5. Teamwork Makes The Dream Work
Merritt starts off the episode with a number of random personal updates – egg freezing, laser hair removal, a celebrity sighting in Dallas, and more! She also tells a gross little tale about a discovery she and her dog made in the backyard over the weekend. Trigger warning for poo! For the main topic in this episode, Merritt discusses her experience with hiring employees over the years! From where she posted job listings to finding the right fit, you’ll hear a bit about her entire hiring process as a business owner and blogger. Near the end of the episode, she brings her assistant, Liza, in to introduce her and chat about the State Fair of Texas and TX OU game! In the Beck & Call segment, Merritt answers questions about the picture frame moulding and trim in her office, as well as the worst date she’s ever been on… it’s a doozy!
Be sure to follow @beckandcallpodcast and @merrittbeck on Instagram, and call into 214-620-0473 to leave a voicemail and ask Merritt anything! She answers two new listener questions at the end of each episode.
EPISODE AUDIO TRANSCRIPTION
Hey guys, welcome back to the beck and call podcast. I'm your host, Merritt Beck. I am a fashion and lifestyle blogger. And on this podcast I'm talking about all things life work and love as a single woman in my 30s. For the first few episodes of this podcast, I've been recording them on Monday. So I've decided to start releasing these episodes every Tuesday. So that's something you can look forward to. But I'm actually recording right now on Sunday, because later on in the episode, I'm going to be having my assistant Liza, come on, and I want to make sure I have enough time to record with her and edit that section tomorrow. So I am doing my solo part today on Sunday. The first thing I want to talk to you guys about this week is actually the new Instagram account I created for this podcast. I launched it this week, and it is at beck and call podcast. It is currently private because I'm going to be sharing some more personal updates in relation to egg freezing and other things I say on the podcast. And so I want it to be a safe space. So if you're interested in kind of getting more out of this podcast, seeing visual cues for the things that I'm talking about on here, definitely be sure to request to follow at beck and call podcast on Instagram. And since we're on the subject of egg freezing, I actually got all of the medicine I'm going to need for this first hopefully only round that I'm doing delivered this week. So I've got got everything on my kitchen countertop, by the way Reese's is in here. So you might hear her snoring or breathing. My French Bulldog, so my apologies in advance. So I actually start the whole process today Tuesday when this episode releases, and I start with a pill called S trace that I'll take twice a day and then Ghana relics injections for three days starting tomorrow and I go more into this and sort of the schedule of everything on my Instagram account. So definitely follow beck and call podcast on Instagram if you want more details on my specific journey through this egg freezing process. And now that I'm starting these medications, I cannot drink alcohol. I can't do any kind of intense exercise. I can do walks I can get on the peloton bike no like serious movement, just you know, I might do low impact rides, but you're not supposed to do any kind of twisting movements, no jumping movements because as you take these stimulus stimulation drugs, your ovaries get bigger and bigger and there's like a risk of ovarian torsion which sounds both painful and awful. So definitely not gonna try to do that. And other personal news I had my first appointment at House of preservation this week for laser hair removal and I am happy to report it was painless. I was told by several people it could feel like a rubber band popping against your skin so not bad, but honestly I didn't feel it at all Victoria, the technician who was working with me who's great, by the way highly recommend her she made me feel right at ease. She said she used a moderate setting on me. So I guess it can get more intense but I truly didn't feel anything sort of felt like the laser stuff they use in a facial where it kind of feels electromagnetic on your face, kind of like that buzzy feeling. That's what I felt during the whole thing. So not at all uncomfortable and honestly so easy. I was only in there for like 15 minutes and she did my entire bikini section. Of course I will have to go back in about four weeks for the second session. But overall really, really pleased with the seamless painless experience of laser hair removal like I said highly recommend house of preservation Victoria is the best if you follow my personal Instagram account you might have seen about a month ago I resisted I my dog and I had an encounter with a coyote in my neighborhood when we were up early and walking in the morning. I usually walk her very early at like 6am but it's been getting darker and darker and so I recently decided to switch it up and instead of walking her first thing I work out first thing and do a peloton workout and then walk her when the sun is up because even though I have personal defense things and I don't think it'll attack me I feel like it just feels a little safer to walk when I can kind of have my wits about me and see what's going on. And I'm actually really loving this change up to our routine because it actually makes more sense when I would walk her first and then work out I would be sweating for like an hour after my workouts. So this way I work out first and can cool down when I walk races so I can just get ready hop in the shower right when we're back from our walk before I would just still be sweating and when I get ready, you know you're blow drying your hair, you're still hot. It just didn't really make sense. And I felt like I was kind of dragging out my morning because I wasn't really able to get ready right away after my workouts. So this is making it a little more streamlined and productive and efficient with my time So my morning routine has changed slightly, but I'm really enjoying the change. And this may be something I can really only do in the fall winter because in the summer it's so hot, I