What does the Navy teach you about leadership that no business book ever will?

On this week of the Joy Club Podcast, Emily McCarthy sits down with Steve Curran, founder of Khaki Consulting and a 23-year Navy veteran, over iced coffee. Steve and Emily - who’s worked with Khaki Consulting for nearly three years - dig into what actually happens when the person who built a business by doing everything suddenly has to lead a team instead. They cover the real meaning behind “putting on your khakis,” why trust is given rather than earned, how to know if you’re the bottleneck in your own company, and why unexpressed expectations are premeditated frustrations.

Steve also shares the Giant Worldwide leadership toolkit and the Five Voices framework his team uses to help leaders and companies build a shared language around culture, and tells the story of a cardboard ceremonial paddle that taught him what it really means to let a team surprise you. It’s a candid, practical conversation for any founder who’s ever wondered how to delegate without feeling like they’re lowering the bar.

Timestamps: 0:00 - Welcome: Steve’s path from the Navy to Khaki Consulting 7:00 - What “putting on your khakis” really means 13:00 - How to know if you’re the bottleneck 39:00 - The cardboard paddle: letting your team surprise you 45:00 - The three lists every founder should make

Mentioned in this episode:

• Khaki Consulting
• Giant Worldwide leadership toolkit
• Five Voices assessment & Five Voices AI
• Don’t Give Up the Ship (book)
• Steve’s TEDx Talk
• In Good Company (upcoming Joy Club event series)

Join us: Subscribe to The Joy Club Podcast so you don’t miss an episode. Like this one? Let us know what stayed with you. Leave a review – it helps other women find us.

Links: Emily McCarthy Joy Club Podcast on Instagram Khaki Consulting

Tags:

1. Steve Curran
2. Khaki Consulting
3. Emily McCarthy
4. Joy Club Podcast
5. leadership tips
6. delegation
7. founder story
8. business culture
9. Five Voices assessment
10. small business leadership

What if the most annoying part of registering for your wedding turned into a multi-million dollar brand?

In this episode of The Joy Club Podcast, Emily McCarthy sits down with Liz Eichholz, co-founder and creative director of Weezie, over a round of spicy margaritas. Liz takes us back to the department store towel wall that started it all: standing there newly engaged, barcode gun in hand, unable to get a straight answer about why one towel cost $70 and another cost $50. That frustration turned into a conversation with her college friend Lindsay on a walk in New York, and eventually into a year of research, survey after survey, and a brand built from the ground up around one simple product everyone uses and almost no one loves.

Liz shares the real story behind the name Weezie (hint: it has nothing to do with Lil Wayne), the eight-months-pregnant moment Lindsey closed the deal with their now-manufacturer at a textile show in Germany, and the obsessive, detail-by-detail process of reinventing something as ordinary as a bath towel, down to removing the one element nearly every towel brand includes without asking why. She and Emily also get into what it's really like running a company with your best friend for eight years, how becoming a mother of three has shaped the brand's culture and product line, and what she's most proud of looking back on a business that almost everyone told her was a bad idea.

This is a conversation about trusting a hunch, obsessing over the details no one else notices, and building something that becomes instantly recognizable in people's homes.

Timestamps:

• 0:00 - Welcome & meet Liz Eichholz of Weezie
• 3:30 - The frustrating towel registry experience that started it all
• 8:00 - How "Georgie" became Weezie
• 12:00 - Giving birth while Lindsey closed the deal with their manufacturer in Germany
• 37:00 - What Liz is most proud of, eight years in

Mentioned in this episode:

• Weezie
• Weezie x Lee Jofa collection
• Weezie flagship store, Buckhead, Atlanta

Join us: Subscribe to The Joy Club Podcast so you don't miss an episode. Like this one? Let us know what stayed with you. Leave a review - it helps other women find us.

Links: Emily McCarthy | Designer Fashion & Lifestyle Brand Joy Club Podcast on Instagram

1. Liz Eichholz
2. Weezie towels
3. Emily McCarthy
4. Joy Club Podcast
5. home goods brand
6. women in business
7. direct to consumer brand
8. Atlanta business
9. Savannah Georgia
10. founder story

What do you do when you can dress your daughter with ease, but dressing your son feels like a scavenger hunt?

