June Ambrose: Styling Icons, Grief Attacks In Paris & Never Chasing Clout

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed human. Hey there, this is Josh from Stuff You Should Know with a message that could change your life. The Stuff You Should Know ThinkSpring podcast playlist is available now. Whether Spring has sprung in your neck of the woods yet or not, the Stuff You Should Know ThinkSpring playlist will make you want to get your overalls on, get outside, and get your hands in the dirt. You can get the Stuff You Should Know ThinkSpring playlist on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. With performances by Alex Warren, Kehlani, Laini Wilson, Ludacris, Ray, TLC, Salt and Pepper, and Invoke. Plus Taylor Swift makes her first award show appearance this year. Also Gold Medal Olympian, Alyssa Liu, Neo, Nick Colesure Singer, Nikki Glaser, Sombra, Weiser, and more. Watch live on Fox, Thursday, March 26th, at 8, 7 Central. And listen on iHeart radio stations across America and the free iHeart app. I'm Daniel Alarcón, and this is my friend who is much more famous than I am. I wouldn't go that far, but I'm John Green, co-host of the podcast The Away End with my old friend Daniel. On our podcast The Away End, we'll share with you the magic of international football, all leading up to the 2026 World Cup. Together, we'll find out why of all the unimportant things, football, soccer, is the most important. Listen to The Away End with Daniel Alarcón and John Green on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. You need a little bit of main character energy. But some people don't want it. Again, I had my conversation with this year. She's like, I don't want the attention. She was like, you've always liked attention. She's like, we're so different. And I'm like, you don't want the attention, but yet when you get a compliment, you come on yourself. I mean, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like an orgasm. It's orgasmic. You get it? You know, someone tells you, pretty. Thanks for watching, guys. Today's episode is brought to you by Boost Mobile. Today's episode is about fashion. No, it's not about fashion. It will be about fashion, but it is more than a fashion conversation. June Ambrose has helped build the visual identity of hip hop from the ground up and many other things. She has many accolades. She has done this as a woman, a black woman, a self-taught, no road map. She raised a generation of stylists. She's raised two children all while busting her ass. For over 25 years, she's dressed icons like Jay-Z, Mariah Carey, Missy Elliott, and so many more. And she's now celebrating her own capsule collection with Naturalizer, which she has on today, and they're so cute. We'll get a close-up of them later. And she's just a badass. We love her. June Ambrose is in the building today. Thank you! Now I am trying! Hey, hey, hey! Production! Oh! Oh! Now I feel like I don't have to say anything. That's it! You're just here! I always like Google me, no. Hi, June! How are you? June! Oh, June, no, am I right? How is life? How is real life? Life is good. Is it? Life is good. I mean, you know, I'm an empty nest now. So life is I'm adjusting. Oh, that's tough. It is. It is like you feel like I have like new skin, like I have two adults that really don't need me like they used to. And they need me in a different way. Yeah. But it's it's I feel like I must my second half of the game. We've had this conversation a few times on the pod because Lala came here right after Kyan went to school. She was her only son. She said, Mom, it really hit her hard. My friends with the only one child thing. I always check on them. It's like, are you OK? Yeah, you're OK. When when summer went to college, everybody was because they know how close my daughter and I am. And they're like, but my son and I are very close too. But they were just like, are you OK? But summer and I are very visible. Yeah, like, you know, we're the June and summer show. Yeah. And I was like, I am OK because I've spent so much time with them. I'm actually happy for them. Like I want. I felt good. I felt accomplished, like I had raised humans, not by myself, obviously, but like that I've raised young adults that were that were ready. And that, to me, is why I'm OK. But you missed them. Oh, my goodness. Like, yeah, do they talk you talk every day? It's it's it's like a thing. Like it's summer, at least four or five. My son, he's, you know, he'll go off in the wind. He's gone with the wind. But like, yeah, we we're we're a speaking family. We have a group of family group chat. Like it's important that we speak constantly and so much going on in the world. And summer is out of state and she's a sheltered baby child, but very impressively independent. There is so much going on in the world. There is. That it's like, who did I see the other day post? I think it was Adrian Hohen, Adrian Bylong. She posted that she's navigating her political rage, while also exercising self care. She was on her way to the gym trying to. It's a really good way to put it, right? Like trying to manage that balance. How do you do that, June? Oh, you know, for I'm I'm I I prefer to lean on the side of joy because I know what grief feels like. And that's way too heavy. And when I experienced it for the first time, because I realized I've never been sad. And because I'm just always like people like you live in another planet. That's why I come up with the Juniverse, because I'm literally happy, happy all the time. Are you really is that real? It's real. It is real. It's an endorphin realness. Yeah, it's like a it's a little girl thing. It's a sense memory that I've tapped into that I know to constantly tap into it. Right. And I think. Secretly, the years of studying theater and drama, being a theatrical major, I don't tell that to a lot of people, has taught me how to tap into sense memories that enable me to stay mentally solid. Because even on a bad day or if I'm disappointed, I can remember the things that bought me joy. I tap into them like an actress would tap into to something that needs her to cry. You know, that exercise, that's a muscle. You know, that's a, you know, like joy is a muscle. You have to exercise what that feels like and know that it's OK to keep lifting that. I don't understand how you do that. Explain. No, no, teach me that because, OK, so it's a bad day. We're at war. Yeah. I think broken, my this dad, my mother's sick. But, you know, like whatever whatever could be going on is going on. Yeah. And now today I need to tap into some joy. It's like sex. You have to be present, right? And to like what is going to make you feel good and what was feeling good in that moment in order to get to that climactic place. So think about that experience. It's probably a weird thing. Is what it works. Sex is so private. But you have to be present in it or, you know, you don't get to enjoy it. Right. So it's like joy is the same way. It's like that feeling of what makes you can't give you butterflies, what makes you giggle, what makes you laugh, like what makes you want to dance, that song that just makes you feel so good. You hide. Like I've never had a drink of smoke in my life and people always think I'm stoned at parties or in clubs because I'm like you've never had a cocktail. Never. I just said to you because I was going to take you golfing. I was like, oh, we have a cocktail. And you were like, yeah, of course. You're a cocktail for me. You're a cocktail. Yeah, a cocktail. So and all this joy all the time. I was always a happy kid. So because I didn't have like I was so spoiled and didn't have a lot of responsibility. But as an adult, we have so many and that could be a real drag. Yeah. So I'm always asking my young self to please, you know, just remind me of what that felt like to have no. But tell me a time when you were down. Oh, and then had to find the joy and then how you found it. Oh, man, when my mom passed away. What was that? Eight years ago. And I just feels like yesterday. And I. I I realized that I never knew what sadness felt like. It was so foreign. By the way, how blessed are you that you didn't know what sadness felt like really until eight years ago? Right. Wow. That was like. Because like I was always sheltered from like when someone died. No, June's not going to the funeral or, you know, I've always sheltered, you know, from all of that. They protected me from those kind of things that are very sensitive. I would an ambulance would go by and I'm like, so what's going on? I start crying as a kid. Like I was so emotional. Like I hate people to be sad or hate to see people in pain. I just feel like you're an empath. I'm so empathetic. And so, yes, I. And so your parents. Navigated that. Yeah, my mother was, yeah, she understood that and she. Really nurtured me with that. But interesting enough, when she was preparing to leave. She told me that it was OK to go. Had left town. So when I got the news, I was in California and I was getting ready for the on the run tour and I wasn't going to go. Obviously, if because she was, you know, sick in the hospital. So I was like, you know, trying to figure out how to figure out maybe it could just prep it and, you know, I never go on the road for one. I don't travel with if I design a tour, design the tour. And then the wardrobes supervisors and the team take it over. I'm never on the road with it. But this time, you know, she had transitioned over and and the tour was going out and had to be in Paris with J&B, like maybe two weeks later. And I didn't want to grieve in front of my kids and my husband had. We had talked about it as a family. And then he, you know, he he said if there was any two people that I think, you know, that that I would feel OK with you being around during this time, it would be those two. Oh, he talking about it. Kiss me. Motion. You mean me? And yeah, I was having grief attacks constantly. And yeah, you know. He got me. Jay got me through it. Yeah, he did. How? Also, he said it was OK. He said, just let it run through you. And you know, people be like, don't cry. Let it go. Cry. Cry. And he said it was OK to be. You know, you feel guilty at work and you're like looking at we're like looking at rehearsals and I'm fighting something just switched. The switch just turns off. Just. And he would look over me and I would just be crying. I'm like, I'm so sorry. It's OK. Like, you know, it's it's that's kindness. It's all empathy and kindness. And you have known him for so many years. And if he could ever as a friend, if anyone could ever give me anything, it was that the grace of just being there while I go through the most life changing experience of my life. And it ended up being one of the most. One of the most, you know, creative, you know, for me, I needed it like a new like reset creatively. I even I look back at photos. I don't even look like myself. I'm like, who is that person? I just look so different. But I felt like I looked like my mother so much. And I had so many life changing experiences in Paris as I was going through. I had my team around me, which I was great. Great tour to. Oh, man. And I did niece. So you know, it was like the niece show. Yeah, I just remember like the first time I like smiled or laughed during that time, that grief period when you kind of like people say you sit Shiva, where you feel like you're not