have to walk her as early as possible, otherwise it's too hot for her. So that's sort of why we did it the other way, but I'm really enjoying now that the sun is rising, later, really enjoying this new routine. And since we're on the subject of Reese's trigger warning for just like gross content right here, just wanted to give y'all a heads up. My neighbor seems to have several outdoor cats. I don't think they're feral cats like I think he feeds them. I think they're just outdoor cats, but they're like four or five of them. And sometimes I'll see them like sitting on my front porch like they'll come kind of cool down where the plants are, they don't really mess with anything. So it hasn't bothered me before. But this weekend, I discovered that they have been pooping in my backyard and kind of the mulch because I have not planted a bunch of trees yet. Earlier this year, I added kind of a concrete area I added turf and honestly I paid for that and haven't done the rest of it because it's so expensive. And so I'm doing the second phase of it probably in the spring, but they're just like playing around in the mulch area and pee or pooping and you know, covering their poop and y'all dogs eat cat poop. I did not know this until this weekend, but I am traumatized from it. So I quickly got on Amazon and ordered some animal deterrents. I've seen them in the neighborhood and I figured they were for other kinds of kind of rodents or whatever. But they're like ultrasonic animal deterrent. So if anything moves in front of the sensor, it does this like ultrasonic sound and like a light to scare them off. So I'm gonna try that and hopefully that works. But like, I want to be able to let races out into the backyard and not have to worry about that. That's disgusting. It's so gross. And I know it's not her poop because she's never interested in her poop and the you know, cats cover their poop, so I didn't even know what Reese's was like sniffing at and eating until I went over there and then I smelled it and saw that it was like all covered in dirt and I you know went on a googling spree. Anyway, I'm horrified by it so grossed out she won't be licking my face for a very long time.
Friday was sort of a busy day I filmed a real and try on of these cute fall dresses that I ordered. I'm going to keep a lot of them because I needed some more casual styles to wear during the day. While it's still kind of hot. You know, I want kind of the fall vibes, fall prints that kind of thing. So I did a try on. So check that out if you want to go to my Instagram at Merritt Beck and then after I filmed those, I ran over to Highland Park village to drop off a baggage Chanel to be repaired. So if you have an authentic Chanel bag, they will repair make repairs for you. So for example, this bag, there's a big piece of hardware on the front. It's a resort bag from a few years ago. So not one of their classic styles. But it's it has kind of a faceplate on there that has screws in it and one of the screws came out, they just need to replace this group but they're going to send it off. I'm not sure if they send it to New York if they send it to Paris but it'll take about 10 to 12 weeks and then I'll get it back and I think I have to pay $100 for it but worth it because I usually take stuff to dinos but with Chanel, you just never know and, and I wanted them to be able to match the screw hardware and all of that. So better safe than sorry. And of course while I was in Chanel, I did a little shopping I found a gorgeous pair of black and gold pumps that I thought would be so perfect for holiday. So I got those and I very much appreciate that they have a lower heel. Now I don't know about you guys, but the pandemic has completely ruined my feet by not having many opportunities to wear heels I am not used to wearing the sky high ones that I was used to just a couple years ago. And so when I'm buying heels now they're like two and a half three inches as opposed to four plus. So I love that this new pair that I got is shorter and more wearable, more comfortable, very thrilled. And while I was at Highland Park village visiting the Chanel store I had a celebrity sighting as well I saw Michael Kors and he was standing kind of near the entrance of Park House which is next to Chanel and I snapped a photo of him not with him sadly, I was too much of a chicken but I pulled a dim wah and snapped it from my car. And of course I set it into Dubois if you don't know what dim watt is it's basically celebrity gossip and they're always sharing spotted like when you see celebrities out in the wild so obviously had to send in a tip anon please but that was fun. Lots of personal updates and just like you know random goings on this week but over the weekend was the Texas oh you again and that's something I almost always go to but my mom you know sold our family season tickets last year during the pandemic and they weren't going that much anymore they travel a lot and you know haven't been around and I usually go to the Texas oh you game but decided not to go this year. But Liza went so we'll talk I'll talk more about that with her later on in the episode but if you didn't watch it, you missed a crazy game. Texas was leading the whole time everybody thought that You're going to win and then the last like the last couple of minutes of the game oh you pulled a fast one and one
