Bailey Cuzner

1. If you had to begin a different career, what would you do?
I would be a writer. 100%. Either something journalistic, or write memoirs.

2. What’s your most prized possession?
A tiny gold ring that I wear on my right hand. My mother gave it to me and and her mother gave it to her. I absolutely never take it off.

3. Favorite drink?
Sweet peach iced tea.

4. What does your typical day look like?
Wake up around 6 a.m., take a walk through the neighborhood with my fiancé and some coffee, then head to yoga or The 12, back home for a quick breakfast (always eggs and toast), then start on emails around 8:30 a.m. I usually have a few meetings sprinkled throughout the day either with businesses or charities and then focus on client work in the afternoons. I typically am home around 6 p.m. to make dinner – I love sampling new recipes, and then sadly am in bed around 9:30 p.m.!

5. Fantasy purchase?
A lake house. Almost any lake will do.

6. What can’t you live without?
Pasta and kisses.

7. What’s next on your “to do” list?
I’m redesigning a grant giving campaign for a local business where we have non-profits apply to get funding from them every year. I need to update our process so that this year it’s even more efficient for both the company and the organizations.

8. Biggest regret?
I’d love to say that I’m a “no regrets” person, but I’m actually more of a “everything happens for a reason gal”. I regret not spending more time with my grandparents before they passed away, and I regret not learning how to ride horses from my parents when I was young.

9. Cause that you’re most interested/involved in?
I try not to play favorites since it’s a bit of a conflict of interest for me. I’m constantly searching for unique, and well-run non-profits to link up with my small business clients, so I try to spread the love where I can. But the causes my heart really goes towards are in helping veterans, hunger, and neglect of animals or children.

10. Your dream day in Orange County?
My dream day in OC would be filled with adventure and some outlandishness… I would start the day waking up at a hotel in Laguna on the beach. I would go for a run on the beach with my fiancé and then head to The Ranch in Laguna Beach for breakfast with him because that is our soon-to-be wedding venue, and well that just makes me want to be there constantly! I would then fit in a yoga class at Ekam on PCH with Dani Carroll (she’s my absolute favorite teacher in OC). I would get some green juice from anywhere and then hop in a helicopter and fly over to Catalina (I’ve actually never been). I would explore the island, have lunch and drinks picnic style on a hill and then head down to listen to live music on the beach into the evening. We would take a speed boat back to Newport where the fiancé and I would meet our friends for dinner at A Restaurant, and finish it all off with a wild night cap at La Cave where there’s more music so we can all dance.

11. Favorite place for breakfast?
My kitchen! I swear I make the best breakfast burritos in OC (sorry Rose’s!), but if we are eating out you can find us at Mariner’s Café down on PCH and
Riverside, which is a total hidden gem. Or when I’m treating myself I get the best bagel ever at C’est Si Bon with a chai latte that will knock your socks off.

12. What was the best day of your life?
The day I got engaged.

13. Last concert that you went to?
Jason Aldean and Florida Georgia Line – country music for life!

14. Favorite vacation spot?
I haven’t found it yet! But of the vacations I’ve taken, Croatia was the most beautiful and different.

15. If you had to live somewhere else, where would you like to move?
The South! I’d move sight unseen tomorrow to Tennessee, North Carolina, Texas, or Louisiana. Anywhere with that famous Southern culture and some good storms would be fun to experience.

16. Favorite books?
"The Sun Also Rises" is my #1 favorite so far, but I recently read "The Boys in the Boat" and loved that too. I’m mainly reading business books – "Conscious Capitalism" is a MUST! It’s the bible for my business.

17. Favorite restaurants in Orange County?
Mama D’s, Bluewater Grill, A Restaurant, El Matador, Bear Flag.

18. Biggest accomplishment?
Starting my company, Abel Impact.

19. What’s your biggest fear?
Not living up to my potential.

20. Secret most people don’t know about you?
I love to hunt and fish with my family and try out wild game recipes.