No Really, This Is How to Find and Land Your Dream Job

In December 2023, Biles rocked a custom puffer jacket with her husband’s (former Green Bay Packers safety Jonathan Owens) number on it, handmade and shipped by Juszcyzk herself. It’s still a pinch-me moment for the fashion designer. “I’m pretty sure Simone was the first person to ever wear any of my designs. I DM’ed her and was like, ‘Please, let me make you something!’” Juszczyk says in an exclusive interview with Brit + Co. “She is so incredible and so sweet, and she was so great in the process. She trusted me with a ton of creative freedom.”

Like her husband, San Francisco 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk, Kristin crushed the 2023 football season. Niners fans have been familiar with her style game for years, but when Taylor Swift sported a custom 87 jacket to Travis Kelce’s game on Jan. 13, Juszczyk’s fashion career skyrocketed into a brand new era.

Juszcyzk’s lifelong love of fashion first manifested itself in 2018. The budding designer founded an online clothing boutique called Origin, which sold everything from knitted sets to hoop earrings to studded jeans. (If 2018 were a brand, it’d be Origin.) “That was where I got my feet wet. I really enjoyed every second of it, but it got to a point where I felt like I lacked the ability to be creative,” Juszczyk reflects. The brand’s Instagram account and website went quiet in late 2021.

But just because Origin shut down doesn’t mean that Juszcyzk’s drive to design did. As she searched for her next venture, she started DIY-ing her own NFL merch to wear to her husband’s games. We’re not talking about screen-printed tees here. Juszcyzk’s rocked up to Levi’s Stadium in custom leather jackets, a jersey reworked into a cropped corset, and a red-hot blazer/skirt combo. Her unique designs caught Biles’s and Swift’s attention, as well as that of Brittany Mahomes, Taylor Lautner, and Olivia Culpo, just to name a few of Juszcyzk’s celebrity clients.

Every piece Juszcyzk designs is completely personalized to its owner. “I always take a look at the person’s Instagram and what they like to wear. I want to make sure I follow their vibe so that they feel confident in my design,” she reveals.

She also considers the weather the piece will be worn in — a lesson she learned the hard way. “When I made that puffer vest for Simone, I didn’t even put two and two together that it was gonna be 30 degrees and snowing. I should have put sleeves on it! I’m still learning,” she says. (Not that Simone minded. On the day of Super Bowl LVIII, the gold medalist tweeted, “I want the 49ers to win just because it’s Kristin Juszczyk’s birthday.”)

Juszcyzk is now an official licensee of the NFL, which means that she’s one step closer to working with her dream clients: the fans. She says, “One-off pieces are obviously not accessible to people, and making them is very time-consuming and labor-intensive. I want my designs to be more accessible to everybody, you know? There’s a huge demand for fresh designs, especially for girls, and I want the fans to have them.”

Before football starts back up in September, Kristin and Kyle have been making the most of the off-season at home with their adorable Samoyeds, Mozzarella and Pierogi. In between competing for Purina treats, Mozzie and Rogi are keeping their mom company as she gathers inspiration for her Fall ‘24 designs. She shares, “I’m so excited to show people some new silhouettes and also to push my boundaries and come up with something new every week.”

As for whether we’re going to see another Simone Biles and KJD collab soon? “Her husband’s on a different team now, so I’ll have to make her something new!” Juszczyk says.

How To End A Love Story follows Helen Zhang and Grant Shepard, who reconnect after a tragic accident 13 years ago changed their lives forever. In honor of Yulin's partnership with Maison Louis Jadot, I sat down to talk about the author, screenwriter, and director's favorite book & wine pairings (like Natalie Sue's I Hope This Finds You Well & Pouilly-Fuissé and Betty Corrello's Summertime Punchline & Bourgogne Blanc). And that includes the drinks her characters would go for.

According to Yulin, Helen would love the Beaujolais-Villages ("She's a little bit formal, she talks about how she feels like she was raised by old Victorian Ghosts"), while Grant would gravitate to the Macon-Villages, a personal favorite of Yulin's.

"My friends came over and we poured it and we were just having our own little wine sampling, which I do recommend," she says. "I feel like it's fun to have two different wines, and instantly you've elevated your gathering."

No dinner party is complete without a charcuterie board, and Yulin's perfect spread includes nuts, meats, and cheeses. "Something with rosemary and salt," she says after thinking for a moment. "I love a truffle nut. It's a good source of flavors and kind of a light protein so it feels kind of healthy. Apricots are great. And then I love a meat spread as well. So any kind of pepperoni, salami. And then yeah, I love any kind of cheese that has a hint of garlic, which I know makes me like less kissable."

In addition to creating the ultimate book and wine list, Yulin has been diving into hobbies that cultivate her creativity. Bridgerton reminded her how much she loves to embroider, while she's also found time to figure skate. She's been revisiting classic novels, old movies, and just "going back to the things that first made me fall in love with romance."

