Why Ten Seconds of a TV Show Made Me Cry

Hey there! It's Marie Forleo and we've got another amazing segment of Sh*t You Should Know! Sh*t You Should Know

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Marie: Okay so, I'm here with my friend, Mikki Agrawal and we actually just met not too long ago. So we got to tell you this really quick story! On my birthday, I was at Crunch gym and Josh and I were taking a Spin class, and we're leaving from the Spin class and there's this beautiful woman. And, she's got pizza and she's giving away free organic vegan vegetarian super-healthy pizza!

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And, I'm looking at it and my mouth is watering, and I'm like, Oh my God, this looks so beautiful," but we were about to go out for dinner for my birthday. So I couldn't take part in her beautiful pizza giveaway. The way and the passion with which she was just sharing her pizza, I knew that… I was like, "Are you the owner?" She's like, "Why, yes! Yes, I am," and I said, "Well, I have this company called Rich, Happy & Hot and we connect women entrepreneurs," and I'm like, "Do you have a card? So Mikki gives me her card, probably thinks I'm a nutbag...

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Mikki: No

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Marie: I go home and I type up a little email going, "Hey, I think you're really amazing and this is going to sound weird. Probably sounds like a stalker but I have this intuitive hit that we're supposed to be connected, right?

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Mikki: Yeah.

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Marie: So I sent that email, did you think that I was weird or not so much?

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Mikki: No! I was like this is so...it's amazing I thought it was fantastic!

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Marie: So then cut to one day later, I'm going to a birthday dinner for my friend Evan Hagen whose birthday's right after mine and there's only like eight people at the table. Walk into a restaurant in New York City, one of the eight people is her and she, your face was just like...!

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Mikki: It was insane! It was completely! I mean think about it, the million of places we could be, the million people we could be with...

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Marie: Right!

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Mikki: And like and at a very specific time, and a very specific place, with the… It was the most...?

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Marie: Serendipitous.

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Mikki: Serendipitous, and you know it's the synchronicity, it was just remarkable!

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Marie: Yeah, alright. So we're at Mikki's restaurant which is SLICE. Right now, it's in the West Village, she also has another location but her restaurant in the West Village is like two blocks away from my house. So this could not be more perfect And, I am just fascinated with talking with cool women entrepreneurs and I did some like snooping around on your site, and one of the things that you said that I just thought was hilarious. You said, "I'm part sushi and part curry."

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Mikki: Yeah, my mom's from Japan and my dad's from India so it's just a quick way...he'll be like, "What are you?"

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Marie: Yeah.

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Mikki: That's sushi and curry. It's very simple.

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Marie: Which I think, I love that! And then, tell us a little bit about the part of your story that I love and I think why we resonant so much is you know, you started off as an investment banker, right?

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Mikki: Hmm hmm

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Marie: And then you did a completely different shift to like music and video production.

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Mikki: Film production, yeah.

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Marie: Film production.

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Mikki: TV and commercial production

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Marie: TV production, so big shift!

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Mikki: Yeah.

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Marie: And then at the ripe old age of 25, you said, "I want to open a restaurant."

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Mikki: Yep.

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Marie: Yeah so, tell us a little bit about like what the inspiration came from for SLICE?

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Mikki: Well, when I was 24 my stomach started to act up, you know I couldn't. You know, I couldn't eat regular dairy anymore, every time I eat pizza or ice cream. Just the process, you know cheese really hurt my stomach and so I had to give up all my comfort foods like pizza, like ice cream.

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Marie: Oh!

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Mikki: And all my favorite foods and you know I started reading some research and I couldn't find places that I could eat both satiated my appetite. As far as, you know I can stomach it...

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Marie: Right.

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Mikki: But also that was flavorable. Every time I ate something, I had to give up on flavor. And you know, then it kind of brought the bigger question is you know when you dine, your dining experience you're always giving up one thing. You're always giving up on healthy when you're eating something or you're always giving up on tasty.

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Marie: Right.

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Mikki: There's always that you know, you go "Okay today I'm going to eat tasty food but I know it's not going to be healthy." Or, "Today I'm going to eat healthy but I know it's not going to taste good."

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Marie: Right.

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Mikki: There's always that you know, that giving something up.