alright, let's jump into the latest. So obviously there was an Instagram outage not once but twice last week on Monday I actually didn't even notice because I was recording and editing the podcast I was on Instagram at all so I didn't even find out about it until later. But on Friday I was mid uploading all of my uploaded the real I was uploading the try on on Instagram stories and that's when the trouble started happening Friday so of course I posted like three maybe three photos in of the Tryon on stories and then had to wait and that like an hour to post the rest of them. So that was probably a little scattered for those of you follow me on there. So sorry about that. Hopefully Instagram can figure it shit out and not have this happen again, but, you know, I feel like it's gonna be an ongoing problem. In other news, Adele in anticipation of her next album has been doing a lot of promotion this week. She's on the cover of Vogue of British Vogue so many stunning photos of her I cannot wait for this album. She has such a strong, powerful voice. I mean, all of her music is incredible. She's so talented. Adele even did an Instagram Live where she kind of teased the easy on me single and it sounds amazing. It sounds like an absolute banger like Daniel McKenna peladon would say I cannot wait for the release of this album. This week I watched and finished midnight mass which is a new show on Netflix as the title would suggest it like Catholicism and religion plays into the storyline. But there's definitely fantasy in there too. You can expect kind of cult situations you can expect kind of vampire situations. It's eerie sometimes cheesy and the monologues go on for far too long. But overall, it's pretty enjoyable. It's kind of great to watch right now. It's October. It's spooky season. So I did check it out. Although there is one character Her name is Beverly Keane, and she is the worst. You will hate her on episode one. It is so obvious, but part of me deep down hates her already because she was penny in Grey's Anatomy who killed McDreamy. So anyway, just know that going in. And then speaking of Grey's Anatomy, that's back. And you guys know I love this show. I've watched it for so long. I mean, there's so many seasons now, not all of them are great. But I do think the writers have a way of pulling you back after kind of slower seasons. So hopefully this one will be good. It's only been two episodes. And they're already teasing that Meredith might leave but they do that like every season. So I'm you know, taking it with a grain of salt right now. But she has been on there a long time. So we'll see what they do. But hopefully it's a good season
Alright, since I'm having Liza on later on in the episode, I thought today might be a fun time to talk about hiring and how I found employees and kind of what's worked for me and all of that jazz. I first began hiring for my blog about a year after I quit my full time job at rewardstyle to do the blog full time. And I did have some experience with this at rewardstyle, especially the backend of it. So like employment agreements, non disclosures, non competes. And I knew I wanted to do the same thing. So the first thing I did before we hired anyone was I hired a lawyer to help me create an employment agreement. After I've gotten the employment agreement figured out with the lawyer, I put up a job posting on LinkedIn, I decided to start there because while I wasn't entirely sure whether I wanted an intern or a part time employee, I wanted somebody who would take it seriously. So LinkedIn seemed like a good place to start to find professionals. Now, as you might imagine, finding kind of a qualified solid candidate for a part time job is hard because most people are looking for full time jobs. So I think that was the initial issue when I first started hiring. Secondly, even though I knew I needed help, because I was working all hours of the day, and on the weekends, too. I wasn't entirely sure what I wanted this person to help with. Like I had, you know, a set of job duties and things like scheduling social media posts, helping me write my newsletter, obviously photography, helping with photos, but it wasn't until they actually started working for me that I recognized where I really needed help. And what I had trouble letting go as a control freak, I hold on to things and want to do them myself. Because one I'm a perfectionist, and to this whole blog, and everything was my brand. I mean, it's me, it's my writing. So if I'm going to hire somebody to help me write, they've got to match my writing style, and just a ton of other factors like that go into it when it's not just a brand, it's a person they're trying to mimic. And so with all of that in mind and set I did not have success with the first couple of people that I hired because I had envisioned that they were going to help me write all of this content. But neither of them were able to match my writing style after several months, and me kind of making edits and trying to kind of guide them, it just wasn't working. And that was all after, you know, I got writing samples from them as part of the interview process and ask them to do a couple of things for me to show how they would write something. So I did all these things preemptively hoping that I would find the right people. And it just didn't end up being the right match. But also, it wasn't a personality match with either of those. And I think that's important to note, especially if you are self employed, and going to be spending all of this time with someone, you need to be able to have fun. It can't I mean, it can't just be all business all the time when you're spending so much time with another person. And so that's something I also quickly learned and started taking into account when I was interviewing people in person. After having two failed attempts from LinkedIn, I decided to try a different route and go the intern route. Because like I said, before, I'm a control freak, I have a hard time letting things go. But I could at least have an intern all paid, I paid all my interns that have an intern helped me with the social media posts and helped me with the photography. And so what I did, in terms of finding interns is I actually reached out to the data house at SMU I was the data there. And of course, I know that they send out emails to the chapter. And so I emailed somebody at the data house to see if they could include the job posting and one of their chapter emails. And that was awesome. I got so much interest from that. And I had mostly thetas working for me over this several years, I had interns but then of course, they would tell their friends about it. And I had people from other sororities reach out and see if I needed an intern the next semester or whatever. So that was really helpful. So like I said, I just kind of stuck with what was easy. I had interns for several years, and they would help me with the basics. So they'd helped me take my photos every week, they would schedule social media posts, but I didn't really trust them to do any of the heavy lifting. So I didn't really trust them to help me write content, I