WHERE IT STARTED
For years Taylor & I joked about how ridiculous the pads inside of workout tops and swimsuits are – always getting crumpled and falling out. We knew we could design something better. We spent years starting and stopping, with a few wrong turns exploring other ideas – oh and sprinkle in a cease and desist from a large sports ware brand – and all of this resulted in years going by between the inception of the idea to the launch of CAKES.
THE POWER OF THINKING BIG
During our first official CAKES meeting - this was before we had product, before we had a brand, before we had any customers or employees, Taylor asked me, “So what’s our company culture?!”. I laughed out loud. “Our company culture? It’s just you and me!”. But I humored Taylor, and we talked about the kind of lives we wanted to live, the impact we wanted to make, how we wanted to treat people, the kind of community we wanted to be a part of. Now looking back, I really like this question for 2 reasons
We were thinking of our idea as a full blown company. We weren’t thinking in the here and now, but we were thinking of the long term vision and working backwards
We were leading with the important things – how we want to live our lives – and building a company that fits into that mold for us and our employees
THE HEARTBEAT OF OUR BRAND
Taylor’s second question, was “what is our brand” – again, I didn’t have a background in marketing, so I thought this was also a funny question. Shouldn’t I be finding a manufacturer, setting up our website, filing trademarks? This felt fluffy, but again, I humored her. We talked about how our product (CAKES) is designed to take you from your workout to brunch with friends drinking a mimosa – so even though it was a product designed for workout originally, we didn’t want to take the fitness element seriously. We pictured our customers to be the ones leaving a workout early when they’ve had enough of a sweat, or chilling in savasana in the middle of a yoga class. We also talked a lot about how the current bra industry is not solving for the wide array of different body types & changes women go through in their lifetimes – puberty, breast feeding, menopause, weight fluctuation, breast cancer, breast augmentation/reduction…the list goes on. We knew we needed to create something that made women feel good in their bodies exactly as they are. We summarized our brand into two points. We wanted to:
Create flattering, comfortable, alternatives to bras that fit ALL body types
Give back to women’s health causes
With these 2 questions – what is our company culture & what is our brand, we were essentially manifesting a vision of what we wanted to create. Pretty quickly after we launched, we received signs from women that our vision was resonating, and we were building a brand – we heard from women in all different stages of life saying that CAKES were helping them to feel more comfortable. The amazing thing about a brand, a mission, a culture, is if they’re aligned with your personal values, they really don’t change, they just grow and grow and grow.
So go ahead, ask the seemingly ridiculous questions and let yourself go there! 💖
ABOUT CAKES
CAKES body is a female-founded brand dedicated to creating alternatives to the traditional bra that make women feel incredible, while supporting women’s health causes. Our first product, CAKES is the first non-adhesive silicone nipple pastie designed for workout, swim, and everyday lifestyle. We don’t use any adhesives, so our nipple covers grip the skin naturally with your body’s heat under any snug fitting top. For every product sold, CAKES body donates $1 to support Breast Cancer Research.
