Alicia Waters & Sebastian Brauer Transcript
Kerry Diamond:
Hi, everyone. You are listening to Radio Cherry Bombe, and I'm your host, Kerry Diamond. I'm the founder and editor of Cherry Bombe Magazine. I'm coming to you from Newsstand Studios at Rockefeller Center in the heart of New York City.
On today's show, we're talking design and collaboration with Crate & Barrel's Alicia Waters and Sebastian Brauer. Alicia is the president of Crate & Barrel and Crate & Barrel Kids, and Sebastian is the senior vice president of product design. We've loved Crate & Barrel's recent collaborations with folks like Cherry Bombe cover star, Molly Baz and EyeSwoon's Athena Calderone, and their current collab with fashion designer, Laura Kim of Monse and Oscar de la Renta. Learn how the Crate & Barrel collabs come about, what trends are shaping how we cook, dine, and decorate, and Alicia and Sebastian's advice regarding careers and more. Stay tuned for our conversation.
This episode of Radio Cherry Bombe is supported by OpenTable. As you may know, we've been on the road this summer with OpenTable for our Sit With Us Community dinner series, which highlighted amazing female chefs and restaurateurs in the Cherry Bombe and OpenTable networks. Thank you to everyone who joined us and to the amazing chefs and teams at the featured restaurants. We kicked things off in early June in New Orleans with Chef Melissa Araujo at Alma, and then we had to Atlanta for an evening at Le Bon Nosh with Chef Forough Vakili. We were in Dallas at José with Chef Anastacia Quinones-Pittman, and we had a sweet ending to our series at Nostrana in Portland, Oregon with Chef Cathy Whims. It was such a treat meeting so many of you beautiful food, beautiful people, it's been so much fun. Thank you to OpenTable for bringing these experiences to life with us. By the way, if you are interested in curated dining events like the Sit With Us dinners, check out the OpenTable experiences on their app and website. Head to opentable.com/experiences to explore what's happening near you or use it to find fun events to enjoy on your travels like OpenTable's Summer Sets, a dinner series that combines music and food to create one-of-a-kind evenings in cities like Miami and New Orleans.
A little housekeeping. This Friday, August 2nd is our final Summer Series event. We are headed to one of my favorite cities, Portland, Maine for a special dinner at Crown Jewel restaurant on Great Diamond Island. We'll be celebrating the Art of Entertaining with Crown Jewel owner, Alex Wight. Tickets are sold out. If you snagged one, I'll see you later this week. Thank you to our event sponsors, Kerrygold and Pernod Ricard. If you have any Portland, Maine recommendations for me, DM me on Instagram @kerrybombe.
Now, let's hear from today's guests. Alicia and Sebastian, welcome to Radio Cherry Bombe.
Alicia Waters:
Thank you.
Sebastian Brauer:
It's a pleasure to be here. Thank you for having us.
Kerry Diamond:
Let's jump in and talk about collaborations because we have been so in love with the collaborations you've done over the past years. You've had Molly Baz, who's one of our cover girls, Athena Calderone, who everybody loves, and now Laura Kim, who a lot of folks know from Oscar de La Renta and Monse. Can you tell us a little bit about how you came to work with Laura?
Sebastian Brauer:
We met Laura actually at a party in New York City, and Alicia and I go to these events together. We have a great deal of fun there, and we spotted her in the event at the time she had pink hair and an amazing Oscar dress-
Alicia Waters:
Yes.
Sebastian Brauer:
And we found her to be incredibly captivating. And then the two of us-
Alicia Waters:
Actually, I didn't know who she was, but I couldn't keep my eyes off of her because her style was so amazing,
Sebastian Brauer:
And then the two of us were like, "Okay, do you go talk to her?" "Do I go talk to her?" And two of us in a very dorky and fun way, kind of just approached her and had a great conversation with her there, exchanged emails and then just started talking and then started to create together and we fell in love with who she is and perspective on food and fashion and lifestyle, and we thought she would be a great partner for us.
Kerry Diamond:
Alicia, how about you? What drew you to Laura as a collab partner?
Alicia Waters:
We're always looking for partners that have a shared vision, a standard for quality. She's got the craftsmanship and she's obviously technically brilliant. It felt like she could help us expand into new territories, talk to new audiences, meet new people. For us, for Sebastian and I, it really is about an authentic connection because we work so closely with these collaborators and they become part of our family almost. And so, it's kind of that intangible as well as the strategic and business side that come together.
Kerry Diamond:
Sebastian, can you tell us some of the highlights from Laura's line?