In this episode of The Joy Club Podcast, Emily McCarthy sits down with Meghan Stanton, founder of Henry Duvall, on St. Simons Island. Meghan shares her winding path to this moment, growing up in Bermuda, boarding school in New Hampshire, law school, a career as a corporate lawyer, and eventually landing on St. Simons with her husband and three kids. She talks about how each place she's lived shaped her eye for color, classic Americana style, and the Southern habit of dressing little kids like little kids.

Meghan opens up about the real origin of Henry Duvall: the frustrating hunt for boys' clothing that led her to start a brand in the middle of COVID, the imposter syndrome that kept her from telling even her closest friends, and the market research experiment that accidentally built a community of over a thousand moms before she ever launched. She and Emily also talk about learning manufacturing from scratch, why she's stayed true to her aesthetic even when feedback pulls her elsewhere, and the natural, unplanned way the brand expanded from boys into girls and women's pieces.

This is a conversation about starting something from an honest need, trusting your instincts, and building a brand your family actually lives in, mud stains and all.

Timestamps:

• 0:00 - Welcome & meet Meghan Stanton of Henry Duvall
• 1:30 - Growing up in Bermuda, and the places that shaped her style
• 8:00 - The hole in the market that sparked Henry Duvall
• 15:00 - Turning imposter syndrome into a 1,000-person community
• 33:00 - What Meghan would tell herself on day one

Mentioned in this episode:

• Henry Duvall
• Henry Duvall's Audrey skirt

Join us: Subscribe to The Joy Club Podcast so you don't miss an episode. Like this one? Let us know what stayed with you. Leave a review – it helps other women find us.

Links: Emily McCarthy | Designer Fashion & Lifestyle Brand Joy Club Podcast on Instagram

1. Meghan Stanton
2. Henry Duvall
3. Emily McCarthy
4. Joy Club Podcast
5. boys clothing brand
6. children's fashion brand
7. women in business
8. St Simons Island
9. mompreneur
10. founder story

In Korean culture, asking someone "Have you eaten?" isn't really about food. It's a way of saying, I care about you. Are you okay?

In this episode of The Joy Club Podcast, Emily McCarthy sits down in Savannah with Kay Heritage, founder of Big Bon, over a warm honey bear latte to talk about how that one phrase became the foundation of an entire business. Kay shares her story of coming to the United States from South Korea as a teenager, the difficult transition of learning a new language and culture, and the years she spent in the Army that taught her discipline, leadership, and what it means to truly belong to a family.

Kay opens up about the wood-fired pizza truck she started with her daughter Anna in 2016 on a whim, and how it grew into Big Bon, a business built as much around taking care of people as it is around bagels and pizza. She shares the story of an employee who transformed his life over three years working alongside her, the hardest season of the business when she nearly walked away, and the community of fellow Savannah business owners who showed up for her again and again, from a landlord who extended credit to a friend who dropped off pizza boxes without being asked.

This is a conversation about food as love, resilience as an immigrant and entrepreneur, and what it really means to build a business around people.

Timestamps:

• 0:00 - Welcome & a taste of Big Bon's honey bear latte
• 2:30 - The Korean phrase "Have you eaten?" and what it truly means
• 6:00 - How a wood-fired pizza truck with her daughter became Big Bon
• 23:00 - The employee whose story reminded Kay why she does this
• 30:30 - The hardest season of Big Bon, and the turning point that kept her going

Mentioned in this episode:

• Big Bon Bodega, Savannah, GA
• Maizal, Big Bon's upcoming gluten-free Colombian cafe concept

Join us: Subscribe to The Joy Club Podcast so you don't miss an episode. Like this one? Let us know what stayed with you. Leave a review - it helps other women find us.

Links: Emily McCarthy | Designer Fashion & Lifestyle Brand Joy Club Podcast on Instagram

1. Kay Heritage
2. Big Bon Bodega
3. Emily McCarthy
4. Joy Club Podcast
5. Savannah Georgia
6. immigrant entrepreneur
7. women in business
8. food and community
9. small business story
10. veteran entrepreneur

What happens when two friends set out to build a network, and end up building a family instead?