didn't really trust them to do collages or anything like that. I didn't want to invest a ton of time and effort into training them if they were only going to be leaving the next semester. So after a few years of that I finally was like, Okay, it's time I've got to find somebody who I can actually delegate more stuff to somebody that I can really trust to work hard and do a good job and help me with everything. So because I didn't have success with LinkedIn, when I tried to hire a few years before I decided to try posting the job on my Instagram Stories, posting the job on Insta Stories was actually like the best idea ever, because the pool of applicants or people that already follow me already liked my content. So there's like a common interest there. They're already familiar with the concept of blogging and influencing, they may already like my style, and the designers and brands I share. I mean, all of that plays a part because if I hire them, they're going to be talking about it. So it makes sense to pick from the existing pool of people that are following me. So after sharing the job posting on Instagram stories, I received a ton of interest, which was awesome. And after reviewing the resumes and their experience, I narrowed it down to about 10 people to interview in person. In addition to the interviews, this time, I was a little smarter in what I wanted them to do for me to kind of show their skills. In addition to writing samples, I kind of asked them to survey my my Instagram, my blog, and all of that and kind of give me a bulleted list of things that they would change or improvements they would make. And Liza who is now my full time employee really went above and beyond with that she had a ton of great ideas. And she is younger, she's of the Gen Z generation. So I really liked the fresh take she had on it, I should say it was between Liza and another candidate who was closer to my age. And truth be told she had a lot more experience just because she's been in the workforce a lot longer. But she worked for an agency like a marketing agency, and so had a lot of experience from a branding perspective. But she didn't have as much experience in the fashion space. And because she was my age, she sort of had a salary expectation that I wasn't ready to commit to. So there was that as well. I was worried that if I hired her on part time to start she might not stay on and I really wanted somebody that I could invest all of my time in training and really molded and shaped them into the employee that I desired. And Liza was Liza was it she was perfect for that and has been the best employee for me. And while Liza didn't have quite as much experience just cuz she's younger, she did work for companies that I can relate to so like the collective and Kelly when she worked for them before she worked for me so she does have experience in fashion and Style interior design and she had the right kind of experience. Liza and I also have a similar sense of style so I can trust her to create content that reflects the aesthetic of my brand. Liza and I also connected because we both went to Camp mystic and hunt Texas. Although her sister Meredith is closer to me and age, we both went to Camp mystic first term loved it have a lot to talk about there. She was also in a sorority at UT. She's so fun to be around easy to get along with both in and out of the office. And it's so rare, we aren't on the same page about anything. Before we get into our chat with Liza, I'll tell you a little bit about what she helps me with. So if you've followed our Instagram account at TSS, edited, it's basically a collage only version of my blog. So there's no personal details or anything like that, like you'd find on my Instagram account. Tss edited is purely shopping content. So if you're wanting daily outfit, inspiration, interior style, that kind of stuff, definitely go to TSS edited and follow us on the LTK app, but she pretty much runs that account. She creates most of the collages and posts everything on stories in the feed of that account. If you DM TSS edited, you're talking Eliza. I'll occasionally do some collages for the TSS edited account here in there if I have time and I'm feeling inspired, but I also of course, we shared the the Edit capsule wardrobes one piece for ways lots of blog content we share on TSS edited as well and those I create, and because she runs TSS edited, I've now kind of put her in charge of running Friday's blog post a newsletter because Friday's blog posts are almost always an under 100 post or a TSS edited lately, and those are all kind of content items from TSS edited. So she runs that and she runs the Friday newsletter. In addition to creating and posting content on TSS edited, she also helps me shoot all of my blog photos, she schedules, social media posts, she updates the shop, she often creates content for the Sussex style watch website, she helps with all kinds of things. She's the jack of all trades and right hand that I needed and was looking for. And I sort of glossed over this, but I did hire her part time. At first, she worked for me part time for about a year. And it worked out so well only because she was also in a web development program at the time at SMU. So she could only commit to part time it really was the perfect situation. And then when I decided I wasn't going to end up moving to Chicago and pandemic, that's when I was like, Okay, would you like a full time job because I knew I was going to want to hire somebody full time after having her on for a year and knowing you know how much I was able to work with somebody qualified on board. I knew I wanted to hire somebody full time. And since I was staying, obviously she was going to get the job. Alright, now that I've sort of given you guys an intro to Eliza, I thought I'd bring her in so we can chat about our little State Fair visit. We can talk about the Texas Oh, you game. And I just want you guys to get to know her a little better because I talked about her a lot, but you don't see her very often. So let's bring her in. All right, we've got Liza here she is my full time assistant and jack of all trades right hand like I mentioned earlier, but I just wanted her to introduce herself and tell you guys a little bit about her.
