Girl Crush: {Alli Webb’s Perfect Blowout}

Beauty

Back in the day, ladies used to head to the salon to get their do’s done weekly. Man I would have liked that! Being hairstyle challenged myself, I can use as much help as I can get! Thankfully, there’s finally a solution for the modern-day woman, thanks to Alli Webb!

Webb, founder of Drybar tapped into a lost market and resurrected it to be better than ever: a non-salon where there are no cuts, no color, just blowouts. Only four years and 38 locations later, it’s safe to say that with Drybar, Webb is slowly taking over the country!

Drybar has become my go-to stop before any event, party or work week on the road. It’s the first place I stop when I do business trips to New York, have a wedding to go to or really just want to look dang good.

So when we got word that Alli Webb, herself, wanted to invite us into Drybar to share some of her tips with us first-hand, we {first danced around the office!} and then jumped at the opportunity to visit her at her newest San Francisco location {situated perfectly in the hustle and bustle of Union Square!}.

Much more than a hair guru, Webb is a business genius {she was recently named one of Fortune’s “40 under 40”}. We were honored to chat about the usual – hair and hottest guys in Hollywood- while in the chair, but what really got us excited was the chance to pick her brain on her secrets to mega-success. We’re so excited to share them with you here on this edition of Girl Crush!

Alli is the definition of what this series is about. As a seriously-savvy business woman, she started Drybar with her brother four scant years ago and now has a multi-million dollar business under her belt. Here’s what she had to say for herself:

On Starting a Company

My parents are entrepreneurs, so my brother {and business partner!} Michael and I have been exposed to that way of life since we were little kids. But I think I have always been a risk taker and I wholeheartedly believe everything has a way of working out. I know it sounds cliche, but I think everyone should always pursue their passion and be ok with failing- it’s how you learn. The Drybar road has been nothing short of amazing- a TON of hard work, lots of late nights and ups and downs, but absolutely a dream come true.

The Moment

All the great press and accolades have been pretty unbelievable, but I think that “pinch me” moment comes every time we open a new shop. I still worry no one will show up, so when they do it’s such a gratifying feeling. Above all, I think it’s the women whom I’ve never met who come up to me and tell me how much they love Drybar, what an important part of their life we’ve become, and how proud they are of me. Their sincerity always chokes me up.

Proudest Biz Ideas

The iPhone chargers at every station was Michael’s idea, pretty genius indeed. Once we knew we were doing an all out bar theme, the fun ideas kinda poured out of all of us. I personally love the “Big Reveal” mirrors behind the stations. Everyone thought the clients would hate that, but I learned from my mobile blow-dry business that sitting directly in front of a mirror {with wet hair!} was not ideal – we ladies have a tendency to pick ourselves apart. I loved the idea of letting women relax, watch a fun chic flick and then be turned around to pure delight over their transformation! Luckily it worked.

The Brand

I wanted the shops to feel super clean and feminine, a place woman loved to go and hang out in. We all fell in love with the bar theme, but I have to give credit to my ridiculously talented husband, Cameron, who is really the creator of the brand DNA. He’s so meticulous about every little thing and is so great about keeping us on brand – he won’t even let me have red roses in the shops for Valentine’s Day. Everything always has to be yellow. Cameron and Michael work closely together on the marketing side and it’s a beautiful thing to watch them – they sincerely compliment each other. And me 🙂

On Balance

Ah man, I really haven’t totally figure that one out yet. Balancing the kids and career is the single toughest part of this whole thing, without a doubt. I am lucky to have my mom close by who is like a second mother to my boys. Mostly it’s about being there for the important stuff and sometimes that’s just making sure I’m home to read them a story and tickle their backs before bedtime. I think it’s good that my kids see how hard mommy and daddy work. My parents worked really hard to provide us with a nice lifestyle and I have a great deal of respect for them, so I hope my kids will have the same respect for us too.

Her Advice

Hang in there, it all works out. I think I only recently started to really trust my gut and I have a new sense of confidence that I wish I had when I was younger, but it has all worked out. I think everything happens for a reason… and Drybar so feels like what I was absolutely meant to do!

Deserted Island Must-Haves

Hot Toddy, 100 Proof and Lemon Drop {our game-changing brush that detangles hair like nothing you’ve ever seen}. I would say Buttercup but I’m guessing since it’s a deserted island there’s probably not any power! I know it sounds self-serving to name three products from my own line, but I seriously spent two years toiling over the development of these products and the result is exactly what I always wanted out of a line of styling products and tools.

