Bevy Smith Climbed the Ladder, Looked Around — and Jumped Off

Summary

Podcast Summary: "Bevy Smith Climbed the Ladder, Looked Around — and Jumped Off"

The Messy Parts with Maryam Banikarim | May 11, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this electrifying and deeply candid episode, host Maryam Banikarim welcomes media personality and author Bevy Smith, known for her vibrant presence in fashion and entertainment. The conversation journeys through Bevy’s extraordinary career—from her beginnings in Harlem through high-powered roles in fashion advertising, Vibe, and Rolling Stone, to her brave leap off the corporate ladder to reinvent herself as a creative force. Throughout, Bevy shares raw, funny, and wise stories about ambition, success, walking away from comfort, and what it really means to own your identity and freedom.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Early Influences and Harlem Roots

• Bevy’s upbringing in Harlem shaped her self-confidence and aesthetic. Inspired by her fashionable mother and the glamorous barmaids at the Dunbar Tavern, Bevy credits Harlem’s strong cultural legacy for her resilience and ambition.
  • “I'm from the hamlet of Harlem. From a real neighborhood. I'm from 150th street and 8th Avenue.” (01:47)
• Her parents, especially her father Smitty, embodied forward-thinking caregiving and a strong work ethic, becoming key influences in her life.

2. First Steps in Fashion Advertising

• Entry into fashion began as a temp receptionist at Peter Rogers Associates, a firm representing luxury clients.
  • Bevy showed initiative by telling callers the advertised job was filled (effectively claiming her position), resulting in her permanent hire.
  • Life lesson: “Go for it. Go for the gusto. Don't let anyone stand in your way.” (06:12)
• She recalls mentors who saw her potential and urged her forward, but insists that genuine mentorship must be relational, not transactional.
  • "People often ask me, will you be my mentor? I gotta know if I like you first." (13:23)

3. Learning (and Unlearning) Corporate Culture

• Navigating corporate dynamics: Initially, Bevy didn't participate in office socializing outside work, not realizing its career impact until she observed her colleagues bonding over weekends. She adapted quickly, using both work ethic and strategic networking.
  • “I thought that you did the work and that's how you got ahead. I didn't know that. So I found out quickly...” (08:56)
• Never feeling the need to “fit in,” Bevy relied on her Harlem identity and intrinsic value.

4. Climbing—and Leaping Off—the Ladder

• Rising through the ranks: From Peter Rogers to Jeff McKay’s ad agency (becoming media director) and on to Vibe and Rolling Stone, Bevy’s career soared. She built strong client relationships and brought luxury brands into new spaces.
  • Showcased cultural storytelling as her superpower, linking Black style and resilience to fashion advertising success. (18:06)
• Restlessness and rejection of comfort: Despite promotions and six-figure salaries, Bevy frequently left roles at the peak, motivated by a search for freedom over money.
  • “Freedom has always been far more important to me than money.” (00:27, 16:22)

5. The Pivot: Walking Away from Success

• Bevy describes the emotional breaking point—realizing a “glamorous” life felt hollow.
  • “It was so hollow. That's the perfect word. It was very hollow. It was a grind.” (30:05)
  • “Going to Milan and Paris six times a year. It was a grind.” (30:13)
• Dramatically “jumping off” at Rolling Stone: After 11 months, she quit, played “I Did It My Way,” and braced for uncertainty.
  • “Regrets? I've had a few, but then again, too few to mention.” (30:47; quoting Sinatra)
• The aftermath: Two years of “blissful but broke”—using savings to travel, study, and build her creative toolkit, even when it meant facing financial hardship.
  • “Broke but not broken. I was blissful but broke.” (32:20)

6. Reinvention and Resilience

• Cultivating the next act: Bevy created “Dinner with Bevy” to foster new creative and celebrity connections, which led serendipitously to TV opportunities at Bravo and beyond.
• Key moment: Despite an underwhelming first TV contract, she negotiated for her worth, even walking away until Andy Cohen personally recruited her.
  • “We always have a choice. I'm gonna choose not to do it.” (35:17)

7. Owning Identity, Culture, and Confidence

• Bevy’s confidence and rootedness in Harlem never wavered, even in elite, predominantly white spaces.
  • “Where I'm from, Brooke Shields wouldn't get a second look. Where I'm from, I'm cute, I'm beautiful, I'm the bee's knees.” (20:44)
• She sees herself as a “projector” (in Human Design terms): “Everything comes to me. They cannot pursue. They must receive.” (40:04)

8. The Power of Connection and Purpose

• Her core pillars for career and income:
  • “Culture, communications, connectivity, and community. Duh. That's the way I make my money. That's it.” (42:19)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “I just knew I could do with a lot less. I knew I didn't need a six figure salary to take care of one person in Harlem.” (00:10)
• “I wasn't trying to be them...That also helped when I had to go to Milan and Paris and sell fashion advertising.” (21:16)
• On leaving Vibe: “I was restless. I was done with it. I didn't want to leave. I tried to get Vibe to give me another job at Vibe.” (21:45)
• “Broke but not broken. I was blissful but broke.” (32:20)
• “Do it scared. Do it delusional. Do it when everyone's telling you that you shouldn't do it. Do it anyway.” (43:53)
• “I'm living proof that it gets greater later.” (40:58)

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Important Timestamps

• Upbringing & Harlem roots: 01:47–04:03
• Early work in fashion, lesson in ambition: 04:11–06:18
• Mentors & networking: 06:29–08:44
• Vibe years & storytelling power: 15:24–19:26
• Owning cultural history and identity: 19:26–21:29
• Leaving Vibe and Rolling Stone: 21:45–27:54
• Collapse and pivot in Milan: 28:09–29:12
• Defining hollow success: 30:05–30:16
• Blissful but broke era: 32:10–33:28
• TV break at Bravo & negotiation: 33:36–36:55
• On mentors, human design & “projector” type: 40:04–40:19
• Advice for those at a pivot: 43:53–44:00
• Rapid-fire, messiest moments: 42:44–44:29

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Advice & Reflections

• On pivots and reinvention: “Do it scared. Do it delusional. Do it when everyone's telling you that you shouldn't do it. Do it anyway.” (43:53)
• For new graduates: “Literally, you got to go out and make relationships. It's all about connection and community.” (42:19)
• Before 35: “Have a lot of sex with men who adore you. And I don't care what your body looks like. They have to worship you.” (43:32)
• Walk-on song: Odyssey’s “Native New Yorker” (44:04)
• Confidence: “I'm not riding in cargo. I need first class, sweetie.” (25:50)

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Closing Energy

This episode vibrates with Bevy Smith’s humor, honesty, and wisdom. Her faith in the power of uniqueness, culture, and taking risks—no matter your age or bank balance—will inspire anyone navigating the “messy parts” of their own career.

