A $2,500 Coat Carried Me Through Depression

Something tells me I’m in good company when I say that Tumblr quite literally brought me back to life circa 2011…I was 20, a college dropout in the darkest year of my life, and every single morning I woke up and checked Tumblr for new photos of the Olsen twins. Then one morning, there she was: Mary-Kate, stepping out in a floor-length red Lanvin coat. I wanted that coat with every fiber of my being. It cost more than I could imagine…and that reality was starkly contrasted with the fact that I could barely get out of bed those days. And yet that coat became the thing I held onto, proof that beauty still existed (and that maybe, one day, I would get to wear it). This episode is my whole fashion story and philosophy: my mother looking at a magazine and telling me, “Oh, darling, those are Miu Miu,” the years I abandoned my creative side to build a business, and the war I have waged my entire life between my body and my sense of style. I recorded it because I am so tired of fashion being dismissed as shallow. Clothes are not frivolous. They are art. They are identity. They are what we say before we ever open our mouths.And as REVUE women, we know one thing to be true: beauty, creativity, and cultural luxury is the best pursuit. Referenced in This Episode:* My Body Was Dolce & Gabbana. I Wanted to Be Miu Miu.* My previous episode with Niyat Tekeste on the business of fashion* CBK Made Me Depressed: This Isn’t About Her Prada Jacket* Elie’s essay on dressing for your style instead of your body* André Leon Talley in The September IssueFollow Along:Instagram: @gabriellescoutmaioREVUE Newsletter: Subscribe to REVUE, a weekly Sunday letter for the most interesting woman in the room HEREScout’s Agency: Learn more about Scout’s Agency, a visibility atelier specializing in curated podcast tours and cultural placement for women in positions of authority HEREREVUE: The newsletter for interesting women. Get full access to REVUE at revuewoman.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode of REVUE by SCOUT, Gabrielle Scout sits down with Niyat Tekeste, Founder of April 47 Brand Management and VP of Sales at BESTSELLER Canada. Niyat has spent more than fifteen years on the vendor side of wholesale across Canada, the US, the EU, and Asia, building brands from the ground up. She is obsessed with the business of fashion. She doesn’t care about the glossy side. She cares about the mechanics of how a product gets from a founder’s garage to a retail shelf. Now she is building in public, sharing the wholesale playbook with the founders who need it most.What unfolds is a salon conversation between two women who met over a voice note and recognized each other instantly. They move between strategy and style, covering the forces reshaping retail, the women who actually run fashion, and the negotiation between the body you have and the aesthetic you love.Topics explored in this episode include:* How a formidable female boss in wholesale showed Niyat what was possible for a woman in a creative industry, and why being intrapreneurial is the most valuable mindset you can bring to any job. * What wholesale actually means, why retailers now buy brands that have already proven themselves, and the pricing rule every founder should follow from day one. * The decline of the department store and the case for bringing Barneys back. * Why luxury shoppers still buy in person, and how platforms like Moda Operandi and Mytheresa became the new magazines, complete with a pay-to-play tier most founders never see coming. * What Vogue could become if it turned its access toward the women running fashion’s operations. * And the personal: favorite brands, the gray streak, and whether you should dress for your body type or your style.This episode is for the founder with a beautiful product and no map to the shelf, and for every woman who is equal parts architect and muse.Follow Niyat:Instagram: @niyattekesteFollow Along:Instagram: @gabriellescoutmaioREVUE Newsletter: Subscribe to REVUE, a weekly Sunday letter for the most interesting woman in the room HEREScout’s Agency: Learn more about Scout’s Agency, a visibility atelier specializing in curated podcast tours and cultural placement for women in positions of authority HEREREVUE: Designed to bring more depth, intention, and cultural luxury into your week. The newsletter for the interesting woman. Get full access to REVUE at revuewoman.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode of REVUE by SCOUT, Gabrielle Scout sits down with Letha Sandison, founder of Four Moon Spa, the outdoor sanctuary in Encinitas that feels like stepping through a portal to Tulum or Bali. Behind the koi pond, the bungalows, and the serenity is a woman who is strong, strategic, and unapologetically ambitious. As Gabrielle puts it, everyone who visits gets to glide because Letha is paddling.What unfolds is a candid salon conversation about the space between spirituality and reality. Together, Gabrielle and Letha question the wellness culture that promises results without effort, the manifesting narratives that leave women blaming themselves when life intervenes, and the motherhood standards that ask women to be everything at once.Topics explored in this episode include:* Why a spiritual practice that only serves you on the yoga mat isn’t really working, and how Letha weaves ritual into running a business, raising children, and moving through hard seasons. * The fourth grade aptitude test that told Letha she would be an entrepreneur, and how feeling like an outsider as a child can become the foundation for building your own road. * The glamorization of entrepreneurship, and the uncomfortable truth that it only looks glamorous to the people whose brains are wired for it. * A two-step framework for finding your why: first get selfish about what makes you feel aligned, then decide where to channel that energy. * The pendulum swing from hustle culture to soft girl era, why the law of attraction is not the only law at play, and what happens when lifestyle goals stay the same but the willingness to work changes. * The quiet addiction to healing, and why the best wisdom you will ever receive is your own. * Trade-offs as the honest currency of every life, whether you are building an empire or making jam on a farm. * Lowering the bar on motherhood, the judgment working mothers face, and why modeling a fully lived life may be the greatest gift we give our daughters.This episode is for the woman who wants both the ritual and the results. It’s an invitation to stop waiting for the universe to do the work, to get honest about what you want and what it will take, and to extend a little more grace to yourself and every other woman doing her best.Follow along:Four Moon Spa, Encinitas: fourmoonspa.comLetha on Instagram: @lethasandisonGabrielle Scout on Instagram: @gabriellescoutmaio Scout’s Agency: Learn more about Scout’s Agency, a visibility atelier specializing in curated podcast tours and cultural placement for women in positions of authority at www.scoutsagency.comSubscribe to REVUE the newsletter HERE.Conversations for interesting women. Designed to bring more depth, intention, and cultural intention into your week. Get full access to REVUE at revuewoman.substack.com/subscribe