After we talked, we were thrilled to have Alli show us, first hand, her top 5 styling tips for the perfect in-home blowout. Ready for it?!

For effect, here is my BEFORE {please don’t Pin this!}. I still don’t understand, to this day, why it is so hard to blowdry my own hair. I mean, it looks flat, scraggly and well, a mess every time I try. Thank gawd, Alli was there to help me tame this head ‘o hair!

Tip 1: Start with really clean hair: A good blowout can {and should, if done properly!} last for days. Detox, our dry shampoo, can certainly help, as well as starting with really clean hair for ultimate bounce and body.

Tip 2: Blow dry your hair as soon as you get out of the shower. Like, we’re talking 5-10 minutes max once you get out. Once your hair begins air drying it’s much more difficult to work out those cowlicks! {I’ve always let it dry 50% before I blowdry- WRONG!}

Tip 3: Take the time to section out your hair. You’ve probably heard this before and if you’re like me, you get lazy about doing it. Alli couldn’t stress enough how big of a difference this makes. Lesson learned: don’t be lazy!

Tip 4: Hold your round brush vertically, not horizontally, while drying. This is true for every part of your head except the crown, where you’ll want to switch to holding the brush horizontally in order to get a smooth finish on that tricky spot! {This might be her ultimate secret- all stylists go through a vigorous training on this as most have actually learned the opposite in beauty school!}

Tip 4: Always curl away from the face. Always.

Tip 5: Curl and pull. To avoid bouncy Shirley Temple curls, hold the hair in your brush or curling iron for no more than 5 seconds, release and then pull on the end of the piece of hair to “stretch” it out. After seeing this technique in action, we realized we’ve been curling wrong all of these years. It’s difficult to show in images so we have a video on Alli getting the perfect curl on our Instagram!

And per usual, we asked Alli to answer in rapid-fire speed our Girl Crush fill-in-the-blanks. She’s so much fun!

If you have yet to try Drybar out for yourself, you’re missing out on such an amazing little piece of heaven on earth. $40 + 40 minutes and boom, you’re out the door with some amazing hair that’ll last you days! Plus, it’s so easy to book an appointment- you can do it straight through their App {obsessed!}. No lie, I booked two future appointments while in the chair!

Huge thanks to Alli who continues to inspire women with her biz savvy prowess! Three words: serious girl crush.

original photography for apartment 34 by Aubrie Pick

Best of 2013: {Behind the Scenes with Rebecca Atwood}

Business of blogging

We’ve gushed A LOT in this post already, but rightfully so as Rebecca Atwood’s work is gorgeous. We were pretty bummed to have to execute this studio tour remotely {what would we do without emails?!} since it would have been ah-mazing to witness Rebecca creating a pillow in her Brooklyn studio first hand, but our beloved photographer Emily Johnston captured Rebecca’s process beautifully. We are continually looking back on this post for inspiration, making it one of our personal favorites of the year!

I first fell in love with Rebecca Atwood’s work as a fan. The craftsmanship and care that textile designer puts into each pillow she creates are unmatched. Then, by chance, we worked together on the Sunset project, where she {ambitiously!} created 15 custom pillows for my Unplugged Den! She blew me away with the quality of her designs that I just had to learn more!

I’m so excited to share some insight and a behind the scenes look into the creativity that is the heart of Rebecca Atwood Designs. In this exclusive, Rebecca invites un into her Brooklyn studio and shares with us never before seen techniques of her pillow making process and sources of inspiration!!

For those of you who are not familiar with Rebecca’s work, here’s the one thing you need to know: she is the designer to watch out for! Her first collection, {that just launched this year!}, has made a huge impact in the blog and design world, putting her pillows in very high demand. Separating her designs from the rest, Rebecca takes pride in the more intense, hands-on approach her techniques require.

Unlike the majority of textiles out there, nothing she makes is digitally printed. Using a Shibori dyeing process, screen printing and hand painting, the difference in these techniques is in the quality and feel. By using dye, Rebecca is able to create a rich, highly saturated color that is not achievable with flat digital printing. This allows the dye to bond with the fabric and create a pillow like nothing else on the market!

One technique she uses is a screen printing process. After coming up with a design and creating a template, much like a stencil, Rebecca is ready to apply the dye. She mixes the dye with an activator, pins the fabric down under the template, and pours the dye on, as you can see above. The textile then cures in plastic for 24 hours to set the color before it is washed and dried.

