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I’m honored yeah it’s a sense of
responsibility you know huge this is you
know right it’s the first time that I’m
sharing this story you have no idea how
you know you can actually touch
somebody’s life and only decide that we
put attention into it it’s already
something very very big what’s up guys
this is a 90 degree turn from what we
usually have here on the human
experience but that’s what this show is
it’s about the human experience we had
on the fashion icon
Simonetta Lane and there’s so much stuff
that she’s doing and we get into a lot
of that in this conversation so
hopefully you guys enjoy this one thank
you guys so much for this meet the human
experiences in session my guest for
today is mrs. simonetta lean and
simonetta it’s a pleasure welcome to hxp
thank you so much I’m very honored to be
here thank you so Simonetta I you know I
find who you are fascinating I mean
you’ve been given accomplishments such
as best-selling author TV radio
personality journalists international
fashion icon blogger influencer brand
ambassador entrepreneur philanthropist
how it is that’s a lot
how many like about the same age you’re
34 right yes yes so how does a person
accomplish this by the age of 34 it’s
remarkable never stops I’m very very
passionate about everything I do and you
know that passion I always say that it’s
the key of everything if you don’t have
that you have to look for it because
when you have it then you’ll have the
strength to do everything that I have
been doing because when you were saying
all these things I was like oh my
goodness really it’s true I mean 34 yes
I’m still young and I also lived in you
know and in Italy I travel a lot I’ve
been to India many many times I kind of
lived there a little bit of lifting Cuba
for a little bit and then I’m living in
the US so a lot of things and you know
being really focused on what do you want
to accomplish and be very clear what you
where you are going and of course it’s
not easy it’s a everyday journey that
you have to decide and re determine
every every single day but I think
that’s the key I love that I love you
know the passion behind that I feel the
same way I’m very passionate about
everything I do
was there a moment in your life in your
career where you felt like okay this is
a turning point this is what I want to
do this is where my passion is this is
what I want to do for the world
yes when I moved to the US it was of
course a big step imagined that I was
living in Italy and I have my family I
have my house I had my job I have my
friends I had left my comfort zone
sometimes you know people hear this
they’re like wow but at the same time
they guest care right because it can be
something scary leaving everything but
that actually was the best decision I
have it may sometimes I always say to
people get out of your comfort zone can
be you know the key moment and of course
you have to be very aware of what you’re
doing and that was the moment even if it
seems crazy but you have that passion
that passion really
I’d see you and when I moved to the US I
really had this connection inside of
myself saying I want to transform
everything I do in paying forward I
really think that in 2017 whatever job
you do if you want to make an experiment
with yourself and open your life a
little bit to others you really discover
a world inside yourself that you did not
you know really maybe even knew it was
existing so the key when I moved to the
u.s. also the u.s. inspired me I have to
say the u.s. is it’s a country that it’s
very open to charity and that kind of
feeling I found a lot of people really
opening I would say their heart and
their possibility to make my ideas
working because you know I had already
the idea beyond my foundation which is
the wish wall it was started first with
a blog but it was mostly I was actually
interviewing at that time celebrities
about their wishes come true and how
they can inspire people but when I moved
here and was out of my comfort zone I
had you know so much passion he just had
to work I don’t have to explain you have
to work because it was just such a big
jump interesting yeah I spent this whole
week thinking about this episode with
you and how do I connect this fashion
icon entrepreneur we interview a lot of
different entrepreneurs and we range in
the type of people that we bring on but
you know just like how do I tie in
fashion into consciousness and what’s
going on in the world and it just he was
puzzling it was the strangest like sort
of fusion of two different things
and how would you say fashion effects
culture humanity and what we’re doing in
our lives
well fashion it’s a form of art I’m an
artist my first degrees in fine art so
I’m a painter so I was always fascinated
by fashion because of you know it shows
outside of courses like you are going
outside with a piece of art if of course
you are aware of it so to me fashion of
course I’m from Italy I always say you
know that it’s in my blood we have style
you know in other words you know we’re
but but yes it should be more of being
aware that when you wear something is
not just only you know piece of clothing
yeah sometimes it could be but if you
really want to put attention into it
you’ll realize that again it’s a piece
of art it’s something that can
communicate except Lea who you are
inside and it can inspire people my blog
it’s called empowering style under the
wishmaker project and I interview mostly
women about their job and you know their
lives and how they impact the world in
style because of course when you imagine
you go inside a room right with that
style that it’s really your style if
people see you so that’s why fashion to
me became a way of communicating
allowing people or actually helping
people to make them more aware of what
they’re communicating and what they want
actually to change about themselves you
know fashion could also help your mood
to help your day you know sometimes
maybe you are a little bit down and you
kind of force yourself to go inside your
