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Pull up a seat at our table, where badass women from all walks of life—fashion, beauty, design, music, philanthropy, art, and more—come together to share honest stories, serve truths, and dig into the realities of modern womanhood.
Johanna Almstea...: Hi, everyone. I am doing some menu planning for my next guest, and it's finally starting to feel a little springy here. The snow is... There's some pieces that are still hanging on, but it's mostly melted away, which is getting me craving all of my favorite spring, summery dishes. I'm also really hungry right now. I am craving my favorite go-to, which is Italian. My next guest, I know she lived in Italy for a while in her life, so I'm going to go Italian. I'm just going to do it.
I am going to do, to start, some very, very thinly sliced, perfectly sliced, prosciutto and melon. Actually, weirdly, I got a great cantaloupe at this grocery store. It's not necessarily melon season here, but I'm going to hope that I can find another one of those. And I'm going to do an arugula and fennel salad. So, the prosciutto and the melon to get a little of the salty and sweet, and then the nice arugula and fennel, a little bit of bitter with salt, pepper, lemon, juice, and olive oil, super, duper simple.
And then, for dinner, I actually made a version of this the other night, and it was so, so good, and I can't stop craving it. It's my version of a pasta puttanesca, but I like to make it with fresh tomato instead of the canned tomatoes. So, I have fresh cherry tomatoes that you sort of let them burst in the olive oil and garlic. And then you put in... I sliced up Kalamata olives, I like Kalamatas, and then capers and a little bit of anchovies. You kind of melt the anchovies into the sauce, so it just gives it this really nice deep umami flavor. Little bit of chili flake, and then top it with fresh basil. It is so easy, so simple, so delicious. That with big crusty bread, some nice sea salty butter, and call it a day.
My next guest is an expert in wine, so I'm actually going to ask her to bring some wine. I want to see what she's going to bring because anything I probably recommend is so boring compared to what she will recommend. I'm going to leave that one up to her. For music, I'm kind of all over the place. I'm feeling a little bit of '90s throwback as is everyone right now. But, dude, I heard Everything but the Girl the other night, and I was like, "Oh, my god, it's so good." I'm going to do some Everything but the Girl. I'm going to do a little Stevie Wonder. I'm going to do a little Millie Jackson, a little Roy Ayers. I just want it to be like vibe-y and groovy and great.
My next guest is beautiful. She is smart, she is busy, and she is energetic, and she is doing so, so many cool things. I know you guys are going to be inspired and ignited by her story and her point of view, and I can't wait for you to get to know her. So, let's dig in.
Hello, everyone, and welcome to Eat My Words. I am really thrilled to have today's conversation because we're going to talk about some of my absolute favorite things in the whole wide world, wine, womanhood, art, creativity, and business. My guest today is a strategist, artist/designer, and cultural purveyor whose work reimagines how retail, agriculture, and the ritual of shared experience at the table shape the spaces where people gather. She is the co-founder of Folkways, a design-forward wine and objects concept with locations in New York and Connecticut and a nationwide e-commerce platform that reframes the wine store as a place to celebrate farming, craft, and community.
For nearly two decades, she has operated at the intersection of creative direction, design, and brand strategy. As founder and creative director of Ouruse, she has led projects for global brands like Nike, Calvin Klein, Remy Martin, Tory Burch, and Swarovski, and currently collaborates with food, art, and cultural clients such as Hiyu Wine Farm. She is also the founder and executive director of the North Salem Farmers Market and Field Future Foundation, initiatives exploring how foodways and gatherings shape everyday life. Her work has been featured in the New York Times, Architectural Digest, Elle Decor, Surface magazine, Milk Magazine, Dossier, Departures, NBC New York, and VinePair. She is also a wife, a mother, and an active voice in her community.
Natalie Gehrels, welcome to eat my words.
Natalie Gehrels: Well, thank you. Really happy to be here today, and it's so sunny and beautiful out after such a long winter, so it's really-
Johanna Almstea...: Yes, for coming out of our hibernation.
Natalie Gehrels: Our polar vortex.
Johanna Almstea...: Yes. I just was pulling out of my driveway this morning. There's one little clump of just dirty, gross snow, and I was like, "We're getting there. We're getting there," but that was like a six-foot mountain a couple weeks ago.
Natalie Gehrels: It's been a tough one, for sure.
Johanna Almstea...: Yeah. Well, thank you for sharing your precious time with us today. I know you have lots going on and a very, very full life, and so I am always very grateful that anyone takes time to sit and talk with me. So, thank you so much for coming.
Natalie Gehrels: I'm excited to be here.
Johanna Almstea...: I like to tell people how we know each other, and I first met you actually at a Women in Wine and Cheese event at Folkways that you were hosting. My friend sort of dragged me along. I didn't even know what I was going to. I got there, and I was like, "Oh, these are all of my favorite things, brilliant women, beautiful cheese, beautiful wine, in a beautiful space with perfectly curated objects." I was like, "Okay, this is good. This is somebody that I can hang with." Our kids go to the same school, as we sort of pass each other in the pickup line sometimes, but it made me really happy to feel like there was another sort of like-minded woman in the community, and it felt really, really nice to be there. So, I'm super inspired by so many of the things that you're doing.
I want to talk to you today about your work, but I also want to learn sort of how you got to be where you are today. I always start with the question, "Where did your journey begin?" because I think it's always fascinating to see what people say because some people go back to birth, some people go back to a big job decision they made, some people go back to marriage, whatever it is. Natalie, where did your journey begin?
Natalie Gehrels: Oh, my goodness. I'm like, "Where does it begin really?" I love that people start from birth.
Johanna Almstea...: Some people do.
Natalie Gehrels: Because I just feel like that's such an exploration of understanding the self as well. If you do that kind of work, if you really want to get down and know yourself, some people do explore what that was all about through re-birthing experiences and all of that. Anyways, I guess I'll start from how it kind of relates to where I am now. So, I grew up in Northern California in a town called Half Moon Bay, really so beautiful. It's an ocean town, and I grew up with a family of surfers, so deeply connected to nature and the ocean. Actually, I was a child model, so I grew up in the industry from a really young age. I started modeling when I was like three or four and-
Johanna Almstea...: Oh, wow.
Natalie Gehrels: Yeah, so I really grew up on set, and it wasn't just like a subtle kind of child modeling thing. It was like I was doing big campaigns with big photographers, and what it did was it kind of let me understand the world of production, and I think that really informed a lot of things for me, but I think really the shift was is I didn't really want to be a model and I really didn't want to have my looks be the first thing that people took in. It really became this, I guess, exploring how I could shift that dynamic, and I became a photographer at a really young age. I say that, but I had the conviction to be a photographer when I was 15 years old. So, I started-
Johanna Almstea...: Wow.
Natalie Gehrels: Yeah. I had kind of a non-traditional path. I left high school. I was a real wild child and-
Johanna Almstea...: Really?
Natalie Gehrels: Really, yeah. If my children ever did this to me, I would kill them. I put my parents through hell, but I was very lucky to be very young and experiencing really great culture at a really young age. I was 14, 15 in the East Bay in Oakland and Berkeley experiencing '90s rave culture. That certainly became something that really influenced my ideas around gathering and what it meant to have music and art and all of these elements come together and create real synergy of time and place and this idea that we could create this community, that we could just say... We didn't have cell phones back then, so we're just talking me taking off from Half Moon Bay and going to Berkeley without a phone and, not driving, not having any idea how I'm going to get back.