Working with dye requires a precision that is only mastered by a lot of trial and error. Interestingly, dye reacts to different fabrics in different ways. So, detailed notes of recipes and swatches are a very important element to Rebecca’s work.

Her dye notebook is where Rebecca keeps all of her recipes and notes. On the page shown above, you can see at the top how the dye reacted with four different types of fabric. To the right, you can see how again, four different fabrics took to the same dye. The linen is more blue-gray, while the silk turned pink and canvas have a little bit more green in them. The range of color and unpredictability seems totally scary to me. For Rebecca, opening the banded fabric, not knowing what’s inside, is like Christmas all year long!

Rebecca-Atwood-6

The Shibori process is by far my favorite {although, I might be biased because these are the designs I put into my Sunset Magazine design and ended up buying for the Loft!}. The fabric is folded into a grid, wrapped in rubber bands, dyed, and then unfolded to reveal the way the dye has seeped into the pattern. Fun, right?

Insider note: Some of you may not know that Rebecca isn’t the only one with talents in her family. She keeps her grandfather’s pencils, who was also a designer, on her desk. And, loves to fill her sister Grace’s house, the fab blogger behind Stripes and Sequins, with pillows!

So, after getting such an exclusive look at the proces and talent that goes into her designs, I was dyeing {ha!) to know: what’s next??

Rebecca: “I do have big plans for where I want my company to go, and eventually want to cover all home products to be more of a lifestyle shop. This all takes time though! I’m currently working on a collection of fabric to be sold by the yard, as well as some smaller accessories for the late fall/holiday season {editor’s note: I think I spotted a preview of a clutch on her instagram!}. The next big product launch after that will hopefully be bedding. I’m just in the initial sourcing stages, but can’t wait to expand into this area!

The Fall collection is meant to be layered into the first collection. I think home products should have longevity and many styles from the previous collection will continue to move forward. There will be a deepening of the blue tones, moving into a navy, and a pop of tomato red, as well! There will be more hand painted designs, think big brush strokes, hand painted stripes, and a polka dot. I’ve also added in a larger size pillow which can work well layered into a bed or on a couch.” It’s safe to say, we’ve started our countdown for the launch!

I’m so excited to offer you a chance to get a sneak peek into Spring 2014. Below, you can see the beginning stages of the collection’s inspiration. I spy some gorgeous swatches and that marble paper? Yes, please!

Thank you to Rebecca Atwood for sharing such a unique insider look into your world! I hope you enjoyed seeing the process with your own eyes as much as I have. You can find all of Rebecca’s stunning pillows here. And you can see more behind the scenes coverage in our outtakes up on Facebook!

P.S. I just want to note, from my own experience, despite the fact that these pillows are so special, they’re meant to be lived with and enjoyed. Since the dye has had time to bond with the fabric, you can wash the covers over and over again without fading. They are pretty incredible. Rebecca also offers custom designs – a truly special way to add pieces that are one-of-a-kind and handmade in Brooklyn, to your home!

original photography for apartment 34 by Emily Johnston

Girl Crush: {Lauren Moffatt}

Fashion

Last month we kicked off our Girl Crush series with Jennifer Shea, founder of Trophy Cupcakes and we were thrilled with the response. This month we have an equally huge crush. I hope you’re ready to say adios to the kitchen and get ready to rock the runway with New York based fashion designer and fabulous lady behind her name-sake line, Lauren Moffatt!

I’ve long loved Lauren’s collections for their quirky, flirty boy meets girl style, but her work became extra special to me after seeing her Spring 2013 presenation at New York Fashion Week – it was the first real Fashion Week event I ever attended! I had the pleasure of meeting Lauren that day and was so impressed by her approachability and kind nature – not to mention her fresh fashion sense! I feel lucky to have the opportunity to introduce Lauren to you!!

About Lauren:

I first went to school for fashion design but quickly switched to a fine arts school where I studied color theory. In school, I met my {now!} business partner, Rob. We started the line out of the sailboat we were living on, docked in the Hudson River in NYC. This allowed us the opportunity to start the line while keeping costs down. We ended up working on the boat for the first few seasons before we actually got a “real” office in the garment district!

The Moment:

When I was 23 years old, I was doing graphic design. Although I enjoyed it, it was not what I was passionate about. I had nothing. So, I figured I had nothing to lose by leaving and starting my own fashion line. Becoming a member of the Council of Fashion Designers of America {CFDA} in 2012 was a really proud moment for me.