word room and say okay I’ll change my
day I always say easy things simple
things can really do a lot so fashion
can be of course a simple and easy thing
that we can put attention in our
everyday life and understand there’s a
bigger meaning about it you know I love
that I love that fashion is art and I
agree you know when I do look in my
closet and I’m looking for something
nice to wear there is a sense of
confidence and there is a sense of
presence that I feel when I look good
absolutely how do you jump from I know
the wish wall is a big passion project
for you you know how do you go from
fashion icon to wanting to help people
the wish wall it’s a way for me to meet
real people real stories I am a
storyteller I record you having to
impose I’ve read from Forbes I wrote my
first novel number in my second book so
I’m passionate about writing and reading
you know true stories also fashion it’s
a way that allows me to get to know
another part of the world that gives me
another perspective and at the end it’s
all in the same big circle I would say I
just got it from another angle for
instance I get to interview many many
beautiful women that I also meet through
social media I use social media a lot to
really go and meet interesting people
you know fashion brings of course that
happy part with that you know where do
maybe also deep interview and bring that
a more intimate part of that person I
can discover you know details of that
person through their style it allows me
I would say to go a little bit deeper
you know again simple way but know
better people to me it’s a deep
connection it’s not absolutely an
external thing it’s much more yeah I
want to touch on the wish wall because
this is such a big thing for you
is there a wish that touched you the
most
yes it’s an incredible story it keeps on
actually touching me because he had so
many parts it was the first physical
wish wall that we decided to do and it
was here in Philadelphia we’re talking
about September 2015 when Pope Francis
came to Philadelphia I had this idea of
the whoosh wall but it was still a work
in progress
I shared I would say my idea with the
city and as an artist as well you know
was visualizing this wish was a physical
as a mural you know and I shared this
idea so how can I bring you know from
the online version because they first
started like I was saying kind of a blog
in the physical world and so they gave
me all the help and we were able to put
up this event so this physical wish was
I imagine a massive wall with a
beautiful graphic and we put up an event
a lot of people came they put up
beautiful wishes I decided to go with
all this colored pieces of paper and we
put up something that was beautiful that
event itself changed my life almost the
end of the event a girl comes and she
basically writes this wish very quickly
put it up and she starts crying and she
runs away and I go after her while
quickly I’m breathing her wish and
basically she’s asking me to help her to
get who killed her sister I stopped her
and she tells me you know my sister got
killed
you know hit-and-run accident and
basically we have to fill in that you
know we live in a big city the city’s
forgetting us we don’t know what to do
we don’t want that people will forget my
sister and I had no idea that actually
this was a very famous story in the city
of Philadelphia and I had no idea how to
deal with it I mean I was very new at
the u.s. I’m still very new so I just
felt that I had to do something so at
the end of the event we pick one wish
that we feel that granting that wish we
can impact the community the most and so
we thought if we can help this family we
can help a lot of families are going
through
the same issue showing that they’re not
alone so the first thing that I wanted
to do was renaming a street after this
woman that was killed by the way she was
my age so I felt you know this strong
connection and I’ve tried to reach out
to the family you have also to know that
many times people put up a wish and then
it’s not that easy to grant wishes I had
to really go through and of course it
was a very touching story so then I had
then to talk with the mother the mother
was crying it was you know very hard but
at the end I told her I’m here to help
you and she trusted me and we went and
we talked with the city and this lady
was killed on December 23rd of 2014
there was two days before Christmas and
I said it’s under September we have two
months we have to run industry before
anniversary yeah of course everyone told
me you are crazy
yeah what do you think I mean even in a
small city two months it just I mean it
takes a lot of time I always say when
you really want something you know
sometimes also a miracle happened we
didn’t even actually know until that
exact day if they were putting up the
sign but I would still remember December
23rd we go there and they’re putting up
the sign so that was the first thing
like amazing thing and then we were able
to put up with the city and triple-a and
Clear Channel a big billboard because I
said listen maybe someone will talk and
so they put our big billboard and a
reward for whoever you know what health
and gays I prayed a lot and sometimes
really miracle happened this is to me
it’s a miracle because exactly a year
after they put off the wish I received a
phone call the same exact day thing we
got him and so they got the killer and
the killer now he’s in jail so he
admitted it was him and it’s something
you know that I still cannot explain I
still cannot believe that happened again
I changed my life completely because
when you see with your eyes that things
like that can happen I mean
yes miracles do have to happen and do
exist that’s a touching story yeah it is
you know I love your idea of service to
others and that is also one of my
personal like philosophies you know
that’s what I do is is I do my best to
serve others as much as I possibly can I
feel like if more of us were doing that
at the world would be a better place
absolutely and that’s why you know I
created this according to pay for war
