 I'm Shannon, a storyteller at Go Daddy who loves celebrating people who are making their own way and pursuing independent achievement. This is School of Hustle, the show where we talk with New York's top entrepreneurs and hustlers to learn and understand and get inspiration from what they're doing. Today, I am so excited to have a very special guest. She is one of New York's most seven influential women, fashion illustrator and co-founder of Chic Sketch, Emily Brachelle Edelson. It's so nice to have you. Thank you. Please tell me about this beautiful pillow that you brought on today. We are obviously obsessed with the pillow landscape and it fits right in. Let's take a look. Yes, so obsessed with it. I drew this. This is actually from one of the editors of a new beauty magazine, so she's my friend. I did her and I just think it's so adorable and she... So, okay, wait a minute. You have a friend who's an editor who was now on a pillow that you drew. Yes. Okay, I have to re... I want to unpack this. Okay. Let's get into what Chic Sketch is really all about because this is really cool and I kind of want to see like myself or a friend on a pillow. That's amazing. So talk to me about how this works. So you can be a pillow. Anybody can be a pillow. Really, what it is is we will sketch you and you can put yourself on merchandise. So it's just so fun and just best, you know, best to get for a friend or whatever you guys want. But it's fun. It's all about your real fashion illustrator and that's really what Chic Sketch is about. Do you have any technology that you've developed? I feel like you have an awesome app. Yes. So we have an app. It's a Chic Sketch app. You basically just send your photo and we'll sketch you. It's all by real fashion illustrator. So it's myself and my team of artists and before that like only Kim Kardashian can get her sketched by a fashion illustrator and now everybody's done. It's like we just kind of made it for the masses. I just felt like it was really something that people wanted out there. Yeah. And then what better thing to kind of elevate it and put it on products? So I'm still a fashion illustrator. It's my passion. It's my favorite thing. And what we kind of did, so it's myself and my husband who are the co-founder of Chic Sketch. He is an app developer. I am a tech lover, fashion enthusiast. We really married fashion and technology together and it kind of just became something like bigger than us and something that we can really scale that we're working on scaling, that we can, you know, go to a ton of events. So we do live events. We work with hundreds of brands. We go to, we sketch up parties. We sketch guest live. We also can just, you can just submit your photo to the app. It's, you know, there are so much fun tech things we've done. You could put your logo on it. You can share it on social media. It goes viral. It's just, just really fun. And I think fashion can sometimes be like stressful. I'm like, oh my god, double words Prada. But we want to bring fun back to it because we love fashion, right? So and all these girls do. So I think it's just something that really is like your authentic stuff on, in your sketch. And that's what we do best to translate you. What we do is we make everyone look chic. So it's not like a caricature on the street where you're like, oh my god, my forehead, my nose, like what is, what are you drawing? Okay. No, we're making you into a fashion sketch and we're making people happy. Yeah. And I think at the end of the day, if you had a bad day and you're bloated and you don't like your outfit or your hair got rained on, but you got a chic sketch and you're like this fashion illustrator sees this in me. It's a real boost of confidence. And that's really what our business is about. Like essentially we want that. We want to just make people happier. I absolutely love that. I have to ask you, have you ever had somebody not like a sketch? I mean, so that's a mess. I want us to have you deal with that feedback when they're in your face. Right. You know, this isn't customer service. Someone sends an email. Right. Like they're right there. Right. I mean, like at parties and events, like sometimes we have had that. Most of the time people really love it. And generally if you're not an artist and you're watching someone sketch it, even like, I mean, for me, like, I'm always like, oh, this is good enough. I'm, you know, I'm judging myself when I'm doing it. There's so much pressure. But then I see that the person is not an artist and whatever I'm doing, they're wowed by because they can't draw maybe. Or if they are an artist, that's when I get the most comments. They're like, well, I'm an artist. My eyes a little crooked and I'm like, oops. Okay, you know what you're talking about. So now I feel extra pressure. But I mean, it's easy to fix it. Like we can just fix it. I want people to be happy. You know, and it's interesting to see people's perspectives of themselves because sometimes like they