October 15, 2012 Bravo…
“I never said I hated Madonna! It’s Mariah Carey I don’t care for! HOLLA!”
No good deed goes unpunished. . .
Well my first season on RHONY has truly come to a close with the airing of Part 2 of the Reunion.
I felt we got into more of the drama tonight starting with Sonja’s toaster project. Ugh. So here I go. . .
Early in the season Sonja came to me and asked me for my hand in redesigning her logo and her overall branding — which soon also turned into a campaign for her toaster oven box. I agreed to help Sonja to create the logo to umbrella and encompass both her brands “Sonja in the City” and “Sonja Home” and further, I agreed to help her create a marketing campaign to put on the package of her toaster oven. I pulled together an team of experienced professionals and enlisted them along side me to help my friend, pro-bono. . .no cost to Sonja. Sonja has been going through difficult times and I believed in her toaster oven idea and felt that the successful launch of it could help see her out of some of her financial worries and toward independence with confidence!
There were many ups and downs during the process, including Sonja suddenly needing the toaster oven box immediately to house what she described as ensuing production?!? But I could never get any information out of Sonja. Questions regarding her business plans or even the vision for her said business went unanswered. I only ever heard Sonja say she had a change of heart about the working logo we chose when she insisted she had told us and we didn’t listen. There were many areas that made the process of helping Sonja arduous — we were working in a vacuum with no constructive feedback or input from her, and I still delivered exactly what I said I would. And somehow Sonja feels I owe her more?
I cared more about building a brand for Sonja than Sonja cared about building her own brand. I spent countless more hours with James, (big guns), Bernard, and Gian Andre DiStefano conceptualizing and executing it the ideas with absolutely no effort on Sonja’s part. Yet Sonja has gone on to say in her blogs that I did this not to help her but to “showcase my marketing expertise.” And, that she turned down a “Martha Stewart executive” to work with me. Oh really? Where was this executive when I tried to pull myself out of the nightmare? I can only wonder how Sonja feels “showcasing my marketing expertise,” does any good to anyone here but Sonja? Yummie by Heather Thomson is not an advertising firm and I am not in the business of producing branded campaigns. The truth is that what I did for Sonja was for Sonja. I hoped that if I could help to set Sonja up in the right direction and she would fly, but instead Sonja is still spinning in circles.
Sitting on the sofa and having her pull out those cards with her “sexy j” was not shocking , and much as it was insulting. I have more respect and appreciation for Sonja’s young fan who took an opportunity to get her graphic work out there than I gained during my entire experience with Sonja. Sadly, instead of potentially showcasing a young talent, it only went to prove how much Sonja actually “missed” during the project.
In the time that I first sat down with Sonja to help her, I have been to market in front of buyers with four new Yummie and Yummie Tummie Collections that I design (not to mention a product launch into a new classification with the introduction of my new line of leggings! #holla), and I have managed the image campaigns, the photoshoots, and the marketing that coincides with each launch, including a billboard campaign, up and running in NYC thru the holiday season.
Sonja on the other hand, sits still with an empty prototype box, waiting for its toaster oven and is still singing about her a “sexy j.” Anyone with diligence and focus could have taken the packaging and the campaign we created, gotten in front of a buying team, if not several, for tons of feedback and launched that damn toaster oven six months ago. You could have one in your kitchen right now and Sonja could be off and running with the start of her brand. But as she drones on about placements and oven mitts and tongs (all sold in different departments than a toaster btw) she is left with her delusions of grandeur, and I am left with the reality that that her toaster oven and branded campaign (with a switched out logo or not), will never again see the light of day. I do have adoration for SJM, but she doesn’t know the meaning of hard work and that getting arrested would be easier for her than staying focused — and that my friends, is a wrap!
I naturally bonded with LuAnn throughout filming RHONY this season. She is a strong, but kind lady — but like the rest of us LuAnn makes mistakes. LuAnn came to the reunion with a plan and Carole in her sights and she did not like to see me “taking sides.” But what I said on the couch was the truth. There is a lot more to St. Barths and often times in filming there are things that are best left off-camera and this comment is directed to more than one of the ladies, and I will leave it at that.