Yeah, I'm so excited to be here. I never thought I could say that I was going to be on a podcast but here we are. My name is Liza, obviously. And I'm from Wichita Falls, Texas is where I grew up, born and raised there until I graduated from high school in 2014. I went to University of Texas at Austin and I graduated in 2018. You were in a sorority? It was in a sorority I was a PI phi. They're super fun. Yes. And since now I'm here. And I've lived in Dallas for three years. And I've been working from air for the past two. So yeah, very exciting. Yeah. And I asked you guys on Instagram to submit a few questions and I thought we would go through some of those. So the first one, which was actually sort of funny because I don't know who do you live? Like this is someone from Wichita Falls already knows who you are. Yeah. They asked what was it like growing up in Wichita Falls? Yeah, so I grew up in Wichita Falls, Texas. And for those of you aren't familiar with Texas, it's about two hours northwest of here. So basically, Wichita Falls is like on the border of Texas and Oklahoma and populations like 100,000 people, it's probably gotten a lot bigger since I graduated 2014. But I really enjoy growing up there. And it's funny because there was like a point in high school when I like would go visit my camp friends and Dallas and like Austin in bigger cities, and I was like, gosh, I hate living in this small town. It was just there was so much more to do in Dallas and they like had more places to shop and I was like kind of jealous at that point. And that's kind of one of the reasons why I wanted to go to a big school is because I wanted to be in a bigger city but now like looking back on it I think you know what shuffles was so good for me like growing up in a place where it was pretty small and everyone kind of knew each other and we had so many You know, good family friends out there who are just great people. It was just a really good experience for me like looking back on it now. I think I appreciate it so much more. That's great. And was it more kind of like a ranch feel like what was the vibe of the town? I don't know. It's interesting, because people like kind of asked me that were like people who visited for the first time, like, this is not what I pictured it to be. Okay. I would kind of I don't know, I would relate it to somewhere like Lubbock or it is very dry. Okay, and very flat. If you've ever been to Lubbock, I don't know that you have met. But well, did we drive through it on the way to Terlingua? I think we know. I know. We've drove through Midland. Okay. Yeah. So I would kind of say it's similar to Midland in a sense. And you know, the jobs are kind of the same. It's a lot of oil, business people and stuff like that. Gotcha. Yeah. I mean, it was a great place to grow up. And I one thing I was thinking about this earlier today, how it was a really great time to grow up and everything, but like, once I got to college, I think it was tough going from being you know, a big fish in a small pond to being a little fish in a big pond. Right. So that was kind of like something that was tough, educationally to I think it's really hard to go from UT or going from high school to UT where I you know, I was kind of one of the smarter people in my grade. And then you go to UT and everyone was the smarter person in their grade, right. And it's just a massive school, massive school. And so you know, that transition was kind of tough. But you know, I still go back to Wichita Falls every now and then. And I love seeing my friends when I'm there. And my parents are still there. They're kind of back and forth between Wichita Falls in Austin. But yeah, like, I really do think I appreciate it so much more now. That's awesome. All right. Next question. How did you get into the fashion blogging world? And did you ever have a blog? So no, I've never had a blog, I kind of did a few like blogging type projects. Whenever I was in school, my major was public relations. So it was a ton of writing courses. So we kind of had blogs in that sense. But for school related stuff, but never like my own personal blog, I actually found merit because I followed her. And I was just like listening to her stories. And she was talking about how she needed a part time assistant. And I was kind of in this point where I didn't know what I wanted to do. And I was going back to school, and I saw that this was like a great opportunity. Because I always love fashion. And I love to write that's always been probably one of my better skills and schools. I was always good in English and writing. And so yeah, I just kind of came across her stories and decided to apply and here we are, here we are, what is your favorite thing to work on? Favorite thing will is go that this is kind of the bulk of my work. collages are probably my favorite thing, which I mean, it's not something I ever thought it would be good at just because it's something that's not random, necessarily, but just like a very particular skill. And I feel like I've always kind of had an eye to pull things together. And yeah, I would say definitely doing the collages is probably one of my favorite parts are just great. Because a lot of what I do, yes, and I talked a little bit about, like, what your responsibilities are working for me. And collage, Reese's isn't here. So you'll hear her like moving around also.
