The First Little Luxury

I guess the first thing I should do - is say a huge thank you to all my supporters, friends, stores and vendors for getting me to the point where I had to start a blog! Little did I know when I started Cute-ture 2 years ago that I would be at this point so soon. Nor did I realize that when the company started that it would take over my life so completely and with so much fulfillment that I couldn't remember what life was like before it was this crazy existence. For those who are really left behind - what on earth is Tracey talking about - doesn't she work in film??....

I left Australia in 2004 to take up the role of Film Commissioner for Australia in Los Angeles and not long after my American boyfriend Joey proposed. Life was incredibly good and I was living in a nice fantasy world with celebrity friends, great perks at work and gorgeous husband who happens to be a wonderful actor. But then something happened...my incredible boss (who is located 12,000 miles away in Australia) decided to retire and the new boss was one that took the sunshine away from my happy existence. Then Joey and I decided to start a family and I thought I may finally pursue that dream that was constantly lurking in the back of my brain and start a business.

With a bit of luck I was shown a teddy-bear called the FLATOUTbear. One of my work colleagues came by and asked if it was something one of the celebrities I work with may like as a maternity gift. Two weeks later I was in Australia for work (with the not so shiny boss on a road trip) and I had dinner with the two sisters who created the FLATOUTbear. Suddenly after a few glasses of wine (I am an Aussie after all) the words ' I would love to import and rep your bear' came out of my mouth. I hadn't thought about it, I didn't know how I was going to do it and certainly I didn't think they would say yes. And that really is how it started.

Since that point, Joey and I discovered that I have some medical issues that have prevented us from getting pregnant thus far (though we are adopting and incredibly excited and in waiting for our baby) - and then our business boomed - I think God had a different plan for me than the one I had in my mind! FLATOUTbear introduced me to Minimink - an amazing faux fur line from Australia and around the same time I approached two incredible companies Oobi Baby and Alimrose Designs and suddenly we went from one bear in six colors - to over 400 products from four incredible companies and a bunch of stylists who loved the pieces and kept them in magazines.

So that is how Cute-ture began! We are now just starting year three in business and are so excited to have stores such as Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Shop Intuition, LOVE in Greenwich, Kitson and Calypso carrying our products. My dad recently joined our team as our business manager (he inspires me so much) and we are moving to a new location and new home next week!!

So with that as my very first blog - I look forward to updating you on all that is going on in the Vieira household and at Cute-ture. Finally I want to encourage you all for this Christmas - to volunteer! I took Joey to Treepeople (great non-profit) in the Hollywood Hills on the weekend to weed mustard plants (bad fire hazard) and then took Dad aka Stanley to Gibbon Center in Santa Clarita to clear scrub away from the endangered ape area again to ensure their safety if further fires flare up. It is so easy to be too busy to help others but if we all just take 3 hours out of our month and contribute to something much bigger than us, it would make an incredible difference! It really is easy to find places to volunteer and I am happy to help direct you to wonderful organisations such as www.laworks.com