Johanna Almstea...: And just showing up-
Natalie Gehrels: And just showing up and-
Johanna Almstea...: ... and expecting here to be something cool.
Natalie Gehrels: ... trusting that there was going to be some party there, and what it ended up being was a gathering of people up for a sunset party where you're outside in the most epic location, listening to the best music you can imagine, and all these people are just there for the love of it. So, anyways, that definitely was a big influence. I left high school and I started college in my junior year of high school. I kind of like... That's another thing that I-
Johanna Almstea...: Compacted it all.
Natalie Gehrels: I'm a master of figuring out how to make shit happen. Are we allowed to swear on the podcast?
Johanna Almstea...: Yes, you're allowed to swear. You're allowed to.
Natalie Gehrels: I basically determined, if I left high school and started going to college, that I could get credit in both. My counselor in high school actually told me, straight up, like, "You should just drop out of school," and I was just like, "Dude, I'm an AP student, and just because I'm craving culture and this place is tiny..." and I'm like, "I need to get out." I basically was like, "I'm not going to drop out of high school. I'm just going to do it my way."
Johanna Almstea...: How did you get into college without having graduated high school?
Natalie Gehrels: Yeah, so I just started going to community college, and what I did was I started taking photography classes in the dark room, and that became my sanctuary. The dark room was everything for me, and it was really a way to take back that power of feeling like, as a kid, being in front of the camera and feeling really subjected to this kind of ideal of what I needed to be to really being a photographer with control in every step of the way, like micro decisions in the dark room. And then I took calculus and everything like that to satisfy the requirements so that I could graduate high school, and so that's just what I did.
Johanna Almstea...: So, they basically were giving your high school the credits that you were taking in college classes?
Natalie Gehrels: Yeah.
Johanna Almstea...: Your high school was letting you use those to get your high school degree.
Natalie Gehrels: Right.
Johanna Almstea...: That's amazing.
Natalie Gehrels: Yeah, and it was like-
Johanna Almstea...: You basically figured that out yourself?
Natalie Gehrels: I did, yeah. My parents, I love them so much, but they weren't the best at guiding me through my education and such. I was on my own from a really young age, let's just say.
Johanna Almstea...: Got it.
Natalie Gehrels: Yeah. I started working as well at a very young age, so I have a good work ethic.
Johanna Almstea...: Yeah. Can we just go back to the modeling thing for a second-
Natalie Gehrels: Yeah.
Johanna Almstea...: ... because you said you didn't really want to be doing it. Was it something that your parents had like found for you, or how did you even get into it? Because it's such a sticky thing with young kids, especially young women. I'm just curious how you fell into it and how you got out of it.
Natalie Gehrels: Yeah. Wow, this is going really deep right from the get go. Yeah, so I don't really know what the decision making was behind my parents deciding that for me. I don't know. I think when it comes to my boys, people have asked them to model in the past, and I just have been very adamantly like, "No," because of my experience. But how it ended, I can tell you, was that I was incredibly frustrated that I couldn't take the bus to school with my friends-
Johanna Almstea...: Because you were working? You were busy working on set.
Natalie Gehrels: ... because I was working. I was missing so much school, and it was so disruptive, and I would just be sad that I wasn't participating in things normally or getting pulled out of class or whatever. Fuck, this is great. My dad in downtown San Francisco, Union Square, they had this really like avant-garde hairdresser that they would go to. My dad dropped me off downstairs in front, like he would normally do, and he'd be like, "Just run up and go get your haircut," and so I ran up there and I told the lady, "I want to cut my hair short, like boy short." She was like, "Are your parents okay with this?" I was like, "Yeah, I talked about it with my dad. Everything is good. We're doing this," and she straight up cut my hair, crazy boy short. We're talking short as could be. And then I came downstairs, and my dad was just like, "What did you do?"
Johanna Almstea...: And you did this to sabotage your modeling, so you wouldn't have to do it?
Natalie Gehrels: 100%. Yes, 100%. When I got home, my mom was just totally wrecked like, "What have you done? Do you realize that you have jobs?" Because I had like blonde, curly hair.
Johanna Almstea...: Really?
Natalie Gehrels: Well, like blondish, brownish. I thought it was curly. I don't know. I lived in curlers.
Johanna Almstea...: Okay.
Natalie Gehrels: Yeah, so that's how it ended.
Johanna Almstea...: So, you cut up all your hair.
Natalie Gehrels: Yeah, and then I really shifted into this extreme tomboy kind of persona for the rest of my elementary school years.
Johanna Almstea...: Wow.
Natalie Gehrels: Yeah. I have a lot of interesting stories from that time, but-
Johanna Almstea...: I imagine that that was a very complicated childhood.
Natalie Gehrels: It was complicated. Yeah, it was really complicated. I'm really grateful for the childhood that I had because I think it created a platform for me to really want to get to know myself and explore life and much more than where I'm from. You know?
Johanna Almstea...: Yeah.
Natalie Gehrels: So yeah, I'm happy with how things have gone.
Johanna Almstea...: Okay. So, you're going to raves, you're going to the community college and getting credits to help you graduate from high school, what happens next?
Natalie Gehrels: I was dead set on getting out of the United States from probably age seven or eight. I don't know what it was. I had this whole idea that I was going to move to Germany and go to school in Germany. I had had all these different ideas of how I wanted life to go. All of them were very much so based in Europe.
Johanna Almstea...: Had you been to Germany at this point or you just-
Natalie Gehrels: No.
Johanna Almstea...: ... decided you were... No, you just decided you wanted to go there.
Natalie Gehrels: So yeah, the first time I went to Europe, I think I was 17. I went to New York for the first time by myself at 16. I flew by myself to New York at 16, which was super fun. That's when I decided I had to live in New York. Yeah, I went to Europe for the first time with my parents when I was 17. And then they left in Venice. They left on their trip, and then I was like, "I'm going on mine," and so I just backpacked around Europe for weeks on end. It must have been like three weeks that I was traveling, and it brought me to Barcelona, and I ended up... We're getting really down into it. I'm like, "You were hoping for this interview?"
Yeah, I fell in love with a Catalan man there. And then when I returned back to California, I was like, "Okay, I can do this. I can arrange my life to move back to Europe like I wanted to." So yeah, we had long distance relationship or whatever it was at that time. And I was trying to get back to Barcelona, but then I couldn't figure out how to get a visa, but I could get a visa to study in the UK. Because David Bowie is from England, I was like, "I got to go," and that was rationale.
Johanna Almstea...: I like it. I like these very, very solid, solid factual research-based decision making things. Got it. Okay, so you get a visa and you go study in the UK, so you're at least closer to your lover.
Natalie Gehrels: Lover is the right word.
Johanna Almstea...: I just felt like he had to be a lover, not a boyfriend. He's a lover.
Natalie Gehrels: No, everyone says boyfriend, and I was like, "He was definitely not my boyfriend." I wanted him to be, but he was not. He was a punk rocker who was touring and wanted nothing to do with the relationship.
