{Our Vendor Series} Meet Sohaima

As first generation Filipino Americans it’s important to us to do what we can to help the beautiful but still third world country of the Philippines.  Growing up our parents, like many other Filipino American families, continued to send money, goodies and whatever they could back to friends and family in the Philippines, doing their small part in helping change the economic status there. 

When we started Cayetano Legacy Collection we knew we wanted to somehow use this business to help impact way of life there in the Philippines, either by bringing awareness to the beauty coming from the country and hopefully increasing tourism there, or by somehow directly creating both job and financial opportunities for the Filipino citizens.  We wanted to give ‘hand ups, not hand outs’, so instead of just donating a portion of the proceeds of sales, we decided to work heavily with small, women owned Filipino businesses to create our artisan products. 

Though traditional statement jewelry found in the US are manufactured in large plants, our products continue to be made by beautiful, inspirational, hard working women.  We look forward to introducing you to these women who work so closely with us, while also building their own businesses.  In the first of this series, meet Sohaima. 

Sincerely,

The Cayetano Sisters

Sohaima’s Story

I started [running my own business] when I was 18 years old, while working at a McDonalds here in the Philippines. On the side I’d resell watches, shoes, etc [a typical path of business that many Filipinos choose].  At the young age of 20, I got married and I started a small business as a handmade designer.

I am very happy in my work.  It’s my life.  I love to be innovative and to constantly work on new designs, [especially] the [artistic] hand wirings. I love it.

I believe that what's important [in running a business] is that you're happy with what you're doing. We Filipina women are very diligent workers!

Like many other working women I need to budget my time wisely for business and family. I have 2 beautiful kids - a boy (8 years old) and a girl (5 years old). My family is very important to me.  I HAVE time to save time for my 2 babies and my hubby. On Friday, I [make sure to] stay in the house with my hubby even if I have to work from home, and on Saturday and Sunday I spend my time with my kids.  We bond together.   What's important to me is that I spend time with my family.  And of course I always remember God in everything that I do. 

In 2010, I met the 3 sisters of Cayetano Legacy Collection, Karen, Gail, and Christine, together with their very kind father.  I am so lucky I met them. It has changed mine and my family’s life. I am so happy and honored to be a part of their business and enjoy seeing it grow, and I pray for their constant success.  They have been instrumental in the success of my own, and I am so grateful and happy [for that].

We Want To Be Where You Are

 Have a favorite boutique (or ten)? 

 

We want Cayetano Legacy Collection to be where you are, in all of your favorite shops - those hidden gems where you find the best designs for your wardrobe.  Email us  a list of your favorite boutiques anywhere in the US and we will work hard to stock our accessories there, so you can shop for your perfect pieces, all in one place. 

Along For the Ride at a Private Trunk Show

We have such an amazing team of Creative Strategists here – smart, witty and stylish women who represent our brand to a ”t”.  Dawn (dawn@cayetanolegacy.com), our Creative Strategist who manages our sunny Los Angeles market, describes here what it’s like to handle just one part of her job, running private trunk shows (and this is in addition to the press opportunities she secures, boutique relationships that she manages, looking fabulously well dressed all the time, etc., etc., etc.!).  Here is just one snapshot into the life of our CS’s. 

Enjoy!

The Cayetano Sisters

I always enjoy hosting private trunk shows.  It’s nice when someone is gracious enough to open up their home.   Often times the area I am provided with varies in size and space, so it can be a lot of fun getting creative.  I look forward to how best to show off our beautiful and sparkling jewels!

I wanted to give you a look into one of these shows, and an outdoor one no-less. It was a beautiful sunny Southern California winter’s day (temps in the mid-60’s), and I wanted to showcase our pieces in a way that would best catch the light and draw the ladies over to the show once they arrived.

I set up the table in mini “themes”. At one end of the table, I featured a variety of pieces in a small trunk. From that point the shopper would flow into our recently launched Spring '13 Collection which includes our new clutches featuring the color of the season - emerald green! 

Our Spring ’13 Collection also includes statement necklaces in rose, turquoise, and purple as well as our new bangles and cuffs. I also included framed pictures of some of our recent press features (inclusion in Harper’s Bazaar and other media outlets) throughout the display.