Separating Yourself:

Being in New York where there is so much competition in the fashion industry, the line tends to separate itself from the others in a couple of different ways. For one, I think we have a really unique aesthetic with our prints and styles. They’re vintage-inspired with a bit of a modern, quirky twist. If I’m using a quirky pattern, I try to stay with a more classic shape {for the garment} and vice versa. We also have a few signature pieces, like our pin tuck tops, that we bring back season after season.

Her Advice:

Be willing to learn as much about the different aspects of the industry as possible. Be scrappy and stay scrappy.

One of the things I love most about Lauren is her recognizable aesthetic that translates all the way from the runway to her home. The pops of bright colors, often retro in tone, and her mix of vintage patterns and throwback trends resonates through everything she lays hands on. Doesn’t it almost seem like her latest collection is a part of her home- they compliment each other perfectly!

And per Girl Crush tradition, we made sure Lauren answered quick as she played our fill in the blanks game!

I hope you found Lauren’s advice as inspiring as we did. Be scrappy and stay scrappy?? Done and done!

headshot c/o Lauren Moffat // fashion photography by Hannah Thomson // home images via Design Sponge

Girl Crush: {Jennifer Shea}

Business of blogging

Over the years, I have had the opportunity to come into contact with some amazing business women. These are women who have built an empire on their own success, continually adding some incredible accomplishments under their belts. Inspired by these women, I wanted to start a new series called Girl Crush to share and hopefully fire up our passions and quiet any doubts we might have – feeling like it’s just not in the cards to own a business, create a clothing line or sell out restaurants. Whatever your passion, our crushes are here to give their advice and encourage the inner business woman in all of us! I’m thrilled to kick off the series with one of the most talented career women, mom and author I know, Jennifer Shea!

Jennifer is the founder of Trophy Cupcakes and Party, the most celebrated cupcake company in Seattle. She has six cupcake shops throughout the greater Seattle area and is about to launch her debut book – Trophy Cupcakes and Parties – a go-to guide for planning a party with coveted cupcake recipes, party DIY’s and oodles of inspiration {that is available for pre-sale here!}. We’re so glad Jennifer took the time to share her journey and business advice with us!

A Bit About Jennifer:

I grew up in a small town in Southern Oregon. Crafting, baking and partymaking became my hobbies by way of my mom (who is a super talented painter and crafty person), 4-H and Home Economics (my favorite class). I have always had an affinity for home arts. I moved to Seattle and started working in restaurants right out of high school while searching for “my passion” and eventually got my degree in Nutrition. I loved my education, but I felt like something was missing. So, when I finished school I traveled a fair amount and came across my first cupcake shop in NYC. The light bulb was ON! I realized that my passion was right under my nose…my whole life. I’m still not sure why I didn’t see it earlier; I just had no idea that what I loved to do most could actually be a fulfilling career. I opened Trophy Cupcakes with my husband in 2007, almost 10 years after that NYC experience, as figuring out how to open a business proved much harder than whipping up a batch of cupcakes! But, we opened to immediate fanfare and have been going strong ever since. Today we have six locations around the greater Seattle Area.

The Moment:

I think the moment I knew was at a swanky birthday party that was being thrown for a friend of mine. I, of course, volunteered to bring cupcakes and set up an elaborate display. The guests ended up being a lot of movers and shakers with big careers. The next thing I knew, everyone was talking about the cupcakes and asking me where they could buy them and then, if they could hire me…I was kind of dumbfounded and just said…uh, this is just my hobby. I then got barraged with people telling me I HAD TO open a shop. The process from knowing I wanted to open a shop to actually doing it was long…so the leap of faith was more like a long jump. I had lots of support from my friends and family along the way and a good friend (and Foo Fighter) ended up offering to be our Angel Investor. When I met my husband, he could not understand why I hadn’t opened a shop yet…so he said, “move in with me, write your business plan and do this thing”! About two years later, Trophy Cupcakes was born.

Keys to Success:

When we opened, there were about 20 cupcake shops in the country and now, well, you know. I think we’ve been so successful because we are absolutely obsessed with baking exceptional cupcakes. We have a saying at the bakery and in our shops, “good isn’t good enough”. This applies to everything we do at Trophy, especially our cupcakes. We start with the very best ingredients then curate them into little works of delicious art.

Learning to be an Author:

Wow, I learned sooo much! First I learned that I could do it! I actually wrote a book, woo hoo! But, probably the biggest thing I learned was that it’s truly okay to ask for help and to get lots of it, especially on a big project like this one was. I fall into the trap of thinking that I need to do everything myself (hello type- A). This book was really just one big lesson in accepting help.

