:59] Despite loss, Maeve and Zach reflect on gratitude for community support and focus on the irreplaceable—each other and their animals.
  • “I'm so grateful that we have each other. We saved our animals… so many people helped us, brands donated to us, people in our lives showed up for us. I just personally need to cling onto the happiness of that.” —Maeve [55:19]
  • Zach shares about the sentimental things he lost, but stays grounded in what matters:
    • “We have our health… family, children, animals. At the end of the day, material things can be replaced except for my kids' baby pictures… sentimental things I can never replace.” —Zach [56:29]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Relationship Luck:
  "Honestly, the God honest truth is luck… But I had my eye on Maeve for like two years before I saw her on a dating app.” —Zach [32:38]

• On Sobriety in Hollywood:
  “I started when I was basically 18 years old… The foundation of my life is my recovery.” —Maeve [04:47 & 07:13]

• On Fire Trauma:
  “The fire department and the police department were running down Sunset saying, get out of your cars and run for your life… It was absolutely like Armageddon.” —Zach [43:13]

• On Community Advocacy:
  “On behalf of everyone in the Palisades, we are so grateful for you… every single day you are advocating for this town and for the people in it, and it really means a lot.” —Maeve [12:57]

• On The Hailey Bieber Effect:
  “We started working together right away… I love street style… those girls wear clothes and it’s sold out in three minutes… life changing for brands.” —Maeve [37:46]

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Key Timestamps

• 00:32 – Guest Introductions and Backstory
• 03:15 – Meeting on Raya / Early Relationship
• 04:22 – Maeve’s Start in Fashion / Sobriety
• 06:24 – Sobriety in Hollywood
• 11:13 – Losing Their Home in the Palisades Fire
• 13:34 – The Importance of Advocacy
• 20:52 – Real Estate & The Challenge of Rebuilding
• 30:09 – Balancing Fame and Groundedness
• 32:38 – Dating App to Marriage Story
• 36:27 – Behind the Scenes with Hailey Bieber
• 42:33 – Detailed Account of Escape from Fire
• 52:05 – Broader Lessons, LA’s Fire Vulnerability
• 55:18 – Moving Forward & Enduring Gratitude
• 57:06 – Where to Find Maeve & Zach Online

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Where to Find the Guests

• Maeve Reilly: @stylememaeve on Instagram, Podcast: The Inside Edit
• Zach Quitman: @zachquitman

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This episode offers an emotionally raw and insightful look at rebuilding after literal and figurative fires, offering solidarity, inspiration, and a real glimpse of what happens when the cameras are off and real life begins.

Transcript

[Apple Watch Narrator]

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[Spencer]

Oh, no. That's all good. Welcome to the Fame Game, where we are faming up here. Of course, we need to get our photos. We're getting all the content in, and we have some incredible. Maybe the most famous guest.

[Heidi]

Definitely, Definitely. Yeah, I like faming up instead of leveling up.

[Spencer]

Thank you.

[Heidi]

That could be merch.

[Spencer]

We have Maeve here, who is one of the biggest stylists in the entire world. In the entire industry. It is an honor and a privilege. And her incredible husband, Zach, who is also an incredibly famous real estate agent.

[Heidi]

She's like Prince, I feel. Right.

[Maeve]

Hilarious.

[Spencer]

Welcome to the.

[Maeve]

Thank you, guys.

[Heidi]

Here on our lot, one of our microphones was stolen by somebody from Karen Bass's team, allegedly so. Could have been Nome's team. We're not leaving anything on the property again.

[Spencer]

Allegations are being made.

[Heidi]

No, I said allegedly. So we're very excited. I've known. I've known Zach. I've never called him Zach before my whole life until just then.

[Maeve]

Really? Never?

[Heidi]

No, never.

[Maeve]

That's incredible.

[Heidi]

What was that? So I've known Quitty since. I can't even comprehend. Want to date how old I am, but at least over 20 years. Yeah, maybe 25 years. So quitty is an actual Los Angeles legend, so you can call him a real estate agent, but that is just one of his many, many freaking. His resume is very deep. And I actually, before Maeve and Quitty ended up getting married, somebody at Erewhon, before I canceled Erewhon for their rat issue, the Santa Monica issue.

[Zach Quitman]

It was.

[Heidi]

We don't know if it was cockroaches or rats, but it was before.

[Spencer]

Check the article.

[Heidi]

Yeah, check the. And the. Somebody at the tonic bar was like, oh, my gosh. I didn't know. You know, Maeve. I'm like, who? And they're like, yeah, they just followed you. And I follow everything to do them. Like, she's the most famous stylist ever.

[Maeve]

I never heard this story.

[Heidi]

Yeah. And I. Because I guess I did some video you thought was funny about maybe Aaron. I don't know.

[Maeve]

Yeah.

[Heidi]

It was like a. It was my funny stage. I had a moment and thank you, honey. Thank you guys. And then no joke, like days later, Quitty brings up that he meets this woman on a dating app and he tells me. I was like, this is insane. Somebody just showed me her ig. Like she's popping, she's famous. It was like the weirdest simulation matrix thing. And then. So I'll let you guys introduce the Scohati met because that's a great story. I feel like you should get a dating app ad on your podcast.

[Zach Quitman]

That's not a bad idea.

[Maeve]

Raya should be paying us.

[Zach Quitman]

Raya should be paying us.

[Maeve]

Saying that for a long time. They should cut me a check.

[Spencer]

Definitely.

[Maeve]

I'm keeping people on that app. You know what I mean? Like I'm keeping it alive by telling the story. But yeah, essentially we met on Raya and I was. We both, I think were really at the end of our rope with dating in LA and over it and ready to cancel it. And then just bam, we met and we were engaged like six months later.

[Heidi]

It was.

[Maeve]

It happened fast.

[Heidi]

And one of the most beautiful weddings I've ever seen on Instagram. I don't have the budget to afford destination weddings.

[Maeve]

Were invited for the record.

[Heidi]

Think is out of my financial.

[Spencer]

Maybe we could go to Santa Barbara.

[Maeve]

Oh yeah, there was a Santa Barbara

[Heidi]

wedding years ago before I did like every photo and I felt involved cuz there's so many people posted it. But it was your dress. Who made that dress?

[Maeve]

It was Vivian Westwood.

[Heidi]

I thought so.

[Zach Quitman]

Vintage Vivian West.

[Maeve]

No, no, no, no. One of them was.

[Zach Quitman]

Oh, one of them. Excuse me.

[Maeve]

There was a few.

[Zach Quitman]

We had multiple dresses. So we did. We had multiple dresses to set the record straight.

[Maeve]

It was amazing. We had the best wedding ever.

[Heidi]

It was. It truly looked like an episode of like a Netflix movie.