Anyway, collages are a big part of both of our job, I find the products and then we create multiple collages every day off of them or out of them. And I find him very therapeutic. And it's relaxing. And I've said this in previous episodes, but it's sort of mindless, like you're obviously focused on doing it, but you can be listening to podcasts. It's sort of more fun than some of the other stuff. Yeah, and I can listen to a podcast while I'm doing it. It doesn't require too much brain work right and it's kind of fun. Yeah, yeah, so it's probably my favorite part. So you mentioned that you love fashion of course what are some of your favorite places to shop I feel like it's changed so much over the year like where I like to shop because my style has changed so much and you know budget like in high school in college like I didn't have any money so I would always like shop at like little boutiques in Austin and stuff like that but in like revolve and places like that. But I've kind of now like been leaning more towards shop Bob has always been somewhere I feel like everyone likes to shop. It's just easy to navigate. And it was a really cute updated stuff but fast shipping. Shipping the two day Amazon shipping is great. I also love to shop on intermix and forte safe to say you like contemporary a designer fashion. Definitely. And I feel like as I've been working for Marriott, I've discovered so many new places that I wouldn't have known about just because, you know, we're constantly looking for new stuff. Yeah. And if something is sold out somewhere, we will try to find it somewhere else. And so it's kind of like fun to like discover new places to shop. And what do you have any particular favorite brands that you like? I mean, I like Lee Johnson. I love stuff from Mango. That's like on the cheaper side too. I kind of got some real cute like fall floral dresses from there. Yes, yes. I love mango stuff. I wish that Zara was an affiliate link Which cuz I like to shop there so I like I kinda did acquire it sometimes just because we don't use it with like to know it because they don't they are infinitely affiliate link and so that's somewhere that I really like to shop yeah that's a pain point for pretty much every blogger I think or influencer that Zara is not on an affiliate network right? So as far as you're listening, you are probably not but you are and maybe start to work join reward style. And how would you describe your style? I was thinking about this on the way here and you know, being I'm 25. And I feel like I am in such a weird phase where I want to dress younger and I want to try all the new trends. But sometimes I feel like I'm too old or like, oh my gosh, such a struggle right now. I can't really put words into what my style is. Yeah, but I definitely dress on the more feminine side. And I really think it also depends on this season. Like in summer and spring. I love to wear florals and frilly stuff and stuff like that. But then when winter and fall come around, I love to wear like leather pieces and just a little bit more edgy stuff. Like I kind of got into the combat boot trend this last winter and I really didn't want to because I was like I feel like I'm almost too old for that. I don't know, I just kind of didn't. It's a very specific look like my friend Amber does it really well. And my hair's them with many dresses and stuff. Yes, I'm not sure I could pull that off. Some people are really great. Yes. And I mean, like mini skirts are something that I like just totally got rid of in my closet because I was like, I just can't wear this anymore and feel comfortable. Yeah, but yeah, I definitely lean towards like more feminine classic pieces. And even since I started working for you, I feel like I've been wearing things like lasers and stuff like pumps, like I never used to just wear pumps to, you know, go to dinner or anything. But now I feel like it's something that's kind of incorporated into my closet ever since I've been working for you. Really? Yeah. Do you think Megan Markel has anything to do with that? Yeah, always wearing those pointy toe pumps? Yeah, like that. Was that influenced my shoe style for a little while? Yeah, but okay, that's really the end of the questions. But I did want to talk about the state fair. And Texas. Oh, you because you went to UT. And you were at the game. And it was the craziest. I mean, right now, my voice. I don't normally sound like this. My voice is a little raspy. Because I obviously went to UT and I'm a big Texas fan. And if you were watching the game, you know how defeated I feel today. But I mean, it really was one of the best games I feel like I've ever seen. Yeah. Of the, you know, specific rivalry. Because one, Texas was ahead for the entire game,
