The House That CLRK Built

Hugh Howser and I met in London years ago when we both walked into the wrong conference room. I ended up sitting through an entire session on dental lighting. We’ve been inseparable ever since.

This week, my dear friend from Nashville, event planner and stand-up comedian Hugh Howser, joins me fresh off his Dallas show. We talk about how we design parties together from two different cities, why every project we do starts with color, and how we somehow end up loving the very colors we swore we’d never use.

Hugh shares how he went from performing Bette Midler at his parents’ Christmas parties to puppetry camp to secret open mics, how Leanne Morgan encouraged him to get on stage, and the advice Nate Bargatze gave him the first night they met.

You can catch Hugh’s Bangs and Blazers tour at hughhowser.com.

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In this solo episode, I'm sharing the quote that changed how I handle criticism: Theodore Roosevelt's "The Man in the Arena," which I found through Brené Brown's Daring Greatly. From viral TikTok comment sections to the perfection mindset of our industry, I'm talking about what it means to keep creating when the noise gets loud, and why the people in the stands were never the point.

I'll share the "going out to go in" creative practice I learned from my artist cousin, why I ask clients for "permission to say the weird thing," and how I've learned to separate my worth from critique of my work. I'm also getting candid about credit: why I refuse to pretend I do it all, how celebrating my team openly builds trust with clients, and the parting words I give every employee who's ever moved on.

This is a Media Socialites Production.

This one's different. My daughter Lincoln, now 17 and about to be a senior, sits down with me for the conversation I've both wanted and dreaded having. We go back to the early years of building this business, when she was three months old and I was working from home, through the grinding travel years, the pandemic, and the slow, sometimes painful work of rebuilding trust and presence as a family.

Lincoln doesn't hold back. We talk about "Muffins with Moms," the hyper independence she built to survive an unpredictable schedule, the weight kids carry when they're too young to understand what "work" actually means, and the moment a team finally told me: "You don't need to miss that anymore." It's honest, it's emotional, and it's a conversation I think a lot of working parents, and their kids, need to hear.

This is a Media Socialites Production.

This episode is one of the most honest I’ve recorded. We talk about ambition, identity, work-life balance, and what I’ve had to unlearn after years of building a business.

If you’ve ever felt like you had to edit yourself to succeed, I hope this conversation reminds you that your story isn’t your weakness—it’s your strength.

This is a Media Socialites Production.

Planner or designer? I've been both and in this episode, we get honest about the moment I finally gave myself permission to claim the title I'd been quietly living all along. On this episode we cover:

-The one phrase that changed everything

- Why I refuse to copy anyone (including myself)

- How building a team better than me set me free

- Why there's no one right path, only your own windy road

Thanks for being here and enjoy!

This is a Media Socialites Production.

Welcome to our first episode of The House That CLRK Built. Today we chat about:

- Why this podcast now?

- What should you expect?

- A bit about my own journey

And so much more. Thanks for being here and tune in every other week for insight into my own inner monologue, candid conversations with other entrepreneurs all while I navigate my own windy path.

This is a Media Socialites Production.