supposed to do anything that you feel guilty about feeling that joy because you're paying respect to that person that you've lost. And every city that I went to, I visited, I put a lock on my mother's initial on, I left it in every city on a fence, on a bridge, something. And I was getting locks in every city. And I was locking her initial. I was taking her with me through that travel and all the places that she, I knew she would want me to see and go. Yeah. So that she knew that's where you were going. She knew you're going on that tour. She knew that I had work. She always like, go to work. Cause like, you know, when you, when you, when you have your own business and the phone rings, you got to take that job. You got to take that gig because you're a self employed and you know, you're the CEO and you have to run. It doesn't work without you. So she knew that. Um, and she, yeah, I think that she knew she let go just in, just in time. Hey guys. So today's show is brought to you by our presenting sponsor, Hard Rock Bet, Florida sports book marches here. And that means college basketball takes center stage. The stakes are rising. The shots are falling. And now's the time to hit the hardwood with hard rock bet with hoops on every night, every night is a shot to build a same game, parlay and score major bucket. And listen guys, if you ever miss tip off of the big game, don't worry, cause hard rock bet lets you live bet all game long from the first bucket to the final buzzer. So you're never too late to find a winner or grab that player prop that you had circled, sign up today and W winnings on your first 10 bets. That's maximum $50. That's right. So if you would have won a hundred bucks on your same game parlay, that now is 200 bucks. The hard rock bet sports book app is the only legal sports book for whenever you're in Florida and it's also live in Arizona, Ohio, New Jersey, Indiana, Tennessee, Virginia, Illinois, Colorado and Michigan. Coming soon to more states too. Plus hard rock bet offers new promos daily. So whenever you're listening, just open the app and check out what they've got any day of the week, download the hard rock bet app and make your first deposit every day. I want to make sure we go back to your mother because I'm sure there's so much influence and who you've become and your fashion sense and all of that stuff from your mom. So I do want to get to that, but something you just said is interesting to me about because whether it's J or B or your family or your siblings or your best friends, it's like when we go through these dark times sometimes, cause I do the same thing you do. I don't want to, I don't want to bring my sadness in a room, especially when you're dealing with creatives. Oh my goodness. When they got to go on stage and bring joy to millions of people, you're in the dresser room with them backstage and you're not just wallpaper, like we're, like we're in their space energy, you know, we're energy and you know this, because we, I mean, over 30 years being around creatives and that's why I've always approached it from a collaborative space. So they recognize that I'm an artist too. And I'm serious about my shit too. You know, so it's like the same way that you're like passionate about what you do when you're in that booth and you're, you know, if I have to put looks to the lyrics and I'm just, I'm sensitive about my shit too. But I don't make it about me and I give so much making sure that they're prepared and they feel safe and that they feel like they can own this, you know, moment. I think the best work is done when, you know, you can't tell someone did it. Someone else did it for them. I think that's when it's like truly authentic. Yeah. That to me is at the heart of like what a good costume designer or a stylist or collaborator or collaborator in general, like a good co-writer. Yeah. You know, you with your writing team in the studio, all that. Yeah. I just think it's special when you have, when you're able to find your safe spaces to have those moments because especially women, right? Women in business, women who have to, the way we came up, we're not only nurturers, but we have to, there's a strength that we carry around. And so in our most vulnerable or sad or sometimes, you know, we don't want to bring that in a room. Right. I'd never want to bring it in a room. Yeah. And, and sometimes you walk into a room and you have to read the room quickly and know what you need to give someone in that moment. And sometimes it's just quiet. I just wonder what gave you the comfort to be okay, to share yourself in that moment. The permission, right? It's like, yeah. I had to give myself permission to do that. Because growing up, single parent home, you do a lot of, I was a latchkey kid. You do a lot of self-reflecting. You know, your parents can only do so much, right? Like my mom was such a like, we're back to her again. She's, I think she's at the center of the day. Yeah, she's here in the room. She couldn't be there. She couldn't watch us 24 seven because she was providing. So it was like, we had to take responsibility at a very early age for our actions and recognize that they had consequences. Everything that we did not only affected us, but it would affect her. And we didn't want to disappoint because we recognize where she was sacrificing at a very young age. Not because she, you know, I wasn't, I never got a spanking. My mother wasn't a yellower. You know, it's like a punishment lasted maybe like 30 minutes because she felt bad for me pounding in the corner. It's like, you're not done. So I was like, at the, I was, I'm like the epitome of spoiled. Right. Like, I just, I'm not. You were caught. So I think like, yeah, I was caught. So when you say like, what gave me the permission? It's like, I didn't know any other way but to get what I wanted. You know, so I was always very precocious. I was always just like, why not? Like, why not try this? Like, who's going to stop me? Like, there was no one to stop. And then as a parent, when she was supposed to like kind of protect me from like fashion decisions, I just remember, I'll never forget this night day. And I was like, it's rain is snowing outside. I always wanted to wear my church clothes to school. Like it was a thing. I always wanted to wear my Sunday dress with like sneakers or boots or just disrupt things, take it out of context. And that was who I always was from a very young age. And she was like, you cannot wear your church shoes with your smart pants or your jeans, those are your church shoes. And it's slippery. You're going to fall. I'm like, okay, I was like, it's my outfit. I'm not, I was like, it was a big fight. She was like, go. I leave out of that building. I come back five minutes later, crying. Busted your ass. Busted my ass. Bruised up, slayed down the hill. She was so cute. She said, I told you, like, I'm not telling you because I want to change who you are. I was just telling you because I'm trying to protect you. And but the beautiful thing is she didn't overproduce me. So I was always able to wear a cape, you know. At a very young age and even growing up in the Bronx, they didn't understand what I was giving. They used to call me all kinds of names and we were, you know, I'm from the West Indies. So being cool, being Caribbean back then was not cool. Before the Fugees, you were like, they would say all kind of horrible, derogatory things to people with accents. And being from the islands was not a thing. You were, and this is like black on black crime. Hispanics, like slurring at us. Like I grew up in a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood. Awalita, you know, you know, Dama un coquito. Like, you know, it's like, I was, you were from, I was from Puerto Rican. Yeah, I was from the Bronx. Yeah. But the discrimination against, you know, Hispanics and blacks back then was no different than what was like, it was black and white. It was unreal. Yeah. It's mind blowing. Yeah. So, you know, we've all experienced it in some way. And so, yeah, I think I've gotten it from everywhere. I love that she gave you that type of permission. So wait. So, okay, so you're young. You have all these little cute looks going on. This is, this is clearly your, this is a gift, right? Like your fashion sense, what do you attribute that to? Is it a gift? It is a gift, but it's also a muscle. And, you know, creativity is absorbed in many different ways. You know, when my kids, as a parent, like I would take my kids to the museum, I would expose them to a lot of different things. My mom did the same thing for me too as well. Early, you know, when I was younger, she would take us down to CBS studios, we'll leave the Bronx and go to Midtown and go to the city, go to Central Park very, very early. So taking us out of the environment, she sent me away to Nunday, New York to, to like, to live on a farm for two weeks, you know, with a white family, with the fresh air fun, like these things are a life changing and also play into creativity because it helps you to see the world from a, from a different, through a different lens. And, you know, you can't have tunnel vision as a creative. So for me, it was as much exposure as I could give my kids and as much exposure as I received growing up in a city was very, very, I think, crucial to what I became. That makes sense. Yeah. I think that was a big part of it. And then studying like theater. And that's interesting. And that's probably great for all parents to hear. It's like, how do you nurture? Hey there. This is Josh from stuff you should know with a message that could change your life. The stuff you should know. Think spring podcast playlist is available now. Whether spring has sprung in your neck of the woods yet or not, the stuff you should know. Think spring playlist will make you want to get your overalls on, get outside and get your hands in the dirt. You can get the stuff you should know. Think spring playlist on the I heart radio app, Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Let's go. Our I heart radio music awards are coming back Thursday, March 26th live on Fox, watch as we honor the biggest stars from all genres of music that you love listening to all year long on your favorite I heart radio station and the I heart radio app hosted by Ludacris icon, award recipient John Mellencamp, innovator, award recipient Miley Cyrus with performances by Alex Warren, Kailani, Lainey Wilson, Ludacris, Ray, TLC, Salt and Pepper and Invoke. Plus Taylor Swift makes her first award show appearance this year. Also gold medal Olympian, Alyssa Liu, Neo, Nick Colesure, Singer, Nikki Glazer, Sombra, Weezer and more. Watch live on Fox Thursday, March 26th, Eddie Seven Central and listen on I heart radio stations across America and the free I heart app. I'm John Green. You may know me as the author of The Fault in Our Stars. And now I guess also as the co-host of the away and a brand new world soccer podcast. I'm Daniel Alarcón, a writer and journalist. And John and I have known each other since we were kids. My first world cup was Mexico 86. I was nine years old. I watched every game and I fell in love on our new podcast, The Away and we'll share with you the magic of international football, all leading up to the 2026 World Cup. For us, soccer football is a story we've shared for over 30 years. Since Daniel was the star player on our high school