HEY! Happy Everything to Everyone! I hope this tale I’m about to tell delights you & in some way serves you well. So in a recent book I read, Napoleon Hill’s, The Law of Success, one of the chapters hit me in all the right ways. It involves the answer to an age old question…the keys to the kingdom & the one answer if we all had, would have our lives looking much different & that is, what creates success? What is the most powerful secret ingredient? To me (and Napoleon) it’s where your imagination meets your effort. Where your actions & your dreams go hand and hand & a sonic boom occurs...fueling something you've been yearning to manifest for what seems like a thousand lifetimes. You can ask anyone who truly thrived & they will give you some version of this concept. You must dream it, believe it and TAKE ACTION. If it’s meant to be, it won’t feel like work. God how I love this process. Why? It reassures a theory I learned a version of this back in my youth (somewhere around the time where I’m pictured above with my sister Tammy & B.I.L, Tom) from one of the men I admire most on earth, Dick Hayne, CEO & Founder of Urban Outfitters.
I was lucky enough to work for Urban in the early 90's in their wholesale showroom. At that time, there were only a handful of Urbans & one Anthro. Those were the good old days. I was just entering my early twenties. Finding this company & it’s culture lit up & shifted the Patti Universe kinda like in the way Nirvanna did in the music scene back in the early 90’s. To me, Urban Outfitters was full of wonder. It still is to me to this very day. It allowed me to tap into senses & grow euphoric from flavors I never knew existed.
I worked for the Free People Wholesale Team (where I am pictured above in a shirt from the line, aptly named "Pop Floral Printed Nylon") as an assistant to the president, Michael Schultz & to all of the salespeople. So Michael, otherwise known as "Shultzie" was the quintessential “garmento” (just google it). One of things I was responsible for was on some days, when he was too busy, I had to go down the 38th street & get Shultzie two hot dogs from the cart…two dirty water dogs with mustard & ketchup. The man was probably worth 20 or so mil (a buck 10 soaking wet)...but yeah...dirty water dogs lol. I proudly got him those dogs because when you’re hungry for success, there are no boundaries to what you will do. It was my honor to fetch his food. Becasue of that, he saw something in me. Although I was starting out & somewhat of a mess at times, Shultzie always believed in me. He would always say to me, “you’re going places” & one of my proudest moments in life was when visited me later on in my career at my store, Funk & Standard, in downtown Red Bank.
So anyways, working in the NYC garment district culture was a tough environment. I took some hits there. Everyone did. I met some of the coolest humans who had such a profound impact on my life. Also some of the toughest. Also at times, some who tested me the most. Terrie K, Kenny, Adrienne, Beth, Mary Joya....just to name a few. They were all beautiful, smart, super cool, driven & everything they did felt like style gospel to me. Sidebar: they all liked some of the COOLEST music I had never heard. A simple scan through the showroom CD collection was the ultimate reminder I knew nothing until then & this is all just above and beyond anything I ever knew existed. I went into that place feeling so awkward & uncool & left colored in & forever changed. I still often wonder, what kind of meaning my life even had before listening to Bjork, Massive Attack, Portishead & Jeff Buckly's Grace.
This arena I was in was really was no place for wimps or the uncool. You either jump in & swam or went back through the tunnel to Jersey to work at Contempo Casuals. There was little regard for feelings or safe spaces or political correctness. You just kept going. Offended? Hurt? Insulted? Go. There's a line of people waiting at the door who will take your job in a second. I didn't mind one bit. I did everything I was asked. I gave 1000%. My only objective was to keep working towards my goal. To keep working towards success & fulfillment (still on that ride by the way and probably will be until the day I die). We had a job to do & we GOT IT DONE. To sell cool clothes to all the major department stores, small mom & pop boutiques & anything in-between. NYC was bustling & vibrant & I felt so alive being apart of this tribe. If you fell short, it wasn't pretty, Truth? Thats ok. I wouldn't change a thing. I worked the hardest & I learned the most. So much of that job defined who I am to this day. it was pure hipster magic to me.
So the point of the story. One chilly December (probs about 1994), we all hopped in a car & made way from thte center of the garment district in Midtown Manhattan to somewhere in the heart of. “I don’t know where” Pennsylvania to enjoy a holiday fete at the owner of the Urban Outfitters empire, Dick Hayne (just google him if you wanna learn more). This is where I was about to receive the greatest piece of advise that I will ever embrace to this day. The scene was cool & hip & beautiful & I was just so impressed. You always know it's gonna be a good time when you walk into a house & there's a coy pond in the foyer. It was like nothing I had ever seen. So me being me, after mingling a bit, I marched right up to the King himself, Dick Hayne, introduced myself, shook his hand & we got to chatting. I explained to him my dream of owning a chain of clothing stores someday & he said one fateful line to me that I'll never forget. He said "Patti, it's very simple. Your success will be part hard work, part good luck." I'll say that again. Success is part hard work, part good luck. It's where opportunity meets action & that chance needs to find you prepared & working or you're basically screwed out of that opportunity. Life went on & so did I.
Cut to 30 years later. I am fulfilled, continue to strive for continued success & am forever having these meaningful chats on personal growth. In the Good Soul lobby one day a yoga student & awesome friend to Manny & I, Robert & I were exchanging book ideas & he mentioned one of his favorites was The Laws of Success by Napoleon Hill. Because I've studied his bestseller, "The Science of Getting Rich", it got my attention and once again, find myself being totally hit by his writing in all the best ways....one of which is being encouraged to understand the importance of the imagination & the use of our thoughts...and from there, the crucial component of how WE MUST take action. There is simply no other way. We must honor our dreams, come up with a plan, write it down & yes, take steps both big & small everyday to reach our goal. This is non-negotiable.
So version of this message just keeps on hitting me & I gotta share even more to really drive this point home. As most humans my age, I continue on this journey. through our my blessed life I’ve seen many a triumph, a few tragedy & a whole lotta blessings. One thing I know for certain, when the GOOD LUCK shows up for me, it will find me WORKING HARD & READY TO GO thanks to Dick Hayne, Napolean Hill & me (hello Snoop Dog) for showing up with a clear focus & a strong work ethic.
So a highlight to The Laws of Success is this great poem written by Ella Wheeler Wilcox. I hope you get as much out of it as I do. I’ve printed it our & read it regularly & suggest you do the same… If you are EVERY looking for a dose of inspo please feel free to reach out to me & we can unpack your magic & put it to good use. I would be more then happy to assist! LOVE YOU GUYS! Have a great read through this & again, ENJOY & BIG LOVE TO YOU ALL!
I hold it true that thoughts are things
Endowed with bodies, breath, and wings,
And that we send them forth to fill
The world with good results - or ill.
That which we call our secret thought
Speeds to the earth's remotest spot,
And leaves its blessings or its woes
Like tracks behind it as it goes.
It is God's law. Remember it
In your still chamber as you sit
With thoughts you would not dare have known,
And yet made comrades when alone.
These thoughts have life; and they will fly
And leave their impress by-and-by,
Like some marsh breeze, whose poisoned breath
Breathes into homes its fevered breath.
And after you have quite forgot
Or all outgrown some vanished thought,
Back to your mind to make its home,
A dove or raven, it will come.
Then let your secret thoughts be fair;
They have a vital part and share
In shaping worlds and moulding fate --
God's system is so intricate.
Ella Wheeler Wilcox