[Spencer]

But what I've really been wondering and what I just, you know, wanted to ask about, how did you get started into fashion? Because you are, as the most overused word, but it is appropriate here, iconic. And your fashion is unbelievable. And everything I've ever seen you do is just so curated and beautiful and cutting edge and cool. But like, you do such a great, incredible job. So how did you get started?

[Maeve]

That's so nice. I started when I was basically 18 years old. I grew up in New York and my dad helped me get a job on a TV show that he was producing and basically said to the stylist, like, could you give my daughter a chance but fire her if she sucks? Like, don't keep her just because she's my kid. And I couldn't believe that it was a real job. And I had never been on set before. This was before social media, really. This was like, still baseball, you know, MySpace. Like, it was early days, and I. I fell in love with it and I just basically chased it for all these years. It's been 20 years.

[New Rockstars Host]

Wow.

[Maeve]

Yeah.

[Spencer]

Time flies by it.

[Maeve]

Yeah. And I moved here when I was, I guess, 15 years ago, and I think that's really, obviously where it took off. This is the capital of. In the entertainment industry, and I just knew this is where I needed to be if I wanted to work with celebrities. And, yeah, it just kind of started from nothing. I moved here with four suitcases. I knew really nobody. I only had sober friends. I've been sober for 20 years. And so when I moved here, I knew where to go to meetings, basically. That was, like, kind of the way that I got connected to people, which is such a gift and a blessing. And. And because of that, I was, you know, I started a life here, but I literally moved here with four suitcases. I didn't own a piece of furniture. I think, you know, as we sit in this very sad lot of yours, I think there's so much misconception about people who lived here. And, like, I came from nothing and I worked so hard for everything, and I literally moved to LA with, like, the clothes on my back, basically. So it's. It's been a crazy journey.

[Heidi]

We should acknowledge Maeve and Quitty, our fire victims. We're trying to tone down the fire rhetoric. Oh, we are, you know. No, no, no, no, no.

[Spencer]

We're trying to incorporate other elements as well to.

[Heidi]

Yeah, broaden the podcast, you know, but

[Maeve]

we happen to be your neighbors.

[Heidi]

Neighbors who lost their homes, and so they have very interesting lives besides their house burning down. But how is it possible to maintain sobriety in the settings and lifestyle that you have been so deep in? Because from my experience, the only way to be at those type of things is to be drinking, because there's so many horrible people. Like, I need a drink to, like. Like, oh, my God, I can deal with you.

[Maeve]

Numb out.

[Heidi]

So how do you do that?

[Maeve]

You know, I think because I really put the foundation. Like, the foundation of my life is my recovery, and I spent my first year really committed to my sobriety, and really nothing. I did really nothing else in the first year. And I think because of that, I was able to, like, build this foundation in that I could go around people and be anywhere and like, I was 17 when I got sober, so I, you know, I didn't really get to, like, have my 20s that you got, you know, I didn't have that lay do moment, you know, but I. I was able to do that sober. And I had the time of my life. Honestly, in my early 20s, I was in New York and I was at the clubs all the time. I think I just learned that, like, it's not for me, but I have no judgment for other people. And I was honestly fine to be around it. And in terms of my career, I have been oddly blessed with. I have really never come across a client or really been in a situation that made me uncomfortable or, like, I've just been kind of blessed with the. With the clients I've had over the years to be just like super normal. Like, none of them were partiers. I've never been in a situation in all my years in Hollywood where I was like, I gotta get out of here. Like, this feels weird.

[Spencer]

I think also Hollywood's really changed a lot, and the world is changing a lot. Like, there is this whole movement of being straight edge and sober. And I just think that's not as cool as it used to be for, like, everyone to be partying. Like, I just feel like there's this whole movement. I was in the music studio the other day and there was some tequila and I was like, oh, is that for the. The guests that come in? And he's like, no, actually, it's for the owner. Because everyone is so serious now in this industry. He's like, nobody drinks anymore when they're recording or the producers or anything. And 10, 15 years ago, even 20, I feel like it was such a party city. And I feel like now everyone is so much more corporate and.

[Zach Quitman]

For sure.

[Spencer]

Yes.

[Zach Quitman]

And I think people respect it more, you know? Like, I think when you can stand up for yourself and be like, hey, I don't do that. Yeah, you guys can do that. But I don't do that. People respect that. You know, they respect the strength, the willpower, and your own journey of sobriety.

[Heidi]

Yeah, I mean, I don't actually drink anything but como tequila, so.

[Spencer]

Doesn't even count.

[Heidi]

No, like, to the point where now if they don't have that, I don't drink, like, no matter what. So I have that. I say, oh, you don't have como? Then they go, okay, just.

[Zach Quitman]

We call that discipline drinking.

[Heidi]

Yeah.

[Maeve]

I think that to your point, there's like a health consciousness too, just of, like, people as they get older too, are like, this makes me feel like. Like I just don't want to feel horrible the next day, you know, and making choices that you're just like, oh, maybe this just isn't for me anymore. People grow up a little bit, you know, But I. I feel like there's. Yeah. Like, I just. I don't know. I've been blessed. I haven't really been around anything crazy.

[Zach Quitman]

And the best part is, I mean, we'll go to Coachella or festivals, you know, events, and everyone's getting just plastered or, you know, doing drugs. And she'll do an all nighter, couple Red Bulls, and she's having just as much fun or more fun than anyone else. Completely sober. I do, you know, and always have a designated driver. She'll go till five in the morning, you know, stone cold sober and have such an amazing time.

[Spencer]

It's weird when I go to the club and I don't drink, I still feel hungover.

[Maeve]

Yeah, because you're tired. You're like, oh, my God, I can't do it anymore. I know.

[Spencer]

It's interesting when it all changes.

[Zach Quitman]

Well, the older we get, the more sleep we need.

[Maeve]

I'm shaking from the rest.

[Spencer]

I was like, man, I think I'm just getting older that I need more sleep in seven hours. I was like, what the.

[Maeve]

Yeah. Hell yeah. Sleep is so important, guys.

[Zach Quitman]

It's so important.

[Maeve]

Yeah.

[Zach Quitman]

Yeah.

[Heidi]

I should start doing it. So back to, you know, you guys just moved into Palisades. What year you guys got Your dream house?

[Maeve]

2024.

[Zach Quitman]

Our literal dream house. I mean, every single morning, Maeve would wake up, look at me and say, I am so grateful for this house. I've never been happier than living in this home. This is our home. This is my safe place. This is my happy place. And about 14, 15, 16 months in, the house burned down. Yeah.

[Maeve]

Yeah. Six months after we got married.

[Zach Quitman]

Yep.

[Maeve]

It's crazy.

[Heidi]

No, I mean, you guys were my new favorite. Palisades. We were walking into town, totally at the Village.

[Zach Quitman]

We loved it.

