It’s been a while since my last Breakfast with Kenny post. As I was looking through my previous posts I realized I had no female representation. This was crazy to me because  I know so many female hustlers doing their thing. So when I realized that my friends Jazzy and Sara know each other I decided to introduce them. And what better way for me to introduce two movers and shakers than at a Breakfast with Kenny.

So last week we met up at Waffle a spot on Sunset that specializes in.. well..  waffles. Not quite the Waffle House in the South but dope in its own way. Anywhere that serves waffles all day is always a great spot to meet.

Sara Wasserman is my friend who works at sneaker fashion brand Creative Recreation in PR/Marketing. She is one of the reasons Creative Rec has been very visible in the past couple years. She works hard on getting the right celebs involved with the brand as well as creating great brand synergy i.e. Belvedere and Creative Rec. Before her position at Creative Rec she used to work at Skam Artist a DJ management company where she assisted in building the companies client roster amongst other things.

Jazzy Kim I heard about for a wile and we recently met. She is one of the driving forces at the stylish eye wear company Oliver Peoples. Her primary focus the is on the Mosley Tribes brand recently working on co-lab projects with Hellz Bellz and Crooks and Castles. Before this Jazzy was at fashion brand Paul Smith.

So I got these two influential fashionistas together to meet. They had heard of each other, being in similar industries and working on the same street yet they didn’t know one another. With everyone’s crazy schedule we ended up having a very late breakfast, meeting at Waffle at 11:30am. After a brief introduction we ordered…

Sara had the Salmon Omelette

Jazzy had the roast

and I had chicken and waffles but they were soo damn good I forgot to take a pic sorry

After ordering I presented gifts, new Belve bottles. We then started talking about our pets. We are all dog people Jazzy has 2 bull dogs, Sara has a pit bull and I am the proad step dad of a gangster chiwawa.

We continued to get to know each other as we all discussed that the older you get the more you don’t want to go to the club. We all agreed it really has to be a special ocation to get us out of the house.

I then brought up a project that I wanted both of them to be involved in. This project which you will have to wait for details on involves young fly smart women doing their thing. Sara and Jazzy are both into to the project and began to shear other like-minded women who I should put down with it. Seeing how into it they where confirmed how dope the project will be.

We continued to discuss past work experiences as well as the importance of a good workplace and great leader. Sometimes its not about how much you pay someone to stay loyal its about the quality of their leadership. We see historically that leaders that lead with fear never have the loyalty of those who lead by being fair. Interesting to hear the stories of their careers.

All in all we we realized we all have great jobs that allow us to do a lot of cool things. These are both rising stars and we should keep a close eye on them both. Truly forces behind the scenes and all a round good people. I am excited to work with them on the project, stay tuned. I also hope that the two of them end up doing something together weather its a Creative Rec, Mosley Tribe colab, or girls night out.

Sorry it’s been so long but I have been totally crazed and haven’t had a chance for Breakfast with Kenny. However I was finally able to get two of my friends together for a Breakfast with Kenny. So meet Flo. He is a friend that I met this year through my boy Dan Barton. Flo is an amazing photographer from Germany. He has been out in LA from some time know and is well known through out the Supreme, UNDFTD crew. Flow is also on of the first bloggers on the Creative Contraband Network. 

Now meet my boy Ant Flores. I first met Ant years ago in NY as part of the film crew that followed Puffy every where documenting his life. Ant and his boys embody the essence of the NYC hustle. At their young age they were constantly in the mix and making things happen. Weather it was music videos, online video projects or DVD magazines Ant’s hustle is always on point. He recently hit me because he to is about to join the NY transplant movement in LA as he is moving out here next month. 

We meet up at Cafe Midi on La Brea inside American Rag.

Ant and Flo have never met each other. So imagine my surprise when, due to traffic, I arrive 10 minutes late to see the two of them chumming it up. After all the introductions were held Flo and I started giving Ant tips on LA living. For instance you really don’t need a realtor you just need to drive through the area you want to live and the signs are everywhere.

At this point the waitress came over to take our orders 

Ant had the scrambled eggs potatoes and chicken sausage

Flo had the omelet and potatoes

I did the French Toast and chicken sausage.