Transcript

[Bevy Smith]

I'm working, I'm cutting my teeth in fashion advertising, luxury fashion advertising. And then at 29, I decide I want to quit.

[Interviewer]

But didn't you want the paycheck?

[Bevy Smith]

Nobody worried about no paycheck. I knew I could do with a lot less. I knew I didn't need a six figure salary to take care of one person in Harlem.

[Interviewer]

But sometimes people begin to get the six figure salary, and then they get addicted to it, and they don't know that that didn't happen to you.

[Bevy Smith]

I mean, I liked all the stuff. I like the perks of it. But I also have always been this restless kind of gal. And freedom has always been far more important to me than money.

[Interviewer]

You get on the ladder, you climb it, and when you get to the top, you don't usually just jump off. But that's exactly what our guest today, Bevy Smith, did. She was in her late 30s, and she found herself in amazing rooms at luxury fashion houses all over Europe. But she didn't like the person that she'd become or the life that she was living. And so because her mom taught her early not to settle, she didn't. She actually threw it all away and started all over. Today on the messy parts, the one and only Bevy Smith, who says it gets greater later. So, Bevy, I'm so excited to have you on. I think that this is gonna be an amazing and an energetic conversation because I've spent a lot of time watching your TED Talk and your new podcast, Bevy from Bed, which was amazing and has great production quality. I wanted to start with who you were as a child, like you in Harlem. And you actually talk about that and you call it. I'm from the hamlet of Harlem.

[Bevy Smith]

I'm from the hamlet of Harlem. From a real neighborhood. I'm from 150th street and 8th Avenue.

[Interviewer]

150th street and 8th Avenue.

[Bevy Smith]

So I'm from central Harlem.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. And so you grew up there, and what made you decide that you wanted to go into fashion or music? Because actually, you were sort of at the intersection of both.

[Bevy Smith]

Well, my mom was very, very fashionable, and she loved clothes, and she actually worked just so she could buy herself clothes and didn't have to ask my father for money. And so I grew up around this very fashionable woman, this woman who really took looking good seriously. Also, when I was a kid, there was a great bar on the corner of my block called the Dunbar Tavern. There's a big housing, used to be a co op, and it was built for Upwardly mobile black people. So it's right across the street where I grew up in the Dunbar Tavern were the most glamorous women you ever want to see. And they were barmaids back then. Female bartenders were called barmaids back then. Children could go into bars. So my mom and my dad didn't hang out in the bar, but I had a lot of girlfriends that would go into the bar to see their parents. I know that sounds insane, but it is what it is.

[Interviewer]

It was when you would let your kids be in a car. A taxi without a car seat.

[Bevy Smith]

Exactly.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Bevy Smith]

Yes.

[Interviewer]

It's when people smoked while pregnant.

[Bevy Smith]

It's when people smoke while pregnant. Exactly. And drank. So you go in, it's all, like, beautifully lit and red. It's like Velvet. It's like 1970s. You think, like, superfly, you know? And the women behind the bar have on the most amazing wigs, the most amazing jewelry, the most amazing clothes, the most amazing shoes. And everyone knows them, and they know everybody. And I was like, wow, they are glamour pusses. So everything that you've ever seen me host, I am literally channeling the barmaids from the Dunbar Tavern.

[Interviewer]

It all goes back to Harlem.

[Bevy Smith]

It always goes back to them. How amazing they were, the way they made everyone feel welcome. And they were gracious, beautiful, fabulous hosts.

[Interviewer]

So how do you make your way from there to the world of, like, Rolling Stone and Vice, where you're, like, now at Prada in Italy in rooms.

[Bevy Smith]

I was not looking for a job in fashion. I was a temp receptionist. And they said, there's a gig over there at this place called Peter Rogers Associates. They handled, like, black llama mink, Bottega Veneta, as in Vidal Sassoon himself. They need a receptionist. So I go over, and it's fabulous. Can you curse on this? Yes, it's fucking fabulous. And I'm like, I wanna live here. I wanna be here. So I'm there answering the phones. You know, there's no such things as computers back then, so there's nothing to do except answer the phones and read the magazines. And it's a fashion advertising agency, so it's all the fashion magazines in the world.

[Interviewer]

Did you ever feel like you didn't belong?

[Bevy Smith]

Never. No.

[Interviewer]

Never occurred to you?

[Bevy Smith]

It was not about me? Not. I didn't want to belong. I didn't feel like, oh, my God, this is the world that I want to belong to.

[Interviewer]

That never was a thing for you,

[Bevy Smith]

wanting to fit in with them or just in general? Well, yeah. When I was from 11 to 13. I was a follower in junior high school.

[Interviewer]

But that's a short period of time.

[Bevy Smith]

Yes, it was a very short period of time. I learned very quickly that that was not my. My ministry, and that would not be my place in life. So to this day, I'm very, very hardcore. Never want to follow anyone. So I was like, yeah, this is for the birds. I'm out of this juke joint, and I made my own way. And I've continued to make my own way.

[Interviewer]

So you make your own way from temp and to.

[Bevy Smith]

Actually, wait. I got to tell you really quick the story of how I went from a temp to a permanent that year.

[Interviewer]

I want to hear about that.

[Bevy Smith]

They put an ad in the paper. The people are calling in about the job. I'm telling them that the job is filled. It's filled.

[Interviewer]

You're like, I'm in the job.

[Bevy Smith]

I'm like, the job is filled. I'm so sorry. The office manager comes to me and says, beverly, we don't know what's going on, but we're not getting any calls for the job. But you're doing really well. Would you like it? Yes, I would. I would like that job.

[Interviewer]

What's the lesson we're going to give our listeners about that?

[Bevy Smith]

Go for it. Go for the gusto. Don't let anyone stand in your way.

[Interviewer]

Don't let anybody take your job.

[Bevy Smith]

That's meant for you. It's meant for you. And my salary was $15,600 a year, and I was riding high, baby.

[Interviewer]

How do you go from there to Rolling Stone?

[Bevy Smith]

I meet mentors in those spaces, and they all acknowledge that I'm not supposed to be at the front desk. I'm supposed to be in the back with them making deals and making things happen. One in particular, Jeff McKay, opens up his own ad agency and brings me along with him, and he says, what do you want to do? You can do any job that you want here.