[Maeve]

Remember the night at the Mexican place when you were blasting your music and we were dancing? It's just like. It's a very special place, you know? It's a very special town and drive. I have. I personally haven't been able to come over here in a while. Just. It's not best for my mental health. I. I'm really sensitive in. This is devastating. As, like, funny as this is that we're sitting in your dirt lot, this is so fucking sad. And I just never in a million years, if you Told me that night, you know, that we. That this would all be gone. Like, I just. I. I can't believe it. Still. I still can't believe it.

[Heidi]

No, I mean, Heidi every week asked to not do this, and I'm like, that's what they want. That's what they want everybody to forget.

[Zach Quitman]

Yeah.

[Heidi]

They want us to be in a nice studio and like, oh, look, everyone's lives have moved on. But I will, literally, if it comes to me having to hold Heidi's iPad with her face here, I'll sit in here forever. Because we are not getting a new house here. It's not even in the realm of possibilities. And so as many people that see that, to me, I will deal with this misery because they want. They hope people just act like everything's going on.

[Maeve]

Well, on behalf of everyone in the Palisade Sensor, we are so grateful for you. No, honestly, really, I mean it. Because I just feel like if. If not you, who. And so many people have given up or have stopped talking about it or just don't drive over here, and they don't want to acknowledge that this has happened and how little has happened since. And you every single day are advocating for this town and for the people in it, and it really means a lot to everybody. And by the way, even people who don't live here, who I just randomly were like, oh, my God, did you see Spencer's? You know, people are paying attention, and I just feel like, you can't. You can't stop.

[Heidi]

Oh, that's what I keep telling Heidi because she's like, take a break. And I'm like, they want me to take a break.

[Spencer]

No, it's not.

[Maeve]

I understand.

[Spencer]

It doesn't have to be 24 hours a day. It can be two hours a day, and then you take a break, and then you work out, and then you need to sleep.

[Maeve]

Totally.

[Spencer]

If you're not healthy and if it's not good for your mental health, then it's not good for anyone. It doesn't matter. It's your life at the end of the day.

[Heidi]

And.

[Spencer]

And you have to prioritize yourself. So I'm not saying all or nothing. I'm saying throughout the day, it's great to fight the good fight. And throughout the day, you need to work out, you need to feel good, you need to sleep, you need to take care of yourself and not be consumed by it because you're a father and you're a husband and you're a person. And how I feel about this law is, it's Bittersweet. I love coming and I hate coming at the same time. We are both getting teary eyed up there. But it's like looking at the pumpkin patch coming in and you're like, oh, I was supposed to be there with my kids this year. And like, you know, it's just, it's so sad and it's so hard, but it feels like home when you come here. And like nothing else really feels like that. So it's, it's tricky, you know. Yeah, I've gone through too, like, is this good for my mental health or not? It's like, well, I guess it doesn't matter, but for now we'll come. And we got the soil test and it's not toxic, so I'm okay to come. That was my biggest concern. I didn't want to get some weird.

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[Bob the Drag Queen]

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If you like smart comedy, sharp conversations, and trivia that exists purely to melt people's brains. This is funny you ask with me Ike Barinholtz Follow funny you ask with Ike Barinholtz on Spotify, Apple podcasts or

[Heidi]

wherever you listen to podcasts, guests, cancer or something.

[Spencer]

Want to have a long life for our kids. But I fully support Spencer and I'm so thankful he's such a great role model for our children. And to fight that good fight and not to just let life happen to you and be proactive and you know, people have misconstrued it for anger and it's not anger. It's being proactive. It's standing up for a community that left in devastation and destruction and disease, despair and death, literally. And for someone to be able to stand up and stand strong is the hard thing to do. And it takes a lot of courage and it takes a lot of fight and it takes a lot of strength to do that. So that shouldn't be dismissed or not acknowledged. That's a really hard, challenging, admirable thing to do. Based on facts, based on truth, self control and truth.

[Maeve]

Yeah.

[Heidi]

Speaking of the soil, it's a great update we had. I tested our soil and I accidentally tested our nick. Somehow they went to the wrong address also. So the very interesting thing that I talked to the testing expert yesterday for a good hour is what they learned from the campfire soil testing is that once you start digging down past a certain level, there could be metals that were here for 50 years that were pre the house. So you get to this thing where they kept digging so deep at the campfire that so because we had like a little higher levels of lead and copper. And I was like, oh, should we get that? He's like, the reality is you could keep digging and you could go 20ft and it could still be in this soil. It's always been there.

[Zach Quitman]

Yeah.

[Heidi]

So he said if you were really concerned just to like change your shoes. But I was like, what about breathing? He's like, no. He's like, those are heavy metals. So for them to come up out of your soil. But I talked to my blood work doctor and he said to plant. So we are going to get more dirt removed. Just there's not much even, but even just more removed. And we're going to plant rye grass and kale. He said, rye grass and kale pull out metals because they actually, like feed off of it. So my vision where it's going to feel better for Heidi here, it's going to be all grass. We're going to have beautiful hummingbird plants, a bunch of hummingbird Fountains right here. So all the hummingbirds will be taking baths behind us. We're going to get the double porta potty and not move it over so it doesn't have the fall over the thing.

[Maeve]

Yep.

[Heidi]

And then I think, you know, it's getting paradise.

[Zach Quitman]

What a good husband. That's an amazing husband right there, just prepping the lot for his wife.

[Heidi]

We are gonna do a camping event here, like, you know, with the kids because they always want to meet eventually. Don't worry, psychos. You won't know when. And if you come at night, it's gonna be a hunting episode. JK so back to real positive things. Mr. Quitman, you've been a lot of success in real estate. How are you looking at the Palisades? Because there's a weird thing where some people are really mad about the real estate people selling in the Palisades. And then I talked to somebody and they had a great idea. An angle you could take as a real estate legend is to be like, I'm only selling to other families that I believe are going to help the community versus foreign entities from New Zealand or China and be that guy to like make yourself the face of rebuilding the palaces community versus like these. Like I have friends that are literally will sell out to anybody and have. And I'm like, like you have no, like you don't need that money and you're just going to take that check to sell somebody, you know, is going to just, you know, destroy your vision of the community you were a part of growing up. So what's your take on that bias?

[Zach Quitman]

I mean, look, any. The way I've seen things over the years, with any natural disaster, I feel that there's always the people that look at those things as a way to make money. Right. And so people see pure devastation as an opportunity to make money and rebuild and develop. And for me, it's rough to see that because the Palisades was such a special place and there was generationally homes passed on many, many years from grandparents to their kids and to their children. So it's hard for me to think about these developers coming in and just coming in here to just make money and build these monstrosity homes to try to price most people out of the Palisades that won't be able to. To ever live here again. You know, that's. That's really tough for me. You know, right out of the gates there was. The lots were selling very slowly and people thought that the lots were going to take a dip. And with over the last couple of months, things have picked up quite a bit. And, you know, there's. There's no real telling. You know, you can pull up the title on all these properties, but there's no real telling of these LLCs of who's buying it, whether it's a family truly buying it to, you know, have their children grow up here, or if it's a huge development company just looking to make money. But in my opinion, you know, the. We want to preserve the Palisades. We want to keep it mom and pop. We want to keep it a family, you know, community and environment. But we just. No one's. No one knows really what's going to happen and as far as how long it's going to take to rebuild. You know, there's. There's been things thrown around of three to five years, five to 10 years. I just read something two days ago that they're now estimating nine to 16 years before the Palisades really comes back. So it's. It's. It's. It's a tricky time of knowing what's going to be coming. I think I. I try to keep a positive attitude and. And. And hope for the best, but obviously, as we know, you know, there's people with evil intentions and there's the people with intentions of setting their home up for their family. So it's just hard to tell.

