On Saturday, February 29th, 2020, YaYa & Co. hosted the Cleveland Vibes Winter Social. A social, networking and community event for Clevelanders. 

Cleveland Vibes, run by a local woman, Kaitie Nickel and her husband Kyle, is the premier Instagram page for everything, and we mean EVERYTHING Cleveland. So what better way than to launch YaYa & Co.’s new website and line of products than by giving Clevelanders an exclusive first look at our showroom warehouse headquarters space by hosting the social event of the season?!

Clevelandvibes brings together a community, a proud Clevelander community of bloggers, photographers, Instagramers, local business owners and just general lovers of Northeast Ohio.

With a sold-out event, maxing out our showroom space by selling over 100 tickets, plus inviting friends and family, our event couldn’t have had a better response. Just a $2 ticket fee allowed a minimum barrier and maximum accessibility for everyone who wanted to come. All ticket proceeds were donated to a local charity. 

We wanted the event to be a way for Candy, our Founder, to share her stories and mission behind the brand. YaYa & Co. was not founded to sell products but rather as a way to bring sustainability and artisanal heirloom-quality textiles and home goods into people's homes, while also supporting local and international communities and helping people who need it the most. Not only are all of our products made of sustainable materials to support our environment, but all of our makers and artisans are paid ethical living wages to support our humans. Learn about our first initiative where we built a school for women in India here. 

Our favorite part of this gathering was that it gave the community here in Cleveland a first-hand look at all of our products. Having the chance to see all the handmade artistry in person, and touch the soft natural fibers of all the products is something our strictly-online customers do not have the privilege of experiencing. Everyone absolutely adored the feel of our organic cotton and linen items and also the handcrafted details in pieces like the Amelie Throw and the Tafsut Berber Rug.

During the event, Candy gave several tours of the space, the showroom areas, the offices, and the warehouse. Showing off the product, telling the stories behind many of her journeys traveling the world to find these items and even the stories behind the items and artisans themselves. About halfway through the event, Candy spoke to the guests about many of the things she had to endure in her travels meeting these makers, learning about the indescribable difficulties and abuses women face in India and some of the gorgeous treks through Morocco mountain tops to find remote artisans handcrafting some of the most beautiful textiles in the world. 

Being a direct-to-consumer e-commerce brand, we don’t get to interact directly with our customers, so being able to see people embrace and enjoy our products in person was truly rewarding. It really showed the value in all of our work traveling, sourcing and merchandising only the softest, most organic, most unique and beautiful products. 

And nothing says ClevelandVibes like a giveaway, so the event hosted giveaways in support of several local businesses, you can find them here: 

instagram.com/drjasonleedy drleedy.com

instagram.com/nomiastudio nomiastudio.com

instagram.com/nosotrosgym  gonosotros.com

instagram.com/cocksybagels cocksybagels.com

 instagram.com/thewordshopcle https://www.vagaro.com/theworkshopcle

We are grateful for everyone that came out and took the time to listen to our story. And especially for Cleveland Vibes to give us the opportunity to partner with us to host this magical event. 

The overwhelming support from the community really helps reassure us that our message is meaningful, impactful, and worth the investment.