Los Angeles is many things to many designers. To Rachel Zoe, the city has played an integral role in her transition from stylist to designer and media icon.

“I think there are times where I am at a huge disadvantage and then there are times when I feel so grateful that I’m here,” Zoe, an East Coast transplant, admitted. “I think it really depends on what I’m working on.”

After moving to the city 13 years ago to be closer to her styling clients, Zoe began to create a life on the left coast, slowly amassing a cult following of devout fans.

Zoe’s work-life balance in L.A. has become pivotal to her success. “In L.A., people are a little more laid back and driven by different things,” she noted. “I think they want to work really hard but have a life, too.”

That balance has Zoe enjoying weekly Sunday brunches with her family at Soho House or meals with the kids Skyler and Kaius at Au Fudge, date nights at Craigs, regular dinners at Sunset Tower, and, if she can get some time away to herself to shop, stops at Resurrection, Decades The Way We Wore. “I’ll swing by Barneys because it makes me happy,” she said.

Though she styles less these days, as Editor-in-Chief of The Zoe Report, the ever-popular purveyor of Box of Style, and designer of her namesake collection, Zoe has plenty on her plate. “When I’m in L.A., I can work really hard and have a life and go to sleep at 10 and not feel guilty that I’m missing so many events,” she said.

As for the move that brought Zoe to small screens and, as such, turned her into a remarkable media personality and celebrity in her own right, the transition was anything but intentional.

“I never planned any of it,” she contended. “My intention in my life was just to be a great stylist. Anything beyond that was just having passion for what I do and wanting to expand further on the knowledge and experience that I had over the last 20 years.”

A passion for styling meant that Zoe was essentially collaborating with other designers. “I would constantly get asked when I would have my own collection, and for a long time, I said ‘never’,” she recalled.

But timing is everything. Zoe began to think about why it made so much sense, not just to her, but to her trajectory. “One day, I said, ‘I really want to do this, I want to start creating all the things I dream of making,’” she said.

Thus was born the Rachel Zoe Collection, the brand that’s every bit influenced by the laidback city she now calls home, and her affinity for New York. “There is always going to be some element of effortless dressing in the collection, the relaxed sensibility and the bohemia, whether it’s overt or subtle,” she noted.

“L.A. has its own style and its own energy. I really consider myself to be very inspired by California and the lifestyle here and the way that I dress myself and my family. It’s just way more relaxed all the time, and that’s a very healthy way to live.”

Bohemia aside, New York still has its pull on Zoe. “So many women that I dress live in New York and on the east coast, so it can’t just be California-centric.”

As seamlessly as Zoe has inhabited the roles of stylist, designer and now media mogul, each new role has been no doubt informed by the last.

“There’s a knowledge that I have, a cumulative knowledge that I built, whether I’m aware of it or not, that I find myself constantly referencing my experience as a stylist,” she said. “If I were just starting fresh as a designer, I don’t think I’d be able to make as informed decisions as I make every day as a designer in terms of fit, what’s flattering, transparency, weight, and fabric.”

It’s this inherent understanding that continues to allow Zoe to tap into what people want, just delivering her Spring Box of Style, launching ecommerce on RachelZoe.com and no doubt planning her next media endeavor.