Angie Martinez IRL - Steve Madden: Overcoming Addiction & Building An Empire

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He is also a devoted family man, a provocative shoe designer. He is nothing but an inspiration. Oh, God. You are. You also happen to be Brittany, my executive producer of the podcast. She worked at Steve Madden. Oh, no way. You kind of happen to be her boss. You were her boss before I was her boss. Steve Madden is here. Okay. Yay. All right. Shoes. The shoe tights me. Yes. Is that how you think of yourself? No. How do you think of yourself? When you see your- Oh, God, that's such a deep question. How do I think of myself? Is that too soon? Too soon? No, no, it's okay. It's all good, you know. Because your name is beyond you. Yes, I know. It's bigger than you. Well, sometimes, I mean, at the end of the day, we're all the same. We look in the mirror and we see pimples and, and, you know, we think we're fat and, you know, or whatever it is. And so, yeah, every once in a while, that's cool. I'm Steve Madden, but mostly it's, you know, throw out the garbage, you know, throw out the garbage. That's it. It's mostly that. It's so funny whenever we book somebody, you know, we had this Barbara Corcoran was on recently and then I would see this, her buildings, all of a sudden I noticed every building that she had in New York City. So the same thing with you, I knew you were coming. And it's like, there's a Steve Madden store. Like, I feel like on every corner. I know it's not every corner, but there's a lot of them. There's a lot of them. I was just spending some time in Miami. They're all over Florida. They're all over New York. What does that feel like to you when you drive past? Do you even stay? I get a real big kick out of seeing people wear my shoes. That's fun. More than your name. Well, the stores are good, but then I think about, you know, how are they running and all of that. So not that I don't enjoy all of this. I do. You know, I'm happy. I've been through a lot. But, you know, it's like it lasts four seconds, that little euphoria, and then life is- You're on to real life. Yeah, I think so. Our kids, you know, my kid goes to school. She looks sloppy. She looks clean. Is she wearing Steve Madden's? Most of the time. Sometimes not. Sometimes not. Does it piss you off? It causes me pain. Yeah, I was going to say, does it piss you off? It is a sore point. How dare she? And my son doesn't always wear Steve Madden, which really drives me crazy. What does he wear? Sneakers? He wears Margiela sneakers. I know. It's unbelievable. And he fibs to me and we're going to be in an elevator. I said, whose shoes are those? And he's 18 and he says, they're yours, Steve Madden. And I find out they're Margiela. Oh, no. The disrespect in your own home. I know. It's unbelievable. But it's fascinating, really. I can't imagine for you when you make the, you design these shoes and you walk around the city. Cause you're still in the city, right? You live in New York. I live in New York. Yeah. So you're walking around New York and every like one out of how many people have a pair of shoes? Oh, I don't know. I see the bags around a lot. Yeah. The bags are everywhere. The shoes are everywhere. Yes. Like you went to the Knicks game last night. Are you sitting at the garden looking at people's feet? I do. Yeah. I always look at people's feet. I've been in the shoe business since I'm 17 years old. Yeah. And that's my life. And so I often, when I shake someone's hand, I always look down. And I don't know if people notice it. I'm sure it's weird. Yeah. But I do. I can't help it. That's really funny. That's what I do. What is that like? Because I've interviewed a lot of artists, music artists, and I always hear stories of people like when they first started rapping, they would sell their mixtapes out of the backseat of their trunk. They would sell mixtapes. But I don't know anybody who's done the shoe hustle out of the trunk. I did that. You did that. You know, it's so funny. What is the shoe hustle? It's so funny because that's why I did have a few friends in the music business. Yeah. And I sort of connected with that hustling kind of vibe. Mentality, yeah. Yeah. I was good friends with a couple of guys. With Irv, right? With Irv Gotti. With Irv Gotti, yes. Irv Gotti. I was thinking about him today. I miss him so much. Me too. And I can't believe he's not here anymore. But he has that. They come from that school. The hustler spirit. The hustler spirit. Yeah. I used to go to games with Irv and Ja Rule. They were great. We had so much fun. Yeah. Take me to your time though. Take me, who is that guy who's selling shoes out of the trunk of the car? Who are you? What age are you? So I worked for a company when I was in my 20s. And then I went on my own in my 30s. Yeah. And I just started with one shoe. There was a little factory in East New York in the middle of a tough neighborhood. And I would just make – I started with what I could do. What I mean by that is I didn't have a lot of money. So it couldn't be like a startup. I started with one shoe. I would go to the stores. I would sell the shoe. Are you being serious? Like one shoe? I actually started with one shoe. It was a little clog. Yes. And I had a bankroll, you know, and I carried it in my pocket. And I had a couple of employees and I used to pay them every day at the end of the day. Here's 60 bucks, here's 80 bucks, every single day. And what were they running around doing for you? No, I'm just saying like I had a driver was my first employee. Because I had like 22 DWIs. So I had no license. So I had a driver, a guy who worked in my building where I lived in the village. so I had a driver and we'd go and we'd sell the shoes and then you know and it just started like that it really just you just start you know where you can and built up bankroll there's really something to that I mean obviously there was 1000 steps in between and the ups and downs and all that but there's really something about yeah that moment for so many people who have an idea have a dream have a thing it's like yeah do the one start get the one get the one shoe yes that is exactly right or do the one thing a lot of people you know people have i you know just hear like the word startup so i get this idea of like an office with a lot of like desks right and it's a startup i don't