[Interviewer]

What do you think it is about you that makes people want to help you that way?

[Bevy Smith]

I think that they see me. They see my talent, they see my. I think I am special in that way.

[Interviewer]

I think it's also your confidence.

[Bevy Smith]

I don't know that I'm confident when I'm, like, 22 years old. I'm just being. I'm existing.

[Interviewer]

I think you are confident. Like, since you stopped following.

[Bevy Smith]

Yeah, I guess I never thought of it as confidence. I just kind of thought of it as my parents instilled a very strong work ethic. In us. So whatever job you take on, you're going to do it well and you're going to do it to the best of your abilities. So that always stuck with me. So whenever I had an opportunity, I went full out, balls to the walls. I'm going to make things happen.

[Interviewer]

Can you give me an example of that? Like, so you get this opportunity from him, and so how do you show him balls to the walls? I'm going to make things happen.

[Bevy Smith]

I just really applied myself. I did the work. Like, I studied. I actually leaned into corporate structure. I famously declined to go up to his house in Litchfield county one weekend because I had like an event to go to at Great Adventures, the amusement park. And I was like, I spend five days a week with these people, why am I going to, to spend a weekend with them as well?

[Interviewer]

But didn't you think that would be a way to get ahead?

[Bevy Smith]

But see, I'm not from that culture.

[Interviewer]

What is that?

[Bevy Smith]

I'm from a culture of you do your work, you go home. That's it. Why are you seeing these people outside of work? If you come from a blue collar background, you'll never talk to anyone who was like, I'm like hobnobbing with the boss once the, the, the whistle blows, get out of here. But these fuckers, I'm going home. I want to be with my people.

[Interviewer]

Because I always thought, like, oh, if they invite you, you have to say yes.

[Bevy Smith]

Well, yeah, but you grew up in that space.

[Interviewer]

I mean, I don't know. I'm originally from Iran. Like, so I was an outsider.

[Bevy Smith]

But you're still white presenting.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. And I observed, you know what I mean? I was like clocking the room to figure out how I was supposed to behave.

[Bevy Smith]

I thought that you did the work and that's how you got ahead. I didn't know that. So I found out quickly, though, when they came back from the weekend and they said, bev, how was your weekend? And I told them about riding like the water flume and having some kind of funnel cake. And then I said, how was your weekend? And they went on and on and on and, oh, remember this part and that part? And da, da, da, da, da. And I was like, oh, so you

[Interviewer]

eventually got the lesson?

[Bevy Smith]

Well, I got it real quick. I'm a quick study. So once I realized that they had a lot to chat about because they had had this outside the work moment, I was like, oh, so when you're invited, you go.

[Interviewer]

So you started showing up.

[Bevy Smith]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I never missed Another invitation.

[Interviewer]

Okay, so then walk us through your career until you get to Rolling Stone.

[Bevy Smith]

So I'm at Jeff McKay and I become a media director and he sends me to Paris. I think he's gonna come with me. He says, no, I'm sending you. And I'm like, jeff, I've never been out of the country. I don't speak French. He said, paris is just like New York. And he was right. It's just like New York, except they don't speak the English, which is fine. And I made my way. And that's where I met Andre Leon Talley. My first time going to Paris. Can you imagine?

[Interviewer]

No.

[Bevy Smith]

That being your first time going.

[Interviewer]

Okay. For people who don't know who he

[Bevy Smith]

is, Andre Leon Talley is the reason why Anna Wintour exists. Oh, I like that. Is that my camera?

[Interviewer]

Yes. That's definitely a face to camera moment. All right, say more.

[Bevy Smith]

Um, he was an amazing editor at Vogue and he was instrumental. And Anna Wintour had said this and training her, her eye for fashion, giving her the education of fashion, because she was not a fashion girl. She was editor in chief of House and Garden before she went to Vogue. So that wasn't necessarily her ministry. But he got her up to speed. But he was trained by Diana Vreeland, the iconic editor in chief of Vogue and also Harper's Bazaar, and also the woman who created the Costume Institute.

[Interviewer]

How did you meet him?

[Bevy Smith]

I was walking down the street, ran into an editor friend of mine. He said, I'm going to the Vivienne Westwood show at the Creon. Do you want to come? And I said, I don't have a ticket. He said, oh, be fine, let's go. Andre is like, you know, preening and, you know, looking around. I guess he spots me. You know, there's no black people at that time in these kind of spaces. So he spots me, he points at me, he says. And I come over and he says, what's your name? What's your name? And I'm like, beverly Smith. What are you doing here? I'm in Paris because I'm pitching Kinso. I work for an advertising agency. Where are you sitting, child? I'm sitting back there. Sit behind me. My first, second row seat, which is a big deal, Very big deal. People always talk about first row. First you gotta get to the third. First you gotta get a seat.

[Interviewer]

First you gotta get in the room.

[Bevy Smith]

First you gotta get in the first you gotta get in the room. Then you get to standing. Then you get a seat, any old seat. And then you Get a third row. Then when you get the second row, you're like, hubba hubba. And then of course, the pivotal row, the first row is the first row, the front row. And I sit behind him. And from that day on, whenever he would see me, he would always encourage me and pour into me and be so loving to me. He famously used to hold court at the Manola Blahnik sample sale, which no one could get into. You had to be someone to get into the Manola Blahnik sample sale.

[Interviewer]

That's such a New York story. Like getting into the sample sale, where, you know, celebrities are elbowing each other to get the deal.

[Bevy Smith]

Yeah. And you had to be like, on the list. And it was very strict. And people would constantly get thrown out because they were not really on the list. They had snuck in all that. And Andre used to hold court at the sample sale. And he would be sitting on what seemed like a throne, and he would have all these shoes around him. And we would be walking around and trying those shoes. Not that, darling. Try this. Oh, God. Atrocious. Now you must say, oh, you must have that. You must. You must take that. And he would just tell us what to do, which shoe to buy.

[Interviewer]

So you clearly have had people who've picked you, mentored you all along the way.

[Bevy Smith]

People.

[Interviewer]

For somebody who's listening, saying, like, how do I get that? What advice do you have?

[Bevy Smith]

I don't know. To say that Andre was a mentor. I say that Andre was a well wisher of mine, which is something. Yes, certainly. But my mentors, there has to be a relationship.

[Interviewer]

And what does that mean?

