Catherine Cassidy
Catherine Cassidy, Founder & CEO of Boutique Box
💫 ABOUT: Catherine Cassidy is the founder and CEO of Boutique Box, a style membership that helps busy women curate intentional, high-impact wardrobes by leveraging emerging designers' on-hand inventory. With 23 years of fashion industry experience — from Nordstrom, Robinsons May and BCBG to launching her first business, Ustyled, in 2008 — Catherine has dedicated her career to emboldening women leaders through style. As the visionary behind Boutique Box, she now brings her signature Intelligent Style approach to scale, building a more sustainable and personal fashion ecosystem.
💪 MOTIVATION: Her corporate experiences were with billion dollar brands that she quickly realized were relying on economies of scale and moving product through markdown. And in analyzing why they operated this way, she saw a massive disconnect between the customer and the designer.
She has leveraged style her whole life as a tool when she’s stepping outside of her comfort zone (which is often). So she believed deeply in the power of style, but was really disappointed in the industry and the impact on the customer -- especially the woman getting dressed for work.
She believed -- even then, in 2008 -- that we could build a better, more efficient and more empowering ecosystem. She just didn't know what she was getting herself into! Fast forward to 2018, after building a personal styling business for 10 years to understand the problem and customer, and she saw a way to start bringing that initial vision to life with the advances in technology and shifts in the industry.
🎁 GIVE: She has a very broad and diverse network. If you want to share what you're working on, what you're frustrated with or where you need support, that will spark an idea for a connection that could be helpful.
🙏 GET: Introductions to communities and organizations who serve our ideal client -- women leaders earning over $200K who need to get dressed for work and don't have the time -- for them to share Boutique Box as a resource.
🎉 FAVORITE QUOTE: Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go. -- TS Eliot
📣 NEWS: She’d love to share her Power up your Presence workshop as a first step to shift your Intelligent Style mindset (aka effortless mornings & maximum impact).
🗞️ RECENT PRESS: Why Teaching Style Matters Now More Than Ever Before
TIPS & TRICKS: Go slow with signing advisors, especially if they're going to be helpful with fundraising and/or technology. For fundraising, you want to know that they are actually able to help you with introductions for funding. And for technology, especially if you're not a technical founder, you want to know that they fully understand your vision and have executed comparable projects successfully. And, finally, that they actually have the time.
🌈 DREAM INTRO WISH: Executives at Fortune 500 companies, law firms, and consulting firms who lead training/onboarding for recent graduates to include Intelligent Style programming as a part of their new hire training.
While Boutique Box is for women leaders at a certain level at the moment because that's where there is a more urgent need/problem, she envisions being able to take future leaders from College to the C-Suite. And Style is Learned. SO, with programming to coach future leaders on Intelligent Style, we can give them the tools to build their presence and brand with intention.
🥰 What she loves about The Fourth Effect? “I am always referring women to The Fourth Effect, especially if they're looking for their next steps in either their career or their business. I love how you connect women in corporate environments with entrepreneurs because that is SO important for both of our ecosystems. And, the men who've joined are true allies -- it's so great to see it in action (especially as an entrepreneur).”