What’s something about you no one would guess from the outside?

Episode Six with Pedro Abreu

After a summer break, The Confession Book returns with an episode close to my heart. This week I sat down with Pedro Abreu, someone I first met during my years at Barneys. Pedro was our men’s fragrance manager, though that title barely captures the fullness of who he is—an artist, photographer, father, and deeply genuine human being.

What struck me then, and still today, is the steadiness Pedro carried in an industry often defined by chaos and performance. He balanced his artist’s spirit with integrity and presence, qualities that grounded everyone around him. In this conversation, we explore what lies beneath the surface: the shy layers that most people wouldn’t guess, the way relationships and the separating of them, reshaped his sense of self, and the joy he’s found in himself, and the people around him.

As always, we begin with one question.

Listen to the full episode

From the Conversation

Michelle: What’s something about you no one would guess from the outside?

Pedro: That I’m an extremely shy person. Believe it or not, I’ll be the guy standing in the corner at a party, not talking to anyone unless I know someone there. People on the train would see me every day and never say anything. I’d smile, and suddenly it was, “Oh my God, he actually smiles. He’s not mean at all.”

Michelle: That’s so interesting, because shy isn’t the first word I’d think of for you. But hearing you describe it, it makes sense. I always saw you more as being very observant—like you were taking it all in before showing more of yourself.

Pedro: Exactly. Inside I’m still nervous, even when I’m smiling. That part never really goes away.

After the Conversation

What is your biggest extravagance? Making it this far in an industry I never intended to be part of. My passion was to be the best visual designer for department store windows. I did it for eight years, but I caught the eye of a manager in the beauty industry who begged me to go for an interview—and here I am.

What do you value most in your friends? Their time. Life happens, and we tend to get caught up in everything—but spending time with friends matters most.

What was the last…

Song you listened to: Innerbloom by Rufus

Book you read: Finding God

Show you watched: Wednesday. My friend forced me to watch it with him. Thinking about it, she kinda looks like you!

Last Thoughts...

What stays with me most after this conversation is how someone I’ve always known to embody integrity and openness shared that he reminds himself to smile—so that those around him feel at ease. It’s a reminder that no matter how we may seem to others, we are all still navigating layers of shyness, self-consciousness, and vulnerability.

Pedro also made me reflect on how often we are perceived through the lens of others; through their projections, expectations, or even passing judgments, without anyone knowing the quiet, shy qualities that might live within us. Sometimes we end up wearing those perceptions like a second skin until a moment of genuine connection gives us the space to show how we truly feel at our core.

This has been one of the most fascinating threads running through The Confession Book: the way we hold perceptions of one another, and even of ourselves, and how conversation becomes a sort of deconstruction. Time and again, I’m struck by how these exchanges allow the person in front of me to feel seen—sometimes in ways that hadn’t been expressed before, while also inviting me to reconsider the lens I bring into our interactions.