[Spencer]

Are you guys rebuilding? Are you planning on moving back?

[Maeve]

No, we. You know, we're just at a place in our life where we were trying to start a family. You know, we just got married, and we didn't have, first of all, to rebuild the house would have been financially almost impossible. And, you know, I think we just felt like we needed to get settled, you know, and somewhere else. And we had to make a call that, like, you know, wasn't. We were talking about this earlier, like, we're so grateful for it, but it's like, it's not what we wanted. You know, we didn't want to be in the situation. We wanted to be here. And driving back in here today was really hard because this was exactly where we wanted to be, you know, and now it's like, where do you go? You know, and we just had to make a decision for our family to get settled. Zach has two teenagers. You know, we just couldn't live in limbo for the next however many years it would have taken. And I dream about coming back, but I'm so fearful of, like, how will any of us ever be able to afford this again? Because what I don't understand is if these lots, if you have to buy a lot for a million two million dollars and then spend five million dollars to rebuild what was a five million dollar house, now the house is worth seven or eight million dollars. And it's like, how do we, how does that make sense for anybody? And obviously I'm not in real estate, but I listened to him and his incredible mom Jade Mills talk about this all the time and I'm just like, it just doesn't make sense. Like we're all, everyone's gonna get priced out of here. And it's sad, but not only from

[Zach Quitman]

a building standpoint, but people are gonna be priced out. Just, you know, if you had a $5 million house before and that same house is now an eight or $9 million house, your property taxes are going to significantly go up. And then insurance. You know, the biggest problem that we're seeing in real estate right now in LA is just the homeowner's insurance. You know, I know people who used to pay 15,000 a year and now they're paying 60,000 a year. I sold a house in Malibu a couple years ago and a pretty big house, 70 million. And the client's paying over a half a million a year for homeowners insurance. And so it's like, how do people even afford these numbers for insurance? I mean, it's like you have to be very wealthy to even pay the insurance on your home.

[Maeve]

What insurance companies are coming back here after? First of all, they all left before the fire. Like your family knows better than anyone. And, and now it's like, what, we're just going to rebuild this place and get insurance? I don't know, I, I'm just like, what the gonna happen?

[Zach Quitman]

There is talk about insurance companies circling back and getting involved again who kind of stepped away from, from the California market. There has been talk about them circling back and you know, reinstating policies and starting to do business here again. But there's no guarantee of that. And that's the, that's the problem. You know, it's like Fair Plan only gives you up to 3 million dollar coverage and everything else. You know, you have to pay an absolute fortune for it. So who can even afford that?

[Spencer]

And if you get the Fair Plan, I don't know.

[Heidi]

One person that Fair plan gave that 3 million to. I haven't heard more than 1.5.

[Maeve]

Yeah, it's crazy.

[Heidi]

Did you see what happened with the insurance czar, whatever that Ricardo, he stepped

[Maeve]

down in Malibu or something.

[Heidi]

No, no, the main Guy that Newsom put in charge.

[Maeve]

No, no.

[Heidi]

He did 40 trips all around the world. Taking bodyguards at 40 grand a week, going to Africa, living it up while everyone's getting dropped. The guy that's in charge of making sure we all get insurance is just living up. This happened yesterday. Just busted him.

[Maeve]

So crazy. Well, I just read this thing about Malibu, too. Like, a lot of people aren't talking about, like, half of Malibu is gone and two permits. Like, two permits in 10 months.

[Heidi]

I mean, I stepped down.

[Maeve]

Yeah, yeah. He just was like, I can't do this.

[Zach Quitman]

I think the issue in Malibu is, is different Coastal commission with the coastal and those houses being on the sand. A lot of the houses that sat on the beach right there were so old that the caissons that held those houses up were like toothpicks. And so, just from a structural standpoint and a safety standpoint, most of those houses weren't safe, you know, pre fire. So the rebuilding and what they're going to require now in order to build those homes, they're estimating just the seawall and the caissons and the septic tanks to be anywhere between two and a half and $3 million before you even start a foundation and framing your home. So it's.

[Spencer]

So many people inherited those.

[Heidi]

Yes.

[Spencer]

And so many barely pay.

[Zach Quitman]

Yep.

[Spencer]

You know, and a lot of people probably verbo them or rent them out to be able to exist there.

[Zach Quitman]

And, I mean, the septics are a huge issue, you know, period in. In Malibu, but especially on the beach right there. Anything on the sand, the septics are even a greater issue, like an environmental issue, you know, because a lot of those septics were so old that if they overflow, they're going straight into the ocean, you know, so there's waste going into the ocean. So they're going to require now, like, the craziest digital septic systems that are, you know, super secure and don't have the capabilities of leaking. And, you know, I mean, those things are expensive. You know, I've also heard talk of. From Dukes from, so PCH in Las Flores to PCH and Sunset. I've heard rumors of a sewer line going in. So they would basically dig up the whole entire PCH and run a sewer from Las Flores all the way to tie in at Gladstone's. So we'll see. I mean, that would take away the septic issue. But, you know, that's a. That's a big project.

[Spencer]

It's interesting. They care. When they put all the trash and debris on the beach, it's like, oh, now you care about anything going into the ocean.

[Zach Quitman]

I know.

[Spencer]

Completely. Are putting all the trash, toxic waste from the houses and debris on the ocean.

[Zach Quitman]

Yep. It's crazy.

[Spencer]

Fascinating.

[Zach Quitman]

It's crazy.

[Spencer]

So you guys are staying here, though, because you're both so rooted here. Right.

[Maeve]

It's. It's so tough.

[Zach Quitman]

It's. It's the topic. Often the topic. Because I would love to go elsewhere, but, you know, my business is here. I've been selling real estate in. In LA for 25 years. Born and raised here. Maeve's business is here, so it's just hard to pick up and. And leave, you know, I mean, there's so many other beautiful states and places I would love to live, but to start from scratch at, you know, 45 years old is tough.

[Spencer]

Well, if you want to make a career off of just me, I could be your one client out of state.

[Maeve]

We're in Montana.

[Zach Quitman]

Montana.

[Spencer]

We could go somewhere else.

[Maeve]

He would leave in two seconds. I just don't know what I would do somewhere else. That's the hard part. I feel like victim to California a bit now.