don't really know what they look like and they look exactly like that. But they're like, I look nothing like that. It's funny to see people's own reality, their perspectives of themselves. That's so interesting. Really, you're innovating and you're doing customer service and you're doing arguing so many things. And you mentioned earlier that you work with your husband. Yeah. So I want to quickly go back to that because you you go to work together, but you live together. And how do you make that work? That's a good question. Well, fortunately, we are like glued to each other's hip and we don't get bored of each other. So I think that's really important. Like we miss each other if we're gone during a meeting. And I know, I know. And I'm getting an idea for a new show about relationship advice. I love it. So you have the right partner. Yes. You have the partner friend in life that you have transferred to business. We're best friends. I love it. We really like, there's a lot of strengths that he has, but I don't. And a lot of strengths that I have that he doesn't and things that he does that I really don't want to do and vice versa. So we work really well together. I mean, we always bounce off advice over each other and some things like the creative, I'll be like, no, like, I don't care what you say, like, this is my call, I get to make the final decision. But when it comes to other things, like, I'll be like, okay, you know, that's your area, the tech part, like, you can, you know, you can definitely handle that. And I give, we kind of play off each other really well. And we're married in real life on a business. And it sounds like that spirit actually applies to you, even if you're not married, you don't have to go into business with your best friend or your husband, wife, partner. But that idea where finding folks who have something that you don't, listening, finding that. Exactly. Always surround yourself with people smarter than you are. And that's true because, you know, there's always something that people can do better than you. And I think you should stick with your strengths. Like, for me, it's the fashion illustration, it's the creative direction, it's the art, it's the fashion, like, that part of it. But hiring someone to do our accounting or hiring someone to do our scheduling or, you know, handle some things that we need help with, you have to do that to really grow your business. And you have to be self-aware to know what you don't know. Yeah. For someone who knows what they don't know, that's hard to do. Yeah. And it sounds like you know what you don't know. You have to. You kind of have to get, I think also as an entrepreneur, you have to really get to know yourself and know your strengths and your weaknesses. Exactly. There's a lot of self-reflection and awareness. Yeah. When you're embarking on your own business. Right? Yeah. Yeah. Um, if you think back, you know, what was a piece of advice that you got along the way? So it was definitely, my mentor is Gabrielle Bernstein. I don't know if you guys know who that is. She's like a spiritual guru, Carrie Bradshaw and heels. But something she said to me was to be your own guru. And I think that's so important because there are so many people who will offer advice, but you really need to kind of like sit. I meditate. I take a bath. I take a walk. And I think like your intuition really is what's going to tell you what's best for you. So that's my favorite, my favorite piece of advice. I like that advice. Do we take enough time to just reflect and pause? Because also like you have the answer. If you stop and think about it, you'll know the answer. Yeah. Whenever you get heated and get flustered, the best decisions are not made. Right. Yeah. We'll do this together. Flip side. I have to ask you, what is the worst piece of advice? Okay. Well, the worst piece of advice is millions of people telling me you can't do this. Really? Yeah. No, I mean, so many people are saying you can't do this. I remember people saying, well, you're an executive assistant. That's all you could be or don't start a business. Your head's gonna get too big. Don't do this. Don't do that. Don't, you know, or you're not going to make it. You're going to fail. And I think like I use all that as fuel because there's always going to be these naysayers. And the thing is, if they're not doing what you want to be doing, don't take their advice. That's it. It's fantastic to see your company and your business grow as much as it has and innovate as much as it has. How do you stay on top of the trends? So I, well, first of all, my favorite thing is to go to the fashion shows. I look on Vogue.com. I'm, you know, very in tune with what's happening in the fashion world. I was trained as a trend forecaster years ago. So I know how to like pick up on these things. Oh, interesting. Yeah. And like what's happening in society in the world also in terms of trends and fashion. Yeah. So you want to be on the pulse of all of those things. Absolutely. Well, our tribe was really excited to see that you were coming today and they put out some questions in social. Awesome. So Emily, of all names, a lovely name, Emily asks, what is your favorite sketch to date? So my favorite sketch was sketching one of my all time favorite people, Rachel Zoo. I had an opportunity to sketch her when we were working with Polo Ralph Lauren in Beverly Hills. So they flew us out and hired us to sketch at their event that was co-hosted by Rachel Zoo and the Zoo Report. And then they used my sketches on the hang tubs in Beverly Hills Rodeo Drive in Polo Ralph Lauren and I pretty much just got a chill. Okay, so that means something to you. Yeah. Would you say that is your made it moment? 