In this episode of The Joy Club Podcast, Emily McCarthy sits down with Cheri Leavy and Whitney Long, co-founders of The Southern C, a community that has spent over a decade bringing together entrepreneurs, creatives, and small business owners from across the South. Cheri and Whitney share how their careers in Southern magazine publishing led them to start a blog together, and how a simple idea to connect with fellow business owners grew into in-person events that now define a movement.

They talk honestly about their very first event, a summit that survived a sideways rainstorm and became a story their community still tells today, and how they've grown and pivoted through the years, from swag bags packed in a living room to hosting summits, retreats, and workshops across the South. Cheri and Whitney also open up about what it really takes to build a business with your best friend, from learning to pick up the phone instead of texting to knowing when to say no.

The conversation closes with an exciting announcement: The Southern C is sunsetting its Sea Island chapter, and celebrating with a tribute night in honor of one of their community's biggest inspirations.

This is a conversation about connection, community, and building something that outlasts any single event.

Timestamps:

• 0:00 - Welcome & meet Cheri Leavy and Whitney Long
• 3:00 - Life before The Southern Sea: their career journeys
• 9:00 - Sideways rain and the first-ever Southern Sea event
• 25:00 - What people don't see behind the scenes
• 39:00 - Sunsetting Sea Island and a special tribute night

Mentioned in this episode:

• The Southern Sea community, summits, retreats, and workshops
• The Southern Sea's upcoming Palm Beach event
• Final Sea Island summit, January 2027

Join us: Subscribe to The Joy Club Podcast so you don't miss an episode. Like this one? Let us know what stayed with you. Leave a review – it helps other women find us.

Links: Emily McCarthy | Designer Fashion & Lifestyle Brand Joy Club Podcast on Instagram

1. The Southern Sea
2. Cheri Leavy
3. Whitney Long
4. Emily McCarthy
5. Joy Club Podcast
6. women in business
7. entrepreneur community
8. small business events
9. Savannah Georgia
10. female founders

What if the bag you carry every day is quietly holding the story of your entire life?

In this episode of The Joy Club Podcast, Emily McCarthy sits down with her longtime friend Elizabeth Seeger, founder and creative director of Satchel, a Savannah-based handbag and accessories brand built on craftsmanship, function, and timeless style. Over a glass of bubbly, Elizabeth traces her path from studying fashion design at SCAD to a brief stint in LA after Hurricane Katrina, and the leap of faith that brought her back to Savannah to open her first storefront at just 23 years old.

Elizabeth shares the surprising, almost accidental origin of Satchel, sewing bags out of her mother's upholstery scraps, and the chance encounter at Hotel Bardo that led to her very first order. She and Emily talk about what makes a design worth keeping for twenty years, the products she's loved that never made it to production, and what running a business for nearly two decades has taught her about resourcefulness, intuition, and knowing when to ask for help.

The conversation closes on something deeply personal: what Elizabeth hopes every Satchel bag carries beyond its contents, and what joy looks like for her in this season of life.

This is a conversation about building something built to last, in business and in life.

Timestamps:

• 0:00 - Welcome & cheers with Elizabeth Seeger
• 3:00 - From SCAD to Savannah: how Satchel's story began
• 8:00 - The upholstery scraps and the sale that started it all
• 19:00 - What building Satchel has taught Elizabeth about herself
• 32:00 - The story Elizabeth hopes every Satchel bag tells

Mentioned in this episode:

• Satchel handbags and accessories, Savannah, GA
• The Boho Jill bag

Join us: Subscribe to The Joy Club Podcast so you don't miss an episode. Like this one? Let us know what stayed with you. Leave a review - it helps other women find us.

Links: Emily McCarthy | Designer Fashion & Lifestyle Brand Joy Club Podcast on Instagram

1. Elizabeth Seeger
2. Satchel handbags
3. Emily McCarthy
4. Joy Club Podcast
5. Savannah Georgia
6. Handbag designer
7. Women in business
8. Craftsmanship and design
9. Small business founder
10. Behind the brand

What does it actually take to turn a swatch of fabric into a garment you love to live in?