i don't actually know what it means they get some money and they start up but for me it was the startup was to take a hot shoe, a shoe, and get it into stores. I had connections with the stores from my previous job. And they bought the shoe and they reordered the shoe. And then I had two shoes. You put a label on it? Steve Madden, yeah. And then it just multiplied. And then from that point to today, that's how many years now? It's 36. This will be the 36 years. Started in 1990. Wow. Yeah. Started almost, it's almost, yeah, about 36 years. And then- Does that even feel like you still? Or does it feel like, I don't know. It's like a story at this point, right? It's so long ago. It's a story. It is a story, but it's me and I'm still a hustler and I'm older and wealthier and maybe less insecure. I'm lucky that I could be on a show like yours. And these are things that I never really talk about since I don't have a psychiatrist anymore. But I feel like for me, I feel like, okay, I got kids and I'm feeding my kids like a hunter gatherer in my mind. And that's it. I'm getting up. I'm going to take care of my family. I'm going to feed them. And I know that sounds a little primitive and but for me it helps me it keeps me going during the day it's not about me it's i got to take care of these three kids and ex-wife and ex-girlfriends and all that that you know what i'm saying you know uh but uh you know that's that's what i do so that's the motivation yeah because back then your motivation was what to make money to be successful to beat your demons to because i I know a lot of your story. I know that you've been through trauma and addictions and loss. Addiction, yes. I mean, addiction itself. Yes. It's not a small thing. It's not a small thing. It's a blurb in your book, in the cover of your book, and it talks about you're recovering. But addiction is sometimes people's whole story. You know, that's so smart, what you're saying. It doesn't have to be your whole story, but it's definitely part of my story. but it doesn't have to be the whole story it's just so it's hard to explain it to people it's considered substance abuse is a disease by the textbooks now and when you're in it it's hard to get out of it and liken it to sometimes like diarrhea let's just say I know this is awful but you can't will yourself to stop. Like, I'm going to just not go to the bathroom. But that's the way it is getting high. Wow. Oh, wow. Yeah. It's kind of like that. And when you're in it, it's really almost impossible to get out of it. Wow. Had you beaten the addiction at the early stages of the trunk? The trunk days. That's when I started getting sober, the trunk days. you know um yes you can get sober one can get sober it can happen and if i can get sober yeah anybody can get sober because what is the thing what do you attribute that to how you know i i go to i have places that i go where people like me and we and we you know and that's what we do you know it's uh um yeah you have to surround yourself with healthy people and and it's still and ongoing? Absolutely. Forever. Yes, it's ongoing. Does that stick with you through like I don't know, you've had so many highs, awards, success, money. No, seriously, it's not a small thing. People work there. It's a big thing. Money, money, money, money. People, listen. I know. Money is a real thing. It's a real thing and money cannot make you happy. yeah you know can't cure addiction it can't cure addiction and it cannot make you happy you can buy resources you can buy things and you can be comfortable with money but money itself will not make you happier it will not but um but of course uh because it's sort of an inside job you know what i mean yeah and the other thing is it occurs to that sometimes it can depress people in a way because you think okay well once i get this i'm gonna be good you know and then you get it and then it's like wait i still feel like shit what's going on here you know uh and so then it can be a little bit depressing in a way like probably probably could set people back to their addiction yeah well you know you could say like i thought i was gonna be so happy you know yeah but um i'm thinking about like somebody that's a movie maker or whatever, you know, I mean, and they have, let's say, a lot of money. But I think they want to make money, but they also want to make good movies, you know. And I feel that way. I want to make money, but I want to make good shoes and I want to have a great company because I have money now, you know. So now the goal is good shoes. Yeah, I mean, the goal is to have a great business and live sort of a healthy life, you know. I mean, I don't mean eat kale, you know what I mean? I mean, like, you know, sort of live sort of a healthier, make healthier choices. What is that for you? What does that look like for you? Less, no temper tantrums. Do you know what I mean? I used to lose my temper a lot and, you know, stuff like that. And also knowing that a lot of things have nothing to do with you. so you know when you're when you're not really healthy every kind of little thing you get insulted easily you know somebody doesn't answer your phone or doesn't text you right back you know and a lot of things have nothing to do with you so if you can live your life like that that's for me that's just me yeah you know and you learn that you know they're not even thinking about me they're just it's not an insult you know this has nothing to do with me you know that's the But that's the message? That's very important. I've been in that place where everything's about me. Everything's about me all the time. And so we talk about freedom from the bondage of self. So being healthy is kind of like that. It's kind of like not everything is about me. And don get insulted over every little thing that goes on I mean you know people like that Oh yeah They get insulted about every little thing And sometimes you with them and you go why are they upset Did I say something What did I do? And I hate that. But I could be that guy, you know what I mean? Yeah. But you're trying to not be. I could be that guy. You're trying to be better. Walk around pissed off all day. But you're trying to be better. Well, I'm trying to be happier. Yeah. I'm trying to be, I don't know, better. but I'm trying to be happier and I'm trying to, you know, it's good to learn about stuff too. Yeah. But not everybody needs. Today's show is brought to you by our presenting sponsor, Hard Rock Bet, Florida's sports book. Listen, even if you're not the biggest football fan in the world, you are still tuning in and maybe you want to get in on the action too. I know I do. If you haven't signed up with Hard Rock Bet yet, there's never been a better time. 