Katie Sturino, SUNNY SIDE UP: A Novel

[1:30]Katie Sturino: Welcome to Totally Booked Live at the Whitby Hotel. I am so excited to be interviewing a whole host of authors in person. Today, we have Katie Serrino, and I am so thrilled to be talking to her about Sunny Side Up, her novel. Welcome. Hello. Thank you so much for having me, and I'm so excited to meet you. Yay. I'm so excited to meet you too.

[1:52]Zibby Owens: Okay. Sunny Side Up. Let's tell everybody a little bit about this book. This book is the book that I needed to read when I got a divorce. I really wanted something that was inspiring, that showed a woman who was able to transform her life kind of on her own without having to which which I read and saw so many movies when I was going through a divorce about women who went to the gym and, like, got a revenge body and then showed up, and then they were worthy to find that second chance at love. And I wanted someone who actually didn't do any of that. She actually gains weight. She she does all of this in a bigger body, and I I didn't see any stories like that. It's similar to what I went through personally, and so I wanted to provide a narrative that I would have enjoyed. So let's talk about some of these immediate

[2:48]Katie Sturino: rendezvous that you have early on. I have to say, in the first, what, I don't know, 40 pages, this character has gotten together with quite a few people It's true. Who you might not expect. No.

[3:00]Zibby Owens: Yes. I know. I I really Did this follow your journey? This there were some parallels. My mom's not in the room, which she was in the room one time when I had to answer this question, and I just dodged the question. One of them was a construction worker who she saw out her window. Just saying. Mhmm. Just saying. It's that kind of thing. Yep. It's that it's that kind of thing. It's that kind of thing. Well, I think it's also important to show a woman who is bigger and having, like, a really healthy, adventurous sex life, not like a sad, weird, discovery sex life where she's like, I am beautiful. Like, after, like, you know, getting rejected so many times, I felt like I wanted to put this empowered

[3:42]Katie Sturino: narrative out there. You did though have this heartbreaking scene

[3:46]Zibby Owens: where can I talk about it? Of course. Yeah.

[3:49]Katie Sturino: One she gets together with one guy who afterwards said, I always wanted to know what it would be like to be with a fat girl.

[3:56]Zibby Owens: Says it in a more vulgar way. And that did not happen to me, thank God, but I think it was important to face the biggest fear that so many people have about exposing themselves in that way, that you're gonna hear this the the the negative comment that you have had or that someone else has put into your brain early on in your life, that that's what's going to be exposed when you make yourself vulnerable. So I wanted to show Sunny going through that and getting over it and moving on and continuing to date and continuing to put herself out there because I've spoken to so many people in my life who after something like that happens, quite understandably, they shut down. And they're like, this happened, and I can't go back out there. But we have to be brave, and we have to keep going out even after the big scary thing happens.

[4:51]Katie Sturino: So true. Girlfriends play a huge role in the story. Talk about that. Tell us a little about your own good girlfriends.

[4:57]Zibby Owens: Yes. I think that in your lowest times in your life, women are the ones who get you through it, and that's what I wanted to showcase in this book. I wanted to show three women going through some really hard times, helping each other out, like hyping each other up, and not just, like, about their romantic lives, but about their professional lives too. I feel like that was really important for me because I am an entrepreneur. I do surround myself with a lot of professional women who are working on their own businesses, and I felt like that was an important part of the story that I wanted to share. And let's talk about that. Tell us about Mega Babe. Mega Babe do you guys know Mega Babe out there? Anyone? With some light claps? Okay. So Mega Babe is my brand of personal care products. We make talc free boob sweat powder. We make thigh chafe stick. That was the first product we launched. We make products hemorrhoid cream called Butt Stuff. We make products that typically address tab I'm put I'm putting taboo in quotes because they're not taboo. They're just issues that happen to normal bodies that we've been made to feel ashamed or embarrassed about. So I started Mega Babe eight years ago with my sister and my best friend from camp. And Where'd you go to camp? Minnekani. Okay. It's not like a it's not like but you don't know. I don't know. I don't know. And I I really I I love Mega Babe. We sell at Target. We sell at Ulta. We sell at Walmart. This is a this is a project that started in my parents' garage,

[6:33]Katie Sturino: and it's been eight years, and I can't believe that we're we're here. That's so amazing. Yeah. So weren't you or let me rephrase. Were you afraid to take on a big project like this? I wouldn't know the first thing about sourcing materials and non talc powder and packaging of the whole For Mega Babe? For Mega Babe. We were blissfully naive

