Take Your Time

Dianna Cohen

Take Your Time is a creativity podcast hosted by Dianna Cohen, founder of cult beauty brand Crown Affair. It's a show about making things, trusting your inner voice, and redefining success on your own terms.

  1. Oct 20

    Episode 013: On Taste, Trust, and Building With Intention

    For our final solo episode of the season, I'm sitting down to answer the questions you all ask me most on Substack, in my DMs, everywhere. I get into how to build something slow and intentional in a world that rewards speed, the difference between chasing a trend and building a real movement (and why I call the trade-offs "pinches of poison"), and the three free, accessible things that taught me how to train my eye: libraries, museums, and thrifting. I also open up about the personal work behind the business: brain spotting therapy with my coach Faith, what it actually took to trust my CEO Elaine enough to step back, and a concept I've never shared publicly before, the "triangle of delusion." Plus, how my partner Alex keeps me balanced, and some thoughts on manifestation as we close out the season.   (00:00) Intro to the final solo episode of the season (02:00) How do you build something slow in a fast-moving world? (05:30) Trends vs. movements, and "pinches of poison" (09:15) Finding your vision: libraries, museums, and thrifting (15:00) The personal work behind the business  (21:00) Learning to trust Elaine as CEO, and the "triangle of delusion" (26:00) Balancing work, Burning Man, and a 13-year relationship with Alex (31:00) Manifestation, closing out season one, and what's next   Thank you for listening to Take Your Time. Subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube  Follow along on Instagram and TikTok  Follow Dianna on Instagram: @diannacohen Subscribe to Take Your Time on Substack  Find everything Take Your Time at takeyourtimeuniverse.com Check out Crown Affair at crownaffair.com

    Episode 013: On Taste, Trust, and Building With Intention

  2. Oct 6

    Episode 012: Bobbi Brown, The Pioneer

    Today's episode features beauty icon Bobbi Brown, the makeup artist behind the "no makeup" makeup revolution. Bobbi takes us back to growing up outside Chicago, never quite feeling pretty, and the conversation with her mother that sent her to Emerson to build her own degree in theatrical makeup and photography. We trace her path from a 1980 move to New York, working alongside photographer Bruce Weber, launching Bobbi Brown Cosmetics out of her house in 1991, and selling it four and a half years later with a 25-year non-compete attached. Bobbi shares how that non-compete quietly set the launch date for Jones Road, and how the pandemic made launching Jones Road an even harder challenge. Tune in for a conversation about trusting your gut over the data, why "beg for forgiveness, not permission" might be the only business advice you need, and what it looks like to disrupt the beauty market twice without losing yourself in between. (0:00) Opening: I Always Wanted to Be Pretty (1:22) Welcome to Take Your Time (6:06) Growing Up Bobbi (10:26) College, Emerson & Finding Makeup (15:08) Moving to New York in the 1980s (19:21) Thinking Like a Customer (25:49) Building & Selling Bobbi Brown  29:36) 22 Years at Estée Lauder (33:14) The Non-Compete & Planning Jones Road (34:49) Launching Jones Road During the Pandemic (44:51) Retail & the Jones Road Store Empire (49:25) Building a Beauty Brand Today (56:45) Take Your Time Back   Thank you for listening to Take Your Time. Subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube  Follow along on Instagram and TikTok  Follow Dianna on Instagram: @diannacohen Follow Bobbi on Instagram: @justbobbidotcom Subscribe to Take Your Time on Substack  Find everything Take Your Time at takeyourtimeuniverse.com

