Grace, what's it been like coming back to Charleston and living with your mom? Has it been challenging or more grounding?
Lilly: The most challenging thing about it is coming back to Charleston, not living with my parents. I love living with my parents. I absolutely adore my mom, I love my family, I love my animals, and I love this house. It's more coming back to Charleston, because I do have that big personality, and my personality isn't likable to some people here, so that's the hardest part for me. There's not enough outlets for modeling and fashion for me, and the style here is "eh." My style is very wow-pow, and a lot of people don't resonate with it, but I have seen a little bit of a change within the style. It's not the Lilly Pulitzer anymore. We're evolving here, thank God.
I hope to move out of my parents' house within the next year, so that is one of my goals. I'm learning to love Charleston more because when I'm here, I have a great routine of self-care and being more grounded. When you're always traveling, catching a flight and in different cities, it can be a little wear and tear on you. It's been nice being home and enjoying the moment and being where I am right now, but I'm excited to travel next year. I'm ready.
It's great that you have social media as well, so you can do some of that modeling and keep your foot in the door.
Lilly: I hope to do more. I'm manifesting it, so fingers crossed.
Mikel, this season, you opened up about how getting the job at Republic was life-changing for you. How are you feeling now that some opportunities are available to you and some opportunities aren't?
Simmons: That was probably the hardest couple months of my entire life financially. I went from making a lot of money, being on yachts, being on boats, going to Miami, traveling to Charlotte and doing all the things, buying designer bags, all of the things, to having to tap into my savings. My savings is completely depleted now, so I have nothing left to comfort on, but it wasn't as hard as you think 'cause I came from a background. I've not struggled per se, but I've had seasons in my life being in high school and middle school where we questioned what we were going to eat some days.
I remember there was one year that I ate Little Caesars Pizza and a $2 Coca-Cola every single day 'cause it's all my mom could afford, so I've learned how to make $20 last me for two weeks. I am very thankful for my upbringing 'cause it taught me how to survive in this world, so I know how to not spend money frivolously and drop thousands of dollars on this and that. It made me go back to being smart, where I went from eating out every night to, "I ate a ham cheese sandwich here, I'm going to get this food here, I'm going to save this food for this time here." It's good to be back making some money. I need and want some more hours, but other than that, it's good to be back making money.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEpaCsrF6YvK57kGpsbW5gZny0u9Stn56qnmK1sL%2FPoquapJmpxrR5xquYnJ1dobatuNhmmKecXaK2rLHLZqqipZ2ku7R5zqdknKenpL%2BssdGsZKOtlJy6prrTZpyxm5yqwKrCxGagp6yVp8OqsdZo