soccer team. Very debatable. And I was there most loyal and sometimes only fan. I love this game. I love its history, its hope, its heartbreak and above all, its beauty. Together, we'll find out why of all the unimportant things, football, soccer is the most important. Listen to The Away and with Daniel Alarcón and John Green on the I heart radio app, Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. A creative spirit, you know, children, you know, and that is it. That is exposing them to we have so much. We have so much more information that we didn't have then. Like in school, they were just like, oh, she, you know, she can't keep focused. She's always yapping. You know, every report card said the same thing. No one said attention. Definitely. No one used those in ADHD. Nobody said she's a creative. No one said that. Even though I showed creativity, even from elementary school, I put on my first fashion show in my elementary school, I organized it and produced it. Of course you did. I was, it was insane. I was like, I would make, I was hustler too, because I needed money, extra money. So I would make book covers. Like at the time when we, you know, the books, we had to protect our books, our textbooks, because if they came back on damage, your parents would have to pay for them. So we would cover them with, you know, papers. I was making custom book covers and selling them for 10 cents and five cents. I was making crepe paper and sewing pencil holders and selling those at schools. I was very enterprising. That's amazing. I've always like, entrepreneurship is always been like, it's always been in my, in great in my DNA. It's the combination of creativity and entrepreneurship together that creates a June and post. You're hustler. But you know what else too? It's like, I was thinking about this earlier too, and this probably pertains to a lot of people, even outside what you do in acts of service, people who are in like service business or assistance or secretary or people who support other people or help other people sometimes can get a little bit lost in a secondary position, right? But you have seemed to find a way. You did find the way, not seem to, but you have found a way to make sure. Like you said, like even with Jay, how you, this is collaborative. And was it always like that? Did you have to find that? Cause I could see that people in those type of positions, I always, I admire those type of positions because they do sometimes get lost. I have many friends who support other people. Of course. And I'm always like, you need a little bit of main character energy. But some, some people, some people don't want it. You know, again, I had my conversation with my sister yesterday. She's like, I don't want the attention. She was like, you've always liked attention. You know, she's like, she's like, we're so different, right? I'm like, you don't want the attention, but yet when you get a compliment, you come on yourself. I mean, it's like, you know, it's like, it's like, it's like an orgasm. It's orgasmic. You get it? You know, someone tells you pretty. She loves it. Everyone who doesn't love a compliment. No, but I understand. There's a difference. There is a difference. You know, I'm like, I, you would think I'm not, I'm more like her. I don't enjoy, I believe you. But when you, but I don't feel like, but I feel like you, you have received what that feels like when you walk into a building, you know, it is like people recognize you all the time. Yeah. I do. I appreciate it. A moment or I appreciate it. If I'm in something that makes me feel good. And I get a compliment. Listen, I appreciate that. I'm modest too. Don't get me wrong. I'm very modest and I can be very shy. I know that's very confusing. You walk around Manhattan with this hat on your head. No, I know. You are not trying to blend in anywhere. You want to be seen. You are comfortable seeing being, you are comfortable being seen. I am because I like making friends and I like meeting people. And I feel like it's like it attracts like, you know, the energy that I want. And even if you don't get it, I'll never forget. I got off a plane from LA and there was this. And this was recent because I've been wearing these cowboy hats for like three years now. And the person with the wheelchairs, it comes up, people with the wheelchairs. I come off the plane, have on my cowboy hat and blanket. I look like I just came from another planet. And she starts, she laughs in my face. And she was like, you look like a witch. This is what she said to me. And I was like, so it comes at a price, right? It's like, good and the bad. Well, it could have been bad. It didn't end good for her. But, you know, I was like, wow, I could be a victim and actually take offense to what she was saying or realize that I can't be everything to everyone. So when you when you think about that, it's like, you know, I go back to artists again. You know, you can't make music, you know, for the audience, you have to make music for yourself. That you love it, you know, that's like what is an expression of who you are. So I thought about it in the same way. You know, my initial reaction was how dare you. Right. I was like, how dare you speak to me that way? And I said to her, I said, that is not very nice because you don't understand. Does it make it okay for you to speak to me that way? Good for you. And and it just and it was quick because we were hustling, we're walking off the plane. But I had to say it in order to recover. So I like to unpack trauma quick. I don't like to hold on to trauma because that could change how I start to see myself or, you know, think about the young me, someone's judging you and you immediately think, OK, this didn't work for that person. No one's going to like it. Let me conform to what society finds to be acceptable. And I was just like, I'm not I live in the universe and I don't I believe in the universe. There are other planets and tons of stars and there's this empty space that I can exist in and attract and that light and all of those things that happens in space is where I rather live. I need my own universe. I need that planet Earth can be cruel. And so we should all have a universe. Like, what is your what is your like? What is your angiverse? Yeah, like, what is my angiverse? Everybody should figure out what is the way that you operate through the world that is only yours and that you protect it so that you don't lose yourself in other people's whatever expectations, opinions, all those things. But think about it. It's like when artists get on stage, you know, they are immediately transformed that the energy that you get from the audience that it's almost like it's high. You know, it's like when people like, you know, fame is a drug, you know, people get really intoxicated by it. I don't subscribe to like fame. I subscribe to like energy. Right. It's a source. It's how it's at the end of my life at the end of this journey. I would hope that people remember the way I made them feel. And I think fashion and style is an expression of that. And however provocative and whatever opinion you may have drawn from what I was presenting, I still made you feel a certain way. And I could, I could live with that. Right. I could live with that. And that's how I want to live my life. Constantly reinventing myself. That's pretty good. Constantly, you know, I think that's the unlock. Yes. But you do have to, to do what you do. There does have to be a certain like how you said the difference between you and your sister. Yeah. Cause I don't think everybody, like you said, some people don't want that. No, they don't. I can't. I've got the terms with it. I do not wish to walk. Sometimes I walk around the city with a gray hoodie on and some, and whatever, like just that's it. I like blending. Right. I just like it. And it's, and it's, it's a trend, right? It's also like a trend. Right. Well, I don't do it to be a trend. Well, quiet luxury right now. They say, okay, well, lucky me. So you're, uh, you are a timeless. It's not quite. Quiet luxury. That's not my point. I'm just acknowledging the difference in types of like personalities where fashion is concerned. Cause I have to know, I have to acknowledge it too as well. To be honest, I have to acknowledge it. When I design a collection, when I'm like, when I'm putting out collaborations and co-branding, I have to think about the customer that it's, it's a, it's a very interesting when you start to create consumer goods, you have to think about that person that doesn't want that much attention. But then you also have to create something that's going to push them a little bit out of their comfort zone, which I've done my entire career. My job is to forecast, is to, is to, is to insist that you feel something in the, in the experience, right? Of transforming, evolving. What we're doing is something very transformative. You know, when you're in charge, when you are collaborating with someone and you're in charge of their image and likeness, and sometimes it's not collaborative, sometimes someone is like, take me, figure it out for me. Help, you know, like I can't articulate what it is that I know I want to be. So just show me and I'll let you know how it, if it, if it, if it feels right. Sometimes it's, it's like that. It's not always like someone's telling you, you know, Is that more fun for you? Yeah. Honestly. Yeah. I would let you do that. I would let, I would let you, I would, I would, I would let you, I would let you, I would submit. I mean, we had this experience before when MTV awards, you were like, oh, Lord, you know, like, I don't want to wear this gold, but we got a lot of attention. We did. It was so, she was so mad at me. I was so mad. No, here's what it was like. You made me the 10 woman. Well, here's why I was mad at you. It was the ladies first. It was ladies night. Ladies night. It was, I think we should talk about it, right? Because it's not always going to be, you know, because I don't blame you though, because this is not your fault. I take responsibility though. Yeah, but this is not your fault. Here's what happened. I'm a young girl who gets thrown into this mix with these experienced artists. I was not an artist. I had no real experience in public, and definitely not performance getting on stage. MTV awards was a big deal. We just, I don't know where I just hopped on a song and the song went crazy. It was crazy. And we got a Grammy nomination with the MTV awards. I don't have a team. I don't have a stylist. I don't have all the things that all the other girls had. You developed that trust yet. So they didn't, you were not even my stylist. No, I know. They said to you. And you definitely didn't trust me. Because I didn't know you. You were like, oh, I didn't know you. Oh yeah. It's not that I didn't trust you. It's that they said, here, June, take care of her too. And I went. Yeah, yeah. What? What is it? I don't have any. I wouldn't. And I was customing everything then. I was literally custom designing everything at that time. And they gave you this. I think I had a day. We didn't even collaborate on it. We didn't have a conversation. We didn't have a conversation. We didn't take time and say to me, okay, what is. I didn't get to present sketches. Anthony Martinez. Who's young? Who is? And you? What is it? We didn't have any of that. Right. They threw me to you. I was