In this salon-style episode of REVUE by SCOUT, Gabrielle Scout sits down with Brittany Ricketts, co-founder of House of Preservation, the Dallas- and Austin-based med spa, for a conversation that moves from unfiltered girl talk into genuine expertise. Gabrielle and Brittany met on Instagram years ago and finally connected in person, discovering they’re navigating nearly identical chapters: both are 50/50 custody moms to kids born weeks apart, both building businesses, both redefining what ambition looks like on the other side of a relationship that didn’t work out.The first half is personal and unguarded: motherhood without guilt, dating from abundance instead of fear, and why “single mom” doesn’t quite capture the reality of doing it well. The second half is where Brittany takes the reins with real authority, walking through her philosophy on injectables, lasers, and the concierge peptide protocol she’s building at House of Preservation.Topics explored in this episode include:Redefining single motherhood inside a 50/50 custody schedule, and why time apart from your child can make you a better, more present parent. The abundance mindset behind dating without needing anything from a partner, and Brittany’s advice to stop looking for a husband and start looking for a great father. How ambition sharpened after becoming a mom, and why entrepreneurs are wired to expect a full life rather than settle. A real breakdown of the entry-level aesthetics stack: skincare, filler, Sculptra, Radiesse, and the lasers actually worth your time. An inside look at the future of longevity: peptides, NAD, MOTS-c, and how House of Preservation is building a concierge model around them.This episode is for the woman building a business, raising a kid on her own terms, and refusing to shrink her standards for either one.Referenced in This Episode: House of Preservation Oil Cleanser, Project Preservation, House of Preservation’s upcoming concierge peptide care lineFollow Along: Instagram: Gabrielle Scout: @gabriellescoutmaio and Brittany Ricketts: @brittrixREVUE Newsletter: Subscribe to REVUE, a weekly Sunday letter for the most interesting woman in the room HERE Scout’s Agency: Learn more about Scout’s Agency, a visibility atelier specializing in curated podcast tours and cultural placement for women in positions of authority HEREREVUE: The newsletter for the most interesting woman in the room. Get full access to REVUE at revuewoman.substack.com/subscribe

This week, Gabrielle is trading the polish for sweatpants and getting into the girl chat to end all girl chats. Fresh off a family trip and about to leave on another, she's sharing the conversation she wishes someone had given her before she became a mom: the real, unfiltered truth about building a business and raising a child at the same time. Pulled straight from an Instagram question box, this episode works through the deepest, darkest fears ambitious women carry about motherhood - time, maternity leave, business failure, feeling trapped, losing themselves - with zero sugarcoating and a lot of hope.In This EpisodeWhy Gabrielle is recording cozy this week, and why that changes the texture of the conversationThe Emma Grede moment that cracked open Gabrielle's entire philosophy on motherhoodWhy "fifty-fifty parenthood" is a myth, and why women deserve more support, not equal treatmentThe fear of not having enough time - and why constraint actually makes you a sharper entrepreneurTaking maternity leave without a business built to survive it, and how to build your "number two"Facing the fear that your business might fail - and why every entrepreneur meets that momentFeeling permanently trapped by motherhood, and why that feeling doesn't cancel out loveLosing yourself as a mother, the "default parent" trap, and why self-abandonment isn't good parentingGabrielle's core philosophy: no martyrs, no self-sacrifice - children deserve happy, expressed mothersConnect with GabrielleFollow along on Instagram @gabriellescoutmaioLearn more about Scout's Agency at scoutsagency.com Read REVUE, Gabrielle's newsletter for the most interesting woman in the room HERELoved This Episode?If any part of this conversation resonated, leave a review... it's how Gabrielle knows this content is actually helping. Screenshot it, share it to your stories, and tag @gabriellescoutmaio to let her know what landed.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Get full access to REVUE at revuewoman.substack.com/subscribe