As you move further along the display, the shopper then moves into our Holiday ’12 sale necklaces and our Classics Collection. For this particular show I didn’t group these items by color, it was more of how all the pieces flowed together as a whole in style and color. I also placed several pieces on our black bags to form a nice contrast against the white cloth of the table. I will say, that typically, I feature the pieces on our bags with or without the white cloth. It really sets off the jewelry!

Finally, at the other end of the table, the shopper saw a mix of more of our Classic and Sale pieces. I also used my iPad to feature a slideshow with music to give that ambiance of shopping in a small boutique.

When the ladies walked in - with the sun sparkling off the German crystals - they were immediately drawn to our jewels. This particular space allowed me to show a large variety of Cayetano Legacy Collection pieces in a beautiful way and everyone remarked on how gorgeous everything looked in this setting!! :)  Hope you like! 

- Dawn

How I "Learn" Business

People love to ask questions about our business, and I’m always happy to speak to people about it – the more businesses there are out there, the better our economy.  And if they’re women business owners, even better ;)

Most of the questions I get seem to center around ‘How did you learn how to start [or build] a business’?  or ‘Did you go to school for this?’ or ‘How do you know what you are doing?’ 

I think most people are curious because whether well thought out or just a tiny inkling in their minds, they want to do their own thing, be their own boss or build something themselves.  They want to run their own businesses.  And their questions stem from the thoughts that they need to have some sort of insider knowledge or formal training to do it.  Well, I get it, and you don’t. 

I went to school for communications at Boston University (back then it didn’t cross my mind that I would ever be an entrepreneur), I learned to build businesses by trial and error and reading a LOT of Entrepreneur and Fast Company magazines and many, many books, some of which you can see in the photo above.     

I wanted to share a handful of my favorite business books – they’re ones that I can read over and over, because every time I read them I take something different from them every time, depending on where I am in life.  If you’re thinking about starting a business, continuing to grow your business, or are just looking for motivation to make a change in your life, I recommend these. 

Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi:  The book teaches the reader step-by-step how to build a business through relationships and partnerships.  I love this book because, if there is one word to describe my business approach, its ‘partnerships’.  I often work with larger businesses or more experienced individuals to create partnerships that help build my businesses into something bigger, at an expedited speed.  In ‘Never Eat Alone’, Keith breaks it down very simply why these relationships are important, and how to establish these relationships from scratch.      

By Invitation Only:  How We Built Gilt and Changed the Way Millions Shop by Alexis Maybank and Alexandra Wilkis Wilson:  There really aren’t very many business books out there written by women, let alone women in charge of high-profile companies like Gilt Groupe, so of course when Karen (my sister) told me to read this one, I immediately downloaded it on my Kindle.  Not only is it inspirational, but it offers great insight into building a technology-driven company, which I believe every company needs to be embedded in, since the online space is where it’s at.  

4 Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss:  I read this book while taking a 4 month work-cation around southeast Asia (I traveled for personal enjoyment, but worked while I was out there), so it was ideal for where I was in life at the time, but as I've re-read it since then, there are many great approaches this book teaches you on how to build a 'lifestyle' business.  For those of us that don't want work to dictate how we live, but instead want to enjoy work just as much as we enjoy the rest of life, Tim teaches you how to make work more efficient yet meaningful.    

Happy reading –

Gail 

{Recipe} Holiday Treats - Pretzel Kisses

It's the holiday season and along with it comes the bountiful treats from cookie exchanges, the box of chocolates from coworkers, the plates of homemade Italian cookies from neighbors, even the unwanted fruitcake from your aunt with 6 cats on Christmas.   

As much as we complain about our unwanted pounds and unwillingly add another notch to our belt, we love it :)  

One of our fav treats that are always a staple at our holiday parties are the "Pretzel Kisses" treats.  Gail introduced this to our family a few years back and since then, its been part of our tradition to make them together with the family over the holidays.  Not only are they addicting, they're super easy to make.  