After the food arrived it was time to focus on the matter hand

I wanted these two creatives to meet because I had an idea of how they could work together. What if Flo partnered with Ant to direct some on line shows. Having a guerrilla camera guy/producer and edgy photographer work together could make some interesting content. So we discussed ideas. Flo was telling us that he has been approached to do books also and thought we could combine the projects.

Ant also brought up a great idea for a launch event for this program.

We then discussed the subject of project……. WOMEN! That’s all the info we are giving you gotta stay tuned for more info to come.

All in all another great Breakfast with Kenny. I hope it is inspiring you to go out and make things happen instead of complaining about what’s wrong with the economy.

Cheers!

Ahh yet another installation of Breakfast with Kenny. This week I didn’t bring together two people who didn’t know each other. Instead I brought together two of my friends who know each other how ever never explored to option to work together, Mikhayel Tesfaye and Peter James Lee. We met at one of my favorite breakfast spots in LA, Toast on 3rd. 

Mik is a homie from my early NYC days. When we first met he was on the way out of Mecca where he was part of the design team and I was on my way in, as part of the Marketing team. He left to head up design at Phat Farm. We stayed in touch as he left Phat Farm to start his own thing with some of his friends called Prohibit. At that time I was leaving Mecca to go to Ecko. Then he left Prohibit to got to Roc-A-wear, and I left Ecko to focus on my company Direct Impulse. Then he left Roc to move to LA and start a design consulting firm, and Direct Impulse was acquired by  Alloy and I became fashion/lifestyle editor of Rolling Stone. Then he started Greedy Genius with some friends, and I left Rolling Stone to be Puffys marketing director. Now he sold his interest in Greedy and has started a new venture called Passport, and I moved to LA to run the west coast marketing for Belvedere. Needless to say our friendship has lasted longer than any of our jobs.

Peter Lee is my man who I met when I moved out to LA. He is a brilliant designer who has worked at Puma and Hudson Jeans. His insight for design and his attention to detail has lead him to start his own line Cassette. 

Toast is a dope little cafe on 3rd street. It’s set in the mix of cool independent boutiques is the perfect spot for LA cool kids to have lunch and breakfast. 

These two cats have known each other for a long time. Mik always makes the joke that he knew Peter back when they both had dreads. They have both had success in the fashion industry and made a name for them selves. We discussed if there were ways for them to work together.  The meeting began with us talking about how sad it was to see a lot of the boutiques in LA were closing. We blamed part of it o the fact that the city is so spread a  part and that foot traffic is not as good as densely populated cities like Tokyo and New York. As we continued the conversation our waiter came to take our orders.

Mik kept it chill and vegan as always with a fruit salad, toast and veggie sausage.

Peter however jumped out the window with a cheese burger and sweet potato fries at 9am.

I went for the French toast and turkey sausage.. I mean the name of the place is Toast.

We discussed how sad it is that so many young designers price themselves out of the game creating product that’s sexy but unaffordable to their consumer. You have to really think about who really wants to buy your product and can they afford it at your price. In this economy you have to consider your consumers finances as well as yours. All to often designers are make their dream product that they themselves would love to buy however they themselves couldn’t afford it.

We also discussed that  a lot of brands think that the answer for them is to survive in this economy is the Wall Mart model. However that isn’t always the right way to go. These low budget mass retailers cut your margins and the only way you make any money is buy selling them mass quantities. Now a days it’s really hard to get a loan or line of credit  from the factories and banks, so its hard to get the production on these mass quantities. Also there is the nightmare of retailers cancelling the order in mid production leaving you with a ton of product on your hands, as well as the bill. 

It seems like the fashion game is a gamble today. I hope these two vets find a way to work together.

This weeks Breakfast with Kenny stars Marc Rose and Dan Barton. Two marketing gurus who own and operate boutique agencies out of LA. I was surprised that they had never worked together, nor met each other before. Their individual style of marketing complements one another, and in this economic time it is important for boutique agencies to look at each other as allies and not competition. Thus being able feed off of each other and work smarter instead of harder. So in the true spirit of Breakfast with Kenny I brought them together to meet and discuss ways to work together.

I decided to meet a Cafe Primo next to my office in Sunset Plaza. I never had their breakfast but I’m regular for lunch. With a great patio view of Sunset trip, the Equinox gym just adjacent, and the abundance of actors studying lines, this place has a true LA scene. I’m usually not big on that but there is always something entertaining about a fat greasy producer promising a young hot actress the world, over a latte.

