Food – What Inspires You? November 5, 2009

Food inspires me. It inspires how I design. How I feel, think, act, and much more!

 

Food – as a home-made chef who loves to cook for anyone around them – I absolutely love food. I’d call myself a foodie, and in Houston I am known as  Houchie – Houston Chowhound.  Everytime I cook something – I am inspired by the fragrance, the colors, and the tastes. All my senses are heightened. I was recently at dinner with a friend of mine who only eats meat and bread. He watched in wonder while I combined my lettuce, with a little bit of rice, a nice little touch of salsa, and a slice of avocado.  Watching me eat, was almost artistic for him, and all he could say was “what an extensive taste pallete!” Experiment more with food – if you don’t like it, give it to someone else.

 

Cooking at an Early Age!

I Love Veggies!

Designing – What Inspires You? November 4, 2009

 

Designing: Inspiration – What Inspires You?

 

What inspires you? What makes you think in the morning when you get up? What are you thinking about when you are getting ready for work?

 

These are all thoughts. Do you have a thought journal? Do you have a place where you right down all your ideas?

 

So, if you want to know how I am inspired – food, colors, thoughts, people, air, plants, ideas, philosophical concepts, spirituality, teachings, and life inspire me.

 

Sounds like a lot.  But these are all the little things that go into a Sama Baby collection.

 

Leave a comment. I’d love to know what inspires you to wake up every morning too!

-Neha

Sama Baby at ENK NYC! August 27, 2009

Hi,

ENK is the children’s industry main trade show – the show to be at when you are a clothing line.  It is where hundreds of buyers come, including Barney’s, Saks, Neimans, and much more. For us it was such a success – it was our first time doing the show, and people just LOVED our items – and of course, our pricepoint. In today’s economy – people are looking at every single dollar they spend – not just as a consumer, but as a buyer of a boutique.  They know that moms are looking for a good product – fairly priced, beautifully designed adorably soft.  And of course, the moms that are organic minded, and focus on organic cotton clothing – love our line – since we price everything reasonably against any other normal conventional line in a boutique!

Building a brand in a small space can be tough, 5 X 5….but when you give two greenista fashionistas a chance – -this is what it looked like!

A beautiful video with our lovely Sama Mama’s in their amazing a fashion items from Sama Baby, a wonderful hand-made grid – made by none other than the Sama Mama team, and of course our beautiful baby clothes hanging.  We of course featured our great top press from Vanity Fair!

Doing the show was great – we learned so much from everyone around, and got to really connect with a lot of other owners – and meet some of the coolest female entrepreneurs.

I would love it if everyone did this exercise. If you had to fit your entire personality, drive, or ideas into a 5 X 5 space – what would it look like? What would you highlight about yourself? What would you focus on as your self?

Whole Foods Chelsea features Sama Baby! August 26, 2009

We were very excited to stop by Whole Foods Chelsea to see our items hanging beautifully and displayed nicely!

Whole Foods Chelsea is on 27th St and 7th Avenue in the Heart of Chelsea! It is also right next to where both CEO and VP of Sama Baby took classes – the Fashion Institute of Technology!

Whole Foods is such a great store – as the Whole Body of this store is separate than the Whole Foods itself in this area – this store has so many beautiful items, and great choices for every mom that wants to go organic!

Gigi Chang, CEO of Plum Organics! August 25, 2009

If there is anything that females should support – it is other females.

At Sama Baby Organics we believe that babies should be clothed in soft, luxurious, organic cotton – designed beautifully, and affordable.  Organic Cotton is not a trend, it is something that will be staying for a long time in today’s market. Moms want natural, moms want organic, moms are creating an awareness about this movement.

We had no idea that sitting down with other female entrepreneurs – we could meet like-minded, interested women, that have the same drive and mission that we do at Sama Baby!  To find hard working, compassionate, innovative women that are entrepreneurial in spirit, than why not partner together?

That’s why Sama Baby had lunch at Fig & Olive to discuss with Founder and CEO, Gigi Chang, of Plum Organics to discuss possible ways we can partner to promote healthy living inside and out for babies all over the world.

