Angie Martinez returns with a powerful new season of IRL, kicking things off with an emotional and deeply insightful conversation with longtime friend and business mogul Loren Ridinger. As the CEO of Market America Worldwide and Shop.com, Loren has spent decades building a billion-dollar empire. But in this episode, she shares a more personal side of her journey—grappling with the devastating loss of her husband and business partner, J.R. Ridinger, and learning to navigate life in the aftermath.
Her new book, Scrambled or Sunny Side Up, serves as a guide to resilience, self-discovery, and finding purpose through life’s hardest moments. In her chat with Angie, Loren opens up about grief, entrepreneurship, parenting, and the philosophy that continues to drive her forward.
Losing J.R. was a life-altering moment, but Loren shares how she pushes through the pain every day. She describes allowing herself 30 minutes of nightly tears before choosing to “get up anyway.” Learning to run both her life and business alone has been a difficult transition, but she remains committed to moving forward with purpose.
Loren reflects on how she and J.R. built Market America from the ground up, launching in 1992 and reaching $100 million in revenue by 1996. Today, the company employs 900 people and continues to help aspiring entrepreneurs break into e-commerce. Despite her personal struggles, she’s still evolving—currently taking six AI courses a week to ensure she stays ahead of the game.
For Loren, money has never been the driving force. She sees herself as a “custodian” of wealth, believing it’s meant to be used to uplift others. She shares that J.R. remained humble despite success, and that their real mission was about creating opportunities and making a multi-generational impact. In a heartbreaking moment, she admits, “I’d give it all back just to have him here.”
One of the most profound moments of the episode is Loren recounting a lesson J.R. taught her on their second date—a trip to a cemetery. There, he pointed to a tombstone and told her to focus not on the birth and death dates, but on the dash in between. His message? What matters is how you live the time in between—don’t let anyone or anything limit you.
With Scrambled or Sunny Side Up, Loren hopes to help others discover their best selves despite hardship. The book explores resilience, reinvention, and the importance of choosing your outlook on life, no matter the circumstances.