Sebastian Brauer:
So we had never actually as a brand partnered with anyone in fashion, and we wanted to bring this sense of craftsmanship of couture and dressmaking and color and bold, shape and form. I think some of my favorite pieces are those that merge functionality with beauty. So I think her Berry Colander has been a customer favorite and it was inspired by a lot of the lace and eyelet that she does in her summer dresses, and we launched at the time with berries are in season, so it was just a perfect combination of function and beauty. And then her glassware, which also evokes pleated dresses is also one of my favorite pieces and one of the highlights I would say. But also just working with her was like Alicia shared, a very authentic process and to us it's all about connection and shared values. I think a highlight was just working alongside her throughout the entire process from concept to design, to then capturing beautiful content together and all the creative parts of the process.
Kerry Diamond:
Alicia, any favorite pieces that you have?
Alicia Waters:
I love the salad tongs very specific. They're so beautiful. They're porcelain and they're just feminine and beautiful and delicate, and they make me feel really good in the everyday when I'm eating my salads. I also love the botanical glassware, beautiful. Just etched, beautiful, lovely, smaller size than typical. Again, just kind of elevating the everyday feels really good.
Kerry Diamond:
I would love to know when it comes to one of these collaborations, what is the timeline? I would guess that you start these conversations years ahead.
Sebastian Brauer:
Yeah, I think the conversations and getting to know each other and making sure that there's chemistry takes, I would say about three months back and forth, getting to know each other. And then developing the product and launching it and bringing it to market is roughly a 12 to 13 month process that starts with concept and that moves into design development, sampling, and then content creation and then putting together the best strategy behind it as well all the way till it reaches our website and all of our stores.
Alicia Waters:
Just hands-on process with the collaborator. They're in our offices, they're looking at samples, we're all editing together. It's a very fun and time-intensive process. We take these really seriously.
Kerry Diamond:
Yeah, it sounds like dating, Sebastian, when you said it takes about three months.
Alicia Waters:
Yes.
Sebastian Brauer:
Yeah, we really want to make sure that we're bringing someone in to work with our teams that we really respect and admire, and I think our filter really is people that are excellent in their field and just outstanding humans with not only something to say in the world of design, but also great values.
Kerry Diamond:
And do you immerse yourself into their worlds? I'm wondering, Alicia, do you have any time to go to a fashion show or two?
Alicia Waters:
I would love to go to a fashion show. I think Sebastian did that. I haven't done it yet with her.
Sebastian Brauer:
I do. We share our worlds when we work with our partners, and that's also what makes it so fun and special is that we get to immerse them in our world because a lot of our partners really want to know how you bring a home brand to life, and I think there's always reciprocity and yes, I got to see a Monse fashion show that Laura invited us to and it was fantastic. So yeah, when the partnership is really good, there are no boundaries and there's a lot of respect and appreciation, so that happens kind of automatically.
Kerry Diamond:
Let's talk about both of you because you two have had fascinating careers. Alicia, let's start with you. I'd love to know where you grew up and what you wanted to be when you were younger.
Alicia Waters:
I grew up in Kokomo, Indiana. I can see a cornfield from my parents' house. It's a long story about a woman in the '70s, my mother trying to escape and arrange marriage and landing in Indiana.
Kerry Diamond:
That sounds like the beginning of a movie.
Alicia Waters:
I know. If this doesn't work out, I'll write a screenplay. I've always been inspired by style and design. I was always rearranging our furniture. I'm sure Sebastian was as well, making collages. I was thinking about it. I was always making my own jewelry and setting up little shops in the front yard, lemonade stands, the jewelry that I made. I was always cutting up my clothes, so just always looking for creative environments, improvising when I couldn't find one. My first job was scooping ice cream, which I mostly just ate.
My second job was in a hospital gift shop, which turned out to be very interesting because I learned how to account inventory, work on register, sell, and those were things I had no idea I would use later. I wanted to be an opera singer actually, that did not work out because I'm not really that great of a singer, but I did turn out to be okay at business. So in college, I was drawn to marketing. My parents are both therapists, two psychologists as parents, so very strange upbringing, but a lot of studying and motivations, feelings, drivers, so marketing felt really natural to me. Plus it's very visual just from the dinnertime conversations that I had grown up with.
Kerry Diamond:
You were a little kid moving your furniture around at home?
Alicia Waters:
Mm-hmm. Always, still do.
Kerry Diamond:
What did your parents say about that?
Alicia Waters:
They loved it. They thought it was hilarious. It was all good. They didn't love it when they had to help, but usually I would just do it with friends. And then as I grew older, I was always doing everyone's makeup and doing their hair and picking out outfits so they were used to it. I think it's something that they appreciate.
Kerry Diamond:
So is it that you're a creative or you really just like to design everything that's in your environment?
Alicia Waters:
I think I have a lot of energy and enjoy a creative environment. It's a balance for me.
Kerry Diamond:
We’ll be right back with today's guests.