[Spencer]

That's the tricky part. They all have us in a hold. If you work in this industry at all, it's like, it's. I mean, some people are successful enough to fly in and out, but, like, you know, we don't have those. But we gotta be here.

[Zach Quitman]

That's my goal.

[Maeve]

We gotta fly in and out. Yeah, exactly.

[Zach Quitman]

Those are the goals right there.

[Maeve]

Right?

[Zach Quitman]

Yeah. Four must scaffold.

[Heidi]

If you need scaffolding, four muscle.

[Spencer]

They're doing a great job over there,

[Heidi]

and they can do it pretty quietly. So how do you guys balance staying so? Because I would say for being so part of the biggest houses in the world, the most famous people. How do you stay so grounded in? You do have a very. I mean, this is, with all respect, like, simple life. You guys just like. Like your machos and go to the beach and, like, you're very, like, hard workers. Yeah, hard workers. But you don't do, like, the. Like, I don't feel like you guys are seeing y at all.

[Maeve]

No, I think for me, it came with age. Like, I feel. I feel like in the early days of my care, I was so focused on building and growing and getting new clients and being out and about with my clients. And then, you know, it just comes at a certain point where you're like, this doesn't keep me warm at night. Really. Like, it's fun and it's obviously an incredible life. And I'm So, so grateful for it. But also, it only fills one cup, you know what I mean? Like, I needed to fill the other parts of me and I, when I met him, I, I was definitely in a different era. I had moved, I had moved to Venice, actually. I was living at the beach. He was living in Malibu. It was really convenient for us and I was definitely living a different life. When, when we met, I think I, I was 35. I was like, I'm tired, you know, Like, I don't want to be like out in the mix all the time. It's exhausting. And it's not really like, it's not really who I am, I guess in a lot of ways. Like, of course a ton of my friends are famous or celebrity, whatever, but it, they're just my friends. They're just normal people to me. You know what I'm saying? They're not Hailey Bieber. Like, it's just my friend, you know? So I think when I met Zach, I was definitely in the place of like ready to settle down. And I was just on my like west side girl chill vibes for sure. And then we met.

[Zach Quitman]

Yeah.

[Heidi]

Since going back to falling in love and meeting on a dating app, I feel like a lot of people to be exact. Okay. I mean they hadn't paid yet. No, they have to pay. It's whoever the dating app that's sending

[Maeve]

on Craigslist, they need to be our advertiser on my podcast side edit. So. Yes, cue that up.

[Heidi]

We. I was just about to go all into that with the Haley Bieber episode. I just watched some great clips on. But how Cuz now I, I, you're the only couple I do know that have now had a successful relationship to marriage off a dating app. For people who are on dating apps, how do is that a me? Like what's the formula to that?

[Zach Quitman]

I mean, honestly, the God honest truth is is luck. Yeah, I had my, you know, I don't think everyone knows this, but I had my eye on May for like two years before I saw her on a dating app.

[Heidi]

So this is almost turned into a stalker.

[Maeve]

Yeah.

[Zach Quitman]

No, no, no. So. So the funny thing is is one of works.

[Heidi]

Yeah.

[Zach Quitman]

One of my literally one of my childhood manifested me. So one of my childhood best friends during COVID his good friend was dating Maeve. And so I would see they were all taking trips together and traveling and I would see Maeve being posted on my friend's Instagram and that's what first caught my, my eye and my interest and I was like Damn, she is beautiful. She has crazy style. Like, she's my vibe. Like, everything was just kind of. The stars had aligned, but I had met her, so I didn't know what, you know, her personality was or how big her heart was or any of that stuff. So when I had heard through the grapevine that they had broken up, I reached out to my buddy, and I was like, hey, can you just connect us? You know, I don't need you to do anything special. Just connect us. And he was like, no, I. I can't be involved. My buddy. I'm just. I'm not doing that. I'm not getting in that. In the mix. I'm not getting in the middle of that. All right, cool. So then one day, she had randomly popped up on my Raya, and I liked her. A week went by. Nothing. Woke up one morning, it said, connected on the app, and I texted her. I sent her a message, and I was like, send me your number tonight. I'm taking you. Or, send me your number right now, I'm taking you out tonight. And boom, the number popped up, and

[Maeve]

that was my whole response.

[Zach Quitman]

Just a number. And she was in Mexico with her sister, and we ended up FaceTiming and talking for, like, 15 hours over, like, three or four days. And she came home, and that was it. We hung out once, and it was a wrap.

[Heidi]

Where'd you take it for dinner?

[Zach Quitman]

We. We ordered in.

[Heidi]

You know what? Your theme song.

[Maeve]

Don't answer that question.

[Heidi]

Zara Larson's crush. Have you heard the lyrics? It feels like it would be. You would relate to that record.

[Zach Quitman]

Yeah, we ordered in.

[Spencer]

It's so interesting how different your worlds were at that moment. You already had.

[Maeve]

Yep.

[Spencer]

Maeve, completely on your mind and how excited you were. Me was probably like, oh, who is this guy? All right, I'll give him my number. Whatever. And it's like this whole different.

[Zach Quitman]

No, but the crazy thing is, two weeks before we connected and started talking a beach that I grew up surfing in Malibu. Little Doom. Maeve was at Little Doom and posted a picture of herself on the cliff. And she's, like, looking for my surfer boyfriend. Her husband looking for my surfer husband.

[Maeve]

Be clear about what you want, ladies.

[Zach Quitman]

So she manifested it in. Two weeks later, her surfer husband showed up.

[Maeve]

I don't think it was two. I think it was a couple months,

[Zach Quitman]

but A couple months, two weeks.

[Maeve]

It was close.

[Zach Quitman]

It was very close.

[Maeve]

Yeah, it was close.

[Spencer]

Yeah, I was ready.

[Maeve]

And he didn't even know he wanted to get married again until he met me.

[Zach Quitman]

I mean, I was, I think it

[Heidi]

was not, it was a different sentence. He knew he was not getting.

[Zach Quitman]

Look, I had two children at an early age. I had my first son at 26 and was in a 13 year marriage. And you know, I was young, I was 18 when I connected with my first wife. And it was just young and immature and you know, just we grow, right? We grow and evolve and sometimes people grow apart. And that's what we did. And so I was like, look, I have my two boys, I'm young, I'm healthy, you know, I'm good. You know, I have everything I need and I'm good. I'm not getting married again. No more children. And then of course, I meet my soulmate and my best friend and that all changed.

[Heidi]

We're on an episode of a dating show. It's so good. Speaking of your podcast, the name is the Inside Edit. The Inside Edit just launched recently.

[Maeve]

It did, yes.

[Heidi]

And what I found so interesting is that one of your, I don't know, not current clients, but let's say a client you've worked with was Hailey Bieber. And that story of how she just randomly just came to your office one day or like I feel like I missed it.