Johanna Almstea...: He was like, "Oh, great. I'm so glad you're closer by."
Natalie Gehrels: Yeah.
Johanna Almstea...: That's exactly what I was hoping for, some commitment.
Natalie Gehrels: Not.
Johanna Almstea...: Okay. So, you're in the UK, and you're studying in the UK?
Natalie Gehrels: Yeah. And then, there, it got complicated. Oh, boy. What was interesting about that was I studied product design there, and it was a really aggressive program. By far, out of all of the studying that I've done, I felt like studying in the UK was so incredible. I felt like the professors were so engaging and really pushed hard, and it was 90% male school, the amount of women in the classes were very few, and I learned a lot from that time. It really, really influenced how I approach product design and the things that we make for Folkways in terms of process and material and all of that. I really accredit that studying time there in the UK to that.
I met my ex-husband the first day that I landed at the dormitory there. You really never know what direction your life is going to take you. Here I am thinking that I'm just going to study in London and whatever. And then I meet someone that eventually becomes my husband, who's Colombian and Italian. So, anyways, long story short is it really just totally changed my life because I ended up from there moving to Milan.
Johanna Almstea...: Okay. Som you married him and then moved to Milan?
Natalie Gehrels: Eventually, no. I went there, and I was studying in Milan, and then I went on to work. I got an internship with this powerhouse creative director who was just so tough and just completely trained me in the most dedicated way, but it was tough, you know?
Johanna Almstea...: Yeah.
Natalie Gehrels: I ended up living in Milan for almost 10 years.
Johanna Almstea...: Oh, wow.
Natalie Gehrels: Yeah. So, that made a big imprint, spending my 20s-
Johanna Almstea...: Did you speak Italian when you went there?
Natalie Gehrels: I did not, and it became... As a young woman managing the types of jobs that I was managing and working with primarily Italian men, I really had to figure out how to position myself in a way that I wasn't, I don't know, going to be taken advantage of, right?
Johanna Almstea...: Mm-hmm.
Natalie Gehrels: So, I was just like... There was just this pivotal moment where I was in the bakery and I was buying bread and it was so frustrating and difficult, and I was just like, "You know what? F this. I'm learning Italian, that's it. I'm done." I didn't study very much, but I learned Italian, and it was because of work. I still speak Italian and I use it every week, and it's been a beautiful, beautiful addition to my life. For that, I'm really grateful. I love Italy, yeah.
Johanna Almstea...: Yeah, Italy, Milan, 10 years. Why did you leave Milan? Where did you go next?
Natalie Gehrels: Okay. I was working... When I was in Milan, a lot of the work I was doing was very fashion-related, but I did have this wonderful project of working with the Remy Martin family through my mentor, creative director. I was in the chateau and working in the archive, and it was really beautiful experience of getting to know the property and all the history behind the brand, and that definitely influenced my desire for understanding heritage and narrative storytelling for brands, and it was also my entry really into like the whole world of spirits.
Through that, I hired a photographer to help photograph the archive, and we became really good friends, really, really great friends, and he was like, "When you're in New York next, I need you to meet the creative director of Calvin, and I think you guys are really going to get along, and I think it would be great." Basically, this relationship started with Calvin Klein, and it was kind of this like, "We want you to join the company. How can we make it happen?" Like I said earlier, I always wanted to live in New York, so I felt like this is my opportunity. Yeah, so I came to New York, and it was funny how it ended up working out because they couldn't quite figure out how to put me in a position inside the company because, admittedly, I'm quite difficult. I have a hard time adhering to a schedule and having to be in places in certain times. It's a corporate way-
Johanna Almstea...: That life doesn't suit you.
Natalie Gehrels: Not at all. I would love to tell you that I'm that person, but I've just never been able to figure it out, and I've had a number of iterations of that experience. I love working with brands, and I love figuring out how to make beautiful things together. Anyways, Calvin, the HR department was really good at understanding that early on. It basically ended up happening that they started giving me these insane, huge projects to take on, and I was just like, "I'm a single person here," and I basically built my agency by way of these projects because I was like, "I need to figure out how to get these projects accomplished," and they were way, at that time, outside of my specialty even because I was coming from a very, very detail-oriented print world coming from Italy and all of the craft and print you can do there.
Digital was really not a thing that we were talking about. We were more like, "Okay, branding, events, beautiful print," and they were like, "Okay, no, we want you to launch MyCalvins," and I was just like, "Okay, we're going to build this." From there, it became really about systems thinking, obviously design, and the user experience, and just kind of creating these digital platforms that were non-existent at the time. You know?
Johanna Almstea...: Right.
Natalie Gehrels: Yeah, I started the agency, and I always had my office in SoHo, I was on Broadway and Spring, and then I was on Green & Prince, and had some really beautiful places and great team and... Yeah, it was really fun.
Johanna Almstea...: Okay. So, you did that kind of work for how long?
Natalie Gehrels: What happened was life happened. Life happened. Yeah, no, I had the agency, and I started doing these consultancies within other companies as well, just as a creative director. I started looking at how people were working, and I was looking at my team... I would step into these situations and they're like, "Okay, here's your team," and it's all these young people that are staying at the computer, just in front of the computer from morning until late at night, not experiencing the vibrancy of New York City and out feeding themselves culture. I just looked at the teams and I was like, "You, guys, I don't want you sitting at the computer all day. Please, go out and get inspiration. I don't want you staying here past 6:00. Go and tell me what's happening in the city that inspires you." That sentiment really was starting to become louder and louder for me.
When I found out that I was pregnant with River, at that time I was also a single mom. I was having River on my own and-
Johanna Almstea...: Okay, wait, so we had gotten rid of Italian and Colombian husband number 1.
Natalie Gehrels: Yes.
Johanna Almstea...: No longer, okay.
Natalie Gehrels: Yes.
Johanna Almstea...: And then you were having your first child on your own?
Natalie Gehrels: I was having my first child with my ex-husband, and I decided to do it on my own. Yeah.
Johanna Almstea...: Got it. Okay.
Natalie Gehrels: Yeah. I was just looking at what was in front of me. My staff was from like all over the world, from Turkey, Japan, West Coast, and I just said to them, "You, guys..." I had this amazing apartment at the time that was a three bedroom, and I was like, "There's no reason for us to be beating around the bush here. You guys are all from somewhere else. I have to focus on having this baby now. I'm going to keep the agency going, but I need to change the way that it's going to work. I don't really believe that the agency is a physical space on Green & Prince. I believe that the agency is the people in which we collaborate with, and you guys all have a job, but you're free to work from anywhere you want," this was 2014, "Let's go," and so we just changed the whole model of the agency. I did have an office set up at my apartment in Brooklyn at the time, but nobody was required to be there or anything. People that wanted to come would come.
That became a big point of discussion with the other agencies in New York at the time. I did a panel at Frog Design actually where I was talking about this point that I didn't believe that an agency was only a matter of a physical place, but rather the inspiration that you gather through all of the collective minds, and people were really pissed off about that because they're paying $25,000 a month in rent and their whole thing is having this physical space. But to be honest, it wasn't that-
Johanna Almstea...: Back in that day, I feel like the physical space was the way. It was sort of the calling card for those agencies to set the tone for the vibe and what they represented and the kind of accounts they wanted and the kind of work they were going to produce was all... The physical space was their way of showing that, all that work in place.