like, this is the thing. When you were ready to do the thing. Yeah. You put me in the theme, which was fine. Yeah. And then the day of the awards, I had no shoes. Oh my God. Seenrem is all the details. You know what? I remember that was. Listen to my book. It's in my book. Oh my God. I had no shoes. And then they, I said, well, what am I standing there? We're about to go out and I have no shoes on my feet. To give you Tim's, I think. Somebody was, somebody came running down and said, Jun said, wear these. And they were these. I was just like, I really hate you. No, I did. I didn't love you that moment. They were these big chunky black shoes, which had we had some time together. You would know these are not the shoes for her affection is too. So I don't blame you because they drew me at you. And that was, you know, what I learned in that moment is like, I have to be in control, but I didn't know better at the time. I was fresh and young, whatever life, but I learned. Yeah, I learned because what I would never do again, I was not going to show up at an event unprepared, not knowing what I was going to wear, not knowing who was going to help me wear. Like I did all that. You needed your person. So I, you just happened to be the poor, the poor person. It was the story of my life. But I also had to be the person that nurtured that you were unhappy, that you were, that you, that you were nervous about everything. Like I recognize all of those things in the moment. And that's why I said to over one thing. Yeah. That's why I said, I take responsibility because at the, even though we, all of these things, of course I left. If you weren't happy, I knew that I felt I took responsibility for that because it was my job to make sure you were regardless. So when I say to you, like that will always sit with me. But, you know, I can't make excuses. And I think a good leader doesn't make excuses. You take responsibility. You apologize. And, and you have, and that's how you again, unpack the trauma, own it and move on. Because if I sit and give you excuses, oh, blah, blah, blah, you know, I didn't have time to be throwing them. You don't want to hear that. You know, but like, only that can look at you and say, as you know, Angie, you are 100% right. I recognize that you are unhappy and I apologize. And you shouldn't have to experience that. That's my job. Yeah. That's my role. That's what I take on when I say yes. Yeah. And if I didn't want to take it on, I shouldn't have said yes, but I did. So I have to. But you were young too, by the way. Of course. But I'm saying, like, I felt it. I got, oh, I owned it. Yeah. You know, I wasn't happy that you weren't happy. Oh, Judy. We're gonna, we're gonna, we're gonna. No, we're gonna have a duel. We're gonna wear the jewel. An anniversary. Neutralize. Yeah, naturalize shoes. Need more than that. I'm gonna do it all. I'm gonna do it all. You know what's so funny? I had this conversation. I'm gonna name a shoe after you. I'll stop. Angie, we had this conversation. I had this conversation a couple, couple months ago with Ferg. You know Ferg. Yeah, of course. Do you not love Ferg? Oh my God. He's amazing. I just love him. He, I love how he sees me too. How does he see you? He probably adores you. Yeah. He, you know, it's like, this is a, I, I. I recognize our generation is so different from this. He's the new somewhat, he's in the middle of the new. Yeah, yeah. He's in the middle. Yeah. He's like in the high school. We're like. There's a new, there's a generation of young designers, creative directors that all are like, you know, they look back. Yeah. And like, yeah. Even recently, you know, ASAP with, you know, and people don't know that I was a costume designer for Belly and they redid. Belly for Ray-Pan. I've seen. Yeah. For Ray-Pan. And I, for me, I sit back and I feel so relevant. Because you designed that first, the original scene. I designed, the movie was mine. You look at the film, costume designer, June Ambrose. Yeah. In the opening credits. You know, so for me, that was. It was great. It immediately said, you know, to hide a texting, hide Williams and I texting. And I'm like, this is great. You know, do you need the recognition for that? No. I mean, that was enough for me. I'm just used to not getting it. Are you really? I was wondering about that. Yeah. What is that? Does that, I don't know, does it eat at you? Do you care? I can't give it that much. I can't give them that much power. Because if I, if I, that's like becoming this victim, you know. Yeah. Oh, people are like, oh, you need your flowers. No, no, I get my flowers. I am very blessed. I am like my, I am still like in it. Yeah. And to me, that is that blessing being able, the phone still like that. People still wanting to collaborate with me, you know, being, being able to bring product to the marketplace, to the larger consumer, you know, being, being able to have that. I spent four years at like, you know, launching women's basketball at a time when women's basketball wasn't even a thing at Puma and, and in the industry. And now look at women in basketball. I was ahead of it. I said, this is something that we need to, to really get behind and support. Like they're counting on us. The same way I felt about hip hop culture, it crossing over into high fashion. So again, what my conversations with ASAP Ferg, it's like, you know, he recognized my contribution, you know, my Buster Rhymes, my Missy Elias, my Jay-Z, all that stuff that I can't continue to like ride on. Because it's, to me, it's like a two decades old. Yes, it's a fact. You know, I need to be able to be relevant. I'm the same way. The same thing as others. I'm like, I'm glad you guys are like, but for me, I'm like, okay, like, I don't want to be a has-been. So what do you do? What's your, you know, like for me, I'm always like, what's my next? What's next? What am I, what can I crack and, and break the mold on next? And, you know, when I was, you know, when I partnered with, you know, Puma to work with them and launch that division, that was like, for me, that was like the next, like that was an important task because you're talking about a culture that we needed to build and form and create. And I was responsible for that. And that I like responsibility. Yeah, you own it. You I like to put your arms around it. Yeah. But the thing I want to go back to with Ferg, we had this conversation about, I was telling him about an experience that I had. I'd never really been to a fashion show and there was somebody we were having this conversation and somebody was talking about somebody else and they said, oh, she reeks of effort. And they weren't talking about me. They were talking about somebody else. But I felt that I was like, yeah, she does wreak. I don't want to ever feel like I am wreaking of efforts. Like I don't. Such a fashion snob statement. It is a snobby statement, but also it's a real life statement because it's like do you because we were also talking about flow state and like, should you have to be trying so hard to impress people, be part of what's hot was part of what's popular? Like, where is the line? Because you're a soulful person, too. You're not just a creative or a fashion girl, right? Like, so where is the line between how you present where fashion is concerned and what's inside and what matters on the inside? Like, where do you? How do you navigate that? Because I'm sure you've even been in some fashion rooms where you're like, oh, these people are full of shit. I honestly, I don't even consider myself to be like a fashion girl. Really? That is like, first of all, everything is so segregated. Like, you know, you go to fashion shows now, you have the editors and the Condi Nast, you know, you have the editorial stylist. You have the, you know, the music culture athlete, you know, stylist. And then you have the influencers. So like everyone's in like these buckets and everyone has an opinion about everyone and it's like, it's a thing. Yeah. And I just want to be in the universe. I don't want to be part of it because I feel like it's the best way to explain it. It, yeah, it's like, what is what is true to you? Yeah. It's really the answer to the question. It's like, you know what, especially at this age, I'm like, what do you want for me? I just, I'm just trying to enjoy this time. I want to wear with you. Like what to you? What is, what is. I don't have to ask permission. I know, but what is, like, what do you appreciate about a well, somebody who comes in? It is ownership. It is like looking at someone who I really enjoy watching someone, even when it's quiet luxury and it's like super like effortless or it, I enjoy people trying. So when someone says like it's so much effort, thank God, because think about it. You feel the opposite. Yeah. Well, think about it as a designer, right? If, if, if fashion is mute without style and what is style? It's a language. It's a conversation is how you articulate. So if someone doesn't even at least try to tell a story, even if it's effortless or what, you know, what they may seem to be like, you know, the row, very quiet luxury, just a simple T shirt and, you know, like very hailey Bieber, like very, you know, no hats, no bells and whistles. You know, that is what the new acceptable norm is now, right? So society is saying, this is what we find to be sophisticated. Hey there. This is Josh from stuff you should know with a message that could change your life. The stuff you should know. Think spring podcast playlist is available now. Whether spring has sprung in your neck of the woods yet or not, the stuff you should know, think spring playlist will make you want to get your overalls on, get outside and get your hands in the dirt. You can get the stuff you should know. Think spring playlist on the I heart radio app, Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Let's go. Our I heart radio music awards are coming back Thursday, March 26th live on Fox. Watch as we honor the biggest stars from all genres of music that you love listening to all year long on your favorite I heart radio station and the I heart radio app hosted by Ludacris icon award recipient John Mellencamp, Innovator Award recipient Miley Cyrus with performances by Alex Warren, Kaylani, Lainey Wilson, Ludacris Ray, TLC, Salt and Pappa and then Vogue. Plus Taylor Swift makes her first award show appearance this year. Also gold medal Olympian, Alyssa Liu, Neo, Nick Coleshaar, singer Nikki Glaser, Sombra, Weezer and more. Watch live on Fox Thursday, March 26th, Teddy Seven Central and listen on I heart radio stations across America and the free I heart app. I'm John Green. You may know me as the author of The Fault in Our Stars. And now I guess also as the co host of the away and a brand new world soccer podcast. I'm Daniel Alarcón, a writer and journalist and John and I have known each other since we were kids. My first World Cup was Mexico 86. I was nine years old. I watched every game and I fell in love on our new podcast, The Away and we'll share with you the magic of international football, all leading up to the 2026 World Cup. For us, soccer football is a story we've shared for over 30 years since Daniel was the star player on our high school soccer team. Very dependable. And I was their most loyal and sometimes only fan. I love this game. I love its history, its hope, its heartbreak and above all, its