Fireside Chat with Audrey Woollen & Sarah Sherman Samuel

There's a certain anticipation that Sundays bring. Especially Sundays that finish in new friends, a few glasses of rosé, outstanding conversation, and some good jams (and, we suppose, the beginning of the end of Game of Thrones!!). This Sunday was one of those special ones, capped off by a Fireside Chat with interior designer Sarah Sherman Samuel and Audrey Woollen, the owner of Urbanic. Almost a decade of friendship between them, Sarah and Audrey brought lots of laughter and anecdotes into the evening's conversation. Needless to say, we adored our chat with them.

A quick introduction to the two talented ladies:

Sarah Sherman Samuel transitioned from designing notebooks and stationery for Target to running her own blog and becoming an independent designer and art director. Most recently, she is designing Mandy Moore's new home.

Audrey Woollen began Urbanic by selling cards at Farmers Markets around LA; then she moved into her storefront on Abbott Kinney. Over the past eleven years on the block, Urbanic has become the go-to place for high-quality stationery and charming gifts in Venice.

Want to learn more about Audrey and Sarah? They're featured in Issue 01 and Issue 02 (respectively). Click here to get a copy of the magazines.

During our chat, Sarah and Audrey each touched on the challenges they experienced as young mothers running businesses. Sarah recounted a phone call with her website developer as she was in labor, while Audrey laughed in retrospect at her resistance to hiring an employee. She delayed the hiring process for so long that she began training her first employee just two days before giving birth.

A huge shout out to Queue DJ for providing the best soundtrack to the evening, to Paper Planes for the delicious rosé, to Parachute Hotel for their enchanting space, and, of course, to all of the lovely bossladies in attendance. `

My co-host Marisa Vitale and I are so looking forward to next month's Fireside Chat with Hopie Stockman of Block Shop Textiles. Hope to see you all back again.

Photographs by Marisa Vitale Photography.