[6:52]Zibby Owens: Mhmm. About everything. Everything from how to make product to what happens when your manufacturer puts the wrong thing in your product and you have to pay for it all. Like, it's it's a very specific example. But things like that happen pretty much all the time, and you can't believe that this is how this industry operates, but it does operate like that. If you're a woman out there who is interested in making product and the science and the development of product, please go start please go start a lab. Cause there are not enough out there, and most of them are are run it's a very dated industry. So please go innovate. But I think we just started basically at Google University, and we were like, who makes this? Oh, okay. So this I called this person. They don't make you have to get a hot fill for that type of product. So who does that? So we just we just learned as we went, and for four years, we had no employees. So it was my sister at 1AM doing customer service. It was like Kate, like, designing packaging with, like, no idea, you know, and no history of doing it, but just doing our best. And thank God our message has resonated with people. That's amazing. Congratulations. Yeah. Thank you. Thank Sunny in the book also has started a business. She does. Talk a little bit about her company and writing about that. So she starts a swimwear line because she is frustrated by the swimsuits that she finds when she goes to well, book starts. I'm not spoiling anything because the book starts in Bergdorf Goodman. She is in this fitting room. She's trying on a suit she thinks is in her size, but it's way too small. And she has a breakdown, which I think probably every person in this room has Raise your hand if you've ever had a okay. Everyone's raising their hand. Okay. Sir, you're lying. And I think that that is such a relatable moment. But instead of, again, shutting down and being like, you know what? I'm not gonna go on this trip. I don't have swimsuit. I'm not gonna go. Sunny takes matters into her own hands, and she makes a suit at the tailor. And then she decides, you know what? I can't be the only person who has this problem. And her friends, again, were back to those really supportive women friends. They're like, Sunny, you should start a line. So she does. And then me, not Sunny, decides that, you know what? I love these swimsuits I'm talking about. Let let me make the swimsuits. So I launched this is hard to explain, and this is this was a new thing. And I I think we're gonna see more of this in books, being able to shop what you read about, but it was a really interesting experiment. So I made the swimsuits from the book and launched them the same month that the book came out so that you could read the book, wear the suit, have a great summer, find some some confidence and some laughs in Sunny. But it was that was really hard, and and it was confusing messaging because it's not something typical that you see. That it's it's not like it's like you're used to seeing merchandise from a movie or, you know, like, toys that match the thing that you're seeing on the screen, but we're not used to shopping from a book yet. But the suit I mean, the swimsuits did really well. People loved them. People bought them, but it was an interesting thing to see. Where can we buy the swimsuit? Oh, right. Maybe you're now seeing why it was hard to get the message out of the time we made them. I I made them with Kitty and Vibe. They're a small woman owned brand. She everything is ethically made. She is very conscious of the way that swimsuits fit, so she has, like, two different size bottoms, and she's she's, like, an amazing entrepreneur. So I made them with her. That's so cool. Yeah. I love that. We sold and we sold out of most of the suits. So that's it's great.

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[13:36]Katie Sturino: Now tell me a little bit about how you became, like, a content creator.

[13:43]Zibby Owens: I became a content creator because I started managing my dog in Tooth, which no one wants to talk about or cares about because it's been so long, but, like, it's all I wanna talk about. I kind of dog? Is she is a King Charles Spaniel and she Toast. Does any did anyone follow or remember Toast? Three piece. Yes. Okay. Yes. That's me. Yes. Okay. You're remembering Toast. Right? Toast was huge. Yeah. So Toast was so I worked in public relations, and I decided that Toast is a special dog. And she was a a rescue. She could teach people about rescue and about puppy mills and why you shouldn't buy dogs, and she also was just a star. She would let me, like, dress her up. She was a model for Karen Walker Eyewear. She got married on Real Housewives of New York. Stuffed. Yes. No. Does anyone remember a dog wedding? There it is. That was me. Watch watch me on there. I bend over. You can fully see my thong. My my family won't let me forget that. So I got into social media through being a dogager and Toast, like A dogager? Yes. Kris Jenner of dogs. See how much more fun it is to be in the dog game? Yeah. Okay. Okay. Yes. But so that's how I got into it. But, essentially, on on a photoshoot that I was doing with Toast for NARS Cosmetics, someone at a publication was like, you have good style. And I was like, oh, well, I we we should do a story about how I, like, wear shorts for summer because there were just not many stories about curvy girls wearing anything in 2014. And so we did that feature, and then in that article, I read comments from women who were like, I've never seen my body featured on a fashion publication. I didn't think I could wear shorts, and now I'm looking at you and wear the same size, and I can wear shorts because you look great. And I realized, like, that that was my Oprah moment that I was not alone in my body insecurities, and I also wasn't, like, a crazy freak for having a size twelve body, which I had felt and thought my whole life and not helped by the fact that I moved to New York and work in fashion and everyone here has a very specific ideal for bodies. So I said, wow. Okay. If these people were happy to see me and I'm feeling this way, what if I keep going in this direction? So I started the 12 ish style, and I it's just started as a way to help women who are bigger, curvier, find clothes, go to the men's department, find this blazer, these shoes come in your size, like so it was essentially, I started as a shopping platform, and then women who were size four or size eight were messaging me saying, you just gave me the content the confidence to wear a tank top. And I was like, no. No. No. You're a size six. You should always be able to wear a tank top. We're I'm the one who should question it, And that's when I realized that all women hate their bodies for no reason, and that I was going to make it my life's work to make women feel more confident and comfortable in their bodies. That's a big undertaking. Yes. I'm here. And it's working. Yes. Yeah. I'm doing I have a I have a multiple a multipronged attack. I do it with Mega Babe. So I'm normalizing the things that you feel uncomfortable about. Oh, my thighs touch. Oh, I have, like, boob sweat. Like, I'm normalizing those things for people. I show up on the Internet in my underwear and show my body and talk about things and show myself unposed or show myself I'm just very vulnerable physically on the Internet. And then Sunny was a great way to introduce a new way of helping women with ex with self acceptance through a fictional narrative.

