Elyce Arons: Building Kate Spade, Losing a Best Friend & Starting Over
About this episode
In this episode of Post Run High, I sit down with Elyce Arons, co-founder of Kate Spade and CEO of Frances Valentine, to talk about friendship, entrepreneurship, creativity, and resilience.
Elyce shares the untold story of building Kate Spade from the ground up with her best friend, Kate Spade—from sketching handbags out of construction paper and maxing out credit cards to landing Barneys, Saks, and becoming a cultural phenomenon. We also discuss her upbringing on a Kansas farm, the lessons she learned from her entrepreneurial mother, and how she and her team built Frances Valentine after selling Kate Spade.
Most importantly, Elyce opens up about her decades-long friendship with Kate, the misconceptions people had about her, and how she continues to honor her legacy today.
Topics include:
- Building Kate Spade from scratch
- Finding product-market fit before social media
- The power of friendship in business
- Entrepreneurship and taking risks
- Growing an iconic fashion brand
- Creativity, style, and confidence
- Frances Valentine and life after Kate Spade
- Grief, legacy, and honoring loved ones
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