Inspired with Alexa von Tobel
00:49:20 · Nate Berkus, Alexa von Tobel
[00:49:20] S0: Yeah, that's what it feels like to me. I just, I don't know that ate a burrito on Instagram the other day because my team was like, go to this burrito place. And I was like, I'm only doing this because I really want a burrito. [00:49:34] S1: I'm like, I love that. I totally love that. And I was really giggling a little bit that your colleagues were like, Nate Nate, it's normal for people to share their their cream. [00:49:46] S0: Yeah. No. I mean, were like, just move on. And I I was like, okay. Alright. Okay. I believe you guys. [00:49:53] S1: Nate, one question I wanna ask before we move to kind of a quick fire round, and I have some questions I'm pumped to ask you. What if you step back? What do you think to date would be one of the biggest pinch me moments in your career? Because you've done... I mean, you are truly multi hyphenate. You've written books. You've had shows. You have lines. You have... You've decorated everything that matters. You've gotten every design award that exists. For you, what was a pinch me moment? [00:50:20] S0: They're all. I mean that sincerely. I still have them all the time. And I think when you stop having pinch me moments, you're just dialing it in. They are so love [00:50:33] S1: good Nate.
00:50:33 · Alexa von Tobel, Nate Berkus
[00:50:33] S1: good Nate. [00:50:33] S0: They are though. I mean, that is true. I you know, there's the big ones that we can talk about. Oprah grabbing my hand on my third show that I'd done and saying Nate Berkus, remember his name. I mean, I'll never forget that moment. But they're all pinch me moments. I was in Boston meeting with a company the other day and I met all their buyers and all their merchandisers and everybody that makes that company run and all the creatives there. And I was like, this is brilliant. I'm sitting at the front of a boardroom with a monitor behind me playing a thing my team made that I got to consult on and I'm sharing with this massive, massive retailer all of my views and ideas visually and explaining why, it's all a pinch me moment. And you know what else is a pinch me moment? Laying in bed next to my son and listening to him read out loud a book, a Roald Dahl that I loved in second grade. It's all good. [00:51:42] S1: You have an infectious zest for life at its core. You ooze passion and creativity, and you have a spring in your step, quite literally. [00:51:52] S0: It's fun. So do you. You know what, I think that's one of the things that connected us so many years ago. [00:51:58] S1: Nate, quick fire round. [00:52:00] S0: So I'm ready. [00:52:01] S1: What is your wildest on camera moment? [00:52:03] S0: Wow, woah. [00:52:04] S1: What was your weirdest wildest
00:52:04 · Alexa von Tobel, Nate Berkus
[00:52:04] S1: What was your weirdest wildest [00:52:07] S0: Wildest on camera moment. Okay, this isn't quick fire and I apologize, but I have to answer this really, I have to answer this way because I have a deep thought about this, okay? [00:52:17] S1: Go for it. [00:52:19] S0: I haven't had one and I'll tell you why, and I'll tell you why I think YouTube is the future of TV. The gatekeeping that goes on between the talent and the audience by the networks, by production, by editors, by the whole machine is almost over. And so Jeremiah and I have had fights on TV that don't make it on. We've had the craziest bloopers and the funniest things and also real situations that don't make it on. [00:52:55] S1: You're like, it makes it on. [00:53:01] S0: In YouTube, it makes it on. There is nothing between you and the people interested in what you are doing and what you have to say. That's it. For good or bad, by the way. Take that anyway. It can't all be great. So... But I [00:53:17] S1: love it. I love it. That was a great answer. Nate, what is a design era that you'd love to live in? [00:53:23] S0: Oh, wow. So many, but if I had to pick my favorite, I would say France in the nineteen fifties. [00:53:29] S1: Oh, nailed it. What's your go to cocktail? [00:53:36] S0: Any Blanco tequila, don't care, with soda and lots of fresh lemon juice. [00:53:43] S1: Love it. [00:53:44] S0: It feels healthy. [00:53:46] S1: Sorry, that's a vitamin. [00:53:47] S0: Feels like I'm juicing. [00:53:48] S1: It's a vitamin. [00:53:50] S0: Yeah, exactly.
00:53:50 · Nate Berkus, Alexa von Tobel
[00:53:50] S0: Yeah, exactly. [00:53:52] S1: Nate, what is a boutique hotel that you love? [00:53:58] S0: I think that the Aman in Laos in Luang Prabang is singular. It is one of the most, if anyone has the opportunity to go there, visit it, even go for lunch or a drink, it was built in a former French colonial hospital. The architecture is amazing and Luang Prabang is one of the most magical, it's right on the Mekong River. I would say that that would be, it's not really a boutique hotel because it's part of that chain, but it's small. [00:54:29] S1: Yeah, the word singular is such a compliment, [00:54:31] S0: oh my god. It's singular, and Posta Vecchia in Rome, outside of Rome. It's unbelievable, it was the former Getty mansion. It was built for the Orsini family who have a medieval castle next door, and this villa, this insane villa was built to house their guests. So it still has the spirit of hospitality like that. [00:54:53] S1: I love that so much. Favorite city? [00:54:57] S0: New York. [00:54:58] S1: Oh God, great answer. [00:55:00] S0: I love it so much here. It's the best. [00:55:03] S1: Okay. Last two quick questions. What is a mantra that kind of just like runs through your body? A saying, a belief.
00:55:03 · Alexa von Tobel, Nate Berkus
[00:55:03] S1: Okay. Last two quick questions. What is a mantra that kind of just like runs through your body? A saying, a belief. [00:55:12] S0: It's that Maya Angelou, when people show you who they are, believe them the first time. It's Maya Angelou or Toni Morrison. I can't actually remember who said it first. It's been repeated so often, but I really feel like it applies to everything. Applies to business, it applies to signing new clients, it applies to meeting a mom at school. Like it's just believe people. They're showing you who they are. Just listen. [00:55:42] S1: I I... What a beautiful... That's beautiful. And I'm gonna end on a fun one since we have so many kids in common, and I'm so fortunate to be a friend and fellow parent. What is, like, a parenting mentality that you can pay it forward to people? Cause I get to see what a beautiful, beautiful parent you are.
00:55:42 · Alexa von Tobel, Nate Berkus
[00:55:42] S1: I I... What a beautiful... That's beautiful. And I'm gonna end on a fun one since we have so many kids in common, and I'm so fortunate to be a friend and fellow parent. What is, like, a parenting mentality that you can pay it forward to people? Cause I get to see what a beautiful, beautiful parent you are. [00:56:00] S0: I have always been really hesitant to give other people parenting advice because I think it's such a deeply personal journey. I also think my children would be awful if it were just me. My husband is so consistent and like unbelievable. He's like the disciplinarian and the one that they run to get in trouble with and the one that they run to when they hurt their knee. So he's got a lot of that on lockdown in our family dynamic. But I guess one thing I would share is that we really don't have any expectations of our children other than to be kind and that's kind of it. We want them to do well in school, we want them to, but when we go for conferences where we say, did they try? Are they kind? I think that we're really set up to welcome whoever those kids evolve into being. We can be as structured around them as we need be, but the truth is that I don't need to live out any dreams of my own through my children. [00:57:10] S1: I think that is such a beautiful place because they are the most important work that we will ever do.