"I started subscribing to magazines because I found that everything that was coming to me was coming to me through an algorithm and I didn't mind that it was curated, but I wanted it to be curated by a human," she continues. "So sometimes when I feel like I've been staring at screens for too long, I shut everything off and then I start painting and I just paint using references from magazines."

While the celebration for her first novel is far from over, Yulin Kuang is also looking to the future — and the two Emily Henry books she's adapting: Beach Read (on which she's writer and director) and People We Meet On Vacation (which she wrote the screenplay for).

"I am pretty focused on Beach Read at the moment," she says. "I truly believe that art belongs to the audience once it's out in the world. And so saying too much, it feels prescriptive, you know? So I hope they enjoy it. I hope that they know that a lot of care is going into the adaptations. I remember what it's like to be watching with anxious hearts about the announcements of all my favorite adaptations. And so that's the main thing. I hope they know that I really, really care."

I got to sit down with Emily Henry ahead of the release of her 2023 hit Happy Place, and was immediately enchanted by the author. "She really is that person," Yulin says about Emily. "She is so warm and charming and wonderful. And she's the dream collaborator when it comes to this because you kind of want somebody who understands the art and understands that the book is a book and the movie is a movie."

"When you transport art into another medium, it has to be able to take root in the soil and bloom into its own thing," she continues. "We're creating different vineyards. And so I think there's some natural anxiety going into that for the first time because it's like, 'Oh, well, is this gonna go well? Will they like what we've done?' And Emily has just been such a fantastic collaborator in that regard."

But Beach Read and People We Meet On Vacation aren't the only projects we'll see from Yulin Kuang in the future. "I do have another indie feature that I'm currently working on," Yulin shares. "It's called Filthy and it's with Adam Scott and Naomi Scott's production company. I'm very excited about that one. It's set in the world of audio porn and it's about a couple that's trying to decide if they're ready to have kids. And then the wife discovers that her husband is secretly an audio porn star, and they have like a sexy little affair."

"In the book space, I've been working on book two," she continues. "What I can say is book two has proved so much harder to write than book one. And I kind of have a mistress book too. I do this thing where, for some reason, I need to have a main project and then eventually a mistress will develop and then I'll kind of work on the two and see which one is gonna actually make it across the finish line. It keeps things exciting for me."

Where did Reese Witherspoon share her book announcement?

Reese Witherspoon shared the news with eager fans on Instagram by posting a photo of herself smiling next to Harlan Coben. Based on their wide grins, they seem eager to be able to share this secret. We're only calling it that because there's no way we could've predicted Reese would be one-half of a writing duo next year!

She said, "To say I am a fan of Harlan’s body of work is a massive understatement… the fact that he found my idea for this thriller intriguing enough to want to partner with me on it as co-author is a dream becoming a reality," (via The Hollywood Reporter). Harlan followed up with, "Be it acting, producing, creating and even book-club selecting, Reese’s instincts about storytelling across all media are unrivaled."

Authors Lucy Foley and Stacy Lee both expressed excitement with both of them expressing how much they "can't wait to read" the upcoming book.

What's the book about?

Since the book won't be published until next fall, details aren't readily available. We can suspect that it'll be a mystery or thriller book based on Harlan Coben's previous body of work. Still, we can't wait to devour what's sure to be a gripping story!

Is it available for preorder? 

Sort of! The official cover for Reese and Harlan's book hasn't been released yet, so fans will have to imagine what to expect in the mean time. You can preorder it now if you're not one to judge a book by it's cover!

How many books has Harlan Coben written?

New York Times bestselling author Harlen Coben has written 32 books that have over 80 million copies in print (via Harlan Coben). He has two more books on the way, including the title he's writing with Reese Witherspoon. In order, the books are:

• Play Dead
• Miracle Cure
  
• Deal Breaker
  
• Drop Shot
  
• Fade Away
  
• Back Spin
  
• One False Move
  
• The Final Detail
  
• Darkest Fear
  
• Tell No One
  
• Gone For Good
• No Second Chance
• Just One Look
• Innocent
• Promise Me
• The Woods
• Hold Tight
• Long Lost
• Caught
• Live Wire
• Shelter
• Stay Close
• Seconds Away
• Six Years
• Missing You
• Found
• The Stranger
• Fool Me Once
• Home
• Don't Let Go
• Run Away
• The Boy From the Woods
• I Will Find You
• Think Twice

Upcoming Books

• Nobody's Fool (March 25, 2025)
• Novel with Reese Witherspoon(Fall 2025)

Have any of Harlan Coben's work been adapted for TV or film?

Yes! Harlan Coben's books have been adapted into several TV series. Here's a full list of them!

• Fool Me Once
• Shelter
• Hold Tight
• Stay Close
• Gone for Good
• The Innocent
• The Woods
• The Stranger
• Safe
• The Five
• Just One Look
• No Second Chance
• Tell No One

Will Reese and Harlan's book be adapted for TV?

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the answer is yes! We can only imagine who will be cast as main characters in what's sure to be an exciting read.