Dan Barton is a friend of mine I met back in NY when I was working for Rolling Stone Magazine. At that time Dan, originally from England, was working in New York for Diesel as VP of Marketing. Dan started off as a promoter back in the UK who’s events grabbed the attention of the growing denim giant, Diesel. His out of the box thinking is responsible for the Diesel U Music project, Diesels marque music program. Last year I ran back into Dan in LA when he reached out to me to get involved with the Futura2000 show in downtown LA. Dan now has a smart thinking boutique agency called NSA.

Marc is a fellow east coast transplant in LA, who  I met through my friend Med. His story is very interesting, he got start as a young promoter in NYC. One of his most memorable parties was called “Sex All You Can Eat”. His way of promoting was to get T-shirts and pins made and then give them to all the female models he knew in the city. These sexy 6-footers became his unknowing sub promoters, telling anyone who asked that their t-shirts and pins were for a party and where it was. Based on this success Marc then took on his next nightlife venture by opening NYC hot spot “Life”. After a while Marc wanted to get away and get a fresh start. So he moved to LA to pursue an acting career. His knowledge of events and promotions led him to start an environmental marketing agency called Tree House.

We met up and went to the counter to make our order. Primo is one of those order and grab your number places. We sat down and Marc and Dan got to know a little more about each other. They exchanged stories of Marc getting influenced to start his agency by a product placement marketer who was seeding product to him when he was on the set of a movie he was in. Also Dan let us know about how he created an international elite network of creatives for Diesel. Other random conversation was sparked such as how gas stations in the US are pay first and in the UK you pay after you pump. And remember when you were a kid how all the stations where full service and how dope that was. Then the food came.

Dan had the spinach omlette

Marc got the oatmeal

And I had the egg and cheese sandwich

Conversation then moved on to their clients and how they could possibly help each other with business. Dan is doing work right now for international music magazine NME and their award show,while Marc’s company works with the AFI Film festival. Flaunt Magazine the downtown culture bible calls on Dans services, and luxury watch company IWC is yet another client of Marc. This progressed into interesting projects they were working on and if there was any way to join forces for good causes. Such as a project that Marc was assisting on called The Plastiki, the aim of this project is to draw attention to Garbage Soup. Dan then shared a similar project he was helping out on called Charity Water. its aim to bring safe drinking water to developing nations.

It was a great breakfast and if nothing else it was good to introduce these two. However I hope these cats find a way to work together.

So I have decided to host a series of breakfast meetings titled “Breakfast with Kenny”. These meetings are designed for me to bring 2 people to breakfast who I think should be doing business together. In this time when I am sick and tired of hearing people be so scared of the economy, I though this would be my way to fight back. Plus it’s a great way to test out different breakfast spots and catch up with interesting people. Hope you enjoy.

I hosted my boys Bernie and Eddie for th first of my “Breakfast with Kenny” series. We decided to meet at Newsroom on Robertson.

Bernie Cahill is a friend of mine who I met through my man Bee Nguyen when I moved out to LA. He is an lawyer who with a couple other partners started a management company called Roar. If  you drive through Beverly Hills and you see the building with the word “Roar” on it, that’s them. Bernie is a very interesting cat. I remember the first time he told me about Roar I asked him what type of talent he managed, actors, athletes, writers? His reply stuck in my head. “I manage movements” he told me as he named some of his clients which includes Stevie Williams, Rampage, Western Australia, Westfield Malls, David Alan Grier, Sal Masekela and American Gladiator.

My other guest was my friend Eddie Cruz. I have been a fan of Eddie and his work for years now. Eddie is an unsung hero in the world retail and design. Eddie, a product of the Bronx NYC, made his way to LA to open Union and Stussy on La Brea. After his success with these two retail spaces he partnered with fellow retail expert James Bond and opened one of the first sneaker boutiques UNDFTD (Undefeeted), also on Labrea. Today UNDFTD has 3 locations in the LA area as well as 3 others out side of LA. With such a strong portfolio and representation on La Brea, Eddie decided to bring another retail power out to the west coast by opening Supreme on Fairfax. With the success of the retail projects plus his countless design/collaborative projects with sneaker brands like Nike, Adidas, Converse and Puma Eddie is truly one of the strongest icons and pioneers for the Streetwear movement.

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