In this episode, Priya sits down with Roni Hirschberg, founder and CEO of Generation Love, to trace 18 years of building a fashion brand from a waitressing job, a mom's foyer, and $100K that never got spent. Roni didn't go to fashion school, didn't have industry contacts, and didn't take outside funding. She and her business partner cold-called factories, learned every part of production by showing up in person, and worked full-time jobs for five years to fund the company without touching their savings cushion. This conversation is a real-time reframe on what entrepreneurship actually requires and why persistence, not planning, is the thing that keeps most businesses alive long enough to matter.

Takeaways:

• Working a day job while building a business isn't a hedge. For Roni, it was what let her stay ethical, pay her factories, and never compromise the thing she was building.
• You don't need a network to start. You need to be willing to show up, call strangers, and learn the parts of the business no one else wants to know.
• Being your own boss doesn't mean fewer people to answer to. It means more and the ones counting on you make quitting feel less like an option.
• Financial independence isn't about accumulation. It's about having enough to choose, where you live, how you work, what you walk away from.

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Guest Bio:

Born and raised in New York City, Roni Hirshberg has always had an eye for fashion. In 2008, along with her partner Audrey Bressa, she co-founded Generation Love to empower women to feel confident and beautiful every day. Drawing from their shared appreciation of European style and modern NYC edge, the duo set out to create a brand where bold design meets everyday wearability.

Guest Links:

Website: generationloveclothing.com

IG: @rones_nyc, @generationlovelcothing

TT: @generationloveclothing

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