the entire game. And then like the last quarter, I think I went with one of my friends to just go get a beer and the beer line was so long. And by the time I came back, oh, he was ahead. And I was like, what just happened? And you know, my boyfriend is diehard Texas fan. And so he was just so upset on Saturday. And he was like, I almost would rather lose, you know, 100 to zero then to lose that way. But it was, especially with the game. It's were fun to go to a game that's, you know, really competitive. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. The 20 Wasn't it a 21? point spread? Yeah. Isn't that like a pretty? I think they said that was a record or is it not? I mean, I don't know. I can't tell you any football stat. Okay. But it was an epic game, sadly did not Texas Oh, in our favor at the end, but you know, it's every area every years new. So we'll try. We'll try again next year. And then we went to the fair on Wednesday was Yeah, Wednesday kind of over lunch and got to eat all of the fried foods and stuff over the years, what have been your favorite things to get there. So I kind of we went this Wednesday. I'd been one time before that. So I kind of got to try some things and let Merritt know like what we needed to do, but I would say you've got to stick to the classics when it comes to fare like you've got to get a corndog and you've got to get the fried Oreos. And one of my favorite things that I just kind of get every year is the fried peanut butter and jelly. I just feel like you know, all the textures and flavors are there and sweet and salty. Yes. That's like one of my favorites. But did you find it? I did? Okay, actually went we didn't find one when we were there on Wednesday. So yes, after the game, we actually got one because I was like kind of in a place where I was eating my feeling sad that I was so upset and you know, it takes forever to get out of the state fairs. So we kind of lingered for a little bit. Oh, and we also tried the Frito Pie bites. I know we are. Yeah. And they were really good. Honestly, it was like one of my favorite things better than the duckling. What was it? Oh, the lucky duck dump. Lucky Duck Duck. I think those were really good too. But there was something about the Frito Pie bites where they gave you like sour cream too. And like hot sauce. Yeah. Try that it was the combination of that and the Frito Pie bites really really warm and then like the sour cream kind of was cooled it down. Yeah, I thought that was probably something I tried when we were there, but I'm glad I got to try it. Yeah, I mean I love the fair if I can go back twice I would I think it ends well it ends in six days I might be able to fit together. I probably shouldn't. But when we were there Wednesday, I got my favorite things which lies that repeated but the Fletcher's corny dogs it's always a bust. Got to get one of those fried Oreos. Of course, we did not get a turkey leg, which I usually like but over the years I've enjoyed less and less. What else did we get? We got we got the armadillo. Yes. And that was actually really good. There was a very long wait, though, so be prepared to wait because it's only available one stand called Barreras I think yes, that's it. And that was really good. But funnel cake with ice cream in the middle, basically. Yes. I think the ice cream is key because it's like not too hard. Because like I kind of don't like to buy into really hard ice cream. So it was like perfectly soft or like not too melted. And the combination of the cookie butter I thought was like really good genius.
It was so good. Now we also got Oreo beer. Oh, yeah. Looking at it, like how gross and then we were like, well, maybe
we should try to we should try it. I mean we like fried oreos, so I figured it might be like sweeter beer or something. It was actually really bitter. It tasted almost like coffee. It didn't taste at all like Oreos like I don't know, but it was It wasn't like regular coffee. It was like a Slurpee like that was the texture it was very weird like a slushy but I almost like the ice wasn't slushy enough it was yeah, like big chunks of ice. Yeah, so I was we were not a family we had one sip each we're like nope, throwing this away and then on our way out we stopped at another place to get was it bacon and cheese egg rolls and sadly they were out but you know it's probably better not to get the best I when I got home I like didn't even really eat dinner say I was awful. I had a popsicle. I know that's you know just end the day in a healthy way but right well lies I was so fun having you on hopefully we can do more of these. I but I wanted to introduce people to you anything else you want to share? I don't I don't really know. I'm like, just even surprised that anyone had any questions. I know. It just makes me laugh. But I guess also, um, you mentioned me I talk about you a lot. Yeah, and you don't really see me but yeah, that was fun. Yay. Well, I will come back with you guys in a second to do the beck and call section. But we will see you later Liza!
Alright guys, we've reached the beck and call q&a segment, you can call in to 146200473 to leave a voicemail and ask me anything. Let's jump in to the first voicemail.
Hi, Merritt, I've got a random question for you. I love the applied moldings you have in your upstairs office. I know it's a finish worker that typically does that kind of treatment, but I have no idea where to find one. Can you tell me sort of your tips and tricks for sourcing a great finish worker? And then tell me a little bit about that design process? Did you have a separate designer do the layout for you? Did you do it yourself? Or was it something your finished worker was able to do? Thank you!