Gabrielle sits down with longtime friend and content creator Kenzie Elizabeth (host of The House Guest Podcast) for a catch-up that turns into an unexpectedly deep dive on money. They cover her engagement, her rebrand from I Love You So Much to Houseguest, and how she built her needlepoint and home brand. But the real heart of the episode is a candid conversation about the business behind the content: revenue models, limiting beliefs around money, self-funding vs. investors, and what her team actually looks like.If you're a female founder, a bride-to-be, or curious about the difference between content-based and product-based business models, this one's for you.In this episode:Kenzie's journey from a 16-year-old YouTuber to "the Gen Z Martha Stewart," and why she feels more like her childhood self now than everThe difference between content creation revenue and product-based business revenueWhy she's never taken outside investors, and how she self-funded her needlepoint lineNeedlepoint sales up 760% since January - and why almost no one, including Kenzie, saw that comingWorking through limiting beliefs and shame around money, and why female founders need to talk about it more openlyWhat her team actually looks like: creative director, EA, wholesale/ops, freelancers, and a financial planner keeping her on trackHiring her first W-2 employees - and why it got easier each timeWorking with her fiancé, Charlie, and what makes their partnership workWedding planning as a "type B bride" with a "type A groom," and the one piece of advice she swears by for staying connected on the big dayGuestKenzie Elizabeth — content creator and host of Houseguest, founder of her needlepoint and home brand Find her: @KenzieElizabeth Free ResourceDownload Scout's Agency's free pitch template — the exact guest pitch template used to book over 6,000 podcast episodes, including the pitch used to book Gabrielle on 7 podcasts in 3 weeks. Get it at scoutsagency.com/pitch-templateHostGabrielle Scout — @gabriellescoutmaioAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Get full access to REVUE at revuewoman.substack.com/subscribe

Gabrielle Scout is back after almost six months away, and a lot has changed...starting with the name of this podcast. Welcome to REVUE by SCOUT.In this episode, Gabrielle pulls back the curtain on where she's actually been: the four-year "domino wipeout" that took down almost every identity she'd built: the first hard season at Scout's Agency, closing Okay Sis Podcast with her sister, selling her home, the end of her marriage, and becoming a single mom. She talks about why visibility felt impossible while she was rebuilding, the acqui-hire offer she turned down to bet on herself, and how she finally stopped treating "business Gabrielle" and "REVUE Gabrielle" as two different women.This episode is part update, part behind-the-scenes, part reintroduction...and it sets up everything to expect from this show going forward: weekly episodes, real interviews with women in business and creativity, and conversations that go deeper than the usual podcast format.In this episode:Why Gabrielle stepped back from content, her podcast, and being the face of her businessThe four-year "domino wipeout": business hardship, closing Okay Sis Podcast, divorce, selling her home, single motherhoodTurning down an acqui-hire deal from a dream PR agency to bet on Scout's Agency insteadThe "Interesting Woman" archetype and why Gabrielle split herself into two identities — the Scout's Agency woman and the REVUE womanHow she finally integrated both sides of herself, and what's next for Scout's AgencyWhat to expect from REVUE by Scout going forward: weekly episodes, interviews, and deep, nuanced conversations on money, motherhood, ambition, and selfFollow along:REVUE, Gabrielle's Substack newsletter — a Sunday newsletter plus personal essays twice a monthScout's Agency — the leading agency for booking women as podcast guestsInstagram: @gabriellescoutmaioSupport the show (free, and it means everything):Rate and review REVUE by SCOUT on Apple Podcasts or SpotifyScreenshot this episode and share it to your stories — tag Gabrielle so she can reshareCome say hi: @gabriellescoutmaio on InstagramAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Get full access to REVUE at revuewoman.substack.com/subscribe