[Maeve]

So. No, actually she, her agent reached out to my agent, I guess she found me on Instagram and they connected and they reach out to me. They're like, do you want to meet this girl? She was Hailey Baldwin, she was 18 or 19 years old at the time and do you want to meet this girl for coffee? And I did. And it was just like instant connection. And we started working together right away and three days later we did a fitting for Paris Fashion Week and were basically inseparable for like six years. So I helped her grow her, you know, incredible vibe and, and with the best time together. And I think that's probably what people know me for. And you know, I just, I love street style. I love that she and I got to create that together. I feel like it was a really different time in the industry when, you know, early days, just like on the back end, the business side of things. Like no brands were loaning clothes for girls for just like walking down the street. Obviously some were obviously like there were the Kate Mosses of the world and there was the Rihanna's of the world, but it wasn't the business that it has become where these brands are actually more eager to dress these girls for their day to day life than they are for red carpet because that's what's converting into sales and that's how I mean, those girls wear clothes and it's sold out in three minutes. You know, it's like life changing for brands and I Avengers Doomsday is going

[New Rockstars Host]

to be the biggest Marvel movie since Endgame, and we are so hyped for it. New Rockstar's latest podcast, Road to Doomsday is our way to share that hype with the new Marvel fans, the old Marvel fans, and everybody in between. Every episode of Road to Doomsday digs into a movie or TV series that helped get Marvel Studios to where it is now. There's so much fascinating on screen and behind the scenes lore that led from Blade to Doomsday, and we're here to map every twist and turn on that journey for you. Join the hosts of New Rockstars as we put collective lifetimes of obsession, fandom and industry experience to productive use on the Road to Doomsday. Road to Doomsday is available on Apple podcasts, Spotify and YouTube. Hi, I'm Erik Voss from New Rockstars and if you want to know what's coming up next from the mcu, you should listen to the Sneak Peek. Hosted by myself and Jessica Clemens, Sneak Peek is your one stop shop for keeping up with Kevin Feige and his brain trust of nerd producers. It's a weekly roundup of all the most important Marvel news so that you can start getting excited about the MCU's next big movie or series before there's even a trailer out. What should we expect? Not just from this phase or saga, but the next one too. Part of the fun of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is being excited about the next chapter. And that excitement is exactly why we make Sneak Peek listen for free on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Bob the Drag Queen]

Hey everybody. My name is Bob the Drag Queen. And I'm Monet X Change and we are the host of Sibling Rivalry. This is the podcast where two best friends gab, talk smack, and have a lot of fun with our black queer selves. Yeah, for sure. And you know, we are family so we talk about everything, honey, from why we don't like hugs to black Lives Matter, to interracial dating, to other things. Right Bob? Yes, and it gets messy and we are not afraid to be wrong. So please join us over here at Civic Bribery, available anywhere you get your podcast. You can listen and subscribe for free.

[Zach Quitman]

For free, honey.

[Maeve]

I think during that time we really saw how that was connecting with not only like the world, the Internet, but how it converted into sales for these brands, you know, and the value in that. And I think those girls hold, like, a lot of power now, you know, but it was different. It was not that in the beginning.

[Heidi]

Do you remember when she went on her first date with Bieber and everything?

[Maeve]

Of course. I was at their wedding. Like, of course. Of course.

[Spencer]

And you did a great job.

[Maeve]

Thank you. Thank you. It was so special. You know, we worked on that dress with Virgil, which was, like, such a special process, especially with him being gone now. It's just like, I can't believe that we got to do that with him. And so collaborative, and we all had different ideas, and it all just sort of, like, came together in this beautiful, you know, moment.

[Spencer]

And I actually was looking at that on TikTok yesterday. It came up her wedding dress and all her wedding looks, and I was like, oh, my gosh. Gosh, these are so.

[Maeve]

Thank you.

[Zach Quitman]

Stunning.

[Maeve]

Yeah, it was. It was the best. Very lucky.

[Spencer]

What an adventure.

[Maeve]

Yeah, exactly.

[Heidi]

Does it blow your mind that, like, she's now one of the most successful or she. That.

[Maeve]

No, it doesn't surprise me at all, to be honest. I think she is. She truly is one of the most wonderful people I've ever known in my life. I would scream that from the mountaintops, not just to me, but to anyone that she comes in contact with. Like, she is a really, really good person. And I just believe that she deserves everything that she's gotten. She works hard. She understood what building a business, you know, was about, and she's done an incredible job. And I. And I. I mean that, like, wholeheartedly. I think her success is hers, and she doesn't get enough credit for that, you know?

[Heidi]

Well, and Jesus, of course, because her father prays a lot for her.

[Maeve]

Well, so does she.

[Heidi]

No, I mean, I just know for. Because he saved me in that.

[Spencer]

He baptized you.

[Maeve]

He did, yes, he did baptize you.

[Heidi]

Yeah. So I have, you know, I have the same, you know, the holy. I have the holy connection to the Baldwin, to Stephen.

[Spencer]

I met Haley briefly when she was 12 or something, when she came to see Stephen in the jungle. And we were in the jungle with Stephen and all his.

[Heidi]

So I know the power of his prayers, you know, so, of course. Of course she's a great person, but she's got the Lord behind her every time. Well, I'm so happy to have you guys here. I wish we were all still the.

[Maeve]

Me, too. I remember calling you guys. I was trying to remember. I know we called you the day of the fire.

[Zach Quitman]

And I think I talked to Spencer multiple times.

[Maeve]

I Think at some point in the morning you were like, I think everything's fine over here, right?

[Zach Quitman]

Weren't you?

[Spencer]

Like, it was, I was like, oh, okay.

[Heidi]

Cuz I didn't know about it coming around your guys angle. I thought it was just, just mine that I was watching and they were dropping the water on it. So.

[Maeve]

Yeah, I remember you. I FaceTiming you and you're like, yeah, I think, I think we're gonna be okay over here. Our, our house was much closer to like where it originated. And so we had a much crazier day trying to leave.

[Heidi]

I mean, yeah, you did the whole psycho evacuation.

[Zach Quitman]

Got stuck in that 250 car pile up at the bottom of the Highlands. I had to send her running through the flames with the, with, with the animals. You know, the fire department and the, and the police department were running down Sunset saying, get out of your cars and run for your life. There was no way out. All the cars were just stuck and literally engulfed in flames. You couldn't breathe. I mean, it was, it was absolutely like Armageddon. It was, it was insane.

[Spencer]

You got your truck out, right?

[Zach Quitman]

Yeah, so I, I sent, I, we had both of our cars. Her car was parked at the bottom of the Highlands and she ran home.

