Walk It Out w/ Scott Sternberg

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Fashion Designer Scott Sternberg Found Life Balance Through His Dog, Zod

About The Episode

Scott Sternberg is from Dayton, Ohio, where he appreciated the beautiful nature and idyllic scenes. While growing up, his parents had a standard poodle, Nikki, who they had before Scott was even born. Those early years did not end up leading to a connection between them, but when his parents got several Malteses once Scott went to college, he got close to those two. It also started a connection to smaller dogs, in particular, who Scott feels have a certain flair of pride, arrogance, ingenuity, and more that makes them great.

After moving to Los Angeles in early adulthood to pursue the Hollywood film industry, Scott eventually pivoted and started his own fashion brand line called Band of Outsiders, which he ran from 2004-2015, and which became highly successful. It was sold at stores around the world and Scott was constantly traveling to do business for the clothing. In the midst of the hustle and bustle, however, Scott was re-evaluating how the constant grind was affecting his personal life.

Scott had thought about getting a dog, and after doing research knew he wanted a Brussels Griffon. But he was patient, and eventually was rewarded with finding his companion in General Zod (or Zod, for short). When he first took Zod home, he was nervous. Zod was scared, and Scott wasn't sure if he was up for the task. But after sticking with it, they soon grew comfortable with each other and developed a deep bond.

Having to take of Zod forced Scott to think more critically about how he was using his time. Not only for going on walks, where he started to see the nature of his neighborhood in a new way and that helped break up his day, but also that perhaps he didn't actually need to work as hard as he had been forcing himself to prior. Scott always felt like he had something to prove, but Zod helped him realize that actually the work was better when he puled back and lets others collaborate more with him. He credits Zod for helping him develop a new pace of life, a better balance, and frame his days in a new way with positive results. Scott even started to connect with his neighbors, who he hadn't met at all prior to having a dog, and developed a whole new connection with his community overall.

About The Guest - Scott Sternberg

Scott Sternberg is a fashion designer, entrepreneur, and photographer who is best known for creating and running his popular brand Band of Outsiders for over a decade – which was sold around the world at prestigious stores such as Barneys New York, Bergdorf Goodman and Saks Fifth Avenue. He has won many industry awards such as the CFDA Menswear Designer of the Year and Swarovski Award for New Menswear Designer of the Year. Scott has also been featured in press outlets such as the New York Times, GQ, Vogue, W Magazine, Business of Fashion, The New Yorker, and more.

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