Natalie Gehrels: It was a legitimizer.
Johanna Almstea...: Yes. It made you like real deal if you were fancy and had a big cool loft.
Natalie Gehrels: Right. I kind of like was just like, "This is not it. It can't be." We continued to work with Calvin, nothing changed, and other clients as well, but I think what it did was it set us up amazingly for COVID.
Johanna Almstea...: I was just going to say, you are really far ahead of the game there.
Natalie Gehrels: So, when that happened, we had been doing it for five years.
Johanna Almstea...: Wow.
Natalie Gehrels: Yeah.
Johanna Almstea...: Yeah.
Natalie Gehrels: So, it worked out.
Johanna Almstea...: Okay. So, you have this baby.
Natalie Gehrels: Yes.
Johanna Almstea...: You are doing it on your own.
Natalie Gehrels: Yeah.
Johanna Almstea...: You are doing it from your apartment in Brooklyn with people popping in or not popping into work for the agency. And then what happens next?
Natalie Gehrels: Lots of traveling still, even though I have this baby. I'm flying to Paris with my nanny and running shoots and I got really-
Johanna Almstea...: That's hard.
Natalie Gehrels: Yeah. In retrospect, I'm like, "Wow, I really figure out how to make it work," but I would say being a single mom was probably one of the most impactful experiences of my life.
Johanna Almstea...: I would imagine.
Natalie Gehrels: I met some incredible women that were also single moms and later became business partners and such, but I also connected with people from all over and all just different types of backgrounds around the shared experience of being a single mom. I think if you've been a single mom, you'll know what that feeling is like of being the sole provider for a child and just making it when you have a career and everything else, just trying to figure it all out and make it work.
Johanna Almstea...: You just got to do what you got to do.
Natalie Gehrels: Yeah, so I was doing that. Yeah, so I ended up working with a nonprofit in Copenhagen. I'm skipping a lot of time, but I ended up meeting... I was working, doing some nonprofit work there, and I got on the plane to come back home to New York, and I... I don't know. I was totally in my own world and whatever, and so I sat down thinking I'm going to be all comfortable and watch Leonardo DiCaprio movies. That was my idea. I was laser focused on this, and I didn't realize that I had sat next to a man who I had saw walking around the airport who I thought, "Wow, he was incredibly handsome." I'm sitting there in my own world, just browsing movies and then-
Johanna Almstea...: Searching for Leonardo DiCaprio.
Natalie Gehrels: Basically, yes. Anyways, the stewardess was like, "Oh, there's only one salmon left, otherwise we have pasta," and I was like, "I do not eat pasta on an airplane." I'm sorry.
Johanna Almstea...: A good rule for life. I would say that's just a good rule for like.
Natalie Gehrels: I couldn't do it. I just can't eat overcooked pasta. It's just like, "No." So, I turn, and it's this beautiful guy and he's like, "Please, absolutely, have the salmon," and I was like, "Thank you so much. That's so kind." So, we start talking and whatever. And then the stewardess, we're in business, so they're just pouring us wine. I'm not paying attention to what's going on at all, and we're talking, talking, talking, and then at a certain point he's like, "What would you do if I kiss you right now?"
Johanna Almstea...: On the plane still?
Natalie Gehrels: Yes, we're on the plane, and I was like, "I don't know." So, he kisses me, but it's a very proper gentleman-like kiss, and I'm like, "Okay." So, when we land, I'm like, "Oh, shit. I'm... This is not good. I've done something very serious here that's going to change my life." Anyways, so yeah, that is now my husband Jonas.
Johanna Almstea...: Oh, my god. That might be my favorite meeting story I've ever heard.
Natalie Gehrels: Really?
Johanna Almstea...: That's a good one. Yes, it's so romantic.
Natalie Gehrels: He's a real gentleman. What can I say? That could have gone all raunchy and could have gone a lot of different ways.
Johanna Almstea...: Could have gone to a whole other kind of story.
Natalie Gehrels: Yeah, right, but the stewardess were all like "Ah," freaking out. It was the start of a really beautiful relationship, and now we're partners in life and in business and all these other crazy things we want to do, and here we are.
Johanna Almstea...: Okay. How old was your son when you met Jonas?
Natalie Gehrels: My son was three.
Johanna Almstea...: Wow.
Natalie Gehrels: Yeah.
Johanna Almstea...: Okay.
Natalie Gehrels: Yeah. So, River was three, and Jonas is younger than me, and I was a bit nervous about how that level of responsibility would go.
Johanna Almstea...: Yeah. How did it go?
Natalie Gehrels: Well, he wanted to be a dad. He's basically like a grandpa. He wanted to be a dad since he was 12 or something, so he was just so thrilled to step into that role. Obviously, there's a big lifestyle change when you enter a relationship with a single mom with a three year old, but he just was there. He was just there.
Johanna Almstea...: Amazing.
Natalie Gehrels: Yeah.
Johanna Almstea...: And then how did you guys decide... I guess, how long were you together until you decided to... Did you get married, or you're just partners?
Natalie Gehrels: We're married, yeah.
Johanna Almstea...: You're married. How long did you stay together before you got married?
Natalie Gehrels: Well, it all kind of started shifting when... So yeah, I had some experiences that made it pretty important for me to get out of the city. It just became like more and more of a focus of finding a way to have a place to be in nature, and so we embarked on trying to find a house. Originally, I thought we were going to end up upstate for a weekend house or something. And then we discovered this area, we're in Northern Westchester, and it just kind of seemed too good to be true because we actually live in what was one of the only communes in New York state.
Johanna Almstea...: Really?
Natalie Gehrels: Yeah. We live in an area which was commune in the '30s, and it's all dirt roads, and it's very community-driven. It was this weird place where you're in this rural setting, and we have a lake, that's geared around the lake where there's people walking around and talking to each other. I was just like, "Where am I right now that there's this place that is rural, that has community, and you're not isolated, but I can get into Manhattan in an hour?"
Johanna Almstea...: Right.
Natalie Gehrels: I was just like-
Johanna Almstea...: It's magical.
Natalie Gehrels: Yeah. I was like, "Wow, okay, we're doing this," and there wasn't even a house for sale. I just decided, I was like, "That's it. We're only going to live here." My real estate-
Johanna Almstea...: And he is down for it.
Natalie Gehrels: ... who's my dear friend now, is like, "There's nothing for sale," and I was like, "I don't care. I'll wait." We waited, and then we ended up anyways finding a house, and we got married during all that time when we started making it more like we're building this life together. And then we ended up buying the house just before COVID hit. So then, long story short, when COVID happened, we were kind of like, "Let's just come up to the house." It was meant to be a weekend kind of situation, but then we were like, "Let's just move full time up to the house," and so we ended up leaving Fort Greene, still always home for me. Love Fort Greene so much. I was there for a long time, but... We left Fort Greene, and we moved here.
And then Jonas's restaurant group ended up closing during COVID, and it was just kind of this question of like, "Oh, shit. What are we going to do?" I had a shoot in Milan actually the day that they announced the COVID outbreak had taken over there, and was like, "It's fine. You'll be fine. You should just go," and I was like, "I am not getting stuck in Milan. We are canceling this shoot. I'm sorry." Yeah, it became this real question of like, "What are we going to do, and can we create a situation where we're involved on a local level and kind of creating economy, community, place, all of these things here without having to be away from our child or children now?"
