Credit: Wes Eddy/startraksphoto
Katie Maloney is feeling the pressure to open her West Hollywood sandwich shop, Something About Her, which she’ll share with Ariana Madix.
During a podcast appearance last week, the Vanderpump Rules star, 36, opened up about the struggles of her business, addressed its opening date, and shared what it’s like working with Ariana, 38, while also dishing on dating and the season 11 premiere.
Although Katie said she had “no idea” when the new episodes will begin airing on the September 21 episode of Almost Adulting, host Violet Benson said she was told by “[Scheana Shay]’s team” that it will premiere “definitely next year.”
“It’s usually sometime in the beginning of the year,” Katie replied.
Since her 2022 divorce from Tom Schwartz, 40, Katie has been dating — but not doing so with overwhelming success. Still, after joking that dating is “a real joy,” Katie said she’s allowed herself to become “more open and vulnerable” recently.
“[That] was a huge turning point because I’ve had mini heartbreaks along the way,” she shared.
One particular heartbreak was felt after Katie embarked on a long-distance romance.
“There’s somebody that I was building a connection with and he doesn’t live here so it’s like, the phone is paramount in building that connection and the pacing in which we spoke just kind of changed drastically and I was like, ‘I miss your voice.’ And he was like, ‘I’ll call you later.’ And he didn’t. And I was like, ‘Well, if you wanted to you would have and you didn’t,’” she revealed. “If this is what you’re telling me I can expect from you, what is gonna change tomorrow or next week? I don’t wanna play these games. I’m not the f*cking one you’re gonna run around with and do this sh*t with. I’m not 25-years-old.”
According to Katie, who confirmed she is not using dating apps, she doesn’t understand what’s happening in today’s dating landscape.
“People that are going on dates and actively dating and acting as if they want to date the f*ck out of you but then turn around and say, ‘I’m not looking for anything serious.’ It’s like, ‘Listen, I’m not trying to wife you up to these guys but like what are we doing? I’m not proposing marriage to you or asking you to move in or asking you to be my boyfriend. But why are you wasting my time?’” she wondered. “It always feels like this epic waste of time.”
What’s not a waste of time is that which she’s spent with Pump Rules co-star and her co-owner of Something About Her, Ariana.
“Ariana and I, we’ve gotten closer over time and through this process,” she admitted of opening their sandwich shop. “Like what she just went through obviously this person year, but we work really well together. We’re kinda the same person in how we make decisions and we meet on the same page often so it’s actually been a really positive experience.”
But while Katie and Ariana have gotten along fittingly, they’ve faced a number of road blocks as they’ve attempted to open the doors of their new venue.
When asked about the “hardest thing” of opening Something About Her, Katie said there’s not just one thing.
“This is something that neither myself or Ariana had done before so the whole thing was a learning curve and we really wanted to learn each step of the process and we worked with consultants to begin with, which was great. You learn the whole investment process, which was like another language and then just learn the budgeting of it all,” she shared. “Not going to business school, it’s really difficult to understand the numbers and how it all breaks down over time. Where do you even begin? You’re standing there looking up at this giant mountain and you’re like, ‘Where do I begin?’ It can be very overwhelming.”
Amid the process, Katie admitted she hates to be asked, “When is the sandwich shop opening?”
“I know people are excited and they want to come and I know they mean well and they are excited and I know why they’re asking and it makes me excited in that there’s interest there so of course I love that people are asking but it’s like I don’t have an answer,” she explained. “It is stressful because it’s a reminder to me that it’s not there yet.”
Although Katie doesn’t have a concrete date, she said it will be open “soon.”
“This year sometime,” she teased.
In the meantime, Katie said she could be better.
“I feel very anxious and stressed. I feel like there’s a lot of pressure right now,” she said. “Trying to open up a business is no joke. So much is not up to you. If it was all up to me and I could snap my fingers and make it all happen, I would. There’s just so many hoops to jump through and things just feel like, impossible at times and so many things that you can’t foresee and you can only prepare for so much. We were definitely prepared for there to be obstacles and difficult times and for it not to go according to planned. But there are so many things you can’t prepare for. Once you get to it, you’re like, ‘What do I do?’ And you feel helpless at times. You just feel stuck. You don’t know how to get yourself past it.”
“You just gotta like remain hopefully I guess and trust the process and trust that the universe is gonna have your back,” she added.
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