S04.E11: Susana Monaco

[Tara Ariano]

Quote

A fashion designer based in Manhattan needs to trust her instincts and mute the influence of her family and coworkers that's hurting her business.

[Christina]

The name of the designer sounded familiar, so I looked up the preview (added below) and think this might be the website. I read the "About" page, and there is no mention of The Profit, so I don't think there will be any spoilers if you check it out, but be forewarned that there are NO capital letters. Huge pet peeve of mine, even though it is obviously a style. And odd typo is one thing, but full screens of text without proper capitalization is the equivalent of fingernails on a chalkboard to my eyes.

I wonder if Marcus has an interest in fashion. He's bought into the shoe company, watch company, tee-shirt company, jeans store, and Courage b, and maybe more that I don't remember off the top of my head, or if they just make good investments. Having no fashion sense myself, I always find these type of episodes to drag. Most of my time is spent wondering why someone would pay for whatever it is they are presenting.

http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000570297

[Lola16]

20 hours ago, Christina said:

  And odd typo is one thing, but full screens of text without proper capitalization is the equivalent of fingernails on a chalkboard to my eyes.

"An" odd typo. I love typos that occur when complaining about typos. My favorite was a coworker who sent an email criticizing another about her "type-o's". I almost peed myself.

[Christina]

AHAHAHAHA. Someone must not have bothered to proofread my her post before hitting send. I'm not fixing it now, though, or the response won't be as funny. My personal favorite is the gramm-er error, when someone complains about someone else's grammar, but spells it with -er instead of -ar. It is so common that I think it must be intentional to rile people up.

I can overlook misuse of where/were and your/you're; don't care if a sentence ends in a proposition; can recognize that the other person posting may not be an native English speaker and as long as I understand what is being written, see no reason to get annoyed; BUT lack of capitalization as a writing style makes my eyes twitch. Come to think of it, so do long paragraphs. That's probably because of my vision problems, though, making it harder to read when it's a block of text.

[Primetimer]

Or will his efforts turn out to be a sob story?

View the full article

[Jamoche]

The name of the designer sounded familiar, so I looked up the preview (added below) and think this might be the website. I read the "About" page, and there is no mention of The Profit, so I don't think there will be any spoilers if you check it out, but be forewarned that there are NO capital letters. Huge pet peeve of mine, even though it is obviously a style. And odd typo is one thing, but full screens of text without proper capitalization is the equivalent of fingernails on a chalkboard to my eyes.

I wonder if Marcus has an interest in fashion. He's bought into the shoe company, watch company, tee-shirt company, jeans store, and Courage b, and maybe more that I don't remember off the top of my head, or if they just make good investments. Having no fashion sense myself, I always find these type of episodes to drag. Most of my time is spent wondering why someone would pay for whatever it is they are presenting.

http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000570297

In addition to the lack of capitals, the comma abuse in the first sentence kicked me out. The rules for when to set a person's name off with commas are not that hard.

The prose style reminds me of the overly pretentious places that used to get mocked on Regretsy.

[Josiah Bounderby]

I dunno about this episode... I felt like the "personal journey" of Susana got all the attention at the expense of some very interesting and confusing company dynamics. I think this could get interesting when they do a "return to the company" segment.

Finally, is Marcus' expertise well-suited to fashion? I suspect everyone just thinks reality tv does well when it is about clothes or food.

[Lola16]

Interesting that the sister from Courage b is head of Marcus' fashion holdings.  As if that business was run well.

[Josiah Bounderby]

Interesting that the sister from Courage b is head of Marcus' fashion holdings.  As if that business was run well.

I know. Maybe that was a for-TV-only exaggeration. Because of all the job-seeking fashion executives in the world, who picks her? I think Marcus' prodigious skills might not work in today's world of fashion. Particularly with manufacturing done in the US.

[sarthaz]

I really appreciated the in-depth business analysis this episode brought to the table. It never occurred to me just how impactful a single printer could be, and Marcus is truly a genius for pinpointing that a new Epson ECO Cartridge could be the tipping point in repairing the Monaco family and saving her business. Well done, sir. Well done!

[Josiah Bounderby]

Thank you for that.

[Gregg247]

I find it funny that Marcus and Susana are both heavily involved in the fashion business, yet their personal styles are about as unfashionable as possible.  (Kind of like the cobbler whose children go without shoes, I guess.)  

I was happy to see that the lady from Courage B is now in charge of all of Marcus' fashion brands.  She was a hard worker and she seemed to take well to Marcus' changes to her own business (better than her brother did).  When Marcus identifies talent, he definitely rewards it.  Is Courage B still in business?  I hope we get a (long) follow-up episode about many of the previous companies soon.

Susana's relationship with her father and brothers was odd.  Everyone seemed to be taking advantage of her!  How many people felt entitled to a piece of her company?  

I know Anna was kind of the villain this time, but I didn't really mind her.  She seemed to be the one who kept the business afloat through some tough times, and Susana didn't seem that reliable when in her "artist phase".