100%. Okay. This is amazing. Thank you. I mean, I love Rachel Zoo and also always wanted to be a fashion designer. So like having my sketches on clothes for Ralph Lauren, one of the biggest memes and Rachel Zoo who to me encompasses what it is to be like a successful female entrepreneur with multiple businesses with a household name, with a family. She looks amazing every day. Like she rocks it and she's definitely one of my inspirations. And not to mention having your sketch on that address. Yeah. That's impressive. Jamie asks, what is that one essential fashion accessory or piece for a job interview? I would say a little black dress, but I would also say research where you're interviewing and look at the culture, look at how they dress and try to put your style into something that would fit in in that culture. So but the little black dress, you really can't go wrong. And now I want to make things really personal. Okay. And I have a game that we're going to play called Hustle Time. And we are going to see what we can learn about you in 60 seconds. Okay. Jonathan, will you please bring the cards? This is not fixed in any way. Okay. So I'm going to give you the opportunity to shuffle, cut, do what you need to do with the deck to feel like this is a fair game. I feel good. Yeah, I feel good. Okay. So we're going to set a timer for 60 seconds. You're going to get through as many questions as you possibly can. Okay. The longer you think, the less cards we get through. Right. We want to learn a lot about you. So then the spirit is say what comes first to mind. Okay. And just go fast. Okay. What's the first app you open in the morning? Instagram. New York or London? New York. Early bird or night owl? Early bird. Last person you texted? My husband, Jordan. Favorite breakfast food? Gluten-free, dairy-free, protein, pancake. Binge watch or watch weekly? Watch weekly. Favorite Disney movie? Beauty and the Beast. Finish this sentence when I dance I look like? A crazy person. Football, NFL or soccer? No sports. First place you visit when you retire? Uh, Greece. Top quality you look for in an employee? Trustworthy. Surf's up or cocktail poolside? Cocktail poolside. Coffee or tea? Coffee. Best place you've traveled? Capri. First record you bought with your own money? Record, uh, Green Day. New York City tourists help with directions or keep on your way? Uh, app. Using that Google directions app. First concert you ever saw? Uh, 98 degrees. Who is someone that declined success to you? Um, Rachel Zoe. Favorite New York City tourist attraction? Empire State Building. Cats or dogs? Dogs. Wow. This is a lot of cards. Let's see what we got because we are entrepreneurs and we are competitive. So let's see how we did. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20. What's your average? Okay. Tell me your average. Uh, well, we have a leaderboard and right now you are in first place and you have a little bit of a lead. So this is fantastic. I love it. Um, thank you so much for being a part of this conversation. Pleasure. I am so excited to see what you're doing and I actually, and I think everybody would like to see you do what you do here on the show. Yeah. And, um, I think it's really time that we do a sketch on film. We're going to bring out GoDaddy's newest employee who is a 10 year old pug named Noodle. He's an Instagram celebrity. Okay. He's a very artistic. He can't hold a pencil, but he really appreciates art. Let's bring in Noodle. Amazing. To sketch Noodle. Where would we like Noodle to be positioned? Do you want me to hold him while you sketch? Yeah, that sounds good. Okay. I'll do my iPad. Maybe. Maybe. We appreciate the time and he's inspiring us. Um, you know, in closing, I think that Noodle here could use some advice. He's afraid to draw. You know, he can't really control the pencil. Like I said, what advice do you have for somebody who wants to get started illustrating and doesn't know where to begin? So I would say start with just the first line. I think that the hardest part is starting and getting like in your head and like stressing out. But if you just really put pens of paper or pencil to iPad and you go and put some music on, just relax, and I think like don't judge yourself. Just do it and see where it takes you. Thank you.