    Episode 012: Bobbi Brown, The Pioneer

  3. Sep 22

    Episode 011: My Journey to Now

    In this solo episode, I go deeper into my own story, the version before Crown Affair existed. I talk about being a B-plus student in a small town in South Florida who found the first thing she was ever good at in an art history classroom, and how that feeling of awe became a North Star I'm still chasing. I share the story of a marketing class at NYU where a guest speaker named Gary Vaynerchuk cracked something open in me, and the years that followed: working for Emily Weiss at Into The Gloss before anyone called it influencer marketing, meeting Ara Katz through a LinkedIn notification I wasn't even supposed to send, and eventually building my first company, Levitate, before I ever built Crown Affair.   I also get into what it actually felt like to take the leap in April 2019, and how every art reference I love, from Ed Ruscha to a Doctor Seuss quote in our very first product sample, ended up woven into the world of Crown Affair.   Tune in for a look at how ambition, curiosity, and the people you choose to work with quietly become the foundation for everything you eventually build.   (01:33) Six years of Crown Affair, and the moment it all started (02:52) Growing up in South Florida and falling in love with New York (04:31) The eighth-grade "villain origin story" and what art gave her (05:59) Studying art history at NYU  (07:41) Meeting Gary Vaynerchuk, and her first job with Emily Weiss at Into The Gloss (09:29) What came after Into The Gloss (12:21) Building Levitate, her first company, and clients like Harry's and The Wing (16:07) Taking the leap to Crown Affair, and building the brand's visual world with Sho Shibuya (21:17) Year six of Crown Affair, year one of Take Your Time   Thank you for listening to Take Your Time. Subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube  Follow along on Instagram and TikTok  Follow Dianna on Instagram: @diannacohen Subscribe to Take Your Time on Substack  Find everything Take Your Time at takeyourtimeuniverse.com Check out Crown Affair at crownaffair.com

    Episode 011: My Journey to Now

  4. Sep 8

    Episode 010: David and Kavi Moltz, The Perfumer and His Muse

    For this episode, I sat down with David and Kavi Moltz, the uniquely talented couple behind D.S. & Durga. They met on Avenue B in 2007, started making perfume in their Brooklyn apartment a few months later, and never really stopped.  In our conversation, David and Kavi take me through all of it: the early-aughts Brooklyn scene that shaped them, the scrappy years handmaking orders in their kitchen, and the deeper philosophy behind why they create at all. David talks about fragrance and music as the two "invisible" art forms, and why he believes they're the closest mediums we have to interacting with something beyond ourselves. Kavi, a trained architect and art history graduate, opens up about growing up as the artsy outlier in a family of doctors, how architecture school taught her to defend her creative decisions, and why the 2008 financial crash was actually the moment she went all-in on the brand. Tune in for a conversation about the art of world-building through scent, what it means to build a brand without a blueprint, and why taking your time is the only way to make something that truly lasts. (0:00) Cold Open: Creative Partnership (1:16) Sponsor: Shopify (1:35) Podcast Introduction (2:27) Breathing Exercise (3:41) How They Met (5:28) Music & Early Influences (7:50) Childhood & Upbringing (9:49) Fragrance as an Invisible Art (12:14) Kavi's Architecture Background (16:47) Art School vs Business School (20:31) Origins of DS & Durga (27:41) Building the Brand's DNA (30:05) American Perfumery & Reverence for Craft (31:38) Ownership & the Invisible Mediums (34:25) Innovation vs Staying True (37:20) Becoming a Self-Taught Nose (41:09) The Singer-Songwriter Analogy (45:57) Wit, Humor & Staying Loose (52:42) Practice, Taste & Mastery (53:58) Parenting & Phases of Life (57:21) Kids, Fragrance & Nostalgia (61:01) Take Your Time Back: Rapid Fire (67:34) Closing Thoughts & Advice Thank you for listening to Take Your Time. Subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube  Follow along on Instagram and TikTok  Follow Dianna on Instagram: @diannacohen Follow DS & Durga: @dsanddurga Subscribe to Take Your Time on Substack  Find everything Take Your Time at takeyourtimeuniverse.com