[PBSLover]

I really liked this episode and hope that the line becomes successful again.  If anyone needed Marcus, it was Susana. It was horrid the way her family and her employee bullied her but no deals had been made to give them what they wanted (and didn’t deserve) so Marcus was free to spin his magic wand.  He did everything right, in my mind, and I was happy to see that Susana’s talent was being acknowledged.

This episode reminded me of the furniture lady from earlier this season: grows up in the business, knows her shit and has talent, but the people around her failed her.

1 hour ago, Gregg247 said:

I was happy to see that the lady from Courage B is now in charge of all of Marcus' fashion brands.  She was a hard worker and she seemed to take well to Marcus' changes to her own business (better than her brother did).  When Marcus identifies talent, he definitely rewards it.

I agree.  Happy to see her as an important part of his business. 

[cooksdelight]

My boyfriend and I watched this together and he said, "She's got no self-esteem.... zero. And she lets herself be bullied."

We were so happy to see her finally grow some confidence by the end of the episode. And that her Dad came to support her. Anna pissed me off, having seen people like that in the past where I worked. If you've got ideas that you think deserve merit and you want more money, put it in writing. Don't bully the boss into submission.

[sadtvjunkie]

Most designers aren't fashionable. They like comfort. Doesn't Vera Wang wear something that looks like sweats? Yet she designs tons of stuff.

Susana also doesn't have the body style that most of her stuff is made for (and neither do I!)

[Amarsir]

7 hours ago, Gregg247 said:

I was happy to see that the lady from Courage B is now in charge of all of Marcus' fashion brands.  She was a hard worker and she seemed to take well to Marcus' changes to her own business (better than her brother did).  When Marcus identifies talent, he definitely rewards it.  Is Courage B still in business?  I hope we get a (long) follow-up episode about many of the previous companies soon.

Yeah, if Stephanie from Courage B is now the head of the Marcus Lemonis Retail Division, that's big news. Or else it's a fairly meaningless title he offered to get her to come over.  Either is possible. I don't remember her having a significant role in the DiLascia episode, but they did use a Courage B store for the focus testing. So it could be either, and the lack of detail on that is really burying the lede in my opinion.

Actually the lack of follow-up episodes this season is glaring at this point, and The Profit is done for the season now. I couldn't figure out why, but actually I have a theory: since The Partner was filming all summer there's a good chance that the contestants there were involved in Marcus' investments. And they wanted the footage for the two shows to be separate. So we'll see more of all those businesses when the new show starts.  I have nothing to base this on other than a guess, but that's my theory.

7 hours ago, Gregg247 said:

I know Anna was kind of the villain this time, but I didn't really mind her.  She seemed to be the one who kept the business afloat through some tough times, and Susana didn't seem that reliable when in her "artist phase".

Normally the employee who keeps the business running gets the hero edit. But $175,000 / year does a lot to take away the underdog card. Even in Manhattan.  Still, I wonder if she'd have gotten a different presentation had the brothers been willing to appear on camera. 

Overall I don't think the problem was so much that Anna was too forward so much as that Susana wasn't forward enough. She may have a natural inclination to speak more in groups, but it was definitely exacerbated by a decade of working with a boss who doesn't like talking to customers. Embolden the owner and the whole dynamic gets better.

Edited November 30, 2016 by Amarsir

[Amarsir]

8 hours ago, sarthaz said:

I really appreciated the in-depth business analysis this episode brought to the table. It never occurred to me just how impactful a single printer could be, and Marcus is truly a genius for pinpointing that a new Epson ECO Cartridge could be the tipping point in repairing the Monaco family and saving her business. Well done, sir. Well done!

Heh. Also yes, where was all the business? The only real idea Marcus had was offering a discount for pre-orders (slash premium for rushes), which I came up with myself long before he started that conversation.  And the third category is non-custom items I think? Which Anna seemed to disagree with and we don't even know why because the show took the personal route on that instead.

[Lola16]

As of a few weeks ago, the Courage b store was still open in Greenwich CT. I'll check it out next week if I remember.

I didn't mind Anna. She probably had to step up and be that assertive because Susana was so wishy washy.

[Corgi-ears]

I'm sorry. But was one of the retail assistants wearing diapers for pants?

[Amarsir]

On 12/3/2016 at 10:28 AM, Corgi-ears said:

I'm sorry. But was one of the retail assistants wearing diapers for pants?

Well that's embarrassing. Clearly someone here isn't up on the new trend. Diaper pants combine the devil-may-care attitude of short-shorts with the ready-for-anything assurance of Depends, while their bulk is a nostalgic throwback to the droopiness of late-90s fashion. You'd better get yourself a pair fast, because when the rest of us are wearing Diaps™ and you're not, well we know who'll be looking silly now don't we?

:)

[Kiss my mutt]

I really don't like Marcus' fashion holdings at all.  Everything looks so utilitarian with knit separates that you can find anywhere. 