Johanna Almstea...: Yeah. It's so interesting that you say that, that that was sort of your intention right away. I actually feel like I kind of felt that when I first went into Folkways. When I moved up here, I was super reluctant, and I was kind of hanging on to New York City with bloody fingernails, and I was just like... But I knew it wasn't the right thing anymore and I knew my kids needed a different life and I knew my husband needed a different life and I guess I needed a different life and I was... but I was still-
Natalie Gehrels: Yeah, I know.
Johanna Almstea...: ... so attached, and I still got my hair done in the city and gone and went to every doctor in the city and I really didn't even... I mean I did try. I tried to get involved in the community, but more through my kids. They were preschool. I tried to do preschool play dates and stuff. I remember feeling like, "Whoa, these guys came in, and they came in with a bang, and they came in with a point of view, and they came in committed to this in a way that I never committed to with this community." It was tangible with you, guys.
Natalie Gehrels: Wow, that's really cool that you felt that, but I totally relate because, even though we were doing that inside, I was feeling like everything that I loved about my community in Fort Greene, like, "How do I create something that has aspects of that here?" I think I always kind of felt like an outsider here.
Johanna Almstea...: Totally. Yes, I always say I was like an alien.
Natalie Gehrels: Yeah. I don't know. I'm not from here, right? So, it was kind of just like, "How do I find my people?"
Johanna Almstea...: Right. That's a really smart way to do it.
Natalie Gehrels: Clearly, I found my people.
Johanna Almstea...: You found your people. You sure did. Okay, wow. You guys start to create this community. You in the meantime have another child. So then, you're building a business, you're building a family, you're raising kids. You're still doing the agency work at that point or no, you kind of were like-
Natalie Gehrels: Yeah, I am. I even still am. I have these legacy clients that I just adore that I just can't fathom not working with them because they do just such great work. So yeah, it's definitely... Over time, I've taken a step back, but there are people that I just feel like are collaborators creatively in life, and so the agency still happens, and it's morphed a lot. I'm doing a lot more photography work now, way more than I was when I just had a big team that I had to manage. You know?
Johanna Almstea...: Yeah.
Natalie Gehrels: So, I feel like I'm closer now to the output. It's less people in between in a way. Even though I still have a team, I'm finding myself back to my roots of photography in a way that's just... It's really interesting how things are full circle like that.
Johanna Almstea...: Yeah. And then, for people who don't know, Folkways is a really beautiful... It's in an old train station, it's in this really lovely historical building, and it's a wine store, but it also sells beautiful books and beautiful objects and you have events and all kinds of things. How did you land on that being the concept?
Natalie Gehrels: I feel like the universe is always conspiring to help you arrive to where you're meant to go, even if you don't fully understand it yourself yet. And if I look back, there were indicators on how to shape this that came into play way more before I could have even... If you had asked me like, "Did you ever think you would own a wine store in Westchester?" I'm like, "What?" "Well, first of all, would you ever see yourself living in Westchester?" It's just all of these things I could have never predicted, right? How it ended up happening was I started working with this fantastic winemaker in Oregon, Nate Ready and his partner China, and it's on Hiyu Wine Farm. Hiyu is just a remarkable place, but also their ethos and how they create what they create is just like no other. They're working biodynamically on this beautiful property and creating the most distinct wines, working with all different varietals from all over the world, and creating these beautiful blends and covets and all kinds of wines that are just really, I would say, some of the most beautiful expressions of American wine making.
To be able to have the opportunity to be building their brand with them, it really put me in the world of understanding the beauty and artistry and philosophy behind wine. I think that was really fundamental in shaping Folkways in terms of really wanting to focus on wine as starting from farming practices and how you're approaching what you're farming, what are your values and what are you putting into this into then having something at the table that, rather than being a commodity, is something that is indicative of time and place, that is creating and shaping the context in which you're experiencing and gathering.
And then it was all of these big brands and big labels, kudos to them, but we want to feature all these pioneer winemakers that are doing things the hard way and celebrate them and give them a platform. So, we brought on Amanda Smeltz to help us to shape the curation and establish the relationships that we have with probably 50 different partners at this point in time.
Johanna Almstea...: Is she a sommelier or she-
Natalie Gehrels: She is, yeah.
Johanna Almstea...: Yeah.
Natalie Gehrels: Yeah, she's a somm that came from Estela, that restaurant group, and she's a poet and she's a gem of a person. With her, she really did have a big impact on kind of helping us really put something together that was pairing the ethos, right? Design is just design... You got to have it be designed well. So, I feel like all of the objects and books and all of those elements that drive other conversations, it felt like a natural thing to me that you would just have that... There are things that you would have at the table, so why wouldn't you have them in the store? Yeah, it's a bit different, right? Now, we're making things ourselves. We have different artisans all over the world that we collaborate with to make things, and it's kind of just taken on a little bit of a life of its own, so... yeah.
Johanna Almstea...: You're clearly a creative spirit, but you're also a businesswoman, a successful businesswoman. I want to talk a little bit about or hear from you a little bit about which part of you leads. Is there a fine dance between those two parts of you? Does it just come naturally to you? Did one need to be more cultivated than the other?
Natalie Gehrels: I'm definitely a creative first. My business person is learning through the process.
Johanna Almstea...: Mine, too.
Natalie Gehrels: I don't pretend that I went to business school. I am well aware that there's a lot to learn, and I'm really, really fortunate that I have a partner who is an operation financial wizard.
Johanna Almstea...: That's wonderful.
Natalie Gehrels: So, that really helps, right? But I would say I'm really a systems thinker and even the work, looking back... because, right now, we're dealing with how to scale. We just opened a second location, and dealing with scaling is a really different animal, and I look back at my time with Calvin. I built the system that they used to set up all of their different retail locations globally, so it was kind of a way to manage the workflow of the build-outs of those retail spaces. I would have never told you that I would have built this kind of database or whatever, but it was really interesting and fun. There's a lot of me that I would say I see the whole picture, and my brain really sees things as interconnected, and it allows me to understand how one detail aspect pulls the other. I think, with that, it's a different, I would say, very female approach to looking at the business.
Yeah. So, I feel like that really helps me to understand what I want to lean into, what we need to pull back on to make it make sense, right? It needs to work ultimately.
Johanna Almstea...: Yeah. You said if someone had said to you you were going to own a wine store in Westchester, you would have never believed them. Did you have a picture in your mind when you were living in Milan or when you were in the dark room in high school/college, did you have a picture of what sort of having it all or what success would look like for you?
Natalie Gehrels: It's funny because I didn't even know what an art director was when I got that job. I was like, "Okay, I'm an art director. What is this?" I think a lot of it is I've never really leaned on ideas of success that are kind of customary. I've never really felt like being successful looks like one thing. I think success to me has always been maintaining curiosity and wanting to always learn and discover and dive deeper. I don't think there was ever a picture... I don't think that I even have it figured out now. I feel like I'm just at the beginning, and there's so many projects that I have in the works that I'm like, "This feels absolutely crazy. What am I thinking right now? How is this making sense?" and somehow it does.