Is it me, or do most of these ladies have double standards? One set applies to them and another to everyone else. Ramona judges herself and Sonja differently than she does Aviva. Aviva makes allowances for her dad but plays the high moral card on Samonja. LuAnn lives in her own paradigm and if anything contradicts it, she doesn’t like it.
I can tell you, I tried to play it straight. Throughout the season I wanted to always live true to my own constitution. I certainly have my opinions on things and certainly took the liberty at taking swipes at some ladies in my monologues, but I tried never to “judge” the women. I tried to be true to myself and not say anything to the camera that I wouldn’t say in front of them. My goal was to be honest to both the ladies and to myself. I am very “what you see is what you get.” So, I am curious, how do you think I did overall? Did I hold up to my own standard as Season 5 is complete?
Yes it is over, but we don’t have to say goodbye!! You can still talk to me on Facebook and Twitter at @iamHeatherT because I will continue tweeting to you so please holla at me and let me know how you all are doing! This has been such an amazing experience and I have enjoyed sharing pieces of my life with you all. I love hearing from you, meeting you on the streets, and laughing together on Twitter! It’s all been #yumsatstic!
A final thank you for all the support and all the love! Until next time, my parting words…
Please, remember to visit DonateLife.net to sign up to become an organ and tissue donor. Keep checking our Yummie site for all the new great products we are adding atYummieLife.com. and remember you can receive 10 percent off your orders by using the promo code Iamheathert10 created just for this blog at check out. Stay Yummie! I will see you soon and you can Holla that!
Love,
yawn
Skidly, thank you for voicing my opinion.
Heather 2002called, they want #holla back!
@jujifruit LOL. I hated that damn saying too!
Her hair is purdy.
Idk, I didn’t like it all straight, I like her better with curls.
I does look pretty with curls too. I guess i just liked the side swept thingy. Kinda a change up from everyday straight hair.
Yes she looked purdy with this hair, and the best makeup of all the HWs
it was and is and always will be
Hee hee holla at cha gurl!
I REALLY disliked heather In the beginning. Im not a fan of any of these ladies but i thought heather overstepped with ramona off the bat. But i think heather has grown as a person this season and ill welcome her back. Didnt think id be saying that.
I liked Heather from the start because she out-Ramona’ed Ramona. How different would things be if previous NY housewives realized Ramona doesn’t like to fight with more than 1 person at a time? Heather is smart and her success makes sense. Sonja didn’t appreciate that Heather made time for her, went out of her way to help market whatever it is she’s selling-and if she did then she really is ungrateful. Nope, she doesn’t get it because she keeps bringing it up. I’d really like to see Heather back-minus the “holla.”
That was part of her storyline and the ‘job’ she did sucked nor was it what Sonja wanted, yet she has the nerve to act like some kind of mother theresa. Nobody wants a toaster oven with a naked man on the box, seriously, Sonja would have been better off without heather’s incompetent help.
If Heather is the incompetent one, I SERIOUSLY want her life. She seems to be a VERY GOOD INCOMPETENT business person, while Sonja just had to be a human mattress.
I said the job she did for Sonja was incompetent, it was laughable, but she gets to be all faux outraged by Sonya’s lack of gratitude. pffff
I can just see it, “Let’s see, toaster ovens are hot, Sonja is a slut, bingo we’ll put a naked man on the box!. I am a genius, and if Sonja doesn’t appreciate it it is because she is an ungrateful bitch”.
that’s exactly what you said….I got what you were getting at. I did notice that she wasn’t really hearing sonja and I think that was where the problem was. And we are well aware that she was doing for the exposure for herself and her team. After all she pretty much said as much when she queried “you’re never going to give me credit for this, are you?”….
have said from the first episode, carole and heather are my fav’s. yes kind of gangsta, chick,
cool girls. my opinion remains the same. heather is probably the hardest working woman on
the show w/ a child that is ill. and she does not use that. love her.
I love me some Holla Heather… She was intelligent and knows when to fight to a good fight and when to let a fool speak till everyone else notices they are listening to a fool.
Holla is fun and it makes me laugh… So… HOLLA!!!
I like Heather; Sonja went to Heather for help so anyone who thinks Heather did a poor job, you’re wrong! Sonya has very little business direction and that’s why she approached H. S should have been more gracious for the pro bono work.
Heather works. Sonja bullshits.