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Or you can just go on app that's hard rock bet download the hard rock bet app and make your first deposit today you're like a lot of people's boss yes yes how many people thousands thousands of people's boss yes well yes yes yes uh people so people expect you to have the answers to a lot of things we have a big company today and there's a lot of layers so i don't know everybody like i used to know everybody in the company yeah but uh yeah i just wonder what that feels like to have to be a leader of such a so many people you know the funny thing is it's it's in some ways it's the opposite many of the guys and women and men that work for me don't always listen to me so and i go why are they listening to me you know and so uh if you had more some people like me in business you'd find that that's a very common thing yeah that they don't well that will require you to hire well i've hired so well that's really one of the yeah one of the keys to my success i've been very lucky i picked a lot of smart people what is the secret what is the secret sauce what is the thing because there's a lot of shoe companies a lot of like what is the steve madden secret sauce that lets you have this much success for so long there is no secret sauce we work hard uh we move quick speed product you know we we we have a north star in our company uh all the people that i work with have this, we know. So I always say like, take care of the product first and the money will come. That's sort of the way I believe. You know, I don't really get too hung up on that. Of course, making money, profit's very important. But the first thing is make sure you have good shoes. That's what we do. That's what it is. And when you go into design, even now. Yeah, we're trying to make shoes that people want to buy. That's what I want to make. That's it. yeah I'm not interested in making shoes people don't want to buy but you you you serve as a very specific customer too right it's like uh you chose accessibility right you chose like to be able to be affordable and yeah you could have designed I'm sure I don't know you don't think you could have designed I'm not sure a thousand dollar shoe I've always been in the same thing I make shoes that are not too cheap not too expensive it's a sweet spot it really is spot you know yeah it's a Nice spot. No, you know, I don't know if I could. I don't really know if I could. I'm just very good. You've never thought about that? Come on. You know, it's a different ballgame. It's just a different thing. Jay-Z had a famous Steve Madden line. I wonder how you felt about that line. You know, I was in prison when that happened. Oh, my goodness. I was. How did you take that? Well. Because you could take it good or bad. I couldn't care less. I'm happy. You know, I was just in prison and he mentioned me and, you know, everybody was talking about it. And I actually met him at a party. And I told him about it. And he laughed at my face. No, he didn't. He did. I don't know if he was, heard me. We were at a party. He was with Beyonce. She was so nice. I mean, I- She's lovely. She really was so lovely. Yeah. So sweet. Well, how did you handle it? What did you say? And I said, I gotta tell you a story. And I told him the story and he just giggled and laughed at my face. That's all he had. Did you offer any feeling about it? I was trying to talk to him about it, but he wasn't. It wasn't the time, probably. It wasn't the time. It wasn't the time. But his wife was lovely. Yeah, but so what? So you're in prison. Yeah, it came out. It was a thing. Yeah, it was a thing. Then how did you feel about that? It was fine. It was good. He mentioned your brand. He mentioned the brand and it was fine. It was no big deal, but I wanted to talk to him. What would you have said? I don't know. I was in prison. You helped me out. Everybody treated me so great. Thanks to you. You wanted to have your moment. Yeah, and he wasn't going for it. He wasn't going for it. Maybe it wasn't the time. Maybe it wasn't the time, Steve. I'm sure he was busy doing what he does. I feel like there was a whole bunch of other lyrics, too. I feel like you've been mentioned. Yeah, I met all those guys. Yeah, I met Nas. That was fun. How was that? It was cool. Yeah. I met Nas. I met T.I. I took a plane ride with T.I. The plane? I like T.I.'s music, by the way. Okay. Well, that was big also when I was away. Oh, yes. That sound, you know, You Don't Know Me, all those songs. Yeah. I really liked it. I tried to tell him that too, but I had him on a plane with me, so he couldn't get away from me. You had his full attention. Yeah, I had his full attention. What was that time like for you? It was a heartbreaking moment. and you're already your shoes are already i'm already hot everybody knows who i am not like not like i am today but uh you know it was 20 years ago and uh it is the doing of the time is not the it's not terrible i mean it's not like going to it's not great st regis fucking hotel it's terrible and but actually you know you get in a groove you know you're you surviving, you're doing your thing, you're working out, you're reading, you know, having some laughs with the guys. And, you know, you're getting through the day, you know, but the heartbreaking thing is that all the stuff's going on outside. People are falling in love and having children and eating steak and moving on with their lives, moving on. And you think it's like being dead. You know, it's kind of like being dead. Like this is what death is like. only I'm not dead but you know like everybody's out there doing their thing and you're you know and especially after visiting day you know people would come to see me and then they would go one way and I would go back to my little cube you know and my heart would break as I would walk back you know I would have this sadness you know everybody's going to something and I'm going back and reading People magazine or something. But, you know, I mean... In 2023, a story gripped the UK, evoking horror and disbelief. A nurse who should have been in charge of caring for tiny babies is now the most prolific child killer in modern British history. Everyone thought they knew how it ended. A verdict, a villain, a nurse named Lucy Letby. Lucy Letby has been found guilty. 