Today's episode is also supported by Pernod Ricard, creators of Conviviality. Pernod Ricard is a worldwide leader in the spirits and wine industry and embraces the spirit of conviviality, as we all should, and is focused firmly on a sustainable and responsible future. Their prestigious portfolio of brands includes classic names, beloved by bartenders and mixologists around the world. There's the Glenlivet, single malt scotch, Martell Cognac, and Codigo 1530 Tequila just to name a few. If you are a regular listener, you know my preferred drink is always bubbles, so I love a glass of Perrier-Jouet champagne to kick off a special night out. And I also love a champagne cocktail. My favorite is a French 75, which you can make with Perrier-Jouet Grand Brut, and some Malfy Gin. That sounds lovely, doesn't it? To learn more about Pernod Ricard, head to pernod-ricard.com. And don't forget, always drink responsibly.
The new issue of Cherry Bombe's print magazine is now available and it's all about Paris, the city of the summer. Chef Dominique Crenn is on the cover and the inside features our ultimate guide to female fueled Paris. We've got all the restaurants, cafes, bakeries, ice cream shops, boutiques, and more that you need to know about, run by the most interesting, creative and dynamic women in the city. Whether you're visiting the summer or dreaming about a trip, you need a copy of our new issue. You can find Cherry Bombe Magazine at your favorite shop or bookstore, places like Dear Mom in Indianapolis, Moon Palace Books in Minneapolis, and the Air Mail Newsstand in Manhattan. You can find a complete list of stockists on cherrybombe.com. Also, there's a special promo for the Bombesquad running right now. Buy the Paris issue, plus any Cherry Bombe subscription and get free shipping, just use code PARIS at checkout.
Alicia, you also worked for some major food brands and you worked in fashion. I'm curious what you brought from those worlds to the world of Crate & Barrel.
Alicia Waters:
I've been in the business for 25 years. I started my career at Gap, and it's so interesting to me. I learned about having a deep care for customers at Gap. I worked on Baby Gap, and I remember I didn't have much responsibility because I was pretty junior, but I had the opportunity to work on a store. I studied the data and saw that green kept working. It was the green color that customers were gravitating to, and this was before gender-neutral, which is what we talk about all the time in kids. But I put a lot of green in the visual set there and it took off, and that was the first time I sort of viscerally connected understanding why someone would want that color and what that meant to their lives and their values, and that it was about not pigeonholing a kid. And it all sort of came together and then came full circle for me and Sebastian, again, at Crate & Kids where we talk about green all the time as a gender-neutral color or just gender-neutral design.
I attended Kellogg School of Business, I got my MBA there. That really, I learned about data and analytics, I would say hard skills as a leader and was introduced to consumer packaged goods where I ended up spending seven years of my life working in food. And that was about understanding how to recognize data-driven insights, leading large cross-functional teams. I ate a lot of cheesecake. I remember I woke up one morning and at 9 AM, I had to eat nine pieces of cheesecake to try out different filly cream cheeses, and that was the end of my career in CPG.
Kerry Diamond:
You mentioned data. Do you feel that's something you brought over to Crate & Barrel? Because I would think it's so much intuition married with data.
Alicia Waters:
I don't know that I brought it over, but it's something that I value very much, it is just looking at the data to just identify trends and insights, but they always have to marry with your gut. I think that separates people that are good from people that are great, the people that can see how it marries with an insight that matters and a value that matters. I think that's when you strike something.
Kerry Diamond:
So Sebastian, how about you? Where did you grow up?
Sebastian Brauer:
I grew up in Ecuador of all places, which is a tiny little country right on the equator in South America, which is surrounded with beautiful nature. I actually grew up around a family of artists and retailers. My grandfather opened the first hardware store in the country, and I think since then, it's been in my blood. And then my mother is an architect and an interior designer, and my grandmother was an artist. So very early on in my life, I found my passion just growing up around floor plan drawings and oil paintings and just life in a store. My father, my grandfather, they were the ultimate shopkeepers and I think I learned a lot about design just from looking at hardware. I still love hardware stores. Ace Hardware is still one of my favorite retail stores. And I guess, very early on I knew that design was for me.
A lot of my friends I remember in high school really didn't know what they wanted to study, but even before graduating, I was like, "I want to study design. I want to be an industrial designer." I love what a brand means to people, and I love stores and shopping, and I just knew that I wanted to be one of the people creating that magic and bringing design into people's lives and bringing joy into people's lives through beauty and design. And I was always very artistic and creative and design seemed like a very special career to merge both business and also creativity and be able to be an artist and get paid for it.
Kerry Diamond:
What did you learn from your grandfather?
Sebastian Brauer:
That retail is theater, really. That a good store is well lit and a great store is abundant and a great store tells you about things that you didn't even know you needed. And the great store is inspiring and fun.
Kerry Diamond:
It's so interesting that you say that because I love your new flagship in Flatiron. It's such a sense of theater when you walk into the space, the ceilings are soaring and you've got the columns and that wall of chairs and everything. Did you work on the flagship?