beauty. Together, we'll find out why of all the unimportant things football, soccer is the most important. Listen to The Away and with Daniel Alarcón and John Green on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. I would be like, they would be disgusted by me, you know, because it's just like so many things. But I'm like, but it's me. It's like, I've left the house without a hat and I felt like I left without anything on. I felt naked, you know, I've left without big glasses or I like punctuation. First of all, I'm five foot two. Okay. My hat gives me height, you know, whatever shape I'm doing. And you know, it's like, I'm a little person. And again, I don't want to fit in. I don't want to fit in. I want to, I want to, you know, to stand on the scene and explode. Yeah. I'm just, I want to arrive. I wish for everybody to find their own universe, whatever that is. Just like, and if, like simplicity is your thing, I enjoy that too. I just love it. I just love when people actually feel like themselves and effortless. Cause the swag, when people talk about, they have that thing, that swag is what translates everything. That's the unlock. You know, you could put the same outfit on two different people and the swag is so, because the translation is really, it's persona definition of swag. It's like, it's the definition of swag is persona. It is confidence. It is attitude. It is articulation at its finest. And that can't be, that's unmatched. So when people are trying to find themselves, just find the thing that really makes you feel like you're speaking your language. What about to somebody who wants to, I'm sure there's, we have a lot of women that watch the pod. What about if somebody's bored where they're at, or where, or they're, they wear the same things all the time. They do the same things all the time and they, and they want to switch. They want to reimagine. Yeah. What do you, what is the recommendation there? I think that you have to step outside of, you know, like those kind of people typically like to just kind of admire and think, cause I hear this a lot. Oh, I couldn't do that. Oh, I can't pull that off, but have you tried. And it could be as simple as changing your lip color, cutting your hair. It doesn't have to be a full overall, overall. It could be adding a color if you never wear color. If you, if you, if you don't, if you're a person that only wears like khaki black and white or brown, like very neutrals, and you throw a neon in there, or you throw, you know, like a primary color in there, you've reimagined and reinvented yourself because you've tried something that is not, or, or perfect example, taking something out of context. Like when I'm creating a design, I'm working on something I'm always taking out of context. Early in my career, my, my signature in, in design was taking athletic silhouettes and merging them with luxurious fabrics, leather, suede, pony. I was taking the silhouettes were very traditional, a denim jacket or a track jacket silhouette, but I was reimagining, you know, these things. And that's really what design is. You're reimagining, you know, something is the interpretation of, yeah, you're reimagining a silhouette, you're giving it different shape and form, how the peplum's been around forever. But are we using horse here to give it shape and give it stiffness? Like what is that fabric in that, you know, the, the jigsaw vision of that pattern that's going to disrupt? Am I doing a blue song sleeve on a track jacket, opposed to a traditional drop shoulder or raglan's inset sleeve? But adding those little details is design, reimagined. And, you know, I think about style in the same way. It's how you interpret and take things out of context to make it your own. It's how you create a conversation. So there's no like generic tips. There's no tip across the board that works for everybody. Like don't do this, do that. There's none of that. I mean, I wrote a book about it. It was very generic. It had all the effortless style, how to achieve iconic style, you know, effortless style was the name of my book. And it was very commercial one-on-one on how to achieve iconic style with ease. Yeah. And it had all of the generic things. We can go back to the fundamentals, right? But we're beyond that name, right? We're, we're at the point where we have to make people uncomfortable. It's okay. Uncomfortable is a good feeling. When you first meet someone, you're nervous, you have butterflies, you don't know if you like this person, but you're getting to know them, you're trying it, you're trying them on. Like when my daughter first started dating, we were like, you got to try on different shoes, different, you know, try, you know, not saying go out and be a slut. I'm just saying, you know, date, you know, date, it's okay to date and meet someone and see if you have chemistry. Get to know different types of personalities. It's the same thing with discovering the new you, discovering your style. I'm always going to metaphorically and draw interpretations from different life experiences for you to find yourself when it comes to style. Maybe that's the second. I love that as a book. Thank you, Angie. I bought, I'm buying the book. I would buy that book right now. Where is the line between dressing for yourself and dressing for other people? Because they say like, when you walk in a room, how you, people will judge you immediately. And you know, there's, there's reasons why people want to look nice when they go to things. It's like for other people. But what is, where is the line between being in your universe? And dressing for outside approval opinion. It's, it's for me, it's like, are you naked or do you have on clothes? You know what I mean? You know what I mean? It's like, I mean, I've broken down into my brown panties on social media. People thought I was having a life crisis, but I was basically trying to express that self-awareness, self-confidence, being okay with who and what you are is enough. And when you start to feel like just stripped down that that's enough, then starting to layer things on top of that starts to feel a little bit more tangible. And it's, and it relates back to silhouettes, like finding that silhouette that really makes you feel confident and is flattering to your body, both men and women. It comes from a, there's a clinical psychology to that, how you get to that place. You know, why you may see, you know, certain people wearing things that are ill-fitting and they have no idea that is sabotaging their bodies. Because in, in their minds, they have come to terms with how they look physically. And they're like, I'm going to wear whatever. There is, there is an honesty there that I, that even though we may have an opinion about it, that I have to admire. And that is like, you put that on and you came outside and you felt, you own it. So I'm not going to, I have to respect that. Now I may have an opinion about it where I feel like my opinion is to like, I could offer you something that could be a lot more flattering, but will it disrupt what you have psychologically, that journey that you've been on? I don't want to compromise. Again, it takes time and, and, and the experience of working with someone like myself, it does, it's, it's an evolution. And it's a, it's a, it's a psychological understanding of what people need to feel confident and to step out in something that they didn't initially own. And we didn't initially own this, but we owned our skin, our body, our flesh. We own that. Why I went, why I was like, my body's my temple. I went vegan. I was like, I'm going to like, to me, that is the first thing you take care of. The temple. The temple. And then the confidence is built off of all of that. You feel good, you know, energy is important. Yeah, for sure. But that's maintenance. So people are like, oh my God, how do you have so much energy? Like I have, like I protect it. I protect my energy. I protect my space. I protect who's in, you know, who's in my, in my circle. You take care of your temple. Yes. Because, you know, You eat well. I eat well. You exercise. I live well. Yeah. Exercise. Oh, not as much as I should, but I feel like getting out of the bed and walk. When I see you dancing around. I feel like I do get my steps in, but I would like to start to do a little bit more focused workout. Like, strength training is definitely my focus right now. Yeah. Muscle mass, that's very important. But I wouldn't mind taking like a Pilates and a little Bicram to keep my joints loose, you know. Ageing is cruel. It could be cruel. Ageing could be very cruel. I know. How do you deal with that? Especially in your world where everything is so visual. I mean, you look amazing. Thank you. I, I, you should feel good. But it probably becomes a little hard as you get older. It's harder to maintain the looking and feeling good. I mean, honestly, like I, I, I, I get down a little bit. Like, you know, first of all, comparison is will rob you of all your joy. Yeah. So I try not to like whenever I feel like that feeling of like, oh my God, like this is happening. And then you're looking around you and like, and people are equating like Asia relevancy. It's like, I, I hate Asia's. And it's like so horrible that people like, you know, you get certain Asian. They're like, auntie. That's why I'm like, don't call me auntie. I hate an auntie. Okay. If you're going to mama, dream me great, but you better be in your 20s. Yeah. Not in your 40s. Like it kills me. You know, it kills me when they, when they, when they start to, so I'm not a fan of that because I know what that, what that attracts and what that was the connotation behind it. So I'm always like, they're like, oh, just out of respect. You can just, you want to respect me? Call me miss Ambrose or, you know, miss June or whatever. You want to have respect like a southerner? Fine. But auntie, you know, it's a little bit very personal. Yeah. I'm not into it either. Yeah. No, I'm so glad you're not into it because. Mary hates it too. I'm right. It's like, and it's like, it's like, all right. What are you trying to say? You know what I mean? Because you know, they be trying to, they be slick talking. You got to catch them quick. Them little slick talkers and they be trying it. That's slick talk. What about, can I answer your question? Yeah, it all like, I can evade it. There's no right or wrong answers. I know it's like, we just go places. We just go places. I could evade it. I could evade it. A question really quickly. I love the story about on the run. I want to, I wonder about like, because even to go back to that day of me being in that. You know, I was never, I always kind of struggle with weight. Like me, I was, I was up and down, right? Me too. Even back then, even so, even in that moment that we talked about the MTV Awards, I was probably like, you know, I couldn't really wear what little Kim was wearing. Oh my God, remember that? I couldn't wear, you know, I was, I didn't really feel that, but I remember like, what you did with Missy. Yeah. Right? And we got so much into that. What? I think we were like on the, here's the thing about that. We were like on the worst dress list. We was like, yeah. What do you mean for that? I did the plaid hat with the matching golfer cleats and the little thing, right? And, and that remixed the Adidas track jacket and people like this. Next, that