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Her podcast, Thanks Dad, is full of funny, heartfelt conversations with actors, including fellow SNL alums, comedians, musicians, and more, about life and their wonderfully complicated relationships with their fathers. I think and hope that's a good thing. Get to know Ego. Follow Thanks Dad with Ego Wodum and start listening on the free iHeartRadio app today. So, it was tough. It's even tough as somebody who's visited people. I've visited people in jail. And that moment when the person in their jail clothes is turning around and going back, it's tough to even watch that from the outside. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. To think about that. So I can only imagine. Can you imagine? No, I can't. What it's like to be the guy going back. Yeah. So that was very hard. So what is the thing that drives you through? You've been through so much and then you get out of jail, by the way. Then you get out. Yeah. Oh, that was so good. That was so good. It was so good. But now you're out. Yeah. You probably like on a, it's like right now, what are they calling it? This February is the year of the horse. The year of the horse. Yeah. You were probably like in that. Yes, I was. Right. I came out and I had a lot of energy and I was grateful and it was, it was an exciting time to come out and, and thankfully, you know, the team was in place and we went and we just exploded. You know, it was great. Wow. Yeah. I was very lucky like that. It's super inspiring. And it's so much of a testament to like, I don't know. It's just like your story is not always written for you at the beginning. It's like you could have went in a completely different direction. I could have. I could have died too. Yeah. You know, drugs and alcohol kill. Yeah. Yeah. I'm sure they wait time. Just don't wake up one day. That's it. Yeah. So what was the thing that woke you up? Well, you know, you're sick and tired of being sick and tired. Yeah. You know, that's what it is. We have alcoholism in my family. Yeah. Yeah. and my brothers too and so you know I don't know lucky star you know and but you have to surround yourself with a lot of sober people and is there survivor's remorse in that no but there are times when you just you know you feel like you know you feel like I just need to get high or I need to get out you know and And those are the times you need to reach out. I mean, now I feel like smoking a Marlboro Red. Right now? Yeah. What? Is it me? Is it our conversation? I don't know. Lately, I've been missing smoking a cigarette so bad. It's so bad for you. Don't do it. I'm not doing it, but I'm just saying it's so like, that's when I, oh God, just want to like light up a cigarette, you know, and just, yeah. I know. But, you know. So bad. It's so bad and it's so good. It's so bad. It's so bad and so good and so bad. I have shitty lungs to begin with. Do you have to have different vices now to kind of like replace? You know, well, you know, I work out a lot. You know, I work out and I don't know. You know, it's not that special. You know, we just. You are special. No, I don't know about all that. 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. Okay, so these are just in real life questions. Pick one till you like one and then answer it. How happy are you from a scale of one to 10? Today. Today I'm a nine. Today I'm a nine. But every day is different. You know, most of the time I'm happy. Okay. You're a happy guy most of the time? Most of the time. Okay. Then when I walk in a room, I want people to feel, I want people to feel. What? What do I want them to feel? What do you want people to think about? Respect. You know, maybe respect. What do you respect most about yourself? I respect the ability to do things that are not comfortable. You know, mostly not getting high. I respect that about myself. Good for you. Yeah. No, really, that's true. It's a real thing. Yes, it sure is. Yeah. But one of the things- We're going to the bar. People are drinking tequila. You know everybody drinks tequila now. Yeah. I miss the tequila thing. People are like fans. They buy these- Is this pissing you off? bottles or whatever maybe even more bottles of tequila They experts They are I know people that fancy themselves tequila experts and I sipping on a Coke. Does it piss you off a little bit? What should people know? There's so many of us. I have family. Gambling addicts, also alcoholics. Sure, yeah. What should people know about addicts? like what should outside people when dealing with family or what should they understand because it's hard sometimes outside from family members you know this yeah that's that's a big question what should they understand that it's a disease yeah it's a disease yeah like diabetes like cancer it's a disease they can't stop addicts can't stop alcoholics can't stop but there are places where they can stop it's it's arrested you can arrest it but you can't cure it ever ever wow yeah but that doesn't mean you can't have a great life and you know you arrested and you go on and you could have a great life there's you're like the poster boy for that well today i am you know what i mean it's we have it's a day at a time and there's a lot of people out there that are sober and uh you know some doing great things they don't they don't broadcast it yeah but uh because it's probably hard to revisit sometimes right you know why they want to stay humble about it too but uh anthony hopkins just celebrated 50 years of sobriety you know the old actor that was in silence of the lambs yeah i saw he went in and spoke about it online so I'm on TikTok had he never talked about it before? well yeah people knew about it but yeah 50 years God bless that is amazing when we talk about business there's so many people I'm sure you do a lot of mentorships you have your organizations you believe in rehabilitation and giving people a second I know even in your company you hire we do formerly incarcerated Yeah, we have a few people that I was in prison with work with me. Oh, that's a work