[Bevy Smith]

People often ask me, will you be my mentor? I gotta know if I like you first. This is a relationship. If I don't like you, if I fundamentally find you distasteful or boring or not interesting or just not my cup of tea. I can't mentor you.

[Interviewer]

So now you're in the world of fashion. And how do you reconcile that with going home, back to Harlem? Does it seem like it's a different world?

[Bevy Smith]

It's a comfortable space. Yeah.

[Interviewer]

So you were always comfortable, as a result, in the spaces.

[Bevy Smith]

Yeah, I knew where I was from and I knew how important where I was from was. I know the Harlem Renaissance is the most important artistic movement in the 20th century.

[Interviewer]

Tell me about your mom.

[Bevy Smith]

I'll tell you about my mom and my dad. Cause you're not gonna leave out Smitty. So Lolly and Smitty, let's go. Lolly and Smitty. I start with my dad. My dad Was amazing because he was our primary caregiver. My mom worked on Long island cleaning houses, and so she didn't get off work until late. So my dad was the one who cooked with us five days a week, and he was the one who brought us, you know, picked us up from school and made sure the homework was done. And that was very forward thinking back then. I'm growing up in the 70s and the 80s. Dads are not doing that. Dads are barely doing that now. My dad just so sweet, but a real man, a real provider, a real caregiver. But this lovely, sensitive side. He grew up essentially kind of orphaned. And so when he had me, I was. He was 42 when he had my sister. He's 41, so he's very happy to have us. And it showed everything.

[Interviewer]

There's two of you.

[Bevy Smith]

There's three of us.

[Interviewer]

Three of you.

[Bevy Smith]

I have a big brother named Jerry.

[Interviewer]

So do you live in Harlem still?

[Bevy Smith]

Of course. Where am I going?

[Interviewer]

Well, you're gonna have to come to the longest table because we do it on 100. Well, we don't do it, but neighbors do it on 137th Street. Not so far. Not so far.

[Bevy Smith]

Not so far.

[Interviewer]

I wanna get to the part where you're at Rolling Stone.

[Bevy Smith]

Well, first you have to get to the part where I'm at Vibe.

[Interviewer]

Okay, let's go to my.

[Bevy Smith]

I'm working. I'm cutting my teeth in fashion advertising. Luxury fashion advertising. And then at 29, I decide I wanna quit. I don't know what I wanna do. I don't know what I wanna do. I just know I'm restless. I don't wanna do this anymore.

[Interviewer]

But didn't you want the paycheck?

[Bevy Smith]

Nobody worried about no paycheck. Why not in Harlem? I'm gonna make it do what it do. I'm gonna make. Make things happen. It's fine.

[Interviewer]

Oh, I always worried about the paycheck. I was like, oh, if I can't pay my bills, how's that going to work?

[Bevy Smith]

Well, no, you can pay your bills. You'll find a way to pay your bills. You know, one of the things that I realized when I quit being at the advertising agency and when I quit Rolling Stone is that because I lived in Harlem and I had made good money, I knew I could do with a lot less. I knew I didn't need six figure salary to take care of one person in Harlem.

[Interviewer]

But sometimes people begin to get the six figure salary, and then they get addicted to it. And they don't know that that didn't happen to you.

[Bevy Smith]

I mean, I liked all the stuff. I liked the perks of it. But I also have always been this restless kind of gal. And freedom has always been far more important to me than money.

[Interviewer]

So you stop at the ad agency. Were they surprised?

[Bevy Smith]

Yes. I mean, Jeff had offered to sell the agency to me and one other person who were. We were both the first employees of the agency. And he was like, you guys should just take it over. I'm gonna retire. I'll sell it to you guys. And I was like, yeah, I don't do nothing.

[Interviewer]

You're like, I don't like that responsibility.

[Bevy Smith]

So I hit the road. I quit, and I did a lot of things trying to figure out what it was that I wanted to do. At that point, I wasn't ready to say I was a creative. I was, like, hedging my bets. I was like, maybe I'll be a publicist. Maybe I'll be like an event director. Maybe I'll be. But I wasn't like, I'm gonna go out and be a creative. So in that way, I wasn't so confident. So I get a call from Mimi Valdez and from a guy named Emil Wilburkin. And they say, vibe is looking for a luxury fashion advertising director. And I'm like, I don't want to be a fashion salesperson. I'm like, but it is Vibe. I love hip hop. I love my culture, and I love the people that I would be working with. I'm like, let me go and see. So I go in and I interview for the gig. And believe it or not, the black men at Vibe didn't think I was necessarily a good fit for the job.

[Interviewer]

Why not?

[Bevy Smith]

Because in their minds, they had a different type of look who they thought would be able to bring in the advertising dollars. Luxury fashion advertising. I think they wanted someone who was more model esque.

[Interviewer]

I thought you were gonna be, like, white.

[Bevy Smith]

They were like, well, they had had someone white doing it prior to me. I just don't think they understood there would be someone like me who was a storyteller. But I told the story the way I got all those brands, the Gucci, the Prada, the Dior and all that into Vibe magazine was through storytelling. What does that mean that I brought over with me? Of course, I had all the stats, I had all the, you know, the decks and all the demographic profiles, blah, blah, blah, CPM conversations. But what I really did was I explained to them that a cultural birthright of black folks is our ability to look Good. And that we did that not just because we wanted to show out and show up, but because when Jim Crow was instituted, they also spread rumors that we were dirty and unkept. So it became a big cultural legacy to always be very clean, to always show up very pressed. Which is why, when you look at the civil rights movement, why were they marching in suits and starched dresses and beautiful hats? You know why? Because they knew that the way they looked would say, I am a man. I am a woman. I'm worthy of dignity. They were trying to convey a message.

[Interviewer]

So knowing your history and who you are has been a big part of your journey.

[Bevy Smith]

That's the whole thing of my journey, the whole kitten caboodle. So if I don't have pride in where I'm from, if I don't understand that I walk the same streets as Adam Clayton Powell Jr. As Malcolm X, as Sammy Davis Jr. As Zora Neale Hurston, as Langston Hughes, as Arturo Schomburg. If I don't know all of that, then I do think what the folks think downtown, that Harlem is scary and there's a hood and, oh, my God, nothing but criminals. No, I know where I'm from. I know how important it is to American culture. I know how important it is to global culture.

[Interviewer]

It's interesting because I think I said at the beginning that I'm originally from Iran, and we left and we always mean. Obviously, I knew I was Iranian, and I wasn't hiding it, but I didn't have the same relationship to my culture the way that you're describing.