season, Dior runway, plaid sportswear, clam diggers, fabric covered plaid cleats. Okay, listen. So sometimes you have a risk. We do a golf. I'm just, we do a golf outfit. Let's do it big. Let's do it huge. Let's do it big. Let's do it very collaborative so people can buy into it. Okay, I'm into it. Not a one off. I think big, I think enterprising, honey. Okay. It's like, listen. Oh, that's not, it's not up to cover. I love this for God's sake. No one off. One off. One off. We're building, we're building, we're building empires. We'll get to that later. We'll get to that. But look, Brittany, she loves it. She's like, yes. Yes. Could you imagine the two? So she, No, but you know, Missy, who, who, who was not the sample size either, you found a way to make her fly. And even those Adidas suits, I was like, oh, yeah, I'm so happy that these are in style because we could, you were like studying them out and do, and then I started wearing those and feeling cute and feeling like I was in a, you know, and that you had some creative license, right? Yes. I think we took creative license and that IP, we kind of, we took so much creative license. We were able to, I was able to go to Adidas and do the first collaboration artist, well, not the first because they did run DMC, but Missy in terms of in her genre, I remember at the time, female artists, first collaboration, respect me. I was a creative director with it and her, you know, with her on it. And that was before. So you see all these collaborative like partnerships now. And it's like, we, you know, I'm going to say it out loud. We did it in 2000s and the 2000s, we did it. And that talk your shit. Yeah. And it's not, you know, it's like we did it because we knew that we, we were worthy of it. But those seeds, I think, adjusted the way those big brands saw our culture and the power of our influence and the impact that it was going to have and not just from you taking and culture boltering it, but you had to partner. You had to partner and we made, we made it a thing. So the rec, the prerequisite was if you want, if you want to play this game, you have to play it with us. You have to be on the team. And I just, I look at everything now. I know. Yeah. And everyone talks about it like it's like so new. You're like, been there, did that? I was like, okay. Heard you. Gotcha. Hey guys, Boost Mobile is proving that you do not have to overpay for great wireless. Unlock the savings with the $25 a month forever unlimited plan. It's a permanent price with no contracts and no price hikes. So you can keep your phone, your number, and you can save up to $600 a year compared to other major carriers. So stop overpaying and switch to a fair price at boostmobile.com and do it today. Based on average annual single line payment of AT&T Verizon and T-Mobile customers compared to 12 months on the Boost Mobile Unlimited plan as of January 2026. For full offer details, visit boostmobile.com. This is our IRL voice note presented by Boost Mobile. It is a little segment that we do where somebody sends you our guests from there and bros a voice note. So let's have that. I just have to tell you that I absolutely love and adore you. Everything that you stand for, for Black culture, for Black women. And also the drops you've been having on phyletics. I love and need every pair and every color. Okay, now that that's out the way, do not have to ask you about Black designers because I'm noticing this pattern where Black designers who have shaped culture and that we all love get dragged the second they make one mistake. And other major retailers do far worse with zero public consequence. And I think about how one article from the cut essentially like took down Pierre Moss and how most recently with Hanifa, she's getting dragged left and right on the internet because of delayed orders. But I'm like, Sheehan has delayed orders all the time. And I don't see any TikToks or think pieces or anything like that about that. Y'all love to go back to Sheehan. You know what I mean? And as someone who is a legend and OG in the fashion industry, I wanted to ask you what this responsible accountability actually look like for Black brands, especially knowing that the margin of error is so thin. And one bad press cycle or one bad article can be lights out for their business. Wow. Well, it's loaded and so provocative and so honest and so true and so sad. And so makes me angry, you know. It makes me angry for so many reasons because we are our worst enemy. You know, and I always tell like, you know, young designers and I've had this conversation with Laquan Smith early in his career. I used to tell him, stop chasing retail. It's, and this was before there was a tell far. I would like what tell for a built without retail is what I was telling Laquan. Focus on production, manufacturing, all of those things. You chasing retail that has the ability to destroy your business. And yeah, you'll get there, but you have a community and a culture that has your back and that will show up for you. And that's the thing, right? It's like we will ride a dawn for designers, you know, in the beginning. But like the young lady said, it's like as soon as that there is no grace for, and but we've always been held to higher standards where we don't, we have to work harder. As black people, we don't, we're not afford the same opportunities. They, the discrimination is, and I'm speaking about discrimination from the access perspective in terms of supply chains, in terms of factors that you would need to fund to get the product made, you know, being able to get that factor to, to, to, you know, to give you that money so that you can produce the collections. It's always a challenge for black designers. Sometimes they have to take off seasons. Sometimes they go away. They just lose steam. They just can't, it's just so heartbreaking. They sacrifice so much when others, and it's all, it's all financing. It's all about money. So if something's late, it's because they couldn't, you know, they, it's, it's access and financing. And it's so frustrating. So it's like, but all of these companies that really want to support merging designers, that's kind of like the thing that needs to take priority is making sure that they have sustainable partners in manufacturing and production. That back end of the business is so key, you know, and for me, like, why I've done partnerships more so than put out my own product is because that financial exposure is heavy. And I wasn't willing to take that risk for that very reason. I still have my June Ambrose glasses. I still have them in my closet. I still wear them all the time. They're still selling too. Like I'm, I see. Now it's, I wear them maybe like, I don't know, a month ago I was, I bust out the, I have a brown pair, the square ones. And I saw Joe, I saw a fat Joe and he's like, those glasses are fine. Oh, I love it. Classic June Ambrose. Joe, because Joe said it best yesterday's price is not today's price. He's an icon. He's an icon for sure. Wow. That was a great question, by the way. It was a really great question. I think I answered. I think so. You know what I would like to know? Like I love the story you tell about going to, uh, on the run and how J and B were the perfect people for you to be around in that time. Because this is in real life and we hear the stories of how you dressed Missy in that iconic video or buster in that iconic video. I wonder if you could share some of like your real life connection or real life moments that come to you from some of these people. Like, I don't know, we can pick, we can pick where you have some. You're going to say, no, no, no. I was going to tell you artists that you've worked with. Okay, go, go, go. It's like a real life experience. It was always real life experiences because. All right, let's see. Let's see what you have. Mariah Carey. Oh my God, yeah. So Mariah hates like wearing bags. So she doesn't carry a bag. Doesn't, you know, so I came, I came in on the emancipation of Mimi. And, um, you know, she also hates trying on clothes. So I literally, I literally, the way I would get her to wear something is to put it on and walk into the room and she'd be like, take it off. That's good. You know, or like, and like, like the calf tan, like the Tory Burch calf tan, what people thought was a dress was a calf tan. We made it into a dress. Like I understood her, right? So it's like, because that's what it would take. It would take you to, because some people could be taken back by that. Oh, I would be like, yeah. I'd be like, because no, because having female experience is so different from your experience with a male client. Some girls can handle me and some girls can just feel like I just go away. Right. Just like go away. So, you know, but you know, like true, like girls that are like super like confident and just admire, just think I'm the funniest thing. They get it. You know, they don't, they're not bothered by me. I can name a number of those, those, those women. But another like thing with Mariah, we would always like, you know, I would always role play with her. We would literally just do movie quotes all day. Mommy Dearest or Clueless, like literally that's how we would speak to each other. It was not even like a real conversation, moving quotes. That's pretty good. Yeah. So that's a great one. Yeah. All right. Let's go. Our I Heart Radio Music Awards are coming back. Thursday, March 26th live on Fox. Watch as we honor the biggest stars from all genres of music that you loved listening to all year long on your favorite I Heart radio station and the I Heart Radio app. Hosted by Ludacris. Icon Award recipient, John Mellencamp. Innovator Award recipient, Miley Cyrus. With performances by Alex Warren, Kailani. Lainey Wilson. Ludacris. Ray. TLC. Salt and pepper. And invoke. Plus Taylor Swift makes her first award show appearance this year. Also gold medal Olympian, Alyssa Liu. Neo. Nick Colesure Singer. Nikki Glaser. Sombra. Weiser. And more. Watch live on Fox Thursday, March 26th. Eddie Seven Central. And listen on I Heart radio stations across America and the Free I Heart app. Hey there, this is Josh from Stuff You Should Know with a message that could change your life. The Stuff You Should Know ThinkSpring podcast playlist is available now. Whether Spring has sprung in your neck of the woods yet or not, the Stuff You Should Know ThinkSpring playlist will make you want to get your overalls on, get outside, and get your hands in the dirt. You can get the Stuff You Should Know ThinkSpring playlist on the I Heart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm John Green. You may know me as the author of The Fault in Our Stars. And now I guess also as the co-host of The Away End, a brand new world soccer podcast. I'm Daniel Alarcón, a writer and journalist. And John and I have known each other since we were kids. My first World Cup was Mexico 86. I was nine years old. I watched every game and I fell in love. On our new podcast, The Away End, we'll share with you the magic of international football, all leading up to the 2026 World Cup. For us, soccer is a story we've shared for over 30 years, since Daniel was the star player on our high school soccer team. Very dependable. And I was their most loyal and sometimes only fan. I love this game. I love its history, its hope, its heartbreak, and above all, its beauty. Together, we'll