    Episode 010: David and Kavi Moltz, The Perfumer and His Muse

  5. Aug 18

    Episode 009: Sarah Creal, The Secret Weapon

    Today's conversation is with the brilliant Sarah Creal: beauty industry veteran, product developer, founder, and the woman behind some of the most iconic products in the history of prestige cosmetics. Sarah opens up about growing up in Warren, Pennsylvania, where she lay on rocks as a kid watching airplanes overhead and dreaming of what was out there. In our conversation, we trace her path from the Clinique beauty counter, to Revlon, to Bobbi Brown, to developing lines for Tom Ford, Ralph Lauren, Donna Karan, and Victoria Beckham, to finally launching her own namesake brand exclusively for women 40+.   Sarah shares what it felt like to beg for investment and be told older women don't want to look at older women — and how she responded by building something that is redefining the entire visual language of beauty for women in their prime.    Tune in for a conversation about taste, tenacity, and what it means to finally choose yourself after a lifetime spent in service to others.   (1:12) Sponsor message (Shopify) (1:35) Show intro & meet Sarah Creal (2:47) Breathing exercise (4:27) Childhood in small-town Pennsylvania (7:30) First makeup experiments & discovering product development (10:22) Growing up with an architect father (16:04) Choosing Penn & studying English (21:40) Literature as the lifeblood of storytelling & selling (24:04) Starting at the Clinique counter (27:00) Landing her first product development job (30:03) Becoming Bobbi Brown's head of product development & marketing (34:26) Creating Tom Ford Beauty & the "architecture of the face" (38:41) The Ralph Lauren story (43:52) Throwing out the rulebook with her own brand (51:34) The new "beauty erotica" photoshoot (52:31) Channeling ideas & the dream that birthed the brand (56:51) Fighting for funding & naming the brand (1:00:45) Take Your Time Back segment (1:04:57) Closing thoughts   Thank you for listening to Take Your Time, subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube   Follow along on Instagram: @TakeYourTimeUniverse    Follow Dianna on Instagram: @DiannaCohen     Follow Sarah Creal: @SarahCreal

    Episode 009: Sarah Creal, The Secret Weapon

  6. Jul 29

    Episode 008: The Artist's Way

    This week, I'm giving you a guide to one of my favorite books in the entire universe: Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way. I break down what this 12-week program actually is, why it changed my life (and how I approached building Crown Affair before and after doing the work), and I walk you through all 12 weeks, from recovering a sense of safety in week one, to the anger and jealousy of week three, the reading deprivation of week four, all the way to recovering a sense of faith in week 12. If this book has been sitting on your shelf, or you made it to week three or four and stalled out, this episode is your sign to pick it back up. Tune in for a breakdown of morning pages, artist dates, creative U-turns, and why growth is a spiral, not a straight line. (0:00) Intro (0:22) What is The Artist's Way? (1:11) Shopify ad (1:29) About Julia Cameron & the book's origins (1:45) Morning pages & artist dates (2:46) Growth is not linear (3:20) Week 1: Recovering a sense of safety (5:11) Week 2: Recovering a sense of identity (9:59) Week 3: Recovering a sense of power (13:34) Week 4: Recovering a sense of integrity (15:06) Weeks 5 & 6: Recovering a sense of possibility & abundance (17:37) Week 7: Recovering a sense of connection (19:04) Week 8: Recovering a sense of strength (20:01) Week 9: Creative U-turns (22:47) Week 10: Recovering a sense of self-protection (25:04) Week 11: Recovering a sense of autonomy (27:44) Week 12: Recovering a sense of faith (30:08) Morning pages & artist dates as lifelong tools (32:15) Closing thoughts Thank you for listening to Take Your Time. Subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube  Follow along on Instagram and TikTok  Follow Dianna on Instagram: @diannacohen Subscribe to Take Your Time on Substack  Find everything Take Your Time at takeyourtimeuniverse.com Check out Crown Affair at crownaffair.com

