Dinner and Conversation with Cabi Clothing
Early last week I was invited to attend a really cool event hosted by cabi clothing and MomTrends in Venice Beach, CA. It was an intimate night to bring women entrepreneurs together for an evening with dinner and conversation. It was also my first experience learning about the products, business and heart of cabi. Spoiler alert: it was awesome.
This is a sponsored post. All opinions and rad memories are my own.
If you follow MomTrends on Instagram, you know that she loves her cabi clothing. It’s how I first learned of the company, which features classic, tailored pieces at a reasonable price. At least that’s what I gathered from quickly looking at the site.
I’m so grateful to have been invited to this amazing dinner which allowed me to not only get to see more of their pieces in person (and see how different people styled the same piece) but I also got to learn about what sets cabi apart from other clothing brands and how they are changing lives.
The executives from cabi were all so warm and friendly and more importantly, crazy passionate about what they do. They shared some company history, future plans for the brand but they were also excited to hear more about us and what we do as bloggers.
The dinner was held at Feastly in Venice, CA (if you are unfamiliar with Feastly – check them out! It’s a really cool dining concept!). The tables were dressed beautifully and the space was absolutely gorgeous. The details of the table were gorgeously coordinated and I couldn’t wait to sit and enjoy a delicious meal with my new friends.
Cabi generously offered items to each of the attendees to wear to the event. Awesome, right? That was my first time visiting their website and checking it out. I saw several items that I liked, but since I’ve never tried this brand before, I was worried about ordering them just to find them not fitting correctly.
I stuck with fairly safe pieces (I NEVER order pants online) and ended up with this Prudence Top, the Athena Sandal and the St. Tropez Necklace. The items arrived at my house in a cute branded box and packaged well. The jewelry came in a gift box and I couldn’t wait to try everything on.
I loved the pattern mixing on theses Athena sandals. They trim around the sole is a small floral print. It was such a cool detail, it’s part of the reason I wanted to wear these. Turns out, they are SUPER comfortable.
I wore them, for the first time, to the event and I was never uncomfortable. I can’t wait to check out more of their shoes. They seem really well made, like they’ll last for many seasons and they are on trend.
While I loved the pieces that I picked, I definitely got envious of a lot of the other cabi clothing pieces I saw on other guests! I immediately fell in love with this nautical blazer, this great black playsuit, the easy topper which I would wear ALL the time, and the matinee top.
The more I learned about the clothes from some of the other gals (who are regular cabi shoppers), the more I learned about the unique and special details of the clothes. The nautical blazer features cute gold buttons with anchors on them and have blue and white striped cuffs that you can wear or zip off for two totally different looks.
The black playsuit is not connected in the back so you can easily go to the restroom without getting fully naked (one of the reasons I hate to wear jumpsuits!). Seeing the clothes in person was such a great way to get a feel for the materials, the quality and the style of the clothes.
When you are shopping online it can be hard to tell what the material will feel and drape like, or what a small pattern really looks like.
Nicole Feliciano of MomTrends is someone I met ages ago when I was first starting my blogging journey. Even back then, she was organizing influencer events, working with top brands and being a total mom boss. Last year she wrote a book, Mom Boss, about balancing work life when you have kids and want to have success.
So far I’ve only read the foreward (written by Kimberly Inskeep, President of cabi). I am already in love. Nicole is all about staying true to her values, building meaningful relationships and empowering those around her. Which is why the partnership with MomTrends and cabi is a perfect match.
Over the course of the night, we got to hear from the executives within cabi. And very quickly I learned that cabi is unlike any other clothing company around. With a background in fashion, CEO Lynne Cote (the pants she has on the in pic above are a sneak peek from next season – I’m obsessed – they have a little bit of edge and are totally my style!) was able to share with us why cabi works in todays digital age and how it’s so much more than just clothes.
Since the company sent me the clothes, I was unaware that you don’t buy them for yourself online. Instead, you buy through a corporate trained “stylist” who brings the clothes to you via an in home party. This party is less Tupperware and more like having your own personal boutique. And it hit me. All the pain points I had had when trying to pick out clothes to wear to the event, would have been handled by purchasing from my personal stylist.
I could have felt the materials, found what size worked for me and would have learned about all the little details of the clothes that aren’t readily apparent by just quickly browsing the site.
How cute is President, Kimberly Inskeep (Her blouse is another sneak peek)?! As one of the founders of cabi, she was really able to convey just how the company got started and why it’s so special. Born of a desire to create a better shopping environment while also providing more flexible job opportunities to women who wanted family AND success, cabi has always and will continue to focus on the relationships between employees, consumers and sytlists.
The company strives to help women feel great about themselves and provide an opportunity for other women to create their own business. It’s a huge idea and one that has allowed them to find success over the last 16 years. Kimberly Inskeep is also the Chief Culture Officer.
As I could tell from just the few hours with the team, employee happiness is super important and she’s made it part of her job to keep the core values of the company in tact as they continue to grow. I LOVE this!
Each course of our dinner was accompanied by a thought-provoking question about social media, relationship or another relevant theme that aligns with the goals of MomTrends and cabi. I loved how creative that was!
Since this dinner was so small (3 tables of 8 girls with about half of those being cabi executives) it created an intimate environment to converse and really get to know about the lives of the people at the table. It allowed us to talk about our own journeys as entrepreneurs and learn more about what cabi has up their sleeves. It was really cool.
Finally, we heard from Nicole (wearing the Cha Cha Maxi). She spoke about being present and creating meaningful relationships since those are really the most valuable thing we all have. I loved when she reminded us that it’s not all about us, but that we should be generous with our support, likes, shares.
And she wrapped up talking about gratitude. Saying thank you is so important and will ultimately help us to grow.
When the night ended, there were two things I had realized. I was excited about getting to know cabi (excited about the clothes, excited about the people and excited about the experience as a whole). Secondly, it was the first time I failed to complete required business tasks. And I felt ok about it.
When we get invited to these types of events, often it is suggested (sometimes required for payment) for us to send a tweet, Instagram or some other type of social media mention. While I was able to take a few photos, this event was more about the actual relationships, than worrying about putting your head down and staring at your screen. It was amazing.
This is a brand (MomTrends included) that lives what they say. And that is powerful. While they are a business and want to make money, it will never be at the cost of failing to look someone in the eye and hear their story.
I am so grateful to Nicole, and the MomTrends team, for inviting me to meet cabi clothing in such a cool way. I look forward to following their company. Consider me a fan!
Thank you for supporting brands, like MomTrends and cabi, who enable me to create fun content, for you and your family, through partnerships and/or compensation!