We wanted to share the salty and sweet goodness with you so here's the easy, no hassle recipe for you :)  Enjoy!!!

(Image courtesy of Spoonful )

Recipe:  Holiday Pretzel Hugs and Kisses

Ingredients:

Bite size waffle shaped pretzels (we find the buttered flavored ones by Snyder's to be the best)

Hershey's Kisses and Hershey's Hugs

Holiday colored M&M's candy

Directions:

- Preheat the oven to 170 degrees F

- Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and lay down individual pretzels all over the sheet

- place an unwrapped Hershey's kiss or hug on top of each pretzel

- Bake for 4-6 minutes (note that white chocolate melts faster) until the chocolate feels soft when touched with a wooden spoon

- Once the chocolate is soft, take out the cookie sheet and quickly press an M&M down onto the center of each kiss/hug

- Let the treats cool for a few minutes and place in the fridge for at least 10 minutes or so to set.  

Note:

 -make a LOT!  WE always find ourselves making a second batch, underestimating how fast these really go so save yourself the time and make a large batch from the beginning

- these make great giveaways and presents so get creative and think of all the fun ways to package these bite  sized treats.

Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 2012

As usual, this year's Victoria's Secret annual fashion show did not disappoint.  

It was full of color, bling, beautiful women, awesome music, great abs, and creativity.  

We always love watching the show for inspiration for future Cayetano Legacy Collection pieces.  

Here are some of our fav looks from this year's show.  Pics from Style Bistro

{Special Holiday Collaboration} Miadore for the Cayetano Legacy Collection

We have a special collaboration line coming to you for the Holidays.  The Cayetano Legacy Collection teamed up with one of our favorite designers from the Philippines, Yekky Balingit of Miadore.  His designs are beautiful, fashion forward, works of art.  He was just recently awarded "Preview" magazine's "2012 Emerging Fashion Talent Award." Its truly an honor to work together with him to create this special line for you.


Our Miadore + CLC collaboration launches on Thursday, November 15.   Its a 6 piece couture capsule that exudes glamour, color, and luxury.  Each piece is one of a kind and NOT replicated so once its gone, its gone.  So be sure to check out Cayetano Legacy Collection on November 15th.   

"Tanushree" from the Miadore for CLC collection

Here's a little bit more about Yekky and how Miadore came about.

MIADORE was born in the era of DIYs. The first few pieces were made out of boredom and an after-office hobby. Fortunately, last December of 2009, I was able to meet the great Rajo Laurel, and from there—as they say—the rest is history.

Q- how did you start designing jewelry? 

A - It was a night of bored and same old routine, that I decided to put up a small business. The first few pieces consists of left over fabrics from my Mother. Everything was random. It has this peculiar and uneven shape that I found interesting - nothing that can be found in the market.
Every time I wore my creations to work and always received a lot of compliments . I even thought of selling them in selected bazaars. 

Q - how did you come up with the name Miadore?

A - MIADORE came from my parent's nicknames MIA and ADOR. While the 'E' stands for my real name Erik. It is my homage to them.

Q - where does you inspiration come from?

A - Every day, everything and everywhere. I always keep my senses open.
The whole world is full of special textures and meaning...it just depends on how it is interpreted.
Q - if you had to describe your design aesthetic in 3 words what would you say?

A - Paradox. Bi-polar. Odd. 

Q - where can we find your designs

A - Right now, I'm a consignor at House of Laurel (6013 Villena cor. Manalac Steet Poblacion, Makati City Email : houseoflaurel@gmail.com )
and Unisex Rewind by JP Singson (126-B West Ave Quezon City             +639228391866      )

Q - any big plans for your line in the near future?

A - Hopefully, a studio then a boutique then Anthropologie. *Finger's crossed*
Q - how would you describe your personal style?

A - Odd. :) Layered casual sometimes draping, muted one day then neon next and oh nothing too formal it makes me itchy. It depends on my mood to cut it short. :) I can go with anything as long I have good pair of shoes. 

Q - if you were to share one piece of advice from your personal experiences, what would you say? 

A - Be pessimistic because with all that negative vibe along the way comes something fantastic and marvelous in the end.