[Bevy Smith]

Well, because they wanted you to assimilate probably 100%. Right? So, yeah. So there you go.

[Interviewer]

But you also grew up. Am missed other black people in Harlem, whereas for me, we were the only.

[Bevy Smith]

Right.

[Interviewer]

In a very WASPy suburb.

[Bevy Smith]

Yes. So that is also a big part of the. I guess the confidence. Right. So I like to tell this story. At Peter Rogers, one of the accounts was Brooke Shields jeans.

[Interviewer]

Nobody remember those, because that's when I came here.

[Bevy Smith]

Okay. So Brooke would come in. Brooke and I are the same age. So Brooke would come in with her mom, and sometimes she would go into the meetings. Other times she would ask her mom, can I just stay out here? Because we're like, the same age, and we're like girls, you know, at a point, you're just girls. I remember someone, another, a secretary, came up to me and was like a young woman. Wow. Aren't you, like, intimidated by her? I mean, she's so beautiful. And I said to her, brooke, Shields is indeed beautiful. But where I'm from, she wouldn't get a second look. Where I'm from, I'm cute, I'm beautiful. I'm the bee's knees. So I wasn't trying to be them. And so that also helped when I had to go to Milan and Paris and sell fashion advertising.

[Interviewer]

Well, especially. Cause fashion, as we know, is all about size minus two.

[Bevy Smith]

Yes, yes, yes. But then the people would see me in their clothes and be like, well, I never imagined it like that, but I like it.

[Interviewer]

So how long did you stay at

[Bevy Smith]

this job at Vibe? For five years, and it was the greatest job of my life.

[Interviewer]

So why'd you leave?

[Bevy Smith]

Because I was restless. I was done with it. I didn't want to leave. I tried to get Vibe to give me another job at Vibe.

[Interviewer]

What job?

[Bevy Smith]

Oh, I created all these other jobs. I was like, let me. Let me run a travel agency. Because at the time, there were no black stylists going over to Milan in Paris, because they didn't have the access. So I said, I have all the access. So I could talk to all the fashion houses. And I know I could get them to allow these black stylists of Mary J. Blige and, at the time, Puff Daddy and Missy Ellie and all these people. I said, I could get them to give them entree. We should charge them $25,000 a trip. And I'll be like, kind of like Julie the Cruz director. And I'll usher them in. That's a Love Boat reference. And I'll usher them in and let them share my relationships. No, that's not good. Then I was like, oh, let me be a merchandising editor, where I just kind of like, I'm like a fake editor, but I'm also still, like, aiding the marketing department. That won't pay. I was like, I don't care if it pays. It's just, like, something different to do. They didn't want to do it. But here's the thing. They knew I was restless. They did something called the Vibe Awards, and Queen Latifah was the host. And they said, bevy, do you want to host the red carpet of the Vibe Awards?

[Interviewer]

Ooh, that's a good one for you.

[Bevy Smith]

And I said, I do. So that was the first thing I ever did on TV. It was on UPN9, which was a real network. And it was a.

[Interviewer]

But enough to give you a taste.

[Bevy Smith]

It gave me a taste. I was like, oh, this one I want to do. In the meantime, in between time, I Got a call from Rolling Stone. They asked me if I want to come in for an interview. We meet at the Paramount Hotel. I want to say, no, no, no. At the other one. The other Ian Schrager. The Royalton. Meet the Royalton. And I remember I didn't care whether I got the job or not. What I was going to do was I was going to leverage the ask. I was going to leverage them asking me to come on board and take that back to Vibe and say, if you don't allow me to do something else, I will go. I'm leaving Stone.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Bevy Smith]

So I go on this interview in a sheer Dolce and Gabbana blouse, a mink coat, an Hermes scarf on my long wig, and like six inch heels. Not appropriate for a job interview.

[Interviewer]

I'm like, I'm trying to remember if I remember what I wore at job

[Bevy Smith]

interviews, but I think, well, no, I just knew because it was so cockamamie. Cause who does that?

[Interviewer]

You do.

[Bevy Smith]

You don't know if someone.

[Interviewer]

The answer is you do, baby.

[Bevy Smith]

Right, Right. But you don't know if people are like, PETA folks. So you shouldn't wear mink. You probably shouldn't wear a sheer blouse. Cause your titties are out. You probably shouldn't wear.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, that I might not have done.

[Bevy Smith]

You know what I mean? So the things are just kind of crazy. It's kooky. So that's why I remember it. Cause I also did it because I wanted to show them I don't really care. I don't care about this job.

[Interviewer]

What was their reaction?

[Bevy Smith]

The publisher gets a kick out of me. Cause he's from Staten island, so he's scrappy. So he.

[Interviewer]

He's like, she's got guts.

[Bevy Smith]

Yeah. She's got moxie. I like her. The other white guys are very traditional white guys. So they're like, what is going on? At one point, one of them says, can we have your resume? And I say, no. He says, well, you're coming in for a job. You have to have a resume. I said, what brands do you want in your magazine? Rattles off a few. I said, do I need a resume? If I can give you the personal numbers to every president or CEO of those brands. And that's when the publisher was like, oh, my God, I love you. You're hired.

[Interviewer]

So you end up leaving.

[Bevy Smith]

Girl. No, I didn't want to go.

[Interviewer]

I know. Because you were going to leverage this job.

[Bevy Smith]

Right? And then I go in and there was a person who did not want me to be at Vibe. Because I was very, like, I was doing a lot, and I was wreaking havoc at Vibe, and no one could tell me anything. I remember at one point, they came to me and said, we're going through a budget crunch, and so no one else can fly first class except for the editor in chief and the publisher. And I said, well, I can't go to Europe. Then

[Interviewer]

what am I supposed to do? You're like, my back hurts.

[Bevy Smith]

I'm not even going to give them that. I'm not explaining to you why. I'm just telling you I can't go, Sweets. I'm not riding in cargo.

[Interviewer]

I needed some of your confidence at some of my earlier jobs.

[Bevy Smith]

I don't think if this is confidence. It's just like, you know, some things. Like, why would I. Why? Why?

[Interviewer]

Because I would then deliberate. Wait, what should I have said? No, you're, like, right there in the moment. You draw the line.

[Bevy Smith]

It was stupid to me. I'm bringing them millions of dollars. I'm gonna be riding coats. Let them fucking ride coach. They're not bringing in $10 million.

[Interviewer]

So then what happened?