[17:34]Katie Sturino: And by the way, this is one of the funniest books. I must have laughed, like, 20 times. I started listening to it on audio, which is also fantastic, and I highly recommend it. And I was, like, walking to a kid's play date, and I must I just, like, kept laughing to myself with the headphones. Felt A very big compliment. Thank you. It was quite funny. Thank you. It's just your voice. Thank you. It's very voice driven. It's how can you not laugh? Like, the scene. You know? I really appreciate that. Yeah. It's it's so how did you attack writing a novel on top of everything else?

[18:02]Zibby Owens: I have wanted to write that book for a very long time, and I have I wrote a self help book called Body Talk, and that was kind of a test run to see if I could sell books. And thankfully, there was a great reaction to that, so I was able to pitch Sunny. And I and after all, like, the years that I have wanted to write the book, nothing has come on the market that I was like, no one's done it yet in the way that I wanted to do it. So I I was happy that that space was still there. And then I I scheduled it in the way I schedule all my stuff in with miss Mary Katherine back there. She helps me run my life and get things done. I'm I'm grateful to have a huge team of 11

[18:48]Katie Sturino: at Mega Babe to keep, like, the company going. I have it's it's basically support and help. That's how I was able to do it. And had you always wanted to write fiction? Or is that just something that you're, like, I have to get this story, so I'm gonna learn how to write I think that I love telling stories, and I think that I've always been

[19:06]Zibby Owens: a very, I don't know, narrative driven person. So probably in my brain, yes. But it's not like I went to school for it, or that I'm I'm writing in my spare time short stories or anything like that. But I I'm a I'm a natural born storyteller. So I'm this is a big big moment for me. That's awesome. So now do you wanna write more books? More fiction more novels, I should I will say it's much harder than you think to write a book.

[19:33]Katie Sturino: Does anyone think it would be easy? I don't know. I did.

