Where are you from and how long have you lived in New York City? I am from Birmingham, Alabama and have lived in New York City for 28 years.
Tell me a little bit about your journey to get here and was New York a place where you hoped to end up? Oh I knew from grade school. I mean, I just knew. I went to Vanderbilt. God knows, I had a scholarship and all that. A full ride because my dad had run out of money. By the time I was heading to Vanderbilt, I had all this pressure from my aunts. Fit in, fit in, act normal, become a Theta. By the time rush came around, I was smoking pink Sobranies with a cigarette holder and sitting in class wearing a bra and fur coat. So I was already not fitting in. I was considered a freak. I always had a total alternative life to the Vanderbilt life. It wasn’t great for me, but looking back I think it was good that I was a big fish in a small pond. I actually went back recently and did at lecture for the Owen School.
When I graduated, I moved to New York right away. I lied and told everyone I was going to Yale Divinity School…but as soon as I got here, I immediately got into fashion. I was going to make it here. I had no money. None. I lived on pizza and worked three jobs. I was even a maid!
The first year you moved here, what little things did you do that contributed to your success? I just took on everything. I started out just doing menswear sales for Liberty Trouser Company and then they decided to do a boys division- they brought in a designer and I wanted to work and learn from him. So I told my bosses I would do both. I did design in the boys section, sales for the boys wear, continued to do key account sales for the menswear…So after a year, I had learned so much and taken on so much responsibility that I made myself indispensable. They could not function without me.
After a year, I was the highest paid boys wear salesperson in the industry. Everybody wanted me. I would work like a dog. Got to work before my bosses. I would literally go to work with my hair in curlers but I was doing all the volume, so no one could say anything to me.
So tell me a little more about your career journey? After those first few jobs I, along with my ex-husband, created Kleinberg Sherrill, a luxury accessories company that became famous for its alligator bags. We sold to Bergdorfs, Saks, Neiman Marcus, Barneys, everywhere. I was completely focused on Kleinberg Sherrill all throughout my 20s. After losing the business is my divorce, I thought I’d lost my soul. I’d lost my store, my brand, my home. I started writing columns for a few magazines and wrote a couple of books, I started doing TV, I was doing design for a store in Birmingham, consulting for 1stdibs…I had to pay the bills.
I learned a ton and gained a lot of confidence through those tough years. The Thompsons, Hall and Patricia Thompson from Birmingham, decided to step in and be a blessing to me, because they believed in my current handbag project, Annabelle by Marcia Sherrill. It’s a younger, happy and upbeat, kind of preppy collection-named after my daughter Annabelle. So I am now focused on that along with Sherrill Ltd., which is a high end accessories line that uses only American alligator and 18Karat gold hardware.
I still have many goals…I want to host my own TV show. A show where I help women. My goal is to guide women who need advice, counseling, who need to be connected, who need to gain the confidence to start over and to execute their ideas, who need to do something for themselves. I also wrote a book about my divorce called Invisible Wounds. It’s being shopped around with a few agents right now and it’s very important to me to get it published.
When you were transitioning from Alabama to New York, what were the biggest things you had to overcome? I had to get over a lot of my Southern-ness. And I don’t think I really did that until I was in my 40s. What I mean by that is, I was taught to be so polite…I was so used to the – help everybody, but ask for nothing – mentality. And that you don’t reveal that you have problems. When I went through my divorce, it was the first time I admitted to having problems. I had to overcome that and learn to say, “I need help.” I was raised to do for everybody else and worry about myself last. And it is important to do for other people, but it’s also important to gain the confidence to look out for yourself.
Last book you read? Julian Barnes, The Sense of an Ending…really great. The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta. I read three books a week and am a member of two book clubs in New York – one that’s so fancy, the authors come and speak! The New York Observer came and did a story on that book club. As far as books I think would be beneficial for anyone to read, Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich and Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. Outliers tells the truth. It’s not an accident that I’m a handbag designer. It’s not like I just came out of the box with the talent. You’ve got to DO IT for 10,000 hours. And for fiction, I’m a To Kill a Mockingbird kind of gal!
One of the biggest differences you see between NYC and the South…something other than one of the more obvious answers? New York is a meritocracy. It’s based on merit. In the south, people become used to running with a very set crowd. People don’t go outside their crowd. If you live in New York and go to a big dinner party- it could be you, a florist, hairdresser, designer, photographer, and the person throwing the party might be a hedge fund person. New York is a place where people want to be around interesting people. New York places value on who is the most interesting person in the room. So if you are a creative, you are a commodity, and you start to meet all of these people who want to connect you and act kind of like cheerleaders on the side. That’s a huge difference, in my opinion. In the South most people stick with the same people that they grew up with. Here, you are constantly surrounded by diverse groups of people.