I think that the thing for me is when I was a cocktail waitress at 17 during the dot-com era in San Francisco, I worked in this fantastic restaurant, and this random man who I have no idea who he was, he could have been someone great, he said to me, "I don't know. I have no idea who you are, but just listen to what I'm going to tell you." He said, "The minute that you feel afraid, just head directly towards that, whatever that is. Just push through," and I just kept that with me.
Johanna Almstea...: I just got goosebumps.
Natalie Gehrels: You did?
Johanna Almstea...: Yeah.
Natalie Gehrels: Wow. Yeah, I just kept that with me. I think that there's a lot of uncomfortable aspects to making big decisions and taking chances and really designing the life that you want to live.
Johanna Almstea...: Yeah.
Natalie Gehrels: So, I just am always leaning forward into whatever is happening. I like to take that approach. And then when I get indications that it's maybe not the right path or way, then I'll decide differently. But we always have the power of decision, right?
Johanna Almstea...: Right. Do you look back and think of any decisions that you made that you're like, "Whoa, if I had not done that, my life would have taken a very different direction"?
Natalie Gehrels: I think I have regrets of not trusting my instinct.
Johanna Almstea...: I'm a crazy person about trusting instincts. I really feel so strongly about... I have two girls, and so I'm always like, "Start to trust your instincts. You got to check in. Check in with your gut."
Natalie Gehrels: Oh, that's so good.
Johanna Almstea...: Yeah.
Natalie Gehrels: That's so good that you're doing that and bringing that idea forward for them at this age. I think that's the most... As women, our instinct is one of the most powerful tools that we have.
Johanna Almstea...: 100%.
Natalie Gehrels: I think, for me, the only kind of things that I look back on is I strayed a little too far from myself there.
Johanna Almstea...: Yep. I say that all the time. I think the worst mistakes I made were always when I went against my own intuition. I went too far away from myself. I didn't trust my core. I didn't trust my compass.
Natalie Gehrels: Yeah, and the truth is everything leads to the next, right? I say that and I still... I believe that to be true, but we also are really, really blessed to have a universe that's conspiring in our best interest, right? Even if we do make a poor decision, there's other things queued up to create a different experience in a new way and a new learning, and so it's all part of it, I guess.
Johanna Almstea...: We hope, right?
Natalie Gehrels: Yeah. Yeah, that-
Johanna Almstea...: So, clearly, you live in a creative state, it feels like to me, as much as you can, right? Do you have any sort of rituals or routines to make sure that you feed that part of yourself?
Natalie Gehrels: Yes. I would say I'm constantly trying to wrangle ideas. I'm really fortunate to be able to have a constant flow of ideas for collaboration with other artists and creatives and desire to really bring people into the mix. I love collaboration. Sometimes the ideas are almost too much, trying to understand like where the ideas really have value for the other, but... so it's a reciprocal kind of thing.
For rituals, I have a lot of them. I think walking in nature is so profound and we kind of... It's a simple thing, but it really makes a big impact. Also, I practice transcendental meditation, so I cannot speak more highly of that as a practice. It's really focused me.
I'm really fortunate to have a partner who's okay with taking care of the kids while I travel. My work does bring me to places where I need to travel, and so I've been really fortunate to have that time alone to be able to kind of re-center. Because I'm going at a really rapid pace all the time, I feel like, even if I am working still, those moments of just in-between places or the in-between moments where I'm able to experience a different culture or experience a new place or even have a few minutes to myself really are important.
Johanna Almstea...: Yeah. Okay. You've been building this life for yourself really since you were little, it sounds like, that you were making some sort of big decisions on your own, and you've had lots of achievements. What would you say is something that you're most proud of?
Natalie Gehrels: Without a doubt, it's my boys.
Johanna Almstea...: Yeah.
Natalie Gehrels: Yeah. My family is the most important part of my life, and everything that I do is really for them. Building Folkways and really working on the market and creating community and having them understand the importance of agriculture and food and all of it is so that I can be with them as much as possible. I'm talking about traveling, but I'll always do a trip for the shortest amount of time possible. I'm going to Costa Rica for like three days for a shoot and I'm like, "This is ridiculous." I love my boys so much, and they're my greatest teachers, and motherhood has been the most beautiful and fantastic journey for me. That's my guiding light.
Johanna Almstea...: Yeah. That's beautiful. Is there anything that you once believed about yourself that you have since outgrown?
Natalie Gehrels: So many. Yeah. You'll understand this. I think when you come from a background in fashion, I think there's a lot of really beautiful aspects to that, but there's also a lot of superficiality. It goes without saying, right?
Johanna Almstea...: Right.
Natalie Gehrels: And I think, for me, just reconnecting to this platform and having Field Future Foundation as a nonprofit and just working completely outside of commerce, I think I really hit a wall, and I just took a job not that long ago where I was creative director of a fashion brand and I was responsible for product as well. I couldn't get myself to feel good about just [inaudible 00:51:33] product. As much as I love the design process and the creativity and working with the team and everything, I think I've really outgrown that part of myself, and I'm much more... It's not about money for me. It's about what I believe in and the community that I'm in and how I show up.
Johanna Almstea...: Yeah. I've definitely had moments where I'm like, "I just can't get excited about it anymore." It used to feel so exciting, and now I'm like, "It just doesn't matter in the same way that it used to to me."
Natalie Gehrels: Yeah. I still have a lot of respect. It's just it's hard for me to go really deep in it.
Johanna Almstea...: Yeah. Is there anything that you said no to that you wish that you said yes to?
Natalie Gehrels: I'm kind of a yes person.
Johanna Almstea...: You're not alone on this podcast. We have lots of yes people on here.
Natalie Gehrels: It's more like, "Did I say yes to something that I shouldn't have?" It's kind of a mess-
Johanna Almstea...: It's also very common on this. I should be saying no more often.
Natalie Gehrels: Yeah. I feel like, if anything, the art of learning how to say no has been incredibly valuable to me as I'm entering this different age and I think that having boundaries and protecting your time and who you choose to spend your time with as well is incredibly important. I'm really protective of my time and space and energy. I'm very sensitive. For me, being around people that really bring something beautiful to life is what's most important to me. I am really lucky to have some incredible girlfriends and just I feel so uplifted when I'm with them, and they're on their own path and experiencing what they experience, but it's additive. It's an additive thing. We're supporting each other, and everybody's feeling good. So, I think that's what's really important is just to be in situations that it's very simple, but that feel good.
Johanna Almstea...: Yeah. That fuel you.
Natalie Gehrels: Yes. Yes.
Johanna Almstea...: Yeah, and nourish you.
Natalie Gehrels: Yeah.
Johanna Almstea...: Yeah. It sounds like you have lots of these already happening, but I feel very, very strongly about women, particularly mothers and particularly... I hate saying working mothers because all mothers are working all the time-
Natalie Gehrels: Yeah, it's the hardest job in the world.
Johanna Almstea...: ... so just women in general continuing to dream for themselves. What are you dreaming about these days?
Natalie Gehrels: I'm actively designing my life 10 years from now, and I'm building that, and I'm really excited for that. I have a place that I'm working on establishing myself in, and it's surrounded by all the things that I love, and it will be a refuge. Yeah, I think, for me, I notice a shift now in my life where I'm not seeking out more. I'm seeking the right things-
Johanna Almstea...: Better, yeah.
