Designer Joyce Azria on How Her New Podcast Helps Women Unlock Their Potential
Photos: Courtesy of Joyce Azria
To say that Joyce Azria wears many hats would be a vast understatement. As the daughter of BCBG founder Max Azria, she learned the ropes of her family's business and was appointed creative director of BCBGeneration when she was 27. In 2017 she launched Avec Les Filles, an LA-based label inspired Parisian cool girls, and she's also creative director of healthy energy drink Mirón and recently unveiled her under-$50 essentials label Rohb, which is now shoppable exclusively on Amazon and will roll out kids clothing this fall.
Yet despite her many endeavors, the designer and mother of six doesn't define success by how many brands she's running at any given moment or how much her fashion labels have made. While her parents built their fashion empire, Azria enjoyed a hands-on, behind-the-scenes experience of the industry as well as access to the wealth of career knowledge from her family's network of CEOs, celebrities, and many others. That was the inspiration for her just-launched podcast Success Redesigned, where she aims to help people uncork their own potential by talking business with influencers and entrepreneurs. So far, she's tapped stars like reality TV star-turned-designer Nicole Richie, actress Zoey Deschanel, Friend of a Friend founder Liv Perez, and other women.
We sat down with the busy mama to find out what she learned from growing up in the fashion industry, what keeps her creative juices flowing, how she finds time for self-care, how motherhood has changed her approach to business, and much more — read on below.
What does a typical day in your life look like?
No day resembles the next and that's what I love, but it's a nice mix of work at family. My mornings I connect with my kids, prepare breakfast, get them dressed, give hugs and advice and then shoot to work. I built a family there too and spend time creating things I love, problem solving, and strategizing, then [go] back home for more kisses and love then back to emails and somewhere between two waves I fall asleep. My days are all a journey and I look to fill them with purpose and running towards my potential.
What are some of your fondest memories of growing up in the fashion world?
I loved growing up in fashion and so many moments defined our growth because as immigrants, being successful in an amazing country that gave us freedom was so important. A memory that always remains a happy place for me was when my father would pick us up in a truck filled with clothes, my sister and I would swing on the racks that lined the inside of the truck. We would jump on them like monkey bars. I knew I was different from all the other kids who were off to karate and piano but being close to my parents while they grew their business motivates me till this day.
How did your experiences as a fashion industry veteran inspired your decision to create Avec Les Filles?
It was exactly that. All the years of experience and the fact that I was young enough to break some rules paired with my desire to redefine corporate culture and find new avenues to reach consumers all pushed me to the point of a feeling of necessity to create Avec Les Filles. I love the business and the people behind the scenes so for me having my own brand meant leading a group of inspired people to disrupt a beautiful industry. I really am so grateful every day for the support of my consumer to build a business that many call their work home.
Tell us more about your podcast: What topics do you focus on, and what inspired you to create it?
My podcast is so me and I wanted a place where I could share my thoughts and experience with others and invite my friends to bring their point of view about success to one place. I love mentoring people in business and find that many people who hold the keys to amazing futures hold back because they don't know how to start or move past limitations that are upon them.
I also feel like spirituality and connecting the dots is a shared language amongst many people who are mindful today. My hope is to inspire them to maybe shift their thoughts and get out there and make a legacy and [be] a good influence in the world. Kindness is a sort of currency nowadays and I'm looking to share in the kindness and connection that happens when people open up and support others. Success Redesigned is that.
"I love mentoring people in business and find that many people who hold the keys to amazing futures hold back because they don't know how to start or move past limitations that are upon them."
Did motherhood change your approach to business, and if so, how?
Well yes, I have six kids and so I appreciate a big team. I guess I found that mothering is easiest when I have other children to share in the joys with me of raising righteous people. So naturally I fought to bring about a business that had that same scale and brotherhood where we build on each other's strengths, but quite frankly it teaches me lessons daily that I apply to my parallel paths of work and family as they really are a mirror of each other.
How do you keep your creative juices flowing?
Shabbat. I am an observant Jew and it is the source of my creativity. Many creatives are in constant creative movement with no end. The rest I get from stopping for one day to float high above it all and just sit in a place of being, is where I realign myself and take a breath. It connects me with God and fuels and grounds me to be even stronger in my strategy and more creative in execution.
What do you credit for fueling your entrepreneurial drive?
My father. He has taught me so much about myself, but he also taught me to work hard and never ever give up! He also taught me to plan for success rather than failure, an attitude of optimism.
As a mom of six, how do you carve out time for yourself? How do you stay grounded?
I really don't take out too much time for me but being with my growing children and growing businesses, that is a gift to me. If I had free time I would work on growing so by having two vessels where I have that space, I am in turn taken care of. It sure is nice to take a minute to dry my hair: I may extend a couple tasks a bit just to get a little quiet time.
Another place is dinner with my husband that is something that I feel is a gift I love just talking to him and learning from him, I'm blessed. About being grounded its about knowing we control the input but never the output in other words we can't connect ourselves to the results we get but always to how much we put in. Some things work and others don't, I trust in God that "I do my best and he does the rest" (I say it to my kids ten times a day) — that way I am always satisfied if I know I simply am doing my best all the time.
Follow Joyce and her endeavors at @joyceazria, @aveclesfilles, @drinkmiron, @rohbbyjoyceazria, and @successredefined.