for the company? And then we work with some organizations, the Doe Fund. And I like to reach out to young people, if I can, to not throw in the towel in their 20s. If they get going out and getting fucked up and being foolish. It's not too late to turn it around. Yeah. And it's hard to teach the entrepreneur thing. So you're an entrepreneur. And no, it could be anything. It's just someone that makes their own way and does things differently and is succeeding. Yeah, you know what's so funny though? I just was saying this to Brittany. I was like, my whole career, I have never focused on money enough. I've always been like, I want to make a cool, I want to do this great thing, which you probably have some of that, which is true, but. You've also been very diligent about creating a successful financially, you know, successful company. It's different. I do think it's, I think that's a good point you're making. I think you have to make money as an entrepreneur. Yes. I actually think if you're failing as the entrepreneur, if you're not ringing the register, I think you need to ring the register. Gotta ring the register. But of course, if you have passion, you're an artist, you're trying to design that dress or make that song. And so you say, well, I'm going to do that. But usually, if you take care of those things, the money will follow. And you have to make sure that it does. But that's what they've always said to us. And I feel like we've gotten a lot of shit wrong. Number one, we have to hustle. You have to hustle, work so hard all the time. I don't know if that was right. At this big age, I'm starting to think, maybe I need a little more balance, right? And maybe I have to work hard for all those years to get the balance now. Well, working hard is good. Working smart is good. Yeah. And then the other thing is, you know, you create something you love and the money will come. I don't know if that's always right. Sometimes it doesn't. But if you're smart, that's part of the trip. You have to make that happen. Yeah. That's part of the entrepreneurial trip. Yeah. You know, you're balancing like, do I want to enrich myself? Do I want to build my business? There's so many things that go into this ride that you're on. I was just listening to an audio book because my eyes are shit. I saw it with the glass. Don't you try to go in the bowl? I know, God. And I was listening to a book. There's Lorne Michaels. He's the Saturday Night Live guy. Yeah, of course. And it was taken with – he's been there forever and he's built this huge thing. And he's a great entrepreneur. And he had so many things, you know, on his plate that he was, and I was really taken with the book. Really enjoyed that. Yeah, I really enjoyed it. I met him once. But it was a long time ago and he doesn't remember me, I'm sure. But it's okay. Who cares? Who cares? You got something out of his book. That's all that matters. I got something out of his book. There's people watching this podcast that'll never meet you, but we'll get something out of this interview. Yeah, that would be great. What makes a great entrepreneur? You know, there's just, I feel like it's this big boat ride you're on and you got to keep the boat moving. And it's a battle that it's not always so great. You know, the entrepreneur thing, you know, it's very lonely too. It can be because you're on this journey and you're trying to survive and flourish and people are attacking you and there's swamps and you just got to keep moving forward. And so the great thing for me is that I got a lot of help. I got a lot of people helping me. So even though my name is on the shoe, I got so many great people that I work with. Yeah. It wasn't always like that Well you start, you don't have any You're in the boat by yourself at some point I was in the boat by myself And you're not just in the, Steve, you're not just in the boat By yourself, you're like in the boat With like this history And trauma And addiction And you're still in this boat I'm in the boat I'm still in the boat But it was a time when you were in that boat by yourself Still in the boat The boat's bigger now The boat is bigger, but still. And then, you know, there's different challenges as you go along, you know. Yeah. You know, and so. What's been some of your biggest ones aside from addiction, obviously? So, yeah, well, you know, letting go and letting smarter people do stuff and, you know, that and not freaking out. You know, I'm the kind of guy that if we had a big market, a big show, and I didn't like, you know, the cookies, I would freak out. And I called the person, what the fuck is this? This tastes like medicine. You know, I was like that. I was crazy like that. I needed to control everything. You know, but then as you go along, you realize that you can't control everything. So you learn what you can sort of control. So now if you go in the place and the cookies are bad, what do you do? I don't say anything anymore. But maybe I will. But inside, you're dying. The cookies. The fucking cookies. You can't make a bad cookie because it's such a waste of calories. It's crazy when I go to a mall. Malls and the elevators don't work. These guys charge so much money for these stores. They are so successful and they can't fix the escalator. How dare they? The escalator. Escalator, yeah. And the escalator didn't work at Madison Square Garden last night. Yesterday. There was an escalator going down to 7th Avenue and the escalator didn't work. He can't afford to. He pays Brunson 50 million a year. He can't fix the escalator. Fucking escalator. What is that? Because they don't give a shit about the public because they got a product, you know, that people love. And they're going to walk up there. The people walk up the escalator. They do. They don't care. But on the other hand, they used to stay at the Wynn Hotels in Las Vegas because the room service coffee was so great. and I thought to myself this guy, this Steve Wynn this nut he's an amazing hotel man he took care of that detail his coffee, I'm telling you a coffee person, his coffee was so fucking great and I stayed there, I was loyal to him you could stay anywhere in the world you want and his room service coffee was the greatest thing because he cared about his, and that attention to detail really, I love that. I was going to say, you're passionate. Shout out to Steve Wynn. I always