philosophy I cannot do all the work I’m
just you know one person but if I can
inspire you when you and you and we keep
on doing even small things you have no
idea many times even a small gesture
common under someone’s wish can change
that person’s life you have no idea how
you know you can actually touch
somebody’s life and only the fact that
we put attention into it it’s already
something very very big so if we all
should start at least to do a little bit
yes we can absolutely increase this the
quality of life actually very yeah it’s
kind of like the butterfly effect you
know it’s like one small lesson that can
have this massive impact on so many
people’s lives you know we’ve we’ve
talked about your successes and you know
the things you’ve done let’s talk about
your failures let’s expose because I
think the perception many times is that
success is like an overnight thing and
not at all your life at all it’s a
constant struggle you know and so I mean
what’s one of those failures those
moments where you learned from that
event
it happens every day like I was saying
before while I have that passion that
passion has to be searched every single
day I personally made the best choice
for my life which was really following
the original path I would say and I
always say you have to find your own way
but please find a way you cannot think
that you can accomplish everything you
would like to accomplish in life without
commitment it was I last week I had a
person that I helped with all my heart
and actually that thing instead she got
it completely in the opposite way and
you know actually ended up and not in a
nice way and that you know of course
brought me down and to meet that
struggle death struggle that you were
talking about that’s the best tool to
struggle inside ourselves I always say
when you’re doing something please try
one more time always said to yourself
one more time because you think it’s
over that one more time with all your
heart will open doors that you didn’t
even you know could have opened for you
while I was talking with you I had an
image when I was 14 and that was maybe a
biggest failure I think it was 12
actually and I just moved from one
school to another and I’m the only child
did not have friends my parents were
very very busy and at this time I still
don’t know why I did invent that I had
like some kind of disease or something
and I wanted to see if you know the
other kids liked me enough to you know
feel sorry
I wouldn’t be there you know with them
and this is you know maybe it’s the
first time that I’m sharing this story
if I think about you know like a biggest
failure all the kids were really oh my
goodness no can you die well no we want
to you are our friend and I felt you
know my goodness they care about me then
of course they discovered that I was not
dying and then they hated me right and
then I have to you know we start on your
relationship at the
and of the three year of school we were
friends again that was a big failure
because I think me I did not have
confidence in me but that taught me I
can be like just because I am me and of
course like I said even if I had so many
successes every day you know do not
think that success that happened
overnight that’s the you know the
struggle we do not have to be defeated
never never never never always every day
it’s a new day and that door closed
well I’ll open it in another way it
always works is why I always say dreams
really do come true but it’s all up to
you if you want them to come true yeah
you know so many things there I didn’t
want to interrupt your flow there and so
many things moving through my mind as
you were speaking the last thing that
you said left me with an old quote that
I love from Picasso that said something
like good artists copy great artists
steal they’d love that quote but that
sense of originality and being yourself
and not hiding who you are and just
being honest with yourself just being
honest with who you are even if you’re
stealing you know to me it seems like
when we start to do that more and when
we start to communicate in the most
honest way possible
other people start to do the same thing
back you know it’s all my feeling when I
can get someone like you on to the show
and and then we have such a real moment
where you know you’re telling me about
this childhood story that you’ve never
mentioned before I live for those
moments curious about in the business
side of it working with these brands
what is one of the biggest brands that
you’ve worked with so I would say ilaria
Fendi
she’s an amazing woman she’s one of the
Fendi sister she actually inspired me a
lot so she was a designer of Levendi
semen so it was like a branch of Effendi
and she decided to create her own brand
based on the recycling part these she
inspired me because she keeps them you
know showing me how again fashion is an
art so fashion can be something that can
bring new ways from a culture also point
of view so she recycles everything
well she creates bags and jewelleries
and that kind of items everything that
was wasted she uses this to make luxury
pieces and they are absolutely stunning
and it’s amazing while you go through
the story of a bag because she puts you
know the story she explains you you know
I saved this button from I don’t know
the beer tap and I you know put letter
that I you know was wasted here and
there around it and it becomes like
gorgeous so she gave me this idea of how
you know we should strive for those
designers that can bring innovation and
can bring again something new I don’t
know if you heard about it but a fashion
can also be used as technological I
would say aspect so for instance now
they are creating bras that can detect
if you have cancer it’s very interesting
they were like if fashion can really be
useful for so many things so she
inspired me so much now I am actually
the official ambassador for shahida
Paradis another extremely important
woman for me
right now she’s Indian and she advocates
for women in India and try really to
help as many as she can to become
entrepreneurs so when she came and she