[19:38]Zibby Owens: Not e not easy, but the challenges that occurred were different than the challenge than what I thought they would be. What were they? I think the editing process is like having, like, a naked eyeball exam. Like, it's, like, so painful, and and you just have to keep, like, sitting through it, and they're like, no. We want you to do it again, and you gotta keep going back into your work. And then you're like, is this even good? Is this even good? Is this even good? It starts to become a real thing in your brain. And then That's a good that's a good book title. Is this even good? You you can take it. It's okay. Thanks. Okay. You were hurting her first. Yeah. She gave me a point. Just put me in the acknowledgments. That's fine. Okay. And I so I think that was one of the challenges that I really didn't expect. Yeah. Interesting. Because you you want to I think that this is what all writers do. You write this thing and you're like, it's perfect. And then you spend like the next six months having people just shred it. Yeah. So what was it like then going out and meeting the readers and all? That was awesome. That's my favorite part of everything is connecting with people and talking with with about how Sunny affected them or people read it and they're like, I'm going through a divorce. I really needed this. I I set up a dating profile because of this book or just like, I gave it to my sister. She's going through this. So that's my that is my joy. Yeah. And now you're remarried? I am. Yeah. I saw on Instagram. Yes. I'm remarried. And you've Yeah. Publicly are saying you don't wanna have kids? I'm publicly saying I don't wanna have kids. Why? Why are you saying it? Well, it's not for me. I think I I have nieces and nephew. I have a nephew and two nieces. I don't know how to say this. That's okay. I'm not taking offense. That's okay. It's just I can feel it. No. No. It's just it's it's a lot of work. And I'm I'm already doing a lot of stuff. And I know that, like, people are like, but what about when you're older? And I'm like, I know enough peep sorry. I know enough people who have bad relationships with their parents to know that you're not guaranteed someone sitting in the nursing home with you. So, like, I so I'm just saying you can't have kids so that they'll take care of you later. And then when they're younger, they're so cute, but there's so much work. And I'm a I am a I'm choosing to do other things. But you know what? Thank you. I'm I'm awesome at not having kids. Like, I'm awesome at it. Like, I live in multiple locations. I travel all the time. I got tons of dogs. I'm gonna get more dogs. So I'm just saying there are some people who are sad without kids, and and I feel for them. And I hope to be someone who shows an alternative to not having a traditional path. So where does this desire to help other people live better lives come from? Don't know. Just what it is. It's just what lights me up. Like, that's the thing. And it's like when I worked in public relations, the thing I found most joy in was helping women tell their stories through their business. So it's just like what I like to do. So what are you most excited about now that's coming up? Well, Sunny, hopefully, will get made into something on screen. Yeah. We'll see. I don't know. Let's put it out there. It's being looked at right now. I don't think I'm supposed to talk about any of this. But yeah. But Harpo has it, and they're looking at it for a movie. Woah. So that would be really great. I really don't think I was supposed to talk about that. Look at look at MK's face. No. She's literally like holding her head and like heart. And then I I What else can you not say? I don't know. This is so fun. You know what? I'm really working on I'm working on some things for next summer for Mega Babe that I'm very excited about, and I'm taking my mom on a safari in two weeks. Wow. Yeah. My mom's a big traveler. Safari was something I I've always wanted to do, but I really didn't think it was very ethical. But we found a great company called Elsewhere, and they're gonna they they show you how to do things without, like, exploiting the local landscape.

[23:53]Katie Sturino: So are you gonna help if she's ever in a nursing home?

[23:57]Zibby Owens: She can live with me. Yeah. Yeah. Only one clap for she can live with me. Okay. They're like, yeah.

[24:08]Katie Sturino: Oh my gosh. Amazing. Is there a way really that women or everyone can feel better in their bodies if they've had a lifetime of

[24:18]Zibby Owens: feeling bad about it? Is there a way to change the narrative for real? Yeah. For real, yes. You're looking at it. You really are looking at it. Because now, no matter what size my body is, I'm good. And I didn't used to be good, and I wasn't good for about thirty five years. So I am proof that you can change your mind about yourself. I think you have to want to, and I don't think it's easy, and I don't think every day is perfect. But I think if you decide, I don't wanna live the rest of my life looking in the mirror and hating what I see, you can you can change it. And how do you feel about all the new weight loss drugs? I feel that they are medicine, they are a tool for people, and I feel that it's taken over our media, and it's taken over the the the public narrative, and I think that that's a shame because they're a drug that is helping a lot of people who need it, and it's being abused by a lot of people who don't. And that's kind of what the headline is for that drug. Okay.

[25:24]Katie Sturino: So if you had advice for a woman who wants to rewrite her narrative, start a company, like, do all the things that probably feel really impossible to the person sitting at home and listening to you do all these things. Like, oh my gosh.

[25:37]Zibby Owens: How does someone get started? I'm just a person. Like, I think that that is to that's good to know is that I'm just a person that I'm from Wisconsin. Like, I have lived in New York for, I don't know, twenty two years. And I I guess that that's what that's a good point to make because I think most people feel that you have to have been born into something or, like, you know, you come from a cosmetic giant family and then you're, oh, that's how she launched that company. But I think anything is possible, and I think that you just have to pick the thing that's gonna bring you the joy and the that what lights you up. And that might not even be what you wanna do professionally, so keep that in mind. Because I used to think I wanted to own an ice cream shop. Mhmm. But the day to day logistics of owning an ice cream shop really suck. So I did not wanna do that. My cousin owns an ice cream shop. Cool. Which one? It's called Scoop de Ville in Philly. Are they in the store a lot? He's in the store a lot. In the store a lot. Yeah. So that is that was my problem with that. Mhmm. But I I guess that's what I'm saying is I think you can do it. You just gotta pick one thing and go after it. And then once you can see that you you can achieve that, things start to pile up and that good energy just starts to accrue.

[26:51]Katie Sturino: Well, I think it's amazing that you've done so many things across a wide spectrum from beauty products to a fabulous book like this to get people into gear and remember that life is worth living. It doesn't matter what you look like, how you feel like you're in it, and that's the most important message of all. Thank you. So congrats. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thanks. Thank you for listening to Totally Booked with Zibby, formerly moms don't have time to read books. If you loved the show, tell a friend, leave a review, follow me on Instagram at Zibby Owens, and spread the word. Thanks so much. Oh, and buy the books.