Title: Master Among the Madness: Becoming The Best Among the Competitive Rest
Date: Tuesday, February 15^th
Time: 6pm-9pm, Doors open at 6pm event starts at 7pm
Venue: Pottery Barn
1415 4th Street
Santa Monica, Ca 90401
Parking: Use parking structure number 5, parking is $5
Big SMARTY Member Price: FREE
Non-Member Price: $35

The marketplace is more crowded than ever. The "best" has been watered down by the sheer volume of people, often doing the same thing, claiming to be the authority in their niche. We all want to be the best at what we do, but what does "the best" mean anymore? Everyone claims to be an expert, but how do you filter out "marketing" from true talent? And how do you cultivate your own talent to be recognized as the best in your field or category? And furthermore, how long does "greatness" really take? One year? Or as Malcom Gladwell asserts, does true mastery take 10,000 hours?

Many of us struggle with focusing on and honing our crafts, talents or products because the business of simply promoting those talents and products is a job in and of itself. The discipline of our "work" can easily get lost in this time of hyper distraction – from email to social media to the daily logistical challenges of running a small business. Who has time to become the best and get clients and change the ink cartridge in the printer?

You are invited to meet former world-record holder, ultra-swimmer and KCRW commentator Diana Nyad, textile designer, fashion insider and author Lulu deKwiatkowski and restauranteur Caroline Styne, the business partner of mega chef Suzanne Goin and co-owner of Lucques, Tavern and AOC.

Peek inside the lives of these Los Angeles women who all started somewhere near nowhere in particular, and in pursuing their passions, became celebrated "greats" in the fields of food, fitness and design. Come find the answer to how to become a master amidst the madness of the competitive market.

 
About our panelists:

This panel will be moderated by SMARTY founder Amy Swift Crosby.

Diana Nyad, World-class swimmer, http://diananyad.com/

Lulu DK, Founder and designer, LuLu DK Fabrics http://www.luludk.com/

Caroline Styne, Co-Ower, Lucques, Tavern and AOC restaurants http://www.lucques.com/, http://www.tavernla.com/, http://www.aocwinebar.com/

About Diana Nyad

For ten years (1969-1979), Diana Nyad was the greatest long distance swimmer in the world. In 1978, she attempted to swim 100 miles from Cuba to Florida. After being in the water for 41 hours and 49 minutes, Diana fell short of her goal due to strong currents and bad weather. In 1979, she stroked the longest swim in history making the 102.5 mile journey from the island of Bimini (Bahamas) to Florida.  She also broke numerous world records, including what had been a 50-year mark for circling Manhattan Island, setting the new time of 7 hrs 57 min.  Diana is a member of the National Women’s Hall of Fame and the International Swimming Hall of Fame.

Until a year ago, Diana hadn’t swum a stroke, not a single stroke, for 31 years. On July 11, 2010, at the age of 60, Diana Nyad successfully completed her triumphant return to long-distance swimming with a consecutive 24-hour swim through the Gulf Stream’s open-water off the coast of Key West, Florida, without a shark cage. While the 24-hour swim is an enormous challenge, it’s merely the beginning for Nyad. Any day now, she will attempt to achieve her life-long dream to be the first person to swim the 103 miles from Cuba to Florida without a shark cage.

About Lulu DK

LuLu deKwiatkowski is the founder and designer of LuLu DK Fabrics. Her signature style – bold, generous use of color and whimsical, hand-drawn designs – has made her textiles some of the most sought after and recognizable in the industry. Lulu grew up the youngest of six children on the sandy beaches of the Hamptons and the Bahamas in an eclectic, color-drenched house decorated in bold style by her mother. After completing a fine art degree at Parsons School of Design, Lulu spent five years in Paris studying trompe l’oeil painting before embarking on a series of travels that took her as far a India, Morocco, Europe and Peru. The patterns and textures of these distinct worlds can be seen in Lulu’s textile designs, alongside the inspirations and memories of her childhood home.