[Bevy Smith]

So the person that did not love my moxie went to the president and was like, she's got this opportunity and we can't match it, So I guess it's over. So then that's how I get to Rolling Stone. And Rolling Stone is like, you know, prior to Vibe, it only. Only worked in all white environments. So I went back to work in a normal white environment. It was just. I didn't, like, do that kind of work anyway. So imagine getting there. And I used to call Amy, who, you know, almost every morning, be like, I can't do this. And I would have. I had a little calendar. I would mark off the days like I was in jail. It was very sharp.

[Interviewer]

How many days were you going to stay?

[Bevy Smith]

Long enough to get my bonus.

[Interviewer]

So you already knew pretty early on that you weren't going to stay?

[Bevy Smith]

Yeah, immediately. Because I had a choice to make. Even when Vibe said no, I could either quit Vibe and then go and pursue this new life that I wanted, or I could go to Rolling Stone and take the money that they paid me, and that would be my little.

[Interviewer]

So for those 11 months that you were at that job, you were plotting your exit?

[Bevy Smith]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Bevy Smith]

Not even plotting. I just knew I was going to exit. I mean, you knew you were plot Child. It was a.

[Interviewer]

But you were saving and trying to think about how you were going to do the next thing.

[Bevy Smith]

Yeah, well, no, I wasn't thinking about How I was going to do this next thing.

[Interviewer]

What did you think your next thing was going to be?

[Bevy Smith]

I'm going to act. I'm going to write. I'm going to do tv. I'm going to be a comedian. I'm going to be a singer. I'm going to. I'm going to do everything and anything I've ever wanted to do creatively.

[Interviewer]

So really, something in you broke open and creativity sort of spilled out.

[Bevy Smith]

Yes.

[Interviewer]

What do you think it was? The red carpet?

[Bevy Smith]

Oh, no, no, no. Because, remember, prior to that, I already had that moment. If you read my book, Revelations, Lessons from a Mother, Auntie Bestie.

[Interviewer]

That's a great title, by the way.

[Bevy Smith]

Thank you. But in the book, I talk about being 33 years old, going to Milan for the men's shows in January. My traditional driver picks me up, a Giovanni. Gorgeous man. The Mercedes sedan is idling. I get to the print tripe, the. The luxury hotel. There, everyone greets me. Printer Pesa Bevy. Welcome, welcome, welcome. I go up to my usual suite. The butler opens the door.

[Interviewer]

So Devil Wears Prada.

[Bevy Smith]

Okay, baby. There's all the gifts from all the major fashion brands. And when that man closes the door, I collapse into the frate sheets in tears, saying this could not be my life. And that is when I changed my name from Beverly to Bevy. Because that's the only thing I knew I could do, the only thing I could control, was what they called me. And I also went back to Vibe, and I said, no one is going to introduce me as Beverly from Vibe. That's not who I want to be, because one day I'm not going to be at Vibe. And who will I be then? So let's get the folks acclimated to who I'm going to be.

[Interviewer]

What in that moment broke open for you? I mean, because this is the climb

[Bevy Smith]

most people dream of. It was, okay, so this is what I say. I'm from 150th street and 8th Avenue. No one that I grew up with that I knew had ever had a glamorous life like this. There's no reason in the world for me to be dissatisfied, except I am. It was the grind. I just wasn't. I didn't want to do it. I didn't want. Not want to be in service to people anymore. I want to be served. I do not want to serve. I'm just not. I don't want to do it. I don't want to have another fucking client dinner. When I tell you I was a Terror at that damn job.

[Interviewer]

I love the bevy bitch image.

[Bevy Smith]

I was a terror. They would make meetings. Who's gonna be there? Anybody. Under vice president. I'm not meeting with them.

[Interviewer]

But even with all that, it ended up feeling hollow enough for you to want to walk away.

[Bevy Smith]

Yes. It was so hollow. That's the perfect word. It was very hollow. It was a grind. Going to Milan and Paris six times a year. It was a grind.

[Interviewer]

Glamorous on the outside, empty on the inside.

[Bevy Smith]

You missed so many things. You missed your. You miss Amy's birthday because her birthday always falls in Men's Fashion Week and so does my mom's. January 8th, January 10th. You miss your sister's wedding because that's the Women's Fashion Week in the summer. You miss all these big, monumental events in service to what? Fashion? Get it out of here.

[Interviewer]

At 11 months, you walk in and quit.

[Bevy Smith]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

And what did that feel like? Freedom. Terrifying.

[Bevy Smith]

You know what I played before I went in and quit?

[Interviewer]

No. What song?

[Bevy Smith]

Frank Sinatras. I Did It My Way. Regrets? I've had a few, but then again, too few to mention. Yeah, baby.

[Interviewer]

You were living high on the Hog Hollow feeling, right? But then when you leave all of a sudden, it's like the corporate card has been paying for so many things

[Bevy Smith]

that I had no idea they were paying for.

[Interviewer]

What do you mean?

[Bevy Smith]

Girl, it was just my life. I didn't know they were paying for all the. And you know, just didn't confuse. I was just like, surely I'm having all these things because I deserve it. I, like, didn't know who was paying for it.

[Interviewer]

So when it ends, like, you hit, like, broke. Like, really broke.

[Bevy Smith]

Well, two years, though, after I quit. First I went and did you know my sepia version of Eat Pray Love? I went to Cape Town, Johannesburg, then I went to Brazil. Three places in Brazil. Then I went to.

[Interviewer]

All the money saved up. You're traveling the world.

[Bevy Smith]

Not even just on that. Then I went to LA because I was like, I want to do tv, so I need, like, TV connections. Let me go out and do, like, some calls and, like, some meetings. Like what? Don't know anyone. Lady, why are you going to la? First class and staying at nice hotels? You're crazy.

[Interviewer]

You're living the life. You're going to manifest it.

[Bevy Smith]

I'm living the life. I'm going to manifest it. Then I was taking all my acting classes, my writing classes, my improv classes, my DJ classes, my photography classes.

[Interviewer]

So at the end of the two years, where you're like, On a world tour, getting an education in creativity. You hit like, broke.

[Bevy Smith]

Yeah, I was broke.

[Interviewer]

So how did that feel?

[Bevy Smith]

Broke but not broken. I was blissful but broke. That's the chapter in the book, Blissful but broke. Because, you know, I was doing everything I set out to do. I was writing for Interview magazine, for Paper magazine. You know, I did the. I know, but.

[Interviewer]

But they don't even pay.