Sebastian Brauer:
Oh, yeah. That was a really project that our entire team really got together to work on. It took almost two and a half years to bring it to life. So we really were able to define and dictate what we wanted that space to feel like, to look like, what we wanted the experience to be like. And we, of course, were gifted a beautiful shell. It's a great historic building right in the heart of New York City. It was formerly known as the Palace of Trade, so a great history in commerce and retail, and it just had those beautiful neoclassical columns and those soaring ceilings that we fell in love with. And it was just such a once-in-a-lifetime project. It's not very often that you get to open a flagship in New York City of that grand scale. So we took advantage of every corner and enjoyed every moment of that project together with our team.
Kerry Diamond:
You don't see spaces like that very often.
Sebastian Brauer:
You don't. And you know that history of retail is a little bit lost now where you have these grandiose open floor plan spaces that have history in patina where you can bring in modern commerce to them.
Alicia Waters:
And I would say Sebastian's being very humble. It was his vision. And when I walked in, I cried because I've seen it in drawings so many times. But to see just the respect for the history of the building, the neoclassical columns that we didn't paint them, we let them age and stay the way they were, but yet creating this modern retail environment, that tension was so beautiful, it was really a special moment for our team.
Kerry Diamond:
We've got a lot of entrepreneurs out there, a lot of people who have launched their own brands. You've got so many brands now that are just direct to consumer. They don't even have stores. Why are you still bullish on brick and mortars?
Sebastian Brauer:
I would say because in real life experiences and the ability to touch, to feel, to see, to step into a space and be enveloped by it and have those types of feelings can only happen in real life. And we're a brand that is for home and about home, and it's all about putting people at the center of it. And that can only be experienced with all four senses, I would say. We bring together food and design and environments and anything from a coffee machine to an outdoor sofa, and we're about lifestyle. The word life is in who we are, and life to me and to us, I think is in real life. And I'm sure Alicia has more to share, but that's where I come.
Alicia Waters:
Yeah, agreed. When I think about our purpose, our purpose is building a home. It's to help customers build a home with purpose. I can't say the word purpose enough. Apparently what that means is that in the retail environment, we can help them build homes with purpose because we have so many services to support them. Like our design desk for example. We're seeing that over a third of our total customers are shopping in store this year. Retail is very strong. The brick and mortar experience is very strong. Customers are looking for those interactions and that support as they make their decisions, especially today in a world where not everyone can move, who wants to move? So if you're in your space and you want to recreate it and make it more functional or make it more beautiful, there are people there that can help that are trained to help. So I think the brick and mortar world is extremely relevant to us and we continue to invest.
Kerry Diamond:
Let's talk about you two a little bit since we were talking about collaboration earlier. How do you two collaborate on your projects?
Alicia Waters:
We're thick as thieves.
Sebastian Brauer:
I would say we have a lot of fun. I feel very grateful and lucky to work with Alicia. I still remember the first day that we met, and when you just have chemistry with someone and you just know that you're going to like each other, I'm very intuitive and I realized that very quickly after meeting someone. And I just remember meeting Alicia and we were just asking questions about each other. She had just moved back from Paris and we were all complimenting our outfits and I could tell that she was creative and had great taste and was obviously very smart, and we just had a lot of things that we could share but also learn from each other. And I don't know. I feel very lucky that I come to this office every day and I get to see Alicia and work with her, and there's a lot of trust and I think admiration and respect, I think that drives how we work and we're very close and we share the good and the bad and the difficult, and I think we're very honest with each other and it helps us be better.
Alicia Waters:
We push each other to be better, and we're relentless about transformation. Neither of us likes to sit around, we're both ants in our pants trying to push this brand and the experience to new places. So we have a lot in common, both personally and professionally.
Kerry Diamond:
Alicia, do you work with creatives in a different way than you work with people from maybe a different part of the company? I'm sure you've learned over the years how to work with creatives.
Alicia Waters:
Yeah, great question. Yes, in that I'm not a creative, but I understand the work and the thought that goes into the product that comes out. So when I provide feedback, for example, I try to really explain where the feedback is coming from, especially if it involves a customer data point or information that would help the person to understand why my point of view is what it is than just saying I like it or I don't, or do it or don't. I think it's important to bring creative people along on the journey because they've spent a lot of effort and time putting together that work product that you're evaluating.
Sebastian Brauer:
And we also have different strengths. And I would say that Alicia is incredibly savvy with data. As she shared earlier, it's one thing to be able to read data, it's another thing to be able to analyze it and come to a conclusion and understand what to take from it. And she's very good at taking those nuggets of gold and feeding them to creatives to be able to influence their work without controlling the creative process. It's almost like giving you magic dust and space to be able to launch a product that is going to succeed. So I think we complement each other really well that way with both sides of the brain.
Kerry Diamond:
We'd love to talk about some trends in both culture and design that are sort of shaping the business today. And it is interesting, the three collab partners that we've talked about, Laura, Molly, Athena, Molly is more food than the other two, but Athena and Laura are so food-adjacent. Food is such a big part of what they do. It might not be their day-to-day job necessarily. And I was curious, how is food impacting what you do today?