    Episode 008: The Artist's Way

  7. Jul 14

    Episode 007: Cassandra Grey, The Curator

    Cassandra Grey is the founder of Violet Grey, the legendary Los Angeles beauty destination that, since 2013, has set the standard for curation, visual literacy, and taste in the beauty world. In this episode, we travel the full arc of Cassandra's life, from making Wonder Woman cuffs out of tinfoil as a child, to creating business plans as a young woman in the Bay Area, to falling in love with and marrying Hollywood producer Brad Grey, who taught her that quality is not a preference but a practice. Cassandra talks about what it means to build something with soul, how grief reshapes your relationship to time and objects, and why she's spent nine years searching for a perfume that smells like the one that got away. Tune in for a meditation on curation as a life philosophy, the quiet power of surrounding yourself with beauty, and why heartbreak is the evidence of a life fully loved. 0:00) Introduction (1:36) Shopify ad (1:57) Breathing exercise (2:30) Early life and childhood (6:14) First creative sparks and pop culture (8:48) Visual literacy philosophy (9:30) The idea for Violet Grey (11:56) Building a business from vision (13:07) Founding Violet Grey (15:17) Moving to LA and meeting Brad (18:12) Falling in love and life in LA (21:23) What Brad taught her (24:55) Brad's career and legacy (26:17) Comparisons to Crown Affair (28:34) Striving for perfection over profit (29:39) Redefining visual literacy online (30:49) Building legacy with Madame Grey (38:56) Legacy, time, and meaning (40:52) Creating the fragrance (41:47) Aura farming (43:08) Confidence and desire (51:19) Sex appeal over time (52:23) Trust and Crown Affair partnership (54:16) Soul in creative work (54:58) Take Your Time Back segment (59:25) Closing thoughts Thank you for listening to Take Your Time. Subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube  Follow along on Instagram and TikTok  Follow Dianna on Instagram: @diannacohen Follow Cassandra: @cassandragrey Subscribe to Take Your Time on Substack  Find everything Take Your Time at takeyourtimeuniverse.com

    Episode 007: Cassandra Grey, The Curator

  8. Jun 30

    Episode 006: Ego Nwodim, The One-Woman Wonder

    Today's episode is with the amazing comedian and actress, Ego Nwodim. Known for seven seasons on Saturday Night Live, where she created an indelible gallery of original characters, Ego is now stepping into a new chapter on her own terms. This episode is about the slower, less visible journey underneath her impressive résumé: the role Ego's immigrant mother played in shaping her belief in herself, what comedy taught her about releasing perfectionism, and what it actually feels like to step off the ride after seven years and finally exhale. Tune in for a meditation on creative courage, the art of not thinking, and why learning to enjoy an unpredictable journey might be the most valuable thing time can teach you. (0:00) – Intro & welcome to Take Your Time (0:15) – Introducing Ego Nwodim (1:08) – Three deep breaths segment (6:47) – How Dianna & Ego met as NYC neighbors (7:56) – Were we both waiting in line for our big breaks? (8:51) – COVID hits: Ego decides to hunker down in New York (20:16) – Ego's one-woman show: "Great Black Women and Then There's Me" (22:46) – Finding the title first, building the show around it (18:58) – "I'm funny?" — discovering comedy through a roommate (19:03) – The path to improv & UCB's "don't think" philosophy (28:10) – Siblings, growing up in Baltimore & family as first audience (32:20) – Ego's Nigerian immigrant mom: "She's following her heart" (43:02) – 7 years on SNL — the shift after leaving (46:05) – Marathon, not a sprint — running a half marathon & what it taught her (57:48) – What Ego is working on now (Netflix *Little Brother*, NSFW, Thanks Dad) (1:01:45) – Thanks Dad podcast & winning a Webby Award (1:05:14) – Take Your Time Back segment Thank you for listening to Take Your Time. Subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube  Follow along on Instagram and TikTok  Follow Dianna on Instagram: @diannacohen Follow Ego: @eggyboom Subscribe to Take Your Time on Substack  Find everything Take Your Time at takeyourtimeuniverse.com Recommendations and resources from this episode: Thanks, Dad: Ego's podcast on iHeart, Webby Award winner Little Brother Ego's new movie on Netflix

    Episode 006: Ego Nwodim, The One-Woman Wonder
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About

Take Your Time is a creativity podcast hosted by Dianna Cohen, founder of cult beauty brand Crown Affair. It's a show about making things, trusting your inner voice, and redefining success on your own terms.

Information

  • Creator
    Dianna Cohen
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    14
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Dianna Cohen
  • Show Website
    Take Your Time

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