wanted to say that. Shout out to Steve Wynn. White people don't do that. Shout out to Steve Wynn. No, I'm serious. It's really true. But I do like that because it's like, yes, I don't know where he is. I see him on TikTok. You always wanted to give a shout out? Shout out to Steve Wynn. Because he really cared. this billionaire dude i know that he said i want my coffee to be great he cares about the detail yes he did that's why i was loyal to the win hotel because of it they have a lovely golf course as well by the way i've played it i'm a golfer yes you are i didn't know that yes i've played i just found the game about four years ago and i'm a full i'm an this is what i'm an addict i'm a golf addict at this point yeah i will golf i will golf every day if i yeah and then you play in miami I do. Anytime you want to go to LaGorse, let me know. I want to go. Yeah, hit me up. I'm going to hit you up. And I want to go with Steve Madden. And you should make a Steve Madden golf shoe that I can play in at LaGorse. You know what I think? We did make some golf shoes. Really? Yeah, we did. It was fun, but it was a tough business. I'm going to find one. I'm going to dig one up and I'm going to show up at LaGorse in my Steve Madden. Because people wear, they don't wear, when I started to play golf as a child, I really started when I was 14. Yeah. And golf shoes were really cool. They were like tassels and two-tones and amazing, mind-blowing golf shoes were mind-blowing. If you look in the 50s, you look at the 60s, the old players wore beautiful shoes. And then it kind of like Nike sort of took over the business and they're sort of like sneakers there. I try to cuten it up. I do the little flaps on top of my sneakers sometimes. I like the flaps. I'm all about flaps. Those are good. Yes. Flaps are good. Little kilts. I'll put on a good golf shoe for it. Yeah. Yeah. Yes. So you golf. I do. I do play golf. So that's a good meditative. That's like meditation to me. It's like. It's so frustrating. Everything's frustrating. I lose my fucking mind on the golf course, but I love it. 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. So we have a segment that we do on IRL Podcast. Okay. It's the voice note section. It's presented by Boost Mobile. Thank you to us. Okay. We love Boost Mobile. And it's usually a... a fan a friend or somebody has a question or okay so whatever so she is our she's gonna do our voice note today okay she's a former employee of steve madden right yes she worked in the aventura store yes wow that was that's one of my favorite stores in my last year of college i had failed my senior semester class and i hated i hated being in school i was like in a bad place and Steve Madden was my first retail job. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to go work and see that. And it was one of the best times that I've ever had. Whoever was my manager at the job really liked life into me. And he also had the best employee perks because it was 50% off. Wow. That's a lot. That's a lot. He said it out loud. Shit. I worked during the busiest times. I worked through Christmas and Black Friday. chain and you visited and I was like what the fuck is Steve Madden yeah I do that and I was working cashier and you said something to me you were like you got the best seat in the house yeah I did say that I gotta upgrade my material that was good but I did yeah I love going to Aventura during the holidays I love shopping around and seeing the action yeah yeah you like tell yourself one of the sales associates sell a shoe that you can't really early, like before the big rush. Right. Wow. But that like inspired me to like, and then I started reading up about your story and that inspired me to finish school. I went back, I finished, I was at your store for like four or five months and it was just like one of the best experiences in retail that I ever had. Minus some of the people because retail also teaches you a lot about dealing with the public. Yes. They can be rude. Yeah. Yeah. I know. But I always respected that, hey, you're giving us your hard earned money. Sure. Yes. And you want to make sure that you're getting close. Yeah. That never bothers me. But I really admire the ecosystem that you created. Thank you. Thank you. In 2023, a story gripped the UK, evoking horror and disbelief. The nurse who should have been in charge of caring for tiny babies is now the most prolific child killer in modern British history. Everyone thought they knew how it ended. A verdict, a villain, a nurse named Lucy Letby. Lucy Letby has been found guilty. But what if we didn't get the whole story? The moment you look at the whole picture, the case collapses. I'm Amanda Knox, and in the new podcast, Doubt, the case of Lucy Letby, we follow the evidence and hear from the people that lived it to ask what really happened when the world decided who Lucy Letby was. no voicing of any skepticism or doubt it'll cause so much harm at every single level of the british establishment of this is wrong listen to doubt the case of lucy letby on the iheart radio app apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts hi this is joe winterstein host of the spirit daughter podcast where we talk about astrology natal charts and how to step into your most vibrant life. And I just sat down with a mini driver. The Irish traveler said when I was 16, you're going to have a terrible time with men. Actor, storyteller, and unapologetic Aquarian visionary. Aquarius is all about freedom loving and different perspectives. And I find a lot of people with strong placements in Aquarius are misunderstood. A sun and Venus in Aquarius in her seventh house spark her unconventional approach to partnership. He really has taught me to embrace people sleeping in different rooms, on different houses, in different places, but just an embracing of the is-ness of it all. If you're navigating your own transformation or just want a chart-side view into how a leading artist integrates astrology, creativity, and real life, this episode is a must-listen. Listen to the Spirit Daughter podcast starting on February 24th on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your podcasts China Ministry of State Security is one of the most mysterious and powerful spy agencies in the world But in 2017 the FBI got inside This is Special Agent Regal, Special Agent Bradley Hall. This