I started out not liking heather, but realized that her initial rambling conversation was likely just due to cameras and nerves and it ended almost before it got started. She is fun, funny, non-judgemental, rational, kind, and patient. I love that she let most things roll right off her…ie when aviva took off the jacket she saw the big picture and let it go…..The event was a success and that was all that mattered to her. Very commendable and something we don’t see much of on the HW’s.
She did the same thing in St Barths when carole planned the dinner foursome. Rather than rant and rave about it she gathered her things and went for some alone time at the beach….in other words she acted maturely….like an adult.
I have to say that I’d love it if she’d react similarly in the case of the toaster oven. She’s making it much more of an issue than need be. I think this elusive toaster and “Sonja Home” started out with a bang but I have a feeling Sonja won’t be following through with it and I have to believe that Heather knows this. Sonja is trying to get on her feet, earn a living and support her daughter, but this toaster oven was either a total ruse or just a Bravo story line. Please Heather, be the sensible one and let it go.
Yes, Heather should let it go but, evidently, she’s a perfectionist who wants whatever she touches to do well. Sadly, Sonja is such a scattered person that she’ll probably never get that toaster oven thing off the ground. And I have to agree with the poster who said she should put her time into marketing a slow cooker with recipes! I LOVE mine, been using one for years, and it’s really hard to mess up a meal in one of those
.
It’s funny how I started out not liking Heather, mostly bc of her ‘deer with a big frozen smile in the headlights’ manner of dealing with crazy loon Ramoaner. I guess that was just opening night jitters for her bc it seems that we see the real Heather now, who has turned out to be the most reasonable one of them all. That said, I find the name Yummie Tummie very annoying
.
oh that smile got to me at first too. Now I find her delightful.
Heather is awesome. It’s not so much that she’s the voice of reason (as Jill likens her); it’s that she has understandable and relatable reactions and interactions with her cast members.
Also, I can sympathize with Sonja and her divorce, feeling sidelined in life and wanting to remake herself. That feels like a real struggle. I also adore the flirty and slightly ditzy Sonja, who underneath it all, is actually a caretaker and solid friend. What I don’t admire and where she completely lost me as a fan, are her delusions of grandeur and lack of perspective. Sonja is not “trying to get on her feet”; this woman apparently owns her own brownstone in the the Upper East Side of NYC and has a house in France. She is paid child support for her daughter (which debatably is not enough to sustain the living standard she believes she is entitled to). And she is salaried by the RH franchise anywhere between $10,000 – $50,000 and episode (that’s 20 episodes total gang this season – minimally, she grossed $200,000). Let’s be real here.
Heather is not letting go because Sonja is not letting go. Whether Heather did a good job or not is irrelevant ultimately. She provided professional level service gratis, and Sonja was unable to meet her at that standard (i.e. unprepared, late, lack of clarity of deadlines and purposing of branding) AND elicit a proper gratitude. And the biggest slap in the face ends on the last episode of a reunion show, when Sonja has every opportunity now to say, “Thank you for your efforts on my behalf. There were many bumps in the road and we didn’t always agree. But I know that you were a friend and you did a lot of work for me.” Instead, she chose this as an opportunity to prove that she wasn’t “heard” in this process and therefore she was right all along about having a “sexy J.” The level of ingratitude displayed by Sonja was only overshadowed later in the evening by Jill Zarin in WWHL.
Sonja is not beyond redemption, but Heather was a solid friend.
Hey Ray….do you know how much child support she actually receives? I’m just curious. I’m thinking, strictly from the perspective of my own finances that 200G’s isnt much in NY…. I don’t know, but I’m speculating. Do you happen to live in NY? YOu always seem to have more information than the avg viewer.
oh, and after the Jill interview everyone’s looking pretty darn good. for the life of me I can’t figure out how she thought anything she said made sense. Her brain has seriously faulty wiring…..she really believes anyone boycotted the show bc she was fired???!!??
Sonja was definitely ungrateful towards heather, unacceptable. And she needs to downsize ASAP , anyhoo her house is unattractive……..MOVE.