[Bevy Smith]

I mean, we know it's $500, $750, right?

[Interviewer]

The dream gig that you're paying for.

[Bevy Smith]

Yeah, I'm doing tv, but I'm doing everything I ever dreamed of. It's amazing. Yeah, I've made it. You know, I don't know if you know that, but I made it. Cause who quits to do all these things and actually does them?

[Interviewer]

You?

[Bevy Smith]

I just wasn't making any money, but that's beside the point.

[Interviewer]

Well, that's ok, because the money's gonna come.

[Bevy Smith]

Right, but when? So while I'm broke and having to go to the housing court and eat the salmon croquettes out of a can and all those moments you could have

[Interviewer]

been like, oh, I go back and get a job in advertising, then what happens? Then you're back to being miserable.

[Bevy Smith]

Right. So I can't do that. That wasn't really an option. Couldn't do that.

[Interviewer]

So you just kept going.

[Bevy Smith]

Kept going. That's how I created Dinner with Bevy. And that is like, it takes off and then Dinner with Bevy feeds my creativity and my celebrity relationship.

[Interviewer]

So it just like opens doors and connections.

[Bevy Smith]

Open stores and connections. Wonderful.

[Interviewer]

And how'd you get the show on Bravo?

[Bevy Smith]

Lovely story. I quit the job and I tell everyone I'm quitting Rolling Stone. I literally tell everyone. Security guards, waitresses, five year old nephew. One of the people that I tell is a guy that I worked with who was at Paper magazine. And I tell him about it and he's like, that sounds really good. Bev, you know, calls me Summertime. Hey, Bev, I'm on Fire island and I'm with this guy named Andy Cohen. He's at Bravo. I was like, oh, I love Bravo. He says, well, they're looking for someone to be a co host for the new Tim Gunn show. They want someone who's a woman and who knows fashion, who is funny. Can I give them your info? I said, of course. They call me, I have an audition, they film me, send the film to the executives, Andy Cohen, Amy and Tricasso Davis and a few other folks. And I get a contract, like in two days.

[Interviewer]

How did that feel?

[Bevy Smith]

Amazing, because I was like, I knew I could do it. And by the way, this is like, literally maybe a few months after I quit. So I'm so ecstatic.

[Interviewer]

Riding high.

[Bevy Smith]

Riding high. And then I get the contract, and I'm. Because I'm a business lady, I read the contract. I think a lot of the early Bravo people didn't really read the contract.

[Interviewer]

Well, also, just so exciting to be on tv, right?

[Bevy Smith]

Not me. I'm like, I want to be on tv, but I also want to get back to riding in the town car. The deal is really bad. This is business affairs. This has nothing to do with the executives. This is just standard boilerplate Bravo deals. No one knows you. Why are we paying you? But I'm not a reality TV person. I'm a host. So I'm going to be treated like a host. I'm talent.

[Interviewer]

I'm not like somebody, like, I'm in first class, remember?

[Bevy Smith]

I'm not somebody that's on tv, like, telling all her business and then throwing a glass of Cosmopolitan at somebody that's not me. I'm here, and I'm going to have a skill set that I'm going to showcase. So I tell my lawyer to go back and negotiate. He tries to go back and negotiate, and they say no. And my lawyer comes back to me and says, bev, I guess we don't have any choice, but you gotta sign it. And I said, well, we always have a choice. I'm gonna choose not to do it. He said, good on you. She goes back and tells him she's not interested. Andy's office calls and says, andy and Amy would like to meet with you. I go in and literally $12,000 worth of fashion. I looked like a good time, and I also look like a fashion girl. So I walk in and Andy's like, wow. And then I sit down and I've always been this kind of person. I never really believed in interviewing, as you know from the Rolling Stone.

[Interviewer]

No resume.

[Bevy Smith]

No resume. I sit my ass down. I have a conversation with Andy Cohen and Amy Intricaso Davis. And Andy says, you're amazing. You're even better in person than you are on tape. We will work together. And for seven years, Andrew Cohen put me cast me in all kinds of pilots, you know, had me guests on shows, all kinds of things. And then one day I called Andy because a friend of mine wanted to go watch what happens live. And he says, I don't have any space, but I also don't have a bartender. If you Bartender.

[Interviewer]

So this is back to Harlem.

[Bevy Smith]

There you go. Look at you putting it together. I never even put that together, but thank you for that said. If you will bartend for me, I'll give your friend a seat in the audience. At the time, I had a holding deal with bet. They paid me money to have me sit out while they developed something for me. So I cannot do TV for anyone else. But at this point, Bravo is not the Bravo that it is now. And watch what happens live is certainly not the watch what happens live that it is now. So I'm like, ain't nobody at bet. Nobody's gonna watch what happens live. So I'm like, I'm just gonna. Bartender. And also remember, they don't really show the bartender. It's like one time, it's like. And at the bar we've got Bevy Smith, Dippity do da. Dippity A. And then that's the last you see of me. So I'm like, it's gonna be fine. But this time he's doing a one on one with Bethenny Frankel. Mm. And Bethenny and I had done a pilot together called Fashionality that Andy had put together. So Bethany knew me and felt kindly about me. So when the lights go on, when the camera goes on, she's like, bevy, oh my God, you fabbies love you. And Angie's like, oh, Bevy. And all of a sudden Angie's like, come from the bar, let's do shotsky together. Let's do. So now I'm on tv.

[Interviewer]

Uh huh.

[Bevy Smith]

I'm not supposed to be on TV because I'm in the holding deal of bet. When it's over, Andy says, I got the thing for us, I got a show for us. It's like gonna be about fashion. You're gonna do it with the boys from the Real Housewives of Atlanta, Ms. Lawrence and Derrick J. I don't wanna do fashion. TV, I don't wanna do fashion. But at this point I turned down so many jobs.

[Interviewer]

But at some point you need the job.

[Bevy Smith]

At some point I need to do the TV job.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, yeah.

[Bevy Smith]

Cause I've been saying no to a lot of shows.

[Interviewer]

You need the tape.

[Bevy Smith]

I had the tape. Cause I've been doing all these things, but I needed to just buckle down and commit to something.

[Interviewer]

A regular. A regular gig.

[Bevy Smith]

Yeah, like, sweetie, do it. I thought it was just going to. I didn't think the show would go. So they were doing like three shows as a test that were going to air. So they're going to be focus grouped on air. I never thought the show had a chance to live. So I'm like, yeah, I do the three shows.

[Interviewer]

What happened with BET and your holding deal?