Alicia Waters:
Food is at the heart of our brand. I think one of the trends that we're seeing, and that I'm sure you've experienced personally, is that people are living in their kitchens. The kitchen island is the heart of the home and the food that is created there, seasonal ingredients, all of that is the heart of what we do. One of the things that we've seen this year from a trend perspective is the growth in outdoor kitchens. We're seeing outdoor furniture up almost 20% to last year, and we're seeing interest in Google up triple digits. With that, that's the type of brief that I would give Sebastian and his team to help us go out and design bigger sectionals, outdoor kitchens, etc. I think food is at the heart of that, and it also impacts the type of entertaining that we sell. We've shifted into more things that would help with products, that would help with big batch cocktails, cheese trays that are charcuterie trays, etc.
Sebastian Brauer:
And I think what has been fascinating... Yes, Alicia is totally right. Food is such at the core of what we do and such a big source of inspiration for us. But what was fascinating to me in where we are now and where we were a couple of years ago during the pandemic food trends were driven by so much by what you saw in social media. Now, food trends are again being driven by lifestyle and by travel and by being out there in the world and living it. So for instance, right now, we see so many trends that are driven by seasonal foods, which is fascinating. So cherries are in season, our cherry pitter sales skyrocket, and then tomato season is upon us, and anything that we do surrounding tomatoes and tomato harvesting will start to pick up. Coffee has been amazing to see how it's bounced back and how it has grown as a category.
Alicia Waters:
And we saw using our wedding registry data that coffee nooks were becoming a trend. People are creating these beautiful little areas within their kitchens that host these gorgeous machines that they've bought that bring joy to their mornings.
Sebastian Brauer:
And then the trendy cocktail too during the summer, Aperol Spritz, Martinis, Bloody Marys. We see that happen in our sales in glassware too and in barware, and it's always really fun to find those moments to where people are gravitating.
Kerry Diamond:
So interesting how that drives design trends. I've been so surprised at how fancy outdoor kitchens have become. I was thinking when I was a kid growing up, we had a waiting pool and charcoal grill and my dad had some lighter fluid and that was so exciting. And now you see these fully built out outdoor kitchens that are just spectacular.
Alicia Waters:
Absolutely. The outdoor kitchen islands, the larger sectionals are part of that. We're selling more umbrellas. Pizza ovens have been on fire for years now.
Kerry Diamond:
The pizza oven, yep.
Sebastian Brauer:
Fire pit.
Alicia Waters:
Fire pits, yes. We've got a really strong outdoor melamine selection this year, we leaned into that as well. Beverage tubs...
Kerry Diamond:
And tell folks what melamine is in case they're not sure.
Sebastian Brauer:
Melamine is an acrylic. A lot of the acrylic that we use is either recycled or comes from cellulose, so from plant fibers. So we don't really use plastic, but we use eco plastic and it's just durable and unbreakable. You can't really have glass or porcelain by a pool, so it's really easy to care, easy to wash and unbreakable plate that can come in really fun patterns. Or we also sell them in a direct replica of some of our best-selling ceramic tabletop. We sell it in melamine as well. So it comes in a variety of shapes, forms, textures, colors. The outdoor kitchen has also just become another room in the house.
Alicia Waters:
People's expectations for their outdoor spaces have changed. They want to live indoor and outdoor. That's I think one of the few silver linings from COVID is that we all spent more time outside and we've realized that that balance and that grounding is so important. And so, they're looking to upgrade their outdoor spaces and make them more livable and really draw the whole family, friends, neighbors out there with them, eating, drinking, hanging out.
Kerry Diamond:
So how are your grilling skills?
Alicia Waters:
I've kind of been intimidated by grilling my whole life. I actually made this a project last summer to learn how to grill because I love to cook, but I don't know how to grill. I've gotten more confident. I would say my favorite type of grilling is cedar plank related. So soaking the cedar plank in the white wine and doing some salmon-
Kerry Diamond:
In a white wine? Okay, so this isn't one-on-one stuff, Alicia.
Alicia Waters:
Oh, I don't know about that. That's my big trick. It's very fun for me. I haven't gotten super experimental, but I'm having more fun with it.
Kerry Diamond:
Oh, I'm impressed. We did two Women Who Grill events this summer, one with Sarah Glover and the other with Elizabeth Poett. I've always been kind of scared of grilling and we almost set a beach house on fire a few summers ago, so I was like, I've got to learn how to grill. I still am not good at the gas grilling though. I think that's next year, I'm going to learn how to do a gas grill. Sebastian, how about you? Are you a big griller?
Sebastian Brauer:
I love to grill. I actually look forward to the summer and we have beautiful falls here in Chicago and I just grill as much as I can. My dad is a pretty fantastic cook and someone who taught me how to grill, he grills a lot of steak. I grill more vegetables I would say, but I've been grilling a lot of halloumi and peppers and paninis and ciabatta and making really good summer sandwiches. I love a good summer sandwich.