In this salon-style episode of PODCAST by SCOUT, Gabrielle Scout sits down with Alexandra Cadiz — designer, musician and co-founder of lighting design brand CERAMICAH — for a raw, electric conversation about what it actually takes to stop performing palatability and start living as the fullest version of yourself.What began as an instant digital connection — "the same person in different fonts" — unfolds into a deeply honest dialogue on the emotional architecture of self-trust, the shame women carry around being multidimensional, and why the smallest moments of self-betrayal are the ones that cost us the most.Topics explored in this episode include:Why self-trust is built in micro-moments — not grand gestures — and how choosing freedom over shame in the smallest daily decisions rewires your entire nervous systemThe difference between self-confidence and self-worth, and why you can have sky-high belief in your abilities while still struggling to receive love, support, and abundanceWhat it means to be "too much" as a woman, where that wound originates, and the reframe that turns it from a liability into your most magnetic qualityHyper-independence as a form of control — and why releasing it is essential to embodying your feminine energyThe tension between the hustle and the feminine, and why the conversation isn't about discarding one for the other but learning when to turn the volume up on eachHow the "easygoing girl" myth keeps women muted, and why the right relationships — romantic, creative, professional — actually want you at full expressionWhy being a villain in someone else's story might be the most liberating permission slip you give yourselfEldest daughter syndrome, the good girl pattern, and how both show up in business negotiations, dating, and creative expressionThe cultural lie of selflessness as the highest feminine virtue — and the first generation rewriting that narrative in real timeThis episode is for the woman who knows exactly who she is behind closed doors but hasn't fully let the world see it yet. It is a permission slip, a mirror, and a dare.Follow Along:Alexandra's Instagram: @alexandrascadiz Alexandra's TikTok: @alexandrascadizCERAMICAH on Instagram: @ceramicah.laFollow Along Instagram: @gabriellescoutmaioREVUE Newsletter: Subscribe to REVUE, a weekly Sunday letter for the most interesting woman in the room HEREScout's Agency: Learn more about Scout's Agency, a visibility atelier specializing in curated Podcast Tours and cultural placement for women in positions of authority HEREAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Get full access to REVUE at revuewoman.substack.com/subscribe

In the first-ever guest episode of PODCAST by SCOUT, Gabrielle sits down with Jessica Meltzer for a salon-style conversation that begins with our collective obsession with Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy...and unravels into something much deeper. Together, they explore what the CBK trend really reveals about the stories women have been sold about being chosen, why we've turned a woman who died tragically into a mood board, and the uncomfortable inheritance of the princess narrative. The conversation moves through nineties nostalgia, the death of mystery in the social media age, wealth narratives, quiet luxury, brand versus business building, and what it actually means to become your own dream woman rather than emulate someone else's life.This episode sets the tone for what guest conversations on PODCAST by SCOUT will feel like going forward.Things Referenced in This Episode:REVUE essay: "CBK Made Me Depressed"Jessica Meltzer's SubstackJessica Meltzer's website: https://www.jessameltzer.com/The Salon at REVUE: Apply. here: www.revuewoman.com/the-salonFollow AlongInstagram: @gabriellescoutmaio REVUE Newsletter: Subscribe HERE Scout's Agency: Learn more HEREAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Get full access to REVUE at revuewoman.substack.com/subscribe

In this Q&A episode of PODCAST by SCOUT, Gabrielle Scout answers three listener questions with the depth, honesty, and emotional intelligence that only comes from living it. Written down in her Louis Vuitton Carnet and answered old-school — analog over digital, always — this conversation moves through decades, desire, ambition, and the quiet art of tending to yourself while building something that matters.Topics explored in this episode include:Why your twenties are not your most important decade — and why you shouldn't be afraid to leave them behind.The reframe that changes everything for ambitious, multi-passionate women: stop collapsing your timeline into today and start spreading your desires across 5, 10, even 20 years.How Gabrielle architects her dream life by giving herself a 15-year plan — and why that's made her more focused, not less.The honest truth about mental health and entrepreneurship, from someone who has been in therapy for 15 years, received a bipolar diagnosis, and written an entire book on the subject.Why the success of a business is directly proportional to the founder's mental health — and the daily practices that keep Gabrielle grounded.This episode is for the woman who wants it all and feels the weight of that wanting. It's a permission slip to breathe, zoom out, and trust that everything you desire has a time and a place — it just might not be right now.Referenced in This Episode:The Emotional Entrepreneur by Gabrielle ScoutYou Can Heal Your Life by Louise HayFollow Along:Instagram: @gabriellescoutmaio REVUE Newsletter: Subscribe to REVUE, a weekly Sunday letter for the most interesting woman in the room HEREScout's Agency: Learn more about Scout's Agency, a visibility atelier specializing in curated podcast tours and cultural placement for women in positions of authority HEREAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Get full access to REVUE at revuewoman.substack.com/subscribe