told me I love what you do I love you
know you’re presenting to the fashion
world to social media the wish wall
foundation what can we do together I
went through her stuff and I saw many
many styles that I was first
all inspired as a woman because she has
this concept of women that have to be
women I would say really you know
beautiful and classy and colorful and
all those scholars you know that I saw
because I was in India many times I saw
those colours and I know actually the
energy that those colours can give to
people and they are the same colors that
I picked for the wish wall so I picked
like a selection of clothes and we
created a capsule collection that
actually for sale now until thinking may
something like this that helps the
wishful foundation so 30% of the
proceeds will go to the visual
foundation so to me it’s first of all an
honor
I mean before me she had people like
Beyonce Demi Lovato Paris Hilton wary
her clothing line so it’s like amazing
and of course shows me that through you
know my influential part of my life I
would say I could use you know that part
for a project that can instead help so
many people because in fact the campaign
is called heart to heart and so she will
help I would part of the proceeds hurt
women in India and I will help other
meaningful wishes come true so it’s a
way of women that can collaborate and
create something that empowers create
something actually concretely achievable
and yet in style really intriguing I
love that technology aspect of measuring
cancer in bras that’s huge yes I’m sure
that you’ve garnered a large following
with everything you’ve done and these
women girls who want to be like you is
there a message for them that you would
give them what would you tell them you
know I receive so much love actually
really yes that I received this message
from on a serum from a girl that told me
you know you are the role model that you
know was looking for and if one day I’ll
have a child or a daughter I wish she
could be like you and that of course I’m
honored yet it’s a sense of
responsibility you know huge I feel the
protection of so many people there you
know they feel the power
my work and they keep on supporting me
and encouraged me and that it’s just
it’s huge for me and I will keep on
telling them remember a leader without
the first follower is nothing so you are
braver than me because if you are you
know kind of encouraging me and you know
you see me a leader without you I’m
nothing and so remember how courageous
you are in believing I would say and
recognizing other people’s amazing ideas
now when I started the wish wall I also
received like this distorting how does
this work and it was like maybe you know
the crazy idea that someone said open
this is genius you know
and then it’s thanks to that person that
I started to do what I’m doing you
remember that you are the key of when
you actually encourage someone else you
are the key for that someone else do
actually succeed and someone else will
do the same for you so always to
remember that when you give to others
you’re part of something bigger when you
encourage other people you know really
come to you and life come to you and
brings you more yeah you know I really
loved that I loved all honesty in that
you know something we do here at the
show is we’ve had many many people on
and many you know big very big names
when when I look back I’ve found in my
own ability to be honest when I
completely open myself during an
interview it’s when I get the most back
from the the person that is doing it you
know and and then after they are over
they will tell me that you know they
will remark and say you know I’ve done a
lot of interviews but I’ve never had
that happen to me so yeah I truly
believe in being open with who you are
and honest with everything that you do
and I like to look at it as if you look
at a coin has two sides both positive
and negative and if you can turn the
coin if you have 10 negative thoughts
and you
earn the coin for one of those thoughts
into positive it’s like this cascade
starts to happen people who have
negative self images if they just turn
and one of those thoughts they’re having
into a positive thought I think things
like the wish wall the stuff that you’re
doing the service to others is really
truly helping people capture that and
also while you are talking I had this
image because maybe someone listening to
us is getting it and maybe someone it’s
like really in deep problems and say I
understand that but I cannot turn that
coin that happens as well so I just want
to talk to that person do not feel
discouraged if it seems that everything
is going wrong just try another time
remember when you go home or whatever
remember this Timo told you try another
time do not get discouraged do nothing
that everything goes wrong only to you
it happens to everyone no it’s a it’s a
simple idea but it’s hard to do you know
it’s hard because again you have to
battle with your mind and many times if
you actually try another time and you
put that heart maybe you know you can
turn your vision a little bit and like
you were saying but after a little bit
then you start to change your way of
thinking it’s all inside ourselves and
if it’s also outside because of course
the outside of the reflection of what we
have inside and all the causes that we
put in the past and start to put
positive causes if you start from now to
put positive causes you can easily
change the course of your lives of your
life
[Music]what’s up guys you have been listening
to the human experience with Simon
ethylene to hear the rest of this
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hearing you will hear do nothing that
successful people reach success without
training their mind you need whatever
technique again works for you but you
need something a victory to me it’s not
the actual super-duper victory amazing
victory without wishes or dreams we are
dead because without goals we are dead
and much much you will hear all of the
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