Kerry Diamond:
I can't wait to grill some peaches.
Sebastian Brauer:
Yeah, I've been doing peaches with ricotta and nectarines. I love to grill that. So yeah, I love to grill, but keep it super simple. Most often plant-based actually or veggie. But yeah, I really enjoy the flavors and the easy practice that is grilling. I love it.
Kerry Diamond:
Let's talk a little bit about indoors. What is the state of the dining room these days? You mentioned how the island is now such a central focus of so many homes. What has this meant for the dining room or dining room's a little over right now?
Alicia Waters:
Importance of the dining room hasn't vanished. People are using dining rooms in different ways. What we hear from our customers is they're eating family dinner there on Sunday nights. They're hosting there, they're doing work on the tables there. So it's not the dining room of our grandparents, but still a super relevant space that's often very beautifully decorated. So kind of a calming nice space to be in. Our dining collections really focus on neutral materials that can be dressed up for an occasion or work for every day. We also love mixed media when it comes to the dining room, like blending earthy linens, then bold taper holders on a tablescape in a casual and fun way. So we try to just be able to provide customers with options in that room.
Kerry Diamond:
I don't have a proper dining room, but I do have a big dining table and that has pretty much become my office. That is my home office now. And I would imagine that's driving some trends too.
Sebastian Brauer:
That's exactly how I live too. My dining room is now my studio and I love it for that. But to build on Alicia's point, I think we've seen dining rooms become a lot more casual, but also the design of the home has changed. Formerly, the standard architecture of a home would separate the dining room from the living room, from the kitchen, and now homes have become more open plan and the dining room is not a separate environment, but it's an environment that is connected to the great room and just open. So there's less of a separation, which comes with less formality and for more multi-use practical basis that are versatile and not rigid and just casual entertaining too.
We've seen that starting to happen in our tabletop business too, where customers are gravitating towards pieces that allow them to host graciously, but with ease and in more casual ways versus the formal table setting with the charger and the napkin ring. And this is something that Alicia helped us uncover through some great customer research and insights and we listen to a lot of customers to learn how they're living now and how they're hosting and how they're setting their table. So we're in the middle of taking all of that and evolving how we present that to the customer in our stores and in our assortment, but also on our website too.
Kerry Diamond:
Sebastian, where do you find inspiration? We'd love to know a few places you look.
Sebastian Brauer:
Well, a character of being creative I think is that you find beauty everywhere. So I find inspiration anywhere from nature to art to literature to the latest TV show that I'm watching. I also travel a lot. I'm lucky to travel a lot. It's a passion of mine. I travel a lot for work, but I also travel a lot personally and I would say find most of my inspiration in people and places and in customs and traditions and living the life of locals. Lately, I was in Sicily and crossed the island by car, by myself. I really wanted to do that on my own to take it all in. And I found inspiration everywhere from fishermen villages to great food places, to street markets to antique fairs, and that's really where a lot of my inspiration comes from, art shows, big cities, people music everywhere.
Kerry Diamond:
Wait, did you share those pictures on Instagram? That sounds like such a dreamy trip.
Sebastian Brauer:
Oh, I did. Every day, I did. I love to share. Mostly for me actually to remember. I use Instagram as my personal diary actually, because I'm more of a visual person than a writer. But it's always gratifying to be that it inspires others or that others like it and want to see more. So yeah, I did share the trip a lot.
Kerry Diamond:
Alicia, how about you? Where do you find inspiration?
Alicia Waters:
I find inspiration everywhere. I find a lot of inspiration in nature. Just the colors that happen throughout the year in nature are very inspiring to me. I travel a lot as well. I also love to go to museums, so I kind of find it everywhere. And then I also find inspiration in data and in studying our customer, as nerdy as that sounds, you can learn a lot. Again, it's the child of two psychologists coming out of me. If you study people, it's very inspiring to think about how you can help them and drive them toward a home with purpose.
Kerry Diamond:
You too look like you have great personal style too. I have to give a shout-out to that. I want to know about your glasses and your scarf, Alicia.
Alicia Waters:
Pretty sure I bought these at a drug store. So these aren't special, my glasses... I think the scarf is Claire V and the top is Sezanne.
Kerry Diamond:
Oh, you know what, you just teed up my next question perfectly. Because you spent some time in Paris. You lived there for two years with your family while working for a German fashion brand. Everybody's buzzing about Paris this year. We just did our first ever Paris issue. What did you learn living and working in Paris?
Alicia Waters:
So much. Living in France was just such a great opportunity to reset, get inspired, immerse myself in a different culture. I wasn't a Francophile when I got there, and I definitely left an absolute Francophile. I think the biggest thing I learned is that when people do things in Paris, they enjoy them. Dinner, you don't have your phone out because you're truly ruminating over the meal in the most beautiful and perfect way. It was very common for me to eat by myself and just watch people and enjoy my food in a way that I would never luxuriate here in the U.S. So I took away taste, beauty, experiences, being in the moment.