What about the opposite of that question…What is something about New York City that reminds you of Alabama? I will literally go to my neighborhood grocery store after they are closed, in my nightgown, with my dog…and they will always let me in. One time I was in a cab on the way to a black tie party and realized I had no cash or debit card…the driver pulled over, I ran into my deli, and they lent me $100.00. If you live here long enough, people will take care of you. People come to know and trust you, just as if you were living in a smaller city. I live as if New York is my personal country club. I have tabs everywhere….the grocery store, the dry cleaners, wherever! New York can feel like a really small town. People think it’s cold and indifferent, but it’s exactly the opposite.
What are your favorite neighborhoods in New York? Of course I love Soho and the Village. Of course. But, I’m an Upper East Side girl, I hate to admit it! It’s like you have to make the migration. You start out in the Village, and then you move up a little bit, and then BAM…you have a kid and you live on the Upper East Side.
Style Icons? Oh my gosh. Lagerfield. That’s it for me. Karl Lagerfeld is it. And Tom Ford. Because they do it all. I really admire designers who do their own homes, their own furniture, the ad campaigns, the stores…if it were left up to me, I would design my own car. I always wanted to have a 1996 Lincoln Town Car painted red with red alligator! I admire those who live, eat, breath, and sleep design. My two women are Linda Fargo at Bergdorf Goodman and Candy Pratts Price.
Do you have any possessions that you are attached to? My Frank Fleming sculptures. My handbag collection that my godmother started me on. My oil paintings and alligator chairs. And my dog. Other than that, I’m not really married anything, I mean, I’ve lost households of furniture going through my divorce. You have to just let it go. It’s just stuff and it’s not what makes you valuable.
Favorite restaurants? David Burke’s restaurants of course…David Burke and Donatella. Both fantastic. The Waverly Inn has always been a favorite. The Boom Boom Room is a gorgeous spot for drinks. And Robert at the Museum of Arts and Design, not for the food, but for the views. And I LOVE Shake Shack and JG Melon.
A few of your favorite shops? Obviously Bergdorfs. I love Scoop. I hate to admit it, but I’m a big online shopper. I love Last Call by Neiman Marcus and 1stdibs. The chicest store in the world is 10 Corso Como in Milan.
Do you have any advice for people who want to raise their children here in New York? This is the best city in the world to raise children. The reason it’s so easy to raise your kids in this city is because you don’t have to drive. And most people have live in help. They are unbelievably cheap and unbelievably happy to have the job…they are so great and loving.
New York city is a walking city, a cabbing city. You don’t have to waste quality time together in a car. By the time children are 11 years old, they can take public transportation alone. My daughter must have done 5 after school activities at a time all through her childhood and everything was literally within 10 blocks. And when they turn 16, you don’t have to worry about them driving!!
Everyone indulges children here and really takes care of them. Sometimes it feels like raising your child in a small village. And these kids are so savvy…They have traveled, they are worldly, kids will eat sushi and use chopsticks by the age of three. In lower school, my daughter would take field trips to the MET and the Natural History Museum- it is a totally different life for a kid. And the kids are blessed by going to school with diverse kids and parents- parents in all sorts of different career fields.They end up getting incredible internships and job opportunities as a result. It’s such a rich experience for children.
Do you have any advice for those hoping to move to the city? Connections, connections, connections. Look for every mentor you can find. You meet older people from Alabama or from the south, and they are going to help you. Reach out.
Also, the things that are your hobby, can wind up being your job. So I always tell people to follow your passions. I know that sounds trite, but you have to stream your time and energy into your passions. If you have a 9 to 5 but are working hard on the side doing something you really, really love, that thing on the side can wind up being your job. You just CAN’T GET LAZY. Not only the most talented people are in New York, but the most perseverant. A lot of people move here and then they leave. If you persevere and you make it here, have your children here….you automatically gain a certain level of respect.
Is there anything you miss about the south? Of course family. I have 45 first cousins on one side. I think Birmingham is beautiful physically. And I need that downtime. New York is so supercharged that being in Birmingham is nice because I can truly relax. I could never completely leave Alabama. I keep a place there and my dream is to buy my grandfather’s old house there. You can’t get the Alabama out of the girl!