find out why of all the unimportant things, football, soccer is the most important. Listen to The Away End with Daniel Alarcón and John Green on the iHeart Radio App, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Buster Rhymes. Oh my God, so many. Too many. Oh my God. Okay, first of all, kudos to, like, you think about, you're looking at Harry Styles now and you're like, oh, this cross-dressing is so, like, he does it. So, but Buster was, I had put Buster in, he was wearing halters and shit back then, and the most feminine cuts ever. But he's still masculine. Wrapping his head up in turbans and covering Timbaland boots. I was custom designing Timbalands, like literally covering them with fabulous, expensive fabrics, Indian fabrics and stuff like that, and made him the royal saltine of hip-hop. You know what I mean? Like, and he was always, like, he was the best. Like, he's still the best. Like, he's just, He was down for it. He was down for it. Like, every set that we ever did, the Buster on Janet Jackson music video, like, you know, he was down for us putting multiple pieces on, sitting in prosthetics. I made him a muscle suit before. I mean, like, I can name the amount of outrageousness that I've done with Buster that he literally, still to this day, I mean, no regrets. Oh, I love that. No regrets. I don't think that he feels like he can have, he has the license to be as, we're like a halter now. I don't think his body's changed. But you know, I don't think. You still work with him? No, I don't. But we're friends and we say, in times she's great. And I consult to me, calls me, needs something like, what do you think about this? I'm like, perfect. Oh, that's cute. Yeah, I'm like, yeah, I want to speed down. Missy Elliott. Yeah. I know. It's my sister in my heart. Yeah, she, I mean, we just sit that tour together. So, you know, Missy, people don't realize, Missy's never been on tour in her career. Headlined her own tour. Oh, that's right. This was the first. That's crazy. This was the first. Out of this world was this first. And she came to me and I, you know, I don't take that lightly because she could have very well collaborated with a big fashion house. But she entrusted that in me, you know, in me. And that to me was such a testament of her character, her understanding and respect for the collaboration early. She tries to choose. Yeah, it's just like, you know, it just makes me emotional that after all these years, and there's so many distractions and people that she could, like I said, have worked with, that she allowed the universe to work with her on that. You did well by her. Thank you. We had a good time on that tour. We had some fun. My girl, Mary J Blanche. Oh, I love Mary. Mary thinks I'm bad shit crazy. What do you mean? Every time Mary sees me, she goes, girl. When she gets to me, that was she being like, you know, you're like, you know, Mary, like, like, like I said, I think the best interview I've seen of Mary and forever was the one where she sat and talked to you. Thank you. Because for Mary, energy and authenticity and real talk and like is paramount to her. It's everything. And she could smell when you're being a fake bitch. And I love her for that. You know, she'll come in and she'll read the room quick. Mary will come in with attitude. She'll say, I hate you. Like, you know, because she knows, you know what I mean? Like, I'm only going to show up as who I am. And I love and respect her so much. And every time I've worked with Mary, we have giggled and had a good time. She thinks that she thinks she thinks I'm nuts. But you know what? It's interesting when you say, sometimes when you're in a service business and you've kind of, you know, you said, I managed to kind of be able to live in those two worlds. Yeah. Like artists like Mary respect and sees and recognizes that to where she like, come in my video, like we could be girlfriends. And I'm like in the music video with her starting the video with her. Whereas like another artist will be like, you're the help. You're not going to be in my music video as a girlfriend. We're walking down the hallway together. Like she has that like reals and day kind of relationship with her, you know, with her stylist kind of energy. And I thought that was like, they said a lot about like who she was and her confidence as a woman. I love that. She's the best, right? The best. You did like, I know you worked with Paul for many years. Yeah. Bad boy. Yeah. What about the guys? Like, what about them? Completely like, you know, that the dynamic between like male artists is like that safe place, that trusted, you know, places like getting a prostate exam. You know, it's like, you gotta. It's a good scenario. And I was like, no, but it's like, you know, it's intimidating. It can be to work with like, I'm a very, I'm a very strong communicator when it comes to like style with men. I present differently from the girls. You do? Yeah. Yeah. It's a different character. But it's always a place of, you don't have to pretend with me, you know, you can just. And also, it's always important that with men that you really, they have to be in the driver's seat in a way. It's such a vulnerable place, you know, it's like, you know, so just a different dynamic. Yeah. Different dynamic. With J2, I would imagine, right? Oh yeah, but he's great. I mean, he's like, you know, like he is the epitome of effortless, like the sweat, like we're at the point. It's like 30 years later. It's not even. What do you mean? He styles himself. He does? Yes. It's like, we just hang out. You know what I mean? It's like, yeah, he just, he's an icon. Yeah. Yeah. The work, the work is, he's an icon. Like he, he doesn't matter. We could be a t could be a t-shirt. We have fun. It's like, it's not, it's not work. It's not pressure. Just, you know, it's like, if I want it like, what is he like or not like? Like, oh my God. And he said to grow into that too. I would imagine he wasn't like that. I still challenge and push him certain things. You do? Yeah, it's important. Because you know, we're evolving. Yeah. You know, we have to try. Have you ever pissed him off? Have you ever made him wear something and then he did not appreciate it after? It was like that didn't work. I mean, that's not gonna happen. Maybe on my end, I might have noticed it and was like, but um, no, I don't think, yeah, pissed off now. Pissed off. We don't even go there if it doesn't feel good. You just onto the next. Yeah, I don't, it's not worth it. Yeah. You know, it's like he's, he's too seasoned. Yeah. You know, it's like, it's different than working with a new artist versus like, you know. Is he the only one that you've been with from the beginning and? Yeah, he's my, yeah, he's like, like he's my only, only guy right now. He's my only, I don't, I'm like retired in a sense. Like I focus more on design, creative direction. Yes. Not to say that I wouldn't do like, I love, I still love music video. I still love creative like projects, like, you know, like campaigns and all that kind of stuff. I love that stuff. Yeah. But you keep him as a client still. Yeah. Forever. I don't, where, where are we going to go? Like it's like, I think it's, I mean, nothing's forever, but it's forever in my head. I love that. Yeah. And why June, have you not been invited to the Met Gala? No, we had this conversation on the cut and everyone got very upset, not the cut. Why did you get upset? On complex. Why are they going to play? Plumizma was like, you sound like you were complaining. He was like, it's embarrassing. All right. Because he felt like, he felt like, you don't really care. Here's the question. The truth, right? The truth. Do you think you should be invited to the Met Gala? Is there, am I spending? What? My mother always said, invited guests get cheated the best. I've been, I've been, I've been, I don't know if I was invited. But you've been. I've been years and years and years ago. Do I care? Yeah, do you care that you know it? Oh, no, because it's a fundraiser. Right. No, I don't actually. You're thinking about your husband's voice in the end. No, I don't. Are you? Yeah, I think I'm so, I think I'm so, I think I'm. You passed it. I am so past it. I recognize what it is. They raise a lot of money for the. How many people have you gotten ready for the Met Gala? Oh, not a lot. Really? Not my thing. Yeah, not a lot. No, no. Have you done it? You, have you? I mean, I did. Oh yeah, but you know, if you bring that up, then we have something about the last time he was seen. Was that, that was the look. The dog Vader. That was, I did puff for the. Yes. And the all black. You have designed that look. Does that make you feel looking back at that look? It was appropriate. Yeah. It was, it was appropriate. Wow. And you think about it, those black roses and the darkness. Wow. Yeah. And that was the picture that ran everywhere. There's so much heartbreak. There's heartbreak in that, I know. Disappointment and disappointment. I don't want to have to not talk about the great things that I worked on and did. Yeah. It's really annoying. That is annoying. Because there's so many iconic moments and you ruin it for everyone that was involved. It's so funny. I'm just disappointed. I'm not gonna say when something happens like that, even listening with puff, it's like, the artists that, you know, I had one 12 and a total they were on tour and they came on the show. And I couldn't talk to them about it. They spoke about it very lightly and carefully as they should. Yeah. Because it's not their burden to carry. That's right. It's not your burden to carry. But part of your history, you've done. It is. It's like, so what? You supposed to act like you didn't do great things with that. And I- It's like when the Cosby show gets canceled. So we don't get to see- We love the Cosby show. Cosby show because that got the one guy. I mean, if people really go back and look at my resume, my discography, I have done some, yeah, there's a lot of things that I don't talk about. Big music videos, groundbreaking. And because the muse has, you know, has been exiled into life imprisonment and stuff. It's just- How do you feel about this? Does it make you sad or? Yeah, it makes me- Culturally, it's- It doesn't do it. It does not good for the culture. It's not good for- How does it serve any of us to not- And to celebrate what, you know, the downfall of it, to not all just be disappointed and disgusted. It's like, how do we not- How do we not sad behind that? Oh no, I was just sure I said- Like you're outraged by like the acts, right? But like, we know we've seen this chaos before. But to be so close to it is really heartbreaking. Because some of it, you didn't see that side. You know, you didn't- And it's like the fact that you were held to different regards, then you start to feel like- Yeah, because you never experienced that. Of course not, no. Right. There's probably been a hospitalization. I mean, no, I mean, it's just- Yeah, no, I get it. You know, Angie, we've grown up around these guys. I mean, but we were held different. We were held- Yeah, for sure. We were dealt with differently. And it's- I don't know what it is about us. Because I'm not- We're not doing that. We're not. That's not- Yeah. And it's like you raise your voice. I- I- Like, my mom didn't yell at me. I didn't grow up in that kind of home. So, and I know that hurt