The other thing I took away is just the aesthetic of timelessness meeting modern, which is something we actually took into Crate & Barrel and into the work that we do every day. I think that that tension very much applies to Crate & Barrel, that you can be modern and timeless at the same time and that you don't have to be perfect. I saw it in Paris all the time. You see women that have gorgeous healthy hair that are very messy or a modern table that has mismatched or broken China on it. That tension is what makes it cool. And so, that was really amazing. The other thing was just biophilic design, just seeing nature, trees, indoor, outdoor, every space felt like a blend of the outside and the inside. I think that's something that we also try to bring into our environments at Crate & Barrel.
Kerry Diamond:
I've never heard that word before, biophilic?
Alicia Waters:
Biophilic design. Yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
Tell us a little bit more about that.
Sebastian Brauer:
It's design that integrates nature into its core principles. If you see a building that has a grand courtyard that blends the inside with the outside, that's what more biophilic or uses natural material, a lot of green walls that you see. That's really the beginning of what we know as biophilic design today. Natural light being or principle, how they use energy and reuse energy. It's just essentially integrating nature and nature principles into architecture and design.
Kerry Diamond:
Oh, that's so interesting. I would imagine that's driving a lot these days.
Sebastian Brauer:
Oh, yeah. And here in Chicago for instance, we see one of my favorite architect, Jeanne Gang, who incorporates a lot of biophilic design into her practice and definitely something that inspires us now in how we look at the home and what's coming next. We're doing a lot of research around natural materials and circular materials that come from nature, anything from leather that comes from mushrooms to plastic that comes from a rice husk. So we do spend quite a bit of time finding new innovative solutions that incorporate nature's principles into the design process.
Kerry Diamond:
Before I let you go, I would love to get some advice from you for somebody who wants to do a career pivot or maybe somebody who's in college these days who is really curious about a career in retail and design. Any advice?
Sebastian Brauer:
Well, the beauty about retail is that it's an industry and a practice that incorporate so many different industries. So you can study engineering and end up in retail. You can study data science and end up in retail. You can study design like me and end up in retail, business, marketing, communications, PR. It really is one of those industries and practices and careers that incorporate so many different areas of industry. So if you like a little bit of everything and you have courage, because retail is not for the faint of heart, it's a lot of detail and it's a lot of courage and a lot of hard work to run a retailer effectively, then retail is right for you, I would say.
Alicia Waters:
I agree. Retail is a team sport. You have to be someone who really enjoys working in that type of environment. The other thing that I would recommend is to go get a job in a retail store, see if you like it. It's a lot of pressure to sell every day. You get feedback every day. You're evaluated every day. Your competition is knocking you off every day. So again, like Sebastian said, it's not for the faint of heart, but for someone that gets adrenaline from it, enjoys the creative process and focusing on the customer and bringing service to the customer, it's a fabulous industry to work in.
Sebastian Brauer:
And it's constantly changing at the speed of now. Retail moves so fast and it's all about being in the moment and at the right place at the right time. So yeah, if you like speed and energy and doing 10 different things in one day, then retail is-
Kerry Diamond:
And shopping.
Sebastian Brauer:
... and shopping, yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
We love shopping. And Alicia, you touched on trusting your gut earlier and we recently celebrated our ten-year anniversary of Radio Cherry Bombe and have had over 500 folks on the show. And someone asked me what the common denominator was, and I said, "I think everyone on the show has learned to trust their gut." And you mentioned that a little bit earlier, and I'm just curious, how do you marry that with your love of data?
Alicia Waters:
Data helps inform my gut. It's not the only thing, but it's part of what I take in to understand a situation and then I just marry it with my intuition and that is gut. And then it's just the courage to your point of sticking with your gut.
Kerry Diamond:
All right, let's do a little speed round. What is one of your favorite books on food?
Alicia Waters:
Right now, I'm really into Gaby Dalkin's new outdoor grilling book, “Grilling All the Things.” Again, because I am a little bit afraid of grilling still. So she's giving me confidence and practical tips. So definitely that one.
Sebastian Brauer:
Ruth Rogers is a muse of mine. I admire her tremendously. So I have to say that “River Cafe” cookbook is kind of my cooking bible and whenever I'm in London, I definitely make a stop at the River Cafe.
Kerry Diamond:
She's the best, isn't she? And that big bright pink oven that they have right in the center.
Sebastian Brauer:
Everything about it, her style, the style of her restaurant, her point of view on food, that place is my heaven.
Kerry Diamond:
Favorite food movie.
Alicia Waters:
“Eat, Pray, Love” just because she's in those three beautiful environments, the Italian scenes of her eating pasta just make me hungry. The whole movie makes me hungry.
Kerry Diamond:
Sebastian, how about you? You kind of had a mini “Eat, Pray, Love” there this summer.