[Maeve]

I, I, okay, I was coming from Malibu home and so I was in Beverly Hills. We were coming like different ways and from my side of the story, I came back down pch and as I got closer, I couldn't, I couldn't get through. And so I got in the middle lane of the PC. We had three animals on our house, which are our children, and I wasn't gonna not try. So I got behind a fire truck in the middle lane and I followed him as far as I could go. And then I got to Topanga and I just, just told a cop that I had kids at home. I just, I lied. Sue me. I lied. And so then, yeah, so then I, yeah, they are. So then I, I got through and I got to Sunset, and then when I got to Sunset, it was utter chaos. There was, you know, the fire trucks are trying to get up, everyone trying to get out. There was no clear path like you've been talking about. There was no clear, like, what is everyone supposed to do? I got as close as I could to put. I basically got to the Highlands and I, I realized there's no way my car is going to get up Sunset and to our house. And so I left. A cop told me, she's like, just leave your car and run to your house. So I left my car on the side of the road. I ran up. He was home. I knew he had the animals, so at least, like, the pressure of that was off. He picked me up on an E bike because there was so much traffic.

[Zach Quitman]

Picked her up on a Super 73E bike.

[Heidi]

So glad you bought that.

[Maeve]

Yeah, yeah, it burned, but whatever. At least it got us through.

[Zach Quitman]

At least I got her home.

[Maeve]

I couldn't breathe too. Like, it was so heavy already.

[Zach Quitman]

She filmed the whole thing, like, literally on the back of the E bike with embers. Like 80 mile an hour winds.

[Maeve]

Not embers, baby.

[Zach Quitman]

No, but like ashes. Excuse me?

[Bob the Drag Queen]

Ashes.

[Zach Quitman]

No ashes. Ashes blowing in our face. I'm literally on the front of the bike. Like, I squinted. You can't even see because the ashes are blowing in your face. And then we got home and it was literally, the smoke was so heavy already at the house that we were running around trying to get things together, but you couldn't breathe well.

[Maeve]

And I had ran, like, through so much of the smoke. She was wheezing for, like.

[Zach Quitman]

She was wheezing for a whole day. Like, literally, like a deep wheeze of. Of like, not being able to breathe.

[Maeve]

I just looked at Zach in the house and I was like, what are we gonna do? Like, die in here over our stuff? Like, we gotta just get the out of here. And. And so, you know, we took overnight bags. Like, we took. Like, we were gonna go sleep at his mom's house. You know, we took. Not. We took the dog stuff, the cat stuff, and. And we just got in his truck and we decided to go back the way that I came. Because the reason I couldn't get up was because at least the traffic was flowing out, like, towards pch.

[Zach Quitman]

Until we tried to leave.

[Maeve]

Until we tried to leave. And, you know, we happened to be in Maui during the Maui fire. We just were like, there.

[Zach Quitman]

Yeah. I lived in Malibu in 2000 for 30 years, but I survived the Woolsey fire. I stayed and fought the fires. I saved my sisters, my house, and my mom's. So I stayed throughout the whole Woolsey. And then we just happened to be in Maui for the Lahaina fire. And then. And then now.

[Maeve]

And point of bringing that up was, you know, we're sitting in this, like, bumper to bumper, no one's moving, and there's fire, like, as close as, you know, the side of the road. And I just kept seeing all the palm trees, everything. Like, these people burned in their cars because they couldn't get out, you know, And a lot of people jumped into the ocean, and that's how they survived. And I. I just was, like, trying to think clearly, like, Zach, what are we going to do right now? You know, like, we have to really think about surviving, like, what everyone's telling us to do, like, what are we going to do to survive this? And we got close enough to my car, finally I was able to get in my car. I turned it around, and then basically as soon as I turned it around, the LAPD was banging on our window saying to run, like, leave the cars and run. Because whoever was at the bottom of Sunset and PCH was not letting cars go right or left. They just left us there bottlenecked.

[Zach Quitman]

And that's where the Jiu Jitsu breath work comes into play. It's when you're sitting in your car and there's orange flames completely engulfed around you, and you have to make a quick move to survive. And the deep Jiu Jitsu breathing literally puts you in a place to be able to think clearly. It's true. It's literally true. Like years of Jiu Jitsu of being in horrible positions with people trying to smother you and choke you. And you have to stay calm, cool, and collected. And I literally was like, zach, get into your breathing and be able to make a clear decision to survive. And that's when I got out of the truck, put the cat was in a bag, the dogs were on leashes. I gave her the animals and I said, run towards the beach and I'm going to meet you there. And she's like, I don't want to split up. And I said, no, we have to split up. So I went to my truck. I'm unloading whatever I can. And I started running down Sunset and I looked back and saw my truck. And I said, I can't do this. That's all we have to our name left in my truck. So I threw everything in my truck. There was a fire truck head to head with me and the passenger of the fire truck. We got in a full argument because I said I was asking the driver if he could just move up two feet for me to get around him. And the passenger was like, no, get out of your car and run. And I was like, no, this is all I have to my name. Like, I'm not leaving my truck. And he's like, I don't care. Get out. And finally the driver pulled up two feet and I was able to just inch my way barely through and picked her up hysterically crying down by. By PCH and Sunset didn't you video that?

[Heidi]

I feel like I showed that video to Heidi, and she's like, I'm so glad Zach here. She's, like, so humped.

[Maeve]

We have some of it. Yeah.

[Spencer]

Follow your instincts. I hate when authorities, like, over exert themselves for no reason.

[Zach Quitman]

Yeah.

[Spencer]

Move up 2 inches and let me make that choice and get the frick by.

[Zach Quitman]

Yeah. But you know the craziest thing? As soon as you pass the bottom of the Highlands, there was a traffic control lady there that literally was. She's the one that was holding up all the traffic, because as soon as you got by her, it was wide open on the other side of the.

[Maeve]

On the bottom.

[Zach Quitman]

And so literally, she held up all these people who could have died in their cars when if she just told everyone to go, there would have been a straight shot. There was nothing on the other side of the bottom of the Highlands holding up traffic.

[Spencer]

And she would have had no repercussions. No one would have said anything.

[Zach Quitman]

One traffic lady.

[Maeve]

It was so. They were like. They were like traffic cops, you know, like, they didn't know what the hell was happening either, but they thought it

[Heidi]

was like a football game.

[Zach Quitman]

It was, like, literally.

[Maeve]

But it just was confused.

[Zach Quitman]

She thought she was working the Hollywood bowl on a Saturday night.

[Maeve]

I just was like, are they not on radio with each other? Like, why isn't someone up where we.

[Zach Quitman]

It was utter chaos. There was no organization, no structure. It was. It was. It was unbelievable.

[Maeve]

We were talking to our friend Jamie Geller, who had to abandon her car in the Highlands. She had made it to Gladstone's with one of their dogs, I think, in a suitcase. And her husband and her children were still stuck at the top of the Highlands, and she couldn't get in touch with them because obviously there was no service. And, like, she was just on foot at Gladstone's, and we, you know, we were like, should we come get you? And she said, no, I have to wait for, like, my family, obviously, but. But it was just chaos. Like, the absolute worst moment of our life. And I think, for me, at least, I still feel like I'm processing. Not only did we lose our home and everything we've ever had and worked for, but we also are processing, like, the fact that we ran for our lives, like, true trauma. Love surviving something like that. Just no one should ever have to feel that.