MSS officer has no idea the U.S. government is on to him. But the FBI has his chats, texts, emails, even his personal diary. Hear how they got it on the Sixth Bureau podcast. I now have several terabytes of an MSS officer, no doubt, no question, of his life. And that's a unicorn. No one had ever seen anything like that. It was unbelievable. This is a story of the inner workings of the MSS and how one man's ambition and mistakes opened its vault of secrets. Listen to the Sixth Bureau on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Ego. Follow Thanks Dad with Ego Wodum and start listening on the free iHeart Radio app today. So it wasn't really a question. It was more of a comment. Was there a question? There's no question. That's okay. Well I used to enjoy. I loved going to the Aventura Mall and so many different great customers all different walks of life. Very, very cross-sectiony. And it was great. You probably study the customer to some extent. Well, I do. I do. There's all types. And Aventura is great because we've so many different, we used to get a lot of South Americans, Canadians. You test shoes there too, right? We do. We test a lot of shoes in Aventura. How do you test a shoe? So what you do is, you know, you make a short run, a little sample in a sample room. And you, so for instance, an example of that would be, you would make a sandal and you'd put it, in Aventura because it's freezing in New York and no one's buying a sandal. So you go down there and you get a little feedback on it. So if they start picking up the sandal, you know that you might have something. This is a good one here. Yes. Test and react. We still do it. I love that you love this still. I do. That's my favorite part of the business. I love that. Testing shoes and seeing what they mean. I love it. All these years later. Love it. I still do. It's such a gas. you know it's really i'm sure people come to you for advice all the time about starting businesses usually they come to me for money really what is the number one thing people ask for money for i mean you know uh they come to you start-ups and things like that a lot of stuff you know usually i get 15 or 20 before one o'clock but what about people who are really starting do you have like advice that you get give so i you know what i'm i chad yelled at me last time because i always say the same thing it's okay my colleague over there i believe that you have to learn the business you know a lot of people want to go into business and i think it's helpful to know the business for example uh i think that if you were you know wanted to learn the restaurant business it would be helpful to maybe work in a restaurant maybe be a waitress or a waiter you know and i and if your goal like if you said like i want to open my own joint one day or be a bartender like i think those are just things that come to mind yes learn your business i think learning the business yes and then going into business yes is now for me that happened sort of organically i i was just sweeping a basement when i was 16 by 17 i was up on the floor selling shoes i mean i learned all these things it wasn't a plan you know it was just the way it went down but by the time you know i was ready to go on my own i knew a lot of stuff already i had sort of good yeah i had sort of good college was sort of the school of shoes yeah people never want to do that they want to go right Yes, they do. They seem to right now, this generation, because they see on social media, you see all the success and you want to do it right away. And I certainly don't blame them, but I'm telling you my advice. Learn the ropes. learn the ropes man and whatever you know or the other thing is to find a mentor you know like if you got lucky to work in a company let's say it was a bigger company and you had somebody that you looked up to that you worked for and you would be willing to do anything as an assistant or whatever the title was you know that is like just gold gold that is fucking gold yeah you get a mentor and you and you learn and you you know and that's those are the things that i would suggest and there's and then the other stuff whether you have talent or not it's another story right story for another day it is a story for another day anyway i know we're wrapping up and i probably shouldn't ask this is more of like a beginner i should have asked at the beginning but is there something about a shoe? What is the love of a shoe? It's a great question. It's just what I do. Where did that come from? I worked in a shoe store as a teenager. I know, but how did you even wind up there? God, I don't know what it was. There it is, the universe. I walked into a shoe store and got a job. Because you needed money. I needed a job. I was a kid and we went to work. That's what you did. In those days, you know, you got a job. What was the shoe store like? It was a shoe store in my hometown. Neighborhood shoe store? Neighborhood shoe store called Toulouse. Toulouse. It was called Toulouse. And the owner of the store was sort of an ex-hippie. He was a, I was, again, another lucky break. This guy was this like great artist character. and he owned the store and he was like this like ex-hippie you know he looked like a rock star and he had the store and i wanted to be like this guy and so that was it so you just shoes shoes and so that was it that's the thing you get a mentor you know yeah so what a break that is yeah if you can find somebody yeah i'm sure you've done that for a lot of people i don't know about all that but no it's true look at even britney young britney young britney was one i'm sure there are many many all right and then finally what is the what does the future look like what is the next five ten years so the future what does the future look like what are your goals now like what do you do you have any more goals are you just trying to like get a good dad get a good night's sleep get a good night's sleep be a good dad be a good guy uh no i like to work like your legacy i like working let's talk about your legacy you know come on i don't know here's what i want to do i want to make great shoes i still do i still want to make shoes that you guys all buy that's what i that's we buy them all the time so you did that already so no no but the thing is that before this you know you have your thing well maybe i should like make a