Natalie Gehrels: ... for myself. You know?
Johanna Almstea...: Right.
Natalie Gehrels: What I do to be the right things for myself, and so it's very like, "Okay, there's a power in that of not just kind of grasping for straws." I think when you're younger, you're figuring it out, and you're seeing what fits and what works for you. But at this age, I'm like very clear on what that is. Yeah, I'm excited to have the life that I've always dreamed of.
Johanna Almstea...: I love that for you. That's amazing. Okay, so we're now at the very exciting time where we do a little lightning round of questions, which is... some of them are food related and drink related, but not all, mostly just because I like to talk about food and drinks. Don't overthink it. I know you're a very thoughtful person. There's no right answer.
What's your favorite comfort food?
Natalie Gehrels: Oh, my god, mac and cheese probably.
Johanna Almstea...: You might have answered this already with the modeling, but I don't know, was that your first paid job? What was your first paid job, the first time you did work and got money back?
Natalie Gehrels: Modeling, yeah.
Johanna Almstea...: Yeah. What is something you're really good at?
Natalie Gehrels: Oh, I don't know, cooking, taking photos. Yeah.
Johanna Almstea...: What is something you're really bad at?
Natalie Gehrels: Running.
Johanna Almstea...: Oh, I hate running.
Natalie Gehrels: I don't like running, and I used to run cross country. I'm like, "How did that ever happen?"
Johanna Almstea...: Me, too. I ran track. I think maybe that's why we hate running, because it-
Natalie Gehrels: Probably. It's those endless runs and you're just a teenager, like, "I'm hating life. Why am I doing this?"
Johanna Almstea...: It's never going to end in my body.
Natalie Gehrels: Yeah, that feeling. Whenever I run, I'm like, "Oh, that feeling of dread."
Johanna Almstea...: Okay. Favorite word?
Natalie Gehrels: Oh, god. I'm so Californian. I've been living in California for so long. It's not my favorite word. Maybe ephemeral, yeah.
Johanna Almstea...: I like that one, yeah, ephemeral.
Natalie Gehrels: Yeah. I don't try to not be Californian because I just embrace that I will forever have the like as part of my [inaudible 00:56:51]-
Johanna Almstea...: As part of your ethos.
Natalie Gehrels: Yes.
Johanna Almstea...: Okay. Least favorite food, not crossing your lips. You're really just not going to do it.
Natalie Gehrels: I don't like pate.
Johanna Almstea...: Okay.
Natalie Gehrels: Yeah, I just don't like it.
Johanna Almstea...: No judgment.
Natalie Gehrels: I'm sorry. I know it's sophisticated and a lot of people think it's yummy, but I just don't like it.
Johanna Almstea...: Okay. Least favorite word?
Natalie Gehrels: Like.
Johanna Almstea...: And, now, I hate myself.
Natalie Gehrels: I don't know. Probably one of these new Gen Z words that I don't even know.
Johanna Almstea...: You don't even know what it means?
Natalie Gehrels: Yeah, exactly. I'm listening to my... Oh yeah, this new thing, I was listening to my kids talk and they're like, "Yeah, boss," and they kept calling me boss. I was like, "What? What is this?" I don't know.
Johanna Almstea...: You're like, "Well, kind of yes because I am, but no because it's weird."
Natalie Gehrels: Yeah, I don't know. Did I answer it or not?
Johanna Almstea...: Sure, because you said boss.
Natalie Gehrels: Okay.
Johanna Almstea...: Do you have any hobbies?
Natalie Gehrels: Oh, too many hobbies.
Johanna Almstea...: Really?
Natalie Gehrels: Yeah. Well, I have a background doing ceramics and, right now, it's not at the forefront of my professional space, but clay is really still super important to me. I guess the farmer's market is kind of a hobby in a way because I'm just doing it for the fun of it. Yeah.
Johanna Almstea...: Okay.
Natalie Gehrels: Yeah.
Johanna Almstea...: Best piece of advice you've ever received. Was it from that guy?
Natalie Gehrels: I think it was from that guy, yeah, just to always head towards your fears.
I guess, on the hobby front, we didn't really get into this, but I would say I'm so interested in spirituality and philosophy and wellness and just new experiences. I would even put that in as a hobby.
Johanna Almstea...: As a hobby.
Natalie Gehrels: Trying new things.
Johanna Almstea...: Trying new things, I like that. If your personality were a flavor, what would it be?
Natalie Gehrels: Rainbow sorbet. Rainbow sherbet.
Johanna Almstea...: Rainbow sherbet from the '80s?
Natalie Gehrels: Yeah, probably. I feel like that's little raver child/there's good singular flavors that you can extract there.
Johanna Almstea...: I like it. Speaking of raver child, I forgot to ask you this. Did you read Mark Ronson's book?
Natalie Gehrels: I haven't yet.
Johanna Almstea...: You should.
Natalie Gehrels: Yeah?
Johanna Almstea...: It's so good.
Natalie Gehrels: Okay.
Johanna Almstea...: It's so easy. It's such an easy, fun, really good read about music and the scene. Yeah.
Natalie Gehrels: Oh, thanks for that.
Johanna Almstea...: Okay. Last supper, you know you're leaving this Earth. It's not sad. We're just graduating to the next realm. It's celebratory. It's all good. What are you eating tonight?
Natalie Gehrels: Oh, wow. I'm probably eating skirt steak, marinated skirt steak, with a gratin potatoes and Californian artichokes, super fresh ones, and maybe some Dungeness crab.
Johanna Almstea...: Oh, fabulous.
Natalie Gehrels: Yeah. And then a super great just series of wines for it. I'd probably start with a beautiful sparkling, maybe a cremant or a [foreign language 01:00:08]. And then I would have a glass of chenin blanc probably. And then I would just graduate through-
Johanna Almstea...: Tell me more. Tell me more. This is-
Natalie Gehrels: ... a beautiful [inaudible 01:00:18] or something. Yeah, I would do that. And then, of course, I would have an Amato at the end.
Johanna Almstea...: Of course.
Natalie Gehrels: I'm not a big drinker, but it comes with the experience of the meal and all of the flavors. So, why wouldn't I do it all if it's my big last supper?
Johanna Almstea...: Go out with a bang.
Natalie Gehrels: Yeah.
Johanna Almstea...: Can you think of a moment in your life when you've had to eat your words?
Natalie Gehrels: So many. I went through a divorce, and I think anybody who's gone through a divorce has had to navigate that, and then co-parenting after. I don't pretend to be perfect by any means and, certainly, I would say... the situations, yeah.
Johanna Almstea...: Yeah. I get it. If you could eat only one food for the rest of your life. You don't have to worry about it nutritionally sustaining you. It's just what you want to eat all day every day for the rest of your life. What would it be?
Natalie Gehrels: Avocados.
Johanna Almstea...: You are so Californian. Look at you.
Natalie Gehrels: It's so funny because I just flew back yesterday from California actually. I'm not even joking, I brought 20 artichokes with me from my hometown in my luggage. When I was going through security, they put the bag through three times.
Johanna Almstea...: They're like, "What are those? Are those hand grenades?" "Oh, those are artichokes."