In this episode of The Joy Club Podcast, Emily McCarthy takes production on the road to New York City, recording from inside the office of one of Emily McCarthy's manufacturing partners with Assistant Apparel Designer Stella. Surrounded by hundreds of swatches, Emily and Stella pull back the curtain on what really goes into building a collection, from the master list of raw materials, to choosing the fabrics that will define an entire season - as they work on fall and holiday 2027.

Stella walks through the emotional side of design: the fabrics she falls in love with that never make it into a collection, the real cost behind luxury materials like silk and cashmere, and the moment she doubted a fabric that went on to become one of the brand's most beloved prints. She and Emily also get into what customers can't see when they're shopping online, why hand feel matters as much as how a fabric looks, and the ongoing debate between beauty and comfort that shapes nearly every decision they make.

This is a behind-the-scenes look at the science, the risk and the heart that goes into every Emily McCarthy piece before it ever reaches you.

Timestamps:

• 0:00 - Welcome & coffee behind the scenes at a New York City manufacturer
• 4:00 - Inside the bill of materials: how one garment gets months of attention
• 14:00 - The heartbreak of falling for a fabric that doesn't make the cut
• 21:00 - The fabric neither of them believed in, until it became a favorite
• 40:00 - Why comfort matters as much as beauty in every garment

Mentioned in this episode:

• Emily McCarthy Luxe Foundations collection
• Emily McCarthy fall & holiday 2027 collections

Join us: Subscribe to The Joy Club Podcast so you don't miss an episode. Like this one? Let us know what you want to hear about next. Leave a review – it helps other women find us.

Links: Emily McCarthy | Designer Fashion & Lifestyle Brand Joy Club Podcast on Instagram

Tags:

1. Emily McCarthy
2. Joy Club Podcast
3. Behind the scenes fashion
4. Fabric sourcing
5. Fashion design process
6. Apparel design
7. New York City fashion
8. Emily McCarthy collection
9. Sustainable fabric choices
10. Fashion brand development

What if the thing that makes you feel like an outsider is actually your greatest strength?

In this episode of The Joy Club Podcast, Emily McCarthy sits down in New York City with Mariah Humbert, etiquette coach, entrepreneur, and twice-published author. Mariah shares how being the eldest daughter in a family of entrepreneurs shaped her drive from a young age, and how she left a secure corporate job in fashion retail buying during the pandemic to build a business of her own from scratch.

They talk about how a Saturday etiquette class in New York City turned into an Instagram account, a speaking career, and ultimately two published books, and why Mariah believes etiquette today is less about rigid rules and more about the small, intentional moments that make people feel seen. Mariah opens up about the risk that came with writing her first book, the imposter syndrome she had to work through, and what she's learned about grace, patience, and building authentic relationships along the way.

Emily and Mariah also get into what's ahead, including Mariah's third book, a modern manners guide written for a generation navigating connection in a digital-first world. The conversation closes with Mariah's advice for staying true to yourself in a world that constantly asks you to fit in.

This is a conversation about authenticity, confidence, and the quiet power of showing up as exactly who you are.

Timestamps:

• 0:00 - Welcome & Arnold Palmers in New York City
• 2:00 - Early signs of the entrepreneur Mariah Humbert would become
• 8:00 - How a single etiquette class turned into a career
• 22:00 - Inside her upcoming book: modern manners for a digital generation
• 37:00 - What joy means to Mariah, and her one piece of wisdom

Mentioned in this episode:

• Mariah Humbert's etiquette coaching and books
• Mariah's upcoming third book on modern manners and etiquette

Join us: Subscribe to The Joy Club Podcast so you don't miss an episode. Like this one? Let us know what stayed with you. Leave a review – it helps other women find us.

Links: Emily McCarthy | Designer Fashion & Lifestyle Brand Joy Club Podcast on Instagram

1. Mariah Humbert
2. etiquette coach
3. Emily McCarthy
4. Joy Club Podcast
5. women entrepreneurs
6. modern etiquette
7. New York City
8. published author
9. confidence and connection
10. authenticity