Lulu DK Fabrics was launched in 1998 after Lulu happened to visit a small artisanal fabric mill in France. The men there worked by hand in the detail-oriented manner of another time. Mesmerized, Lulu worked feverishly to adapt motifs from her fine art paintings into textile designs, with a clear mission – to merge the artistry an craftsmanship of the old world with the youthful modernity and joie de vivre of the new. Not long after its inception Lulu expanded her brand to include wall coverings and in recent years, she has also collaborated with luxury bed linens firm Matouk, Elson & Co. carpets and Elite Leather to bring her inspired, wholly original style to their product lines.

Most recently, Ammo Books published Lulu, part travel journal, part art book and part autobiography, hand-written throughout an featuring colorful mixed collages of Lulu’s travels, life and loves.

Lulu DK Fabrics have been featured in Elle Décor, House Beautiful, Vogue, the Wall Street Journal and Town and Country, amongst others. Her textiles decorate some of the world’s premier luxury resorts, including the Four Seasons, the W an the St. Regis. Additionally, Lulu’s patterns have been featured on the sets of Sex and the City and Friends, and notable clients include Drew Barrymore, Steven Spielberg, Julia Roberts, Sarah Jessica Parker, Diane von Furstenberg, Carolina Herrera and Courteney Cox to name just a few.

About Caroline Styne

Caroline Styne was raised in Los Angeles and began her work in the food service industry in 1989 when, at the age of 22, she co-founded Basically Baked Inc., producing and distributing specialty foods to retail accounts nation-wide. The company’s cornerstone product was a baked tortilla chip which Caroline developed as a healthful and nutritious alternative to traditionally fatty and processed foods. The Basically Baked tortilla chip was one of the first of its kind available.

After selling the Basically Baked to a larger health food corporation in 1992, Caroline followed up with her own catering company, Food Concepts; they specialized in small, intimate dining experiences in contrast to the caterer’s usual market of large, event-related dining.

Although she enjoyed the challenge of catering, Caroline longed to own a restaurant of her own. In preparation she took the position of manager at Jones Hollywood, an extremely successful restaurant owned by celebrated Los Angeles restauranteur Sean MacPherson. Caroline ran the daytime operation of the restaurant and assisted with development of the restaurant’s winelist. She played a major role in the restaurant’s reopening after a devastating fire struck in April of 1996: Caroline and her staff rebuilt and reopened the completely destroyed restaurant in fewer than six weeks.

In 1997 Caroline began the groundwork for opening her own restaurant. At that time a mutual friend introduced her to Suzanne Goin, the sous-chef at Campanile restaurant. The two soon decided to join forces and opened Lucques, making the most of Suzanne’s culinary talent and Caroline’s love of wine. The restaurant was an instant success and received numerous favorable reviews from such magazines as Food and Wine, which named Susanne Goin as on of its choices of “best new chefs of 1999;” Condénast Traveler which included Lucques in its annual list of “50 Hot Tables – the world’s most exciting restaurants;” and Gourmet magazine, which named LUCQUES one of the top six restaurants in Los Angeles in their October 2000 restaurant issue as well as ranking Lucques 45th in the nation in October of 2001. Bon Appétit named LUCQUES on their list of favorite restaurants in September of 2000, and Saveur magazine named LUCQUES number eight on their list of 100 favorite things in January 2000.

The partners’ second endeavor is A.O.C., a wine bar and restaurant located on West Third Street in Los Angeles. The restaurant features 50 wines served by the glass and small plates of food served family-style. A.O.C. and its winelist have received numerous favorable reviews from publications such as Los Angeles Magazine, The Los Angeles Times, Gourmet Magazine and Bon Appétit. As with Lucques, A.O.C. was named one of Conde Nast Traveler Magazine’s “50 hot tables.” Caroline’s winelist was named “best new winelist” by Food & Wine magazine for 2003. As at Lucques, the winelist at A.O.C. has received awards from Wine Spectator Magazine.

The duo’s most recent endeavor Tavern, opened in 2009 and located in Brentwood is a space is large enough to allow for room to explore different levels of dining at the same time. The front section, called the Larder, bustles with folks who’ve dropped in for a pastry after a jog or a brisket sandwich with homemade pickled onions at lunch. In the more formal main room, people gather in banquettes under a massive skylight for refined rustic fare.

 Members email eschuber@yahoo.com for the Member discount code