[Heidi]

I say that all the time to Heidi, that God protected us from that whole experience by making Gunner have pneumonia. So he had pneumonia for, like, three days leading up to the fire. So we were Just at home with him. He wasn't at school. So all these kids. I know that with how you guys, these kids had to do that as well, running out of their classrooms.

[Zach Quitman]

Our friends had their kids stuck at

[Maeve]

school at Seven Arrows, you know, and they're sending us videos coming from, like, Santa Monica, trying to get up and, And I can't even imagine having little kids trying to get them out of school and get them out of there. Like, I just.

[Zach Quitman]

But also animals. We have friends who, you know, they're animals. Two dogs, two cats burned in their house, you know, up in the Highlands.

[Maeve]

Couldn't have survived that.

[Zach Quitman]

I mean, just, you know, so many people died, animals died. Like, it was. The devastation runs deep. It runs really deep. It's horrible.

[Heidi]

Just keep guys pumped up. You get this one from Heidi. Like, you need to take a break out of this podcast.

[Spencer]

I'm like, throughout the day.

[Heidi]

No, I know.

[Spencer]

No, it's true.

[Maeve]

Because you have to figure out. I, at least for myself, like, just even driving over here is figuring out how to calm my nervous system down. You know, just take deep breaths because it's really hard to see this. I feel like a lot of people haven't come over here and really even seen what's happened. And I get that it's sad and they don't want to see it, but I feel like it's important. And I, I, I guess part of my issue, too, is I feel like nothing has been done for these other parts of LA that are similar to the Palisade, similar landscapes, similar, you know, with the trees and the brush and all the things. And no one in, in Truesdale or Laurel Canyon or no one in the government is like, this could happen somewhere else. Let's make sure that these other parts of LA are safe. You know, I'm just like, how has no one learned any lessons from what's happened to us? You know, And I think that's part

[Spencer]

of Spencer's fight, is to prevent this from happening and knowing that there is a way to prevent this, at least the amount of destruction. Maybe fires aren't completely preventable, but they are. You don't have to lose a whole town. You don't have to have this type of scale of destruction, especially the amount of people that he's talked to that are experts saying this was avoidable, 100%.

[Zach Quitman]

I mean, look, we live in a state where people pay some of the highest taxes in the nation, highest property taxes. The state has the money to, on their own dime, pay for brush clearance. It's A preventative. It's something that we could benefit everyone. It's. It's something that just. It's mandatory. Like, why not do something if we know it could turn into a huge problem? Why not, you know, nip it in the bud ahead of time and just take care of it?

[Spencer]

And the shocking thing is it's not that expensive.

[Zach Quitman]

It's not.

[Spencer]

It's actually pretty cheap compared to all the other maintenance that these cities need. Like, it's one of the cheapest things that we can do. That's the shocking part. I understand if they're trying to, like, you know, scam all this money or whatever, but it's like, it's. It's cheap.

[Zach Quitman]

But not only is it cheap, it doesn't even have to be done by man. Goats do brush clearance. You can literally bring in thousands of goats, you know, from other states, which is like, you're paying for transportation of. Of the animals and the goats. They just let the goats loose and the goats take care of it. You don't have to pay men. You don't have to, you know, pay for gas and chainsaws and tractors. The goats will clear all the brush.

[Heidi]

Yeah, I'll keep saying it, but. Because New York Times didn't print it, even though they had the guy on record. But the head of the dozers, the guys that do the bulldozing since 2000, we saw him in the airport in D.C. and New York Times journalists even recorded him saying he wrote down he didn't print it. And I asked the guy, how much would it have costed on a fire break around the Palisades? And he said, probably would have taken a day. I would say about $200,000. He goes, we used to do it back in 2000 when I started here, and they just stopped doing it. So he's saying 200 grand, 50 billion plus just in houses now. Not kind of our neighbor. I know we have Picassos and Monat. Like, I don't even know about the stuff that people don't talk about. They burned. So the real value. So my point is 200 grand makes a fire break. That's even without water in the two reservoirs. That could have maybe given us a chance.

[Spencer]

How do you guys move forward?

[Maeve]

No, I mean, listen, I personally have come from a place of. I'm so grateful that we have each other. We saved our animals. We had so many resources, we had so many people helped us, so many brands donated to us. So many people in our lives showed up for us. And so I just personally need to cling on to the happiness of that or, like, the gratitude in that and not dwell, I guess, because I don't want this to completely engulf and, like, destroy our lives and our future. And really felt like so many people showed up for us in such a huge, huge way. Like, probably the most I've ever felt a part of my industry was after the fire. Just people even sending stuff for Zach, you know, who don't know him. And I had so much left over. I was like, you guys need to come, you know, come to the office.

[Zach Quitman]

I'm no one in the. In fashion or I'm not a celebrity or anything. And the brands that reached out and just literally took unbelievable care of me. I mean, I was. I was blown away. You know, the love that we were shown was just deep, very deep.

[Maeve]

So I think we're just focused on moving forward, you know, and.

[Zach Quitman]

And look, we have our health.

[Maeve]

Yeah.

[Zach Quitman]

We have our family, we have our children, we have our animals. At the end of the day, material things can be replaced. Except for my kids, baby pictures and a few sentimental things that I lost, but same. You know, my father passed when I was seven. The only four things I had left from my dad burned. You know, all my kids, baby pictures, my coaching jacket from ayso, you know, like, those are the sentimental things I can never replace.

[Maeve]

Yeah.

[Zach Quitman]

But the other things, you know, clothes and things can be replaced, as hard as it is.

[Maeve]

Yeah.

[Spencer]

Well, where can everyone find you guys for your amazing services, so Sweet industries?

[Maeve]

Well, my Instagram is Style Me Maeve, and my podcast is the Inside Edit. Can't wait to have you guys on.

[Spencer]

Yes.

[Maeve]

Yeah, we shoot inside in air conditioning.

[Spencer]

Okay. Do you style your guest for it? Do I get to face you if it's you?

[Maeve]

Yes.

[Spencer]

Okay.

[Maeve]

But don't tell anyone else.

[Spencer]

Okay.

[Heidi]

That's got to be part of the episode.

[Maeve]

Okay.

[Spencer]

You like style your guests.

[Zach Quitman]

And my Instagram is just my name. Zach Quitman. Z, A, C, H, Q, U, I, T, T, M, A, N. Thank you guys so much.

[Maeve]

Spelled it out just to make sure

[Zach Quitman]

it's a double T. You know, some

[Maeve]

people, you know, we love you guys so much. We're so.

[Zach Quitman]

Thank you guys so much. We love you guys.

[Bob the Drag Queen]

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