We loved meeting with Gigi. She had vision, drive, and most of all passion for her business. She believes that developing the taste palette fo your child is so important.

At Plum Organics, they  believe that introducing babies to real food with interesting, flavorful tastes and textures as early as possible create a foundation for a life time of healthy eating. Our foods are cooked just the right amount as compared to other processing methods used by conventional jarred baby food that expose foods to high temperatures and lengthy cooking times.

Overcooking food results in less texture and flavor which is evident in its appearance. The natural nutrients are also lost through this process. Research has shown that eating a variety of healthy foods and minimizing the intake of processed foods with additives and preservatives can help avoid health concerns later in life such as allergies, obesity and early onset diabetes.

They have a belief that by exposing our babies to real food at an early age, their palates are conditioned to accept and appreciate real foods with flavor, variety and healthful benefits. We believe this will encourage your growing child to experiment with new and exotic tastes for years to come.

I absolutely loved this philosophy.  As a cook, I truly believe in the mission of Plum Organics – provide nutritious foods, organic, and simple, but full of health, life, and vitality!  It’s also great to talk with someone else who is also in Whole Foods too!

More to come on this. Watch as Sama Baby and Plum Organics find ways to partner – as we promote healthy babies inside and out!

-Neha Gupta

Giggle, Giggle, Giggle and Kelly Rutherford! August 21, 2009

Shivani and I visited the Giggle store in NYC – and ran into KELLY RUTHERFORD from Gossip Girl!

As we were walking in, she was walking out -and of course I just froze and stood there.. it was quite hilarious.

Here is a picture of Shivani under the Giggle sign…. one of her favorite stores to purchase baby items – great service, great choices.. we are hoping to get picked up by this store! If you have one near you, ask them about Sama Baby – tell them to write it down and tell the manager! It would be great to see what a grassroots effect would do!  They are def. interested in carrying us – as they have talked with us over the past year – and love our mission, story, and line!

and if you look closely in this picture – the woman in all black, and black leggings is Kelly Rutherford – she looks amazing in person! She loves to shop at Giggle- as you can see by the big shopping bag she is carrying!

I can’t believe I have literally run into the entire team at Gossip Girl in NYC – they are all so beautiful in person!

Anyways – just thought I would share you that fun tid bit!

The Dark Side of Conventional Cotton April 16, 2009

When we think about global warming, increasing cancer rates,  and sensitivites to chemicals, our clothes closets are probably not the first villain that comes to mind, but our clothes can be a significant, quiet co-conspirator.

Cotton evokes images of white, fluffy purity and many people think of cotton as being a natural, pure fabric.  Cotton is a wonderfully versatile and globally important fiber that is used for a vast variety of fiber and food products, making it one of the most widely traded commodities on earth.  Versatility, softness, breath-ability, absorbency, year-round comfort, performance, and durability are just a few of the qualities that have earned cotton its popular status.  Due to its unique fiber structure which can absorb up to 27 times its own weight in water, cotton breathes and helps remove body moisture by absorbing it and wicking it away from the skin.  Not only is cotton the most popular and best selling fabric in the world, due to its huge commercial value, cotton also represents an essential component of foreign exchange earnings for more than fifty countries.  The value and reach of cotton extends far past the fashion runway.

But, the global cotton industry has a worldwide Dark Side of which most of us are not aware as we fill our shopping bags with inexpensive cotton shirts from major clothing stores.  The simple act of conventionally growing and harvesting the one pound of cotton fiber needed to make a T-shirt takes an enormous and devastating toll on the earth’s air, water, and soil that impacts global health.  Also, policies and practices within the cotton industry from crop subsidies to garment sweatshops create poverty and misery that stretch around the world.

That is why Sama Baby is different. The CEO and VP go to India EVERY SINGLE YEAR to inspect the cotton. To go to the fields. To speak the language, to meet with the farmers. We go to make sure everything is completely organic following the HIGHEST level of organic cotton. We make sure that everyone is treated fairly, that we are supporting local villages, that we make sure it is FAIR TRADE!

Visit us at http://www.samababy.com

People buy our product because they believe in our story, they believe that companies should be hands on when making a product, and they are inspired by what our team does to ensure that we handle everything ourselves!