$200,000 per year Is very nice child support by NYC standards. Tom cruise has much more money than $100 million Morgan and he pays $400,000 a year. A normal comfortable family would get $50,0000 per year in child support. Where is this $200,000 figure coming from?
oh no gf…i wasnt clear. the 200 g’s was in ref to ray’s comment about how much she makes per episode would equal 200 g’s. I don’t know how much she gets in child support but ray might know
Hi @cherrylipgloss and @Girlfriend. I don’t know any more than the average viewer, but I do live in NYC. $200,000 annum is a decent salary and you can live very comfortable in Manhattan with that kind of money. That being said, there are a lot of people who make a lot more than that. NYC is an incredibly expensive place to live, particularly if you want to live like Sonja Morgan. Her townhouse is likely worth 8-15 million dollars (NOT kidding), if not more. Morgan money is no joke!
How much money is Sonja getting for child support? I have no idea. I imagine it’s probably a good sum that allows for the daughter to have private education, plenty of clothes and food and probably additional income for her interests/endeavors/travels. What it probably does not entail is for Sonja to afford the cost of her home(s), vacation money and party-throwing money. And losing a case that now requires her to cough up $7M, must exacerbates her finances surely. The fact that she didn’t settle is worrisome. It’s pretty rare for cases to be decisive in favor to one party in such an extreme amount of money. Whatever she did to screw up her film company, she screwed up big time.
Look, it’s like @girlfriend wrote: sell your brownstone, Sonja. Move into a 3br co-op doorman building that’ll cost likely in the $2-3M range. Put some money aside for your retirement years and so that you are not dependent on Bravo or a toaster oven to get you out of debt. Make sure your daughter is taken care of and goes to college. And since you maybe have 1 or 2 more seasons left of RHONY, get as much PR as you can out of this and make sure you start planting seeds for a post-RHONY life: maybe tour for a year or two around the world doing speaking and autograph engagements. The RHONY is only just being discovered in other countries right now, you’re ahead of the curve and can plan a media strike still. Maybe pose for Playboy (a la Kelly Bensimon); you certainly have a liberating sense of sexuality. And stop pretending you are a real event planner (you’re not; real event planners who plan high-end private events work to the bone); instead, prop yourself up as a hostess that can draw the “right” type of people to an event. Market to your strengths and don’t aspire to be someone you’re incapable of embodying.
Sigh. I totally went on a tangent. Apologies. I’m traveling for work this week and airports are boring as heck. But I hope I addressed some of the questions (in my limited expertise).
You did, Ray, and beautifully. I hope that Ms. Morgan reads it and takes your honest and kind words to heart.
Sound advice. Look ladies….if you are fortunate enough to hook a dude with that kind of bank…..stick some away each month. Tell nobody. These wealthy men are wealthy egos to match. If you can keep the marriage, good for you. Im betting statistics are not on your side. And by the time the whole thing goes to court, ypu may be living in moms basement. Stop living it up and think of your future and your kids. Thses men have lots of cash to keep you tied up in court for years. What will you do in the meantime? Open an account in some faraway place. And if your marriage lasts, at eighty eight years old in a nursing home, tell him about the account and have a good laugh together. You beat the odds.
more good advice. love the idea of stashing cash….something most ppl dont like to think of when times are good….but be realistic
That is good advice, but as her hubby was JP Morgan, I bet it would be difficult to hide much. I’m sure he knew where she was and what she was spending at all times. And I’m sure his legal team would get full disclosure of her assets.
Thanks Ray and one thing that you mentioned deserves more attention. When you said that Sonja should downsize and buy a less expensive home is so true. Divorcees often want and come away from a divorce with thefamily home without realizing what a huge added expense it is in taxes, insurance, general upkeep and very often repairs. Repairs that sometimes are so expensive that they can deplete savings or if left unattended can lead to further expenses. It appears Sonja is experiencing this since she has yet to fix extensive hurricane damage. I have friends in the same situation…everything that comes in goes back into the house and they still cant keep up. Selling the home and downsizing can be the best way to go. Less def is more.
Exactly. This brownstone is clearly in need of a lot repair (i.e. toilets, hurricane damage). And frankly, she doesn’t even need to own for now. She can rent for a couple of years. She could likely even rent something nicer than she could own outright, if maintaining an air of luxury is so important to her. I think we’d all enjoy Sonja more, if it didn’t constantly feel like she was on the verge of losing it all.