[Bevy Smith]

So I said to Andy, or I don't know if I can do so this is how much I didn't want to do this fashion show. Fashion queens said, annie, you know, I got a holding deal with bet. He said, what makes good sense for bet? We're not conflicting audiences. And it can only help them if you're on another network. That has nothing to do with them because they might pick up some new audience members. It can only help them. We'll let the agents handle that. That's what he said to me. And by the way, the way I got my deal at ca, the way I got CAA is my agent, my life. So you know about human design? No, there's this thing called human design. It's like astrology. It's like, woo, woo, woo. But there are these people called projectors. And projectors are people that everything comes to them. They cannot pursue. They must receive.

[Interviewer]

Are you a projector?

[Bevy Smith]

I'm a projector.

[Interviewer]

Because it's all I'm seeing how it's all coming to you.

[Bevy Smith]

Just for the record, when things come to me, I be minding my business, smoking a cigarette and drinking the martini, and the people come to me. I don't do any of those things, by the way, but the things come to me. It's the craziest thing.

[Interviewer]

So in this case, how did CAA come to you?

[Bevy Smith]

I'm minding my business, doing a speaking engagement where I'm interviewing Tony Goldwyn, Shonda Rhimes, and Kerry Washington. I had done a dinner with Bevy for Kerry Washington. So she loved me. So I'm doing this conversation with those three guys, and a friend of mine was at caa, and he was like, hey, some of my colleagues want to meet you because they want to know if you have an agent because they want to represent you. What? I mean, you know how long people try and get into these big agencies?

[Interviewer]

Yeah. Forever.

[Bevy Smith]

Forever.

[Interviewer]

Maybe never. So why do you think that it's greater later?

[Bevy Smith]

Because I'm living proof that it gets greater later. Like, I just keep going, you know? I started acting. I got my first acting gig at 56. And again, it was supposed to be three lines, and it turned into three seasons on an Amazon prime show called Harlem.

[Interviewer]

When you look at where you want to go next, what do you see?

[Bevy Smith]

So I'm doing in bed with Bevy yes, we watched. I'm getting a Webby. I'm getting an Emmy. I'm doing Broadway.

[Interviewer]

Oh, I did see that Grown Ass

[Bevy Smith]

Woman, my one woman show. Also just a couple. Just last week I did the Jellicoe Ball. I was a guest judge. No, the Cats version. The Cats version of Cats? Yeah.

[Interviewer]

I hear that's even better than the original. That's what I'm told.

[Bevy Smith]

I loved it more. So there's that. But I was on Broadway on the stage in a Broadway show. So again, that's my Seeds of Manifestation happening. So I'm going to do Broadway. I'm going to keep acting. I want to be a great character actor. I'm going to do an amazing seven or eight minutes in some kind of great film. I'm going to get a best Supporting Actress Oscar.

[Interviewer]

Oh, I like that. Like, I can see the vision board.

[Bevy Smith]

And then my Grammy I'm going to get for my second book. It gets greater later, but only if you do the work. I'm going to read that and I'm going to get my Grammy.

[Interviewer]

So, I mean, so somebody's graduating from school. What's the advice we should give them?

[Bevy Smith]

Literally, you got to go out and make relationships. It's all about connection and community. I only make money doing four things is culture, communications, connectivity, and community. Duh. That's the way I make my money. That's it. That's the only way I receive checks. That is it. Every single thing that you see me doing is tied to those four pillars. Isn't that something?

[Interviewer]

Okay, that's amazing. I'm going to go to rapid fire. Is that okay? We're going to do rapid fire. You're going to be perfect at this. Okay, so what would you say is your messiest moment on a scale of 1 to 10?

[Bevy Smith]

Oh, is that professional or personal?

[Interviewer]

Your choice.

[Bevy Smith]

Professionally, I can't say because I don't know if it's a statute of limitations.

[Interviewer]

You can just allude to it.

[Bevy Smith]

What I will tell you is that when they want to fire you from a job, most people can get caught if you just comb through their expense accounts.

[Interviewer]

Okay, that sounds scary and messy. Okay. Was that a 1 to 10? What was that?

[Bevy Smith]

Oh, that's probably an 8.

[Interviewer]

That's an 8. Okay. Last time you cried.

[Bevy Smith]

Oh, yesterday.

[Interviewer]

What would you tell somebody to do before they're 35?

[Bevy Smith]

Have a lot of sex with men who adore you. And I don't care what your body looks like. They have to worship you.

[Interviewer]

Okay, where'd you get that lesson?

[Bevy Smith]

My Mother.

[Interviewer]

Okay, we're. We're back to your mom, which I love. What is a piece of advice you would give to somebody who is in the middle of a pivot?

[Bevy Smith]

Do it. Scared. Do it. Delusional. Do it. When everyone's telling you that you shouldn't do it, do it anyway.

[Interviewer]

And my final question is, what would you say is your walk on song?

[Bevy Smith]

Oh, that's easy. Odyssey's native New Yorker.

[Interviewer]

What's your walk on outfit? Because, I mean, clearly you're at the intersection of both.

[Bevy Smith]

It's definitely high heels. It's definitely a dress. Definitely cleavage and is there. I'm gonna smell real good.

[Interviewer]

Oh, smell.

[Bevy Smith]

Okay.

[Interviewer]

What? I didn't have that on my list. Well, baby, I knew it was going to be fun. It was even more fun than I could have imagined.

[Bevy Smith]

Oh, I'm just so glad we did it.

[Interviewer]

I am, too. Thank you so much for coming.

[Bevy Smith]

Thank you for having me. I was exhausted, but now I'm exhilarated.

[Interviewer]

It's the power of the blue couch.

[Bevy Smith]

Yes. I tell the people that watch in

[Interviewer]

bed with Bevy 100.

[Bevy Smith]

Oh, my gosh. Go for it. Okay. In Bed With Bevy.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Bevy Smith]

You talked about the pivot.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Bevy Smith]

This show is all about people who are successful. They're not celebrities, but they're notables. People that have written New York Times bestsellers, the people that you see on tv, just people that are very successful, that have made it to, you know, have made their dreams come true, but now are looking for a new dream.

[Interviewer]

Bevy. It was amazing. And definitely we're going to be watching In Bed with Bevy.

[Bevy Smith]

Thank you.

[Interviewer]

Bevy Smith. We knew she was going to be a great conversation, and she did not disappoint. Remember, tell 10 friends, like it, Review it. That's how we get to share more messy stories with you.