Happy to answer this question. It's a great home one. So my designer Amelia Eaton is in Chicago and she is the one who came up with the idea for putting this picture frame molding in my office I have so many big walls up there. So we needed something to add texture and just you know, more charm to the space and I love how the picture frame molding has just made it so elegant, clean and so beautiful. I'm so obsessed with it but what she did, she had the dimensions of the space already but I did some additional measuring for her and then she came up with the layout of the molding and sent me some graphics to give to the carpenter slash remodeler guy and I actually found the carpenter guy through my painter that I used in my last house and was planning to use again to paint that office and another space downstairs and so he connected me with a guy that they've worked with before and that he recommended and I had him come out and check it out and give me a quote I also crowdsource and found some other contacts through friends who've done this before but I ended up going with the guy my painter recommended and that worked out really well and I'm so pleased with everything that they did. Alright, let's get into the next voicemail.
Hi, Merritt. I was wondering if you have a go to bad date story like something that you and your friends like refer to by you know, a little nickname or whatever and if you would please share something that's like funny bad. So yes, just love hearing people's horrible date stories to laugh at that sounds rude but like to commiserate!
Whoa, do I ever! I haven't been on that many bad dates that, you know, come to mind. But one in particular does. And this was a blind setup date from someone who really isn't one of my friends, but like a friend of a friend. And so they don't know me that well. And you know, they were trying to be helpful, but they set me up with a guy that they knew. And before the date, I was pretty apprehensive, because she actually told me that I was so his type, because he really likes young blondes that should have been my first clue. And I've got to set the scene because we went to dinner at Javier ears, which, if you're at all familiar with Dallas, you've probably heard of Javier, I've posted about it on my Instagram before it is so fun is impossible to not have fun there. And yet, it was the worst that night. So anyway, I meet him at the restaurant and meet him. He's friendly, not really my type. Maybe I was his type, but you know, looks wise, and just, you know, just wasn't my type. I'll say that. But I wasn't gonna let that stop me from having fun. I can literally talk to a wall, I have fun on all kinds of dates with all kinds of people. I love meeting new people. So you know, just because he wasn't my type on initial looks, I wasn't gonna count him out. But from the moment we sat down at dinner, I asked every question and didn't get a single one back the entire time. I'm sure you ladies have been there and can relate to this. But some men only want to talk about themselves and have no interest in actually getting to know you. The wild part is the stuff that he wanted to talk about was like all negative and made him look really bad. So for example, he was like an ER doctor or surgeon, I don't remember which one this was like five or six years ago. But he told me about how he got into some hot water on some commentary based on an email he sent about patient care and how like he didn't think some people deserve to be treated more than others, which is like, what brain explosion, you took an oath like, do no harm. I mean, all of this stuff, red flags everywhere. And I kid you not there are like news articles about this. But that wasn't even the worst thing. I mean, that was pretty bad. But that wasn't even the worst thing. He is also an author of a book. And I'm not going to tell you what it is. But it's about like religion, but he told me there was like rape in it and incest and some other stuff. And I was like, why are you telling me this like truly this? I mean, the topics of conversation we went through should never be talked about on a first date. And I honestly think he was telling me all of this thinking he I'd be impressed that he was like a published author. And obviously, he's a doctor. I mean, those could be really cool things. But they weren't. I mean, the fact that he even brought either of those stories up or the topic of the book. I mean, truly, you can't make this shit up. So I just like grit my teeth and got through dinner. I continued asking him questions, never getting anything in return. So at the end of dinner, I said goodbye. And that was that but it doesn't end there. The next day, I received a text from him saying I had such a great time getting to know you. I really feel like this could be something would love to see you again. And of course, I was like, Are you joking? Me? Like in my mind, I was like, This guy is a lunatic. He didn't ask me a single question. So he doesn't know anything about me. And he loved getting to know me last night. Okay, no. Second of all, what made you think my facial expressions of confusion and disgust for the stories you told? Had you thinking there was a romantic connection here, but because I'm polite, I just said you know, it was really nice to meet you. But I don't feel a connection here. Have a nice one. And again, you'd think that would be it, but it was it like a week later, I got an email and a phone call from a matchmaking service asking me about my experience with him and wondering if I wanted to join whatever matchmaking service I guess he was a part of. I was not a part of this matchmaking service. So he had given them my information without my permission, and then they contacted me is that the most absurd thing you've ever heard? Like, is it possible to be super insecure and also a total narcissist because I definitely think that sums him up. Needless to say, that was my very worst date a very epically bad date. And hopefully I never have to go on another one like that. But y'all, this is what's out there. Anyway, fingers crossed that the rest of the dates I go on in my life aren't even half that bad. Alright guys, that's all I've got for this episode. Thank you so much for listening. In the meantime, you can follow along on Instagram at beck and call podcast. You can also follow my personal account at Merritt Beck and of course, if you haven't already, please be sure to rate review and subscribe. It would mean the world to me. I love you guys. Thank you so much for continuing to support and listen and I will catch you guys next week. Bye
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