On Balance:

This has been, by far, my biggest challenge. I tend to get tunnel vision when it comes to work, and I shut everything else out. I also have the normal woman/wife/mom affliction of taking care of everyone else before myself. I have had to work hard to make it a priority to put myself first…and I am still working on it every day. The surprise bonus though is that slowing down and taking more time for myself has made me a better wife, mom and entrepreneur. I’ve learned that you cannot be good at any of those things if you are running on empty. All my best ideas and breakthroughs happen when I just stop. I definitely have to remind myself of this and schedule it in just like any important meeting. My husband and I also have two rules: date night every week and don’t talk about cupcakes after 6pm.

Her Advice:

I would say, write a business plan. I used the program Business Plan Pro and it took me almost a year to complete mine. It is pretty tedious, but even if you can make the best widget in the world, you’ve got to get your head in the space of being an entrepreneur. You have to know your customer, your profit margin, how much you need to sell just to break even, how you are going to finance your dream, and on and on. The more prepared you are concerning the nuts and bolts of business, the easier it will be to bring your magic to market. Also: network, network, network. Find a mentor in the community that is doing something similar (but is not a competitor) who is willing to coach you, or join an entrepreneurs group. I promise you will learn a ton by reaching out to other dreamers.

And for fun, we drilled Jennifer to answer fast as she filled in the blanks of our Girl Crush Pop Quiz: we love her answers!

Don’t forget to grab your copy of Trophy Cupcakes and Parties! The book is full of beautiful images, first-ever access to Trophy’s top secret recipes and fab hosting tips. It’s definitely one you’re going to want on your shelf for the holiday party season. I love that each chapter is based around a party theme, making it so easy to get it right and impress every single one of your guests {as well as yourself!}. If you can’t wait till your copy arrives {like me!} head over to The Effortless Chic – Jen shared an exclusive sneak peek of Trophy’s Strawberry Buttercream Cupcake recipe. I know what I’m making this weekend!

And stay tuned for the Trophy Cupcake & Parties book tour- it might be coming to a city near you!

images courtesy of Jennifer Shea // photography by Rina Jordan

Behind the Scenes with Rebecca Atwood

Shopping

Unlike the majority of textiles out there, nothing she makes is digitally printed. From a Shibori dyeing process, screen printing and hand painted textiles, the difference in these techniques is in the quality and feel. By using dye, Rebecca is able to create a rich, highly saturated depth of color that is not achievable with flat digital printing. This allows the dye to bond with the fabric and create a pillow like nothing else on the market!

Working with dye requires a precision and quality of work that is only mastered by a lot of testing trials. Interestingly, dye reacts to different fabrics in different ways. So, detailed notes of recipes and swatches are a very important element to Rebecca’s work.

Her dye notebook is where Rebecca keeps all of her recipes and notes. On this page, you can see at the top how the dye reacted with four different types of fabric. To the right, you can see how again, four different fabrics took to the same dye. The linen is more blue-gray, while the silk turned pink and canvas have a little bit more green in them. The range of color and unpredictability seems totally scary to me. For Rebecca, opening the banded fabric, not knowing what’s inside, is like Christmas all year long!

The Shibori process is by far my favorite {although, I might be biased because these are the designs I put into my Sunset design and ended up buying for the loft!}. The fabric is folded into a grid, wrapped in rubber bands, dyed, and then unfolded to reveal the way the dye has seeped into the pattern. Fun, right?

Insider note: Some of you may not know that Rebecca isn’t the only one with talents in her family. She keeps her grandfather’s pencils, who was also a designer, on her desk. And, loves to fill her sister, Grace from Stripes and Sequins, house with pillows!

So, after getting such an exclusive look at the proces and talent that goes into her designs, I was dyeing {ha!) to know: what’s next??

Thank you to Rebecca Atwood for sharing with us such a unique experience! I hope you enjoyed seeing the process with your own eyes as much as I have. You can find all of Rebecca’s stunning pillows here. And you can see more behind the scenes coverage in our outtakes up on Facebook!

P.S. I just want to note, from my own experience, despite the fact that these pillows are so special, they’re meant to be lived with and enjoyed. Since the dye has had time to bond with the fabric, you can wash the covers over and over again without fading. They are pretty incredible. Rebecca also offeres custom designs – a truly special way to add pieces that are one-of-a-kind and handmade in Brooklyn, to your home!

original photography for apartment 34 by Emily Johnston Anderson

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