movie you know or maybe i should make a rec you know like go into music business right because i like music yeah right but just because you like music doesn't mean you can go into the fucking music business that's dopey i did that yeah so i think a lot of people that make a lot of money do that stuff and so you learn that you know um it's not about staying in your lane i don't give a shit about that i mean there are many people that do a lot of different things but for me you know this is what i do your thing i do what i do and you know i'm cool with it and i'm happy to like you know listen to music and not own it right i'm not gonna go be a professional golfer anytime exactly i wish i was better at golf yeah but even then i don't want to be a professional no no but there's you'll see them down there yeah but then you find that thing your shoe the shoe and then it becomes your thing yeah it's my it is my thing it's what about in real life though as a human being like do you have anything that you're chasing for yourself god it's getting late honey it's kind of late I'm getting up there yeah I mean I'm getting up there you know I'm still in good shape I'm still you know doing my thing and it's getting late it's getting late you know but I guess the big thing is you know being trying to raise kids be a good dad that's a good thing that's a really good thing the thing is though there is no secret to that you know everybody could say whatever like my father you know the stuff that i get from my dad my dad died a long time ago and uh i i learn it i get it today like now in my last 20 years oh that's what my dad was talking about so as a kid i was an idiot i didn't know yeah that's probably healing what's he saying i don't know what the fuck he's talking but now yeah i said oh shit that's what my dad meant yes so that's the gift sometimes. What do you think your parents would think if they saw what the world sees now? Those Steve Mann and signs everywhere? I don't know. They'd be surprised. Maybe. Think so? Yeah, you know. But the things you get don't often happen at that moment. And no one listens to their parents when they're 17 or 22. You think you know everything and you just want to have fun and get high and whatever it is. You know? They'd probably be proud. they would be proud and i am so grateful for my parents now the things that i now that i'm able to use the stuff they gave me yeah i get that you've done what you've done pretty well i don't know about all that but we're trying you did yeah you did yeah and you i'm sure you have a lot of people have a testament to what they've learned from you and and i'm hoping hopefully today your story it's good to be on the show thank you man thank you for today is there any um segment things that we need to do before we go. Thank you so much for your time today. You're a fucking rock star. That's a great way to end. Do I have a favorite shoe? Do you have an all-time favorite shoe? Well, I have a lot of shoes. Yes, I do. Why do you hate those? I like a lot of some of the boots that I'm making. I'm really into Yeah, that was a bad thing. Yo, when you show up for work and Steve Madden says your shoes are trash. No, no, no, but they're cool. They're fine. You know what I like? I love the look. Let me tell you the look I really love. I've been excited about it for a while. Okay. And just now it's bearing fruit. Is the look that girls are wearing dresses with boots. Or skirts with the tall shaft boot. And the leg. So they're wearing a short skirt with the boot. or with a western boot. You know, cowboy boot with a short shirt is so funky. I just love that look. Yeah. You know, I do. It's such a great look. You don't have a favorite shoe of all time. Well, I mean, you know, I've had so many shoes. I have so many great shoes. That's like an annoying-ass question. No, it's not annoying. People ask me all the time, what's your favorite interview of all time? I'm like, it's impossible to say that. It's probably the same thing when somebody says, what is your favorite shoe? No, you know, I've had a lot of favorite shoes. I've had so many great shoes. the first time I made a sneaker was so exciting, a platform sneaker. First time I made a slipper, I made this big slipper, changed the slipper business and everybody went on and made these shoes and I never made another slipper again. I just called it the fuzzy and it was great. But we made a lot of great boots. And now we're making like these, you know, this look, which is very sort of very sort of college-y, kind of short skirts with the boots that's what you're into right i love that look yeah i think it's great it's kind of like almost like they wear it in the spring yeah you know most it's very sort of festivaly i think yeah yeah they would call it i love how much you love it i i do i i've never been to what's the big festival coachella coachella yeah my kids my daughter goes yeah i can't go to this but the fact that you still love design that much is really it's too hot those festivals are too hot No, they really are. They get so fucking hot. I went to coach. I went to. All right. Here's what we learned from Steve Madden today. He's a fucking stickler for detail. He will find what the fuck is wrong with something, but he will also find the beauty of something. All right. Steve Madden, everybody. Yes. You're so fun. You're so fun. Yes. This is Steve Madden 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 H. Martinez IRL podcast. Hi, it's Jill Interstein, host of the Spirit Daughter podcast, where we talk about astrology, natal charts, and how to step into your most vibrant life. And today I'm talking with my dear friend, Krista Williams. It can change you in the best way possible. Dance with the change, dance with the breakdowns. The embodiment of Pisces intuition with Capricorn power moves. So I'm like delusionally proud of my chart. Listen to the Spirit Daughter podcast starting on February 24th on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your podcasts. I'm Clayton Eckerd. In 2022, I was the lead of ABC's The Bachelor. But here's the thing. Bachelor fans hated him. If I could press a button and rewind it all, I would. That's when his life took a disturbing turn. A one night stand would end in a courtroom. The media is here. This case has gone viral. 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