RE: Jill Zarin
Jill may want to spin what happened on WWHL as some sort of success story of redemption, but at the core of it all, she knows all she did was throw the last bits of her fuel into the fire… she shined bright last night, but she burnt to a crisp now.
I predict that her daughter is getting a lot of grief at Vanderbilt (she should not have mentioned the school her kid is attending now; she made her a target). 20 year olds in big universities are a snarky bunch and they smell blood now. I predict she will see an upswing in 4th quarter sales for her jewelry; but it won’t carry much into next year because her name isn’t enough to carry a fashion accessory line. People may want to aspire to have Jill Zarin money; but I don’t think enough folks aspire for Jill Zarin’s “look.” I think she may have negatively impacted her faux-spanx line. She mistakenly compared herself to Heather, and frankly, Heather looks and is a better woman for it. Yummy Tummie is going to get the good PR from all of this. I predict she is going to grab a few more headlines in the days and weeks to come, especially in the NYC social scene. But I bet the folks are now gunning to take her down. We will see pictures of fashion mistakes, her tripping on a sidewalk, speculation that her husband is cheating on her etc. It’s going to turn ugly on Jill Zarin more than it will truly benefit her.
And I predict that Jill Zarin will think all of this is great. Because she truly subscribes to the belief that *all* publicity is good publicity. And I predict this hubris will cost her in a real way, maybe with loss of friends or family, maybe loss of money… but it will ultimately hurt her. And I predict she wil continue to lack the grace and dignity to understand that she did this to herself.
I liked Heather from the get-go…I guess partly because she went toe to toe with the Ramonster & didnt back down & gave it right back to R (even made alot more sense!) If Sonja doesnt see how disrespectful she was being during the entire process of her toaster oven branding/logo, then she is CRAZY! Heather & the team did a wonderful job & if Sonja wanted a “sexy J” & Heather wasnt showing her 1, Sonja should have googled it (just like she told Heather that her fans had done) & brought it to the next meeting. It kind of makes me wonder how computer savvy Sonja is….is that why she has interns? She did say they did her blog (not the Bravo) for her…hmmm. Seriously though, why does she need all those interns?????? I think its a little inapproriate for them 2b sleeping in the bed with her. She is supposed to be a mentor and/or show them how a business works etc NOT show them which vitamins help her go to the bathroom better. Maybe she has interns because they partly remind her of her old life & of course, they are free! I still cant see college students getting credit for “working”for Sonja…better hope the college professors dont watch RHONY.
As the season went on, I really liked Heather the best. She has a good heart, chooses her battles & calls it like she sees it plus she admits when she’s wrong unlike Ramona! It was good to see atleast 1 of all the housewives be brutally honest but still remain friends with the women. I really applaud her for the help she gave Sonja & for telling her to her face she wouldnt know what hard work was.
1 thing I cant stand about most of the HWs is when they hint at discretions or things that wasnt aired but says they’ll leave it at that-Come on now…dont leave us hanging! Sheesh!
I could be wrong but I thought sonja did have the sexy j example with her…it was used on her original logo
I agree with Heather. It was Sonya’s responsibility to be there every step of the way, adding input and direction. Art designers and marketing professionals need direction. They frequently will head off where you don’t want them to go if you don’t provide proper and constant feedback. I could totally picture Sonya being aloof and MIA during the dev. process when she needs to be the most involved. You can just tell someone to run with something so personal and expect it to be exactly what you want. Feedback..just like Heather said. I hope they bring her back next year. I wish NJ had someone like Heather. Heather is a Lisa of BH to me.
Yes. Creativity in a professional environment does not occur in a vacuum! There are meetings and endless feedback rotations. Sonja wanted someone else to do the work, but to have final approval to say, Yes/No. This does not make her some incompetent fool, but to claim that there are solid deadlines and manufacturing requirements that are later proven false…. well, that pretty much does.
theres something about sonja that seems a bit dissociative which I think does cause her to lose focus…perhaps thats why she elicited the help of heather who has an excellent work ethic. I understand heathers frustration, but I don’t think sonja is a bad person….just not the right personality type to run her own business.
Nobody cares about the DAM box, give it a rest already!
Heather cares deeply about that box, it is the fruit of her creative genius.