The author of Charlotte’s Web, E. B. White, said, “Always be on the lookout for the presence of wonder.” We’ve had plenty of opportunity to do just that over these 20 years, simply because a small group of women decided they could “affect lives through relationships” with clothes! And, since that moment, thousands of women have shown up with clothes and a heart to serve.
Wonder is a beautiful thing. Yet, it is more like a fire than a furnace; fire needs attention, the interaction of oxygen, stoking, and fanning to bask in the glow.
We’ve paid constant attention to the wonder of relationship, explicit about what supporting one another means and addressing divisiveness, asking everyone to be proactively for one another and to put “we” before “me.” The result was (and is) a beautiful, active conflagration of trust, friendship, and even love—wonder.
I believe a business run on real relationships can weather it all…recessions, natural disasters, and even pandemics—and keeping the wonder of relationships ablaze will always make us ready “for such a time as this.”
As we celebrate 20 years, we’re enraptured by the wonder of it all. Wonder was the curiosity that first opened the door—for Carol, me, Syd, all the Co-Founders, and thousands of other women, wondering what goodness this business could hold for them and those they served. And at this inflection point, we hold fast to two types of wonder—both looking back in awe and looking forward with curiosity and excitement for what the next 20 years hold, inspired by our first.
If you find yourself intrigued by wonder but flooded with the fear of our times, take to heart these words from E. E. Cummings: “Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight, or any experience that reveals the human spirit.”
We hope as you encounter the wonder of cabi, relationships will broaden and deepen, and as a result, your life, like mine has, will be positively affected.