Natalie Gehrels: Yeah, artichokes and... There's some really great food where I'm from, including Mexican food. My great-grandmother's Mexican. And so if you just gave me Mexican food or avocados every day, I would be so happy.
Johanna Almstea...: Be very happy. Where is your happy place?
Natalie Gehrels: Home here really feels like a sanctuary. I feel so blessed to be in this really special place. But for me, the place that I go to that really feels like home is a beach where I grew up called Miramar. It translates to just looking out at the ocean, and that's literally what I do. It's like it has a little cove where it's protected from the wind, and I can just sit there and stare out at the horizon and just feel like the ocean's my mom. It's so safe and beautiful, yeah.
Johanna Almstea...: What did you have for dinner last night?
Natalie Gehrels: Oh, my god, artichokes. Yeah, I had artichokes, but... No, I had artichokes and I had... I'm a big... My cooking's really influenced by Italian cuisine because I spent my 20s there, and so, yeah, I made pasta [foreign language 01:03:02] and then we have burrata and like a little arugula salad.
Johanna Almstea...: Yum.
Natalie Gehrels: Yeah, yummy.
Johanna Almstea...: Yummy. What do you wear when you feel like you need to take on the world? Big meeting, hot date, presentation, something, what do you wear?
Natalie Gehrels: Prada.
Johanna Almstea...: Ooh, you have label. I like it. Okay. Is there a particular piece or silhouette?
Natalie Gehrels: Oh, my gosh, so many great shoes. I can't wear them anymore because I'm living on a dirt road, but so many fantastic, beautiful shoes that are just crafted impeccably. And then beautiful trousers and a nice blouse on top. But Prada or Miu Miu, done.
Johanna Almstea...: This is your go-to.
Natalie Gehrels: Yeah.
Johanna Almstea...: Got it. I feel like you probably have had a lot of these, but most memorable meal you've ever had.
Natalie Gehrels: Most memorable meal. Oh, my god, there's so many. I don't even know where to begin. I've had a lot of really beautiful tasting menus and things. While I can really enjoy that and my partner, that's his happy place, I think, for me, it's really meals that have soul. I hate to say it, but there's nothing more beautiful than just eating a pasta [foreign language 01:04:24]. It's the most basic meal that you can have like in Italy, but there's so much comfort and love in it, and I would say that or a lasagna made from a [foreign language 01:04:38], the neighbor [foreign language 01:04:40], and it's just so pure and so delicious.
Johanna Almstea...: Delicious.
Natalie Gehrels: I would say probably one of those.
Johanna Almstea...: Yeah. What's your go-to coping mechanism on a bad day? Shit is going sideways, the kids are sick, or a pipe is breaking. What do you do when you got to pull it back together?
Natalie Gehrels: Oh, this doesn't sound unlike days... Just recently, where we were having like no school every single day, and I was just like, "Okay, there's my schedule out the door." Walking and TM, for sure, without a doubt. There are moments where, at the end of the day, I'll be just really enthralled with the idea of a bowl of potato chips and a gin and tonic.
Johanna Almstea...: Yeah.
Natalie Gehrels: There are those days where it's really gone sideways and I'll just sit and stare and zone out into nothingness, and that's somehow also really comforting just to disconnect from the rapid happenings.
Johanna Almstea...: I do know. I do know very deeply.
Natalie Gehrels: Yeah.
Johanna Almstea...: Okay. Dead or live, dream dinner party guest list. They're all going to say yes. Who do you want at your dinner party?
Natalie Gehrels: Oh, my god. Whoa. Can I look at my bookshelf right now? Okay. Well, David Lynch is number one forever. I love you David. David Lynch, David Bowie.
Johanna Almstea...: Okay. You did move to the UK for David Bowie-
Natalie Gehrels: I did.
Johanna Almstea...: ... so I'd imagine you'd invite him to your dinner. Okay, good.
Natalie Gehrels: 100%. Maya Deren. Maya Deren is a filmmaker from the '40s who was a complete badass and made some beautiful films, and she was a big influence on David Lynch. Who else? I don't know. Somebody more pop culture, who would I invite? I don't know. I'm really bad with pop culture. I'm trying to think of somebody current that's not dead. Everyone's dead that I'm inviting to dinner.
Johanna Almstea...: Okay. It's fine. They're going to come. It's just a dream dinner party guest.
Natalie Gehrels: Amazing.
Johanna Almstea...: Lastly, what is one thing that you know for sure right now today here in this moment? You don't need to know it tomorrow. You didn't need to know it yesterday. What do you know for sure?
Natalie Gehrels: That the most important thing that you can take out of a day is to stop and enjoy the small moments because they're fleeting, and that there's beauty all around us in everything. And if we stop to notice it, it can really change our whole outlook on the day and the world at that.
Johanna Almstea...: That's so beautiful.
Can you please tell the nice people who are listening where they can find you for art direction work, where they can find Folkways, where they can find information about all the things you're doing?
Natalie Gehrels: Yeah. Folkways is located in Northern Westchester in a 1917 landmark train station building. It's right on the Metro-North, so you can take the train from Grand Central. The town is called Croton Falls, and our other location is in Fairfield County, Connecticut in Wilton, just on Central Street in the Historic District. We have-
Johanna Almstea...: And the website for that is?
Natalie Gehrels: Yeah, folkwayswines.com. We have an online business where you can order, and we ship nationwide for the most part. A lot of beautiful wines on there that you may have never seen before, and [inaudible 01:08:18] as well.
Johanna Almstea...: Yeah, guys, the curation is amazing. What they pull together, it's so beautiful.
Natalie Gehrels: Yeah. If you love wine and you want to explore, you should reach out to us so we can help you find things that you want to try. The farmer's market is moving to a weekly model starting... Opening day is May 9th. Saturday is from nine to one. That is also in Northern Westchester and Croton Falls on Back Street, and we'll have over 25 vendors bringing you the best food imaginable, epic lineup this year. I'm so excited. That's through October. And then for consultancy work, you can go to studio-ouruse.com.
Johanna Almstea...: Amazing. Well, thank you so much for sharing your story with us. I feel like people are going to be inspired and ignited, hopefully, by hearing your story. I so appreciate you taking the time. You have so many balls in the air. You have so many things going on, and so I really appreciate you taking this time to share your story with us.
Natalie Gehrels: Back at you, Johanna. It's so nice to sit and chat with you. I feel like I've known you for a really long time.
Johanna Almstea...: Oh, that's so nice.
Natalie Gehrels: Yeah, thank you for holding space for this convo and for all the beautiful guests that you've had.
Johanna Almstea...: Oh, my gosh. That was so fun. We barely even scratched the surface of all the amazing things she's doing in her professional life. We didn't even get there. Definitely going to have to come back for another round.
I hope you guys enjoyed this episode as much as I did. I hope you enjoyed hearing her story, starting from her childhood, and I hope it ignited something in you. As always, thank you so, so much for tuning in. I can't believe you guys keep coming back. It means the world to me and to us, and we are very, very grateful to have you here.
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This Eat My Words podcast has been created and directed by me, Johanna Almstead. Our producer is Sophy Drouin, our audio editor is Isabel Robertson, and our brand manager is Mila Boujnah.[inaudible 01:11:22].