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Marie: Right. Mikki: Whereas you know, eating a comfort food that you know is made with better ingredients and organic natural local ingredients.  You know that there can be a marriage of healthy and tasty especially when it's like pizza that everyone understands. So it just was one of those things where I saw a necessity in the marketplace. And you know, I wasn't being insatiate; my appetite wasn't being insatiate and so I just thought there would be a great opportunity to start a business.

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Marie: That's awesome! So okay tell us how long it took because many people, you know they'll look at someone like you and they'll say, "Oh my God, Mikki has it going on."  How long did it take you from the time that you had the concept to actually had your first restaurant, and had people were eating pizza and they were loving it?

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Mikki: Yeah, I mean it certainly took time. I mean it took about two years probably from the idea, to putting a team together with smart friends who are in various sectors of the industry whether it be branding, design, marketing, architecture, finance, literally every single aspect of the business. I'm not an expert on any of them.

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Marie: Right.

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Mikki: So you know I had an idea and I knew I wasn't an expert so I just brought on the smartest people I knew in the various industries, put together a great round table team. And then just constantly flushed out ideas and you know so much thinking outside the box because when you're dealing with many different types of people that you're talking with, you're getting different you know, angles of their opinion. So it was a really great way to flush out something that could work.

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Marie: But that just, it goes to show you like everything is "figureoutable..."

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Mikki: Yeah

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Marie: And, if you believe in something, you can absolutely figure out how to make it happen.

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Mikki: Yeah, yeah.

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Marie: You can figure out how to get the financing and rock it out!

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Mikki: Absolutely! I mean you know, the one thing that I have to say is you know if people say no. You know, at first you just literally brush yourself off and just keep going. You know if you put your mind to it, you can do it! I really believe that! I really believe that. I mean there's no question.

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Marie: That's awesome!

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Mikki: Yeah.

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Marie: So tell us a little bit about this newest project that's happening and then share with us where we can learn more about you, and where people can come and experience SLICE?

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Mikki: Awesome! So, my twin sister, I have an identical twin sister who used to do a lot of the menu designs for us. She used to come up with like all the little drawings and come up with the really cute you know, menus. And one of the menus was created, these little crazy super-powered vegetables that was kind of like a coloring book where kids could come and color and kind of make or create their own super-powered vegetables. And from that, she kind of came up with this great idea of starting a media company that was focused, you know around child education and eating more vegetables and...

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Marie: That's awesome.

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Mikki: Rather than doing it in a super-born like, "Eat your vegetables," kind of way, tone. A very fun and creative, super-powered veggies where each vegetable like Colby Carrot, a super sight because carrots are good for your eyes. (Yeah, the name's Colby Carrot and I have super-sight. Also known as awesome eye!)

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Mikki: Brian Broccoli is super-strong because broccoli is good for your bones.

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(Singing: "Brian Broccoli uplifts us all with words of encouragement if we fall.)

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Mikki: So each vegetable's "super-power" you know, pertains to its actual nutritional value so.

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Marie: Erica Eggplant!

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Mikki: Yeah, she's super-smart.

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Marie: Erica Eggplant

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Mikki: Erica is super-smart because eggplants it's a brain food.

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(Singing: Erica Eggplant, know-it-all it seems.)

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Marie: It's amazing!

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Mikki: It's a great way for kids to immediately remember what vegetable is good for...

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Marie: Yeah.

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Mikki: But in a super-powered, everyone loves good guys and bad guys, so.

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Marie: Right.

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Mikki: The Super-Sprowtz again is sort of like Mr. X in [indiscernible] [6:49]

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Marie: This is so hot!

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Mikki: Yeah, website just launched, SuperSprowtz.com.It's actually www.supersprowtz.com and then obviously you can buy the books here at SLICE, both here in the West Village and also on the Upper East Side. Our website is www.sliceperfect.com and you can learn all about our Pay Forward programs that we do with you know, kids at Hunts Point, Alliance; and also, we do an amazing catering!

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Marie: Yay! Which I've had her catering before we met and had some of it.

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Mikki: Yeah!

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Marie: Thank you so much! Thanks, it's been a pleasure!

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Mikki: Yay, it was awesome!

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Marie: Thank you so much for watching! Like it if you like it! Comment, share and we'll see you next time!

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Mikki: And become fans on Facebook.

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Marie: Yes, fans on Facebook!

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Mikki: Slice is the perfect food! Yeah, okay.

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Marie: Bye! 

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Mikki: Thanks!