I think Susana is a great designer and her lookbooks from previous seasons were really eye-catching and hit the mark but I hope to see more besides knitwear that doesn't distinguish itself. I felt the same about Courage B and deLascio.  

I think susana is in a better place and hope she stays there. She really is talented. Marcus?  Yeah, no, not in fashion design.  

[Corgi-ears]

On 12/5/2016 at 2:50 AM, Amarsir said:

Clearly someone here isn't up on the new trend.

Nuh-uh. For once I can truly say that, when it comes to diaperpants, I was an early adopter.

[ae2]

This wasn't as bad as I expected it to be (i.e. wasn't as heavy on the drama as it could have been). But it felt... incomplete? Maybe I dozed off toward the end, sorry if that's the case. But did we get any resolution on...

Her brothers? We saw her dad was happy and working with her at the end, but weren't her brothers trying to get a chunk of the business? I tend to think there was more to the origin story than we heard. I don't think they come asking for equal ownership, with their father's blessing, without being involved somehow in the early days of the business.

Did Marcus improve the Process? He talked about it (yay!). They discussed setting up the 3 types or sales with pre-orders, custom, and rush. But I expected more overhaul of their manufacturing process, cleaning up the factory, etc.

Is the entrepreneur involved now in the manufacturing? Is she going to go to the factory and act like a boss and face her employees? I'm not even sure how that worked before, because she apparently hadn't been there in ages.

[PBSLover]

On 12/5/2016 at 11:27 AM, Kiss my mutt said:

I really don't like Marcus' fashion holdings at all.  Everything looks so utilitarian with knit separates that you can find anywhere. 

I liked that he wanted Susana to have a core line based around one fabric that he/Susana described as expensive with great drapability.  I thought the line looked good.  We’ll see what happens.

 

On 12/6/2016 at 7:25 AM, ae2 said:

Her brothers? We saw her dad was happy and working with her at the end, but weren't her brothers trying to get a chunk of the business?

I thought the father was pushing that and of course the brothers loved that.  It undermined her...big time.  It would be interesting if it was a son who was the designer with sisters running the factory.  Wonder if Dad would have felt the same.  

[Showthyme]

The hair and makeup artists could have spent a few minutes on Susana. She looked like one of the assistants or stage hands on the runway. She needs to improve her public speaking ability or at least have an elevator pitch ready. I think Susana gets secondary gain from being so meek.

Good to see the Courage B sister in an expanded role. 

[Lola16]

I wonder if the father put up a lot of money for the company and factory and maybe that's why he wanted to share ownership with the sons.

[seacliffsal]

I tend to agree with you, Lola 16, that her father probably invested and part of the investment agreement was a role for her brothers.  A lot of times family businesses have elements that strict business relationships do not have.  I often wish that we got more of the complete story on these episodes.

[Puddy]

On ‎12‎/‎6‎/‎2016 at 10:25 AM, ae2 said:

This wasn't as bad as I expected it to be (i.e. wasn't as heavy on the drama as it could have been). But it felt... incomplete? Maybe I dozed off toward the end, sorry if that's the case. But did we get any resolution on...

Her brothers? We saw her dad was happy and working with her at the end, but weren't her brothers trying to get a chunk of the business? I tend to think there was more to the origin story than we heard. I don't think they come asking for equal ownership, with their father's blessing, without being involved somehow in the early days of the business.

Did Marcus improve the Process? He talked about it (yay!). They discussed setting up the 3 types or sales with pre-orders, custom, and rush. But I expected more overhaul of their manufacturing process, cleaning up the factory, etc.

Is the entrepreneur involved now in the manufacturing? Is she going to go to the factory and act like a boss and face her employees? I'm not even sure how that worked before, because she apparently hadn't been there in ages.

The factory is her father's business.  Technically, she is a customer and pays them to make her clothing.  That's why Anna was so vocal.  Both of them worried that the brothers would screw them over and not fill orders on time. 

How many customers make regular visits to their manufacturer's facilities?  How that place is run is none of her business.  It's her dad's and he employs the two boys. 

If my dad told me I had to split my business three ways and give away 2/3 of it, I would have burned it down or took my business elsewhere.  He is not the only rag man in New York.  She keeps him in business.

I hope that fact was drilled into their greedy heads.

[Bloodqueen64]

• Several replies question why Susana's brothers would feel entitled to an equal share of her company. Well, it is apparent, to me at least, that no one that questioned this practice is a first generation Italian daughter. I'm surprised they hadn't been exploiting her from day one. Without a husband in who's name she could have her business, it would be common practice that her brothers would receive from her a percentage of her business as well as use her as their cash cow. Unmarried women in traditional Italian families are essentially "married" to their family. The father relies heavily on Susana for his factory business. If she ever pulled out, her brothers could lose their shirt, pun intended, leaving them worse off than their sister. That's not how it works in a lot of traditional Italian families. I'm proud of Susana for not giving in to her families demands, though why should would then allow Anna to do exactly what the family wanted her to do leaves me godsmacked. I wish her well and pray that she gets help for her anxiety!