people hurt people. So, my- the way I dealt with people that were acting out, it was in a- in a- in a very- Because like you said, you recognize I'm an empathic in that way. And I'm able to really shift energy and make people feel safe that they don't have to perform when they're within our pri- in our sacred space. You don't have to perform for me. This is just- this is just us. And I see you. I see how- I see you- I see- Yeah, we're managing. We manage personalities. We manage all types of characters. Yeah, for sure. But there are cons- like I said, early in my life, I knew there were consequences to actions. And- and to every action, there's a consequence. Good or bad. Yeah. It affects you though too. Your history and all the- Yeah. Yeah. So, it's like that part- That part's sad. That part's a drag. Yeah. But you know, the Met Gala is gonna be really exciting this year because Beyoncé is- Yeah, so how does that shift? I mean, that's a perfect me. I don't style Beyoncé. I know, but like just her being part of that, I don't know. It's exciting. I mean, she hasn't been in a while, so she always brings excitement. She's like- it's like, you know, when Rihanna started going to the Met, we were like, we will wait to see what, you know, Rihanna would come with at the end. Like the carpet would be closed and Rihanna would show up. Me too. Yeah. That's what I'm saying. That's what I'm saying. So, you know, she's the weird- But her sharing it, does that mean anything? I don't really know what that means. I know that recently they just- I don't know what that means, what that responsibility means. She has to stay at the top of- Maybe you'll get an invite this year. Oh, well, Anna's still controsy. Oh, yes. Okay, let us not. No, Anna, come on now, Anna. My daughter's name is Summer, so we love the Summer. We're leaving right there. Hey guys, support for this podcast is brought to you by Walden University. Have you ever thought to yourself, what if I could go after what I actually want and I could really make a difference? Well, you are not alone and this is exactly why I want to tell you about Walden University. For over 50 years, Walden has helped working adults like you get the W, with the knowledge, the skills and everything you need to build the future that you want. And you can make a difference where it matters most. If you've been waiting for the right moment, this is it. Head to waldenu.edu and take that first step. Walden University set a course for change, certified to operate by SHIV. All right, so this is our IRL bundle of questions, of real life questions. Oh my God, it's so intimidating. No. You're into me? Oh, I pick? Yeah, you pick whatever you like. All right. If you could instantly master any skill, what would it be? It's in your hat. The thing is in your hat. The paper is in your hat. When your hat's too big. If you could instantly master any skill, what would it be? Yeah. That? No, no, no, no. Yeah. No. Any skill. Sketching. I'm not a good sketcher. I sketch very loose. It's a kindergarten, but like real. So getting the idea out of your brain onto the paper is sometimes hard, I would imagine, if you're not a great sketcher. I've thank God for technology because I can now sketch through, you know, to digital sketching, but yeah. Okay, go for another one. Give me three. Let's do three. Instantly, yeah. Oh, a prayer or affirmation you say often. Oh, God. It's almost a serenity prayer, you know. I always ask for God to give me grace, you know, for the things that I cannot do. I mean, I'm sober drunk, so I don't even understand how to say it. But yeah, I always literally constantly say, you know, what if I don't get done today? I put off the tomorrow and give myself grace constantly. It's okay. I always affirm that it's okay. I'm enough and it's okay. Yeah, this is how you hold on to that joy. Yeah, I'm like, it's okay. Take another one. And then I have a couple here and then we're all you got more. What have you always wanted to do but haven't? Oh, oh, this is loaded. There's so many things because I'm like, I feel like, oh my God, I want to go to India. Yes. I want to eat love and pray. Oh my God, your outfits in India are going to be fire. India's on my bucket list and I've traveled the world. India is on the list. I know you're probably like, why India? Yeah, India. No, I would totally love to go to India also. Oh, and I want to see the Northern Lights. Yeah, that's good too. Yeah. Okay, Junie, Jun, I am no longer available for... Come on, you got it. I am no longer available for brain picks. It's like, it's like, I'm like, I want to pick your brain. Okay, but how does that serve me if you're just picking and not giving anything? I love that. Yeah, it's like... What are you giving me? Yeah, picking something. You just pick, pick, pick. I'm giving. I'm giving. I'm always giving. We are giving. For sure. And it takes you a lot of time to get that. For sure. And it takes a lot to have a brain worth picking. It takes a lot of effort and work you have to put into yourself to have a brain worth picking. So it's like, if I'm putting so much effort into doing this, what effort are you bringing by picking it? I know it sounds like probably... Is that rude when you say like, how does it serve me? I mean... No, it's not. Yeah. It should. I mean, it doesn't mean that I don't give. I'm just saying like, you can't just keep picking my brain. No, I think it's important to give when you have something to give. Yeah. I'm no longer available for people who don't see what I see in myself. And I only want to value you. Yeah. That's right. Yeah. Heard you. I felt that deep in my soul. When I walk into a room, I want people to feel... Like they want to dance. So you want to dance. No, I want them to feel... Yeah, I want them to feel joy. I want them to feel like it's going to be okay. Yeah. Like whatever is going on in their world, like I can just escape with this moment with June. What do you like most about yourself, June? I think my ability to see the best in people before I see the worst, I will always see the goodness first. I don't look for what could be wrong with you. I look for what is right about you. From inception. That's like one of my best attributes. And people always say, oh, you'll always see the good in everybody. And yeah, people like that get taken advantage of, but I don't think it's being taken advantage of. I think it's... My mother always gave people grace when they wronged her, when they did things that made her cry. She was always really able to forgive and give them grace. And always found a reason why they did what they did. And that is who I am. That's why I understand that completely. Yeah, it's like... But I do understand though, that that personality does get taken advantage of. Oh, for sure. Yeah. So how do you protect yourself from that? You know, there is a grace of God. You know, there is some a higher power thing. Most things, I don't feel like I have to carry a lot of what this world has put on our backs to carry. Sometimes I just... Give it to God? Give it to God. Yeah. Speaking of God, it's my favorite question in the bowl, and we will end with that one. If God were to text you right now, what would it say? I've prepared you... So sorry. I'm not so good. I have prepared you for everything that's coming your way. Okay. And be still. June and April is my friend. In real life. How do I make you so emotional? You touched me so good. No, that's so good. That question does it. I don't know what it is about that, because it's like the realest thing ever. Yeah, because it's like... What? How many times you do it? Sometimes you don't think you're being seen, but everyone's paying attention. And when I called you and I said, I need to come sit, don't you say? So thank you. Thank you for trusting me. Thank you for coming. June and April's the real life, everybody. You can't leave crying. We gotta leave a joy. Give you some joy. What is this joy? Yes, it is. Oh, this is so happy. Yeah. So this is joy. Yeah, joy is when you feel safe, when you feel... Seen? Seen. That is joy. And people are like, oh, you know, it's like I want to be seen. And people are like, some people don't want to be seen. I want to be seen. It's like if I'm not seen, what am I doing? Like at the end of our lives, am I not supposed to have existed? Like, I think that's what I think about the most. My mom being gone, I constantly say her name because her legacy is the fact that she was here, that she created me, that she gave me this life. And if I don't continue to celebrate that, then it was if she didn't, that she wasn't here. So you're being seen for her? Yeah, people move on. And we leave this earth, we move on. We leave, we have to all leave. And when... What is your legacy? I mean, my kids, like the way I changed culture, the way I made people think, the way I made people feel, that's my legacy. Yeah. Yeah, I think that's probably why you're so emotional. That's why I'm so emotional. Because you carry the weight of honoring your mother by being seen. Yeah, it's like a little girl growing up in an immigrant. I came here, I came to this country, I wasn't born in this country. I'm an immigrant. So when I see immigrants, the way they're being tortured now, when I see, I know the sacrifices that immigrants leaving their country to come to this country for a better life, and this is not a better life. And like, wait, hold on, where I came from, as in always, every time some immigrant comes, it's not because they're running from something. They're running towards something. And when that is being misinterpreted, that part, I take real personal and that part hurts, because I know what it's like to come to this country as an immigrant, and to have gotten my citizenship and to, you know, I pay my part, I do my part, shifted culture. I shifted culture. We've built empires, billionaires, billionaires, and millionaires, and we share that, you know what I mean? The adjacentness of success is super important to me, so if I'm successful, anyone that's in the juniors should be successful too. And you are your mother's legacy. I am my mother's legacy. Yeah, I owe it to her. June Ambrose. Thank you. Now I smile. You made me cry. This is June Ambrose in real life. Hey guys, thanks for watching. Make sure you subscribe, like, comment, and check out all of the other episodes we have on Age of Martinez's IRL podcast. Hey there, this is Josh from Stuff You Should Know with a message that could change your life. The Stuff You Should Know ThinkSpring podcast playlist is available now. Whether Spring has sprung in your neck of the woods yet or not, the Stuff You Should Know ThinkSpring playlist will make you want to get your overalls on, get outside, and get your hands in the dirt. You can get the Stuff You Should Know ThinkSpring playlist on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Daniel Alarcón, and this is my friend who's much more famous than I am. I wouldn't go that far, but I'm John Green, co-host of the podcast The Away End with my old friend Daniel. On our podcast The Away End, we'll share with you the magic of international football, all leading up to the 2026 World Cup. Together, we'll find out why of all the unimportant things, football, soccer, is the most important. Listen to The Away End with Daniel Alarcón and John Green on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.