Sebastian Brauer:
Oh, yeah. I go for an “Eat, Pray, Love” every year. Actually June for me, and I go “Eat, Pray, Love” every June, every year. But my favorite food movie, I'm a big sweet tooth and I love “Chocolat.” I just watched it recently and I forgot how good it was. So I love that movie.
Kerry Diamond:
Favorite kitchen tool. That must be hard. You two have so many kitchen tools at your disposal.
Alicia Waters:
I like a fish spatula, it picks up everything good for frying, baking, roasting.
Sebastian Brauer:
And I can't live without my Vitamix. I use it for everything.
Kerry Diamond:
One thing that's always in your fridge.
Alicia Waters:
Sriracha, fish sauce, Parmesan.
Sebastian Brauer:
For me, it's Parmesan cheese.
Kerry Diamond:
Snack food of choice.
Alicia Waters:
Chocolate.
Sebastian Brauer:
I love whatever's in season. Right now, I'm obsessed with cherries, so all I eat is cherries for snacks.
Kerry Diamond:
Is there a lot of snacking in the Crate & Barrel offices? Are you like a tech startup?
Sebastian Brauer:
Well, Alicia's office, she has a pretty impressive snack pantry. I don't think I've ever met anybody that snacks as much as Alicia.
Alicia Waters:
I run on snacks, yes.
Sebastian Brauer:
Really good snacks too. Really healthy and such a good variety and things that I've never seen before. So a pro snacker for sure.
Kerry Diamond:
What are you streaming right now?
Alicia Waters:
“The Bear,” of course. Here in our backyard in Chicago, it's so compelling.
Sebastian Brauer:
I just finished streaming “Hacks” with Jean Smart.
Kerry Diamond:
I'm also slightly obsessed with Vegas right now, Sebastian, I also loved “Hacks” for that reason.
Sebastian Brauer:
I always love a good Vegas trip, actually. I see what you see.
Kerry Diamond:
We'll have to trade notes. Okay, any motto or mantra that gets you through the day?
Alicia Waters:
Don't believe in failure.
Kerry Diamond:
Can you expand on that a sec? That's a very powerful statement.
Alicia Waters:
This might sound obtuse, but I really don't believe in failure. I think that everything in life is a learning and it's all about how quickly you understand what's going on and then shift course to get where you want to get. The more you worry about failure, the more you will actually not succeed. So I just don't focus on it.
Kerry Diamond:
Right. Don't give it that energy.
Alicia Waters:
Yeah, don't give it that energy. Put your energy toward what you're trying to do.
Kerry Diamond:
Sebastian?
Sebastian Brauer:
I have two, really. My first one is don't trip on toothpicks. I use this a lot in my personal life and with my team too, to just simplify things. And then the other one that I really like is collect people in places, not things.
Kerry Diamond:
Okay, but wait, I need you to go back to the toothpicks one because I literally have never heard that saying, but it's kind of genius.
Sebastian Brauer:
I can't remember where I heard it. But once I heard it, it just stuck with me. And it's just such a powerful, funny, memorable, short sentence that can help your life be so much better when problems seem humongous and you realize that sometimes there's just toothpicks, you just get them out of your way. So it's just a really good mantra to keep you moving forward and not focus on the problems.
Kerry Diamond:
Don't sweat the small stuff.
Sebastian Brauer:
Yeah. And just think about solutions.
Kerry Diamond:
Okay, last question. If you had to be stuck on a desert island with one food celebrity, who would it be and why?
Alicia Waters:
I'd go with Chef Eric Adjepong. We just collaborated with him and he was the most lovely, humble, and kind partner and extremely talented. He cooked for us in the kitchen several times, so I think he'd make great food and be great to hang out with.
Sebastian Brauer:
And for me, it would be Ruth Rogers because I want to just know everything about her from her. And I would definitely be somewhere in the Aeolian Islands with her.
Kerry Diamond:
That sounds perfect. Well, I can't thank you two enough. Crate & Barrel is such an inspiration to so many of us in the industry, and it was wonderful to learn a little bit more about you two and how you do the collaborations and make all the magic that you do every day.
Alicia Waters:
Our pleasure. Thank you so much for having us.
Sebastian Brauer:
Thank you so much. And congratulations on 10 years of your program. 500 guests, that's incredible.
Alicia Waters:
I love this podcast.
Kerry Diamond:
That's it for today's show. I would love for you to subscribe to Radio Cherry Bombe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and leave a rating and a review. Let me know what you think about the show and who you would love to hear from on a future episode. Our theme song is by the band, Tralala. Joseph Hazan is a studio engineer for Newsstand Studios at Rockefeller Center. Our producers are Catherine Baker and Elizabeth Vogt. Our associate producer is Jenna Sadhu, and our content and partnerships manager is Londyn Crenshaw. Thanks for listening, everybody. You are the Bombe.