Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Cassidy Van Slyke Blenke. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Cassidy, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you come up with the idea for your business?
I left the workforce after having my second daughter due to stress, navigating the demands between motherhood, childcare costs, and my general well-being, specifically after experiencing one moment among many where I found myself on the clock, pumping milk while also eating my lunch in a client’s bathroom stall. And that’s when the plates began to shift, catapulting me into a new life role as a full-time caregiver, house manager, repairperson, family scheduler, transportation expert, and everything and anything that only a woman can truly handle and embrace.
In the next two and a half years, I birthed two more children, and at one time, had four children four and under. My daily uniform went from business casual and pearls to old clothes, a chef’s apron from Amazon, and rubber gloves, depending on the severity of the mess (poop, puke, paint, etc.). In between all these intense, dirty, difficult, sometimes very isolating moments of motherhood with very small children, I missed me. The me who loved to feel good in what she was wearing, dressing up in full glam, or not worrying about wearing nice Yoga pants because of the destructive, sometimes beautiful, soul-draining children around her.
My current daily uniform as a caregiver—a simple chef apron—didn’t protect me from their messes, and I couldn’t stay clean during the day, so I tried to find a full-coverage apron. It didn’t exist. After talking to other moms with small kids, they encouraged me to design my own. Timeless Grace began with nothing more than a sketch and countless conversations. Conversations with women, friends, mothers, and workers—people who needed something beautiful yet practical to carry them through their daily hustle. I listened to baristas, gardeners, artists, and stay-at-home parents, curious about the garments they wore to protect their clothes while they worked.
The logic behind why I knew this would work was that there are so many women doing physically & emotionally challenging jobs that needed full coverage to protect what they were wearing underneath. The women’s fashion market’s current utility wear for women is either trade-specific or couture and designer, something no one would throw in the wash. There is no happy medium for people who are not skilled in a trade or a client of high-end couture. But there are plenty of women (like me) who still do these types of jobs and desire high-quality, fashionable, and feminine utility wear to protect their clothing in and around the home.
Each day that I continue to build this brand, I think of all these women —the women who came before, the women warriors who survived, thrived, and continue to move the feline hustle forward. I channel their magic and put it directly into my vision for this brand and its functional garment purpose. From the first women of the Native communities who harvested the land I live on, to my Great Grandmother who lied on her birth certificate just so she could get a job to help support her family, to the women who fought for the well being of their children, and to those I’ve come to know and love here in St. Louis, to all these women, I imagine them wearing this practical garment in action, and being able honor their strength and prowess by giving them a full coverage, functional, feminine, and luxurious, apron so they know that while life is still brutally fierce, dirty, and unpredictable, Timeless Grace sees them, and recognizes the beauty of their grind, and most importantly, wants them to remember this… that they are loved.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Before founding Timeless Grace, I spent nearly a decade in the agency world, managing client relationships and leading strategy for clients ranging from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies. My role involved working closely with C-level executives, analyzing performance data, and driving measurable results. It was exciting, rewarding work, but also demanding. After having my children (four in four and a half years), I realized I needed to redirect my energy and creativity into something that aligned with both my life and values.
That shift is what inspired Timeless Grace Lifestyle Wear. While balancing motherhood and the messy, beautiful work of maintaining a household, I recognized a gap: women deserved something elegant and empowering to wear in those moments of care, creation, and responsibility. In these real-life challenging moments of motherhood, I discovered a gap in the market and designed a luxury, body-inclusive apron that complements the female form, offers long-lasting wear, and elevates an everyday utility piece into a garment of confidence and grace.
What sets Timeless Grace apart is our commitment to both form and function. Our aprons aren’t just protective garments; they are fashion-forward pieces that celebrate womanhood in all its stages and shapes. We solve the problem of outdated, ill-fitting aprons by offering modern, stylish, and inclusive options without compromising on practicality.
I’m most proud that this brand was built from real-life need and experience, not from a boardroom concept. It was born in my kitchen, with my children at my feet, and my belief that women deserve beauty and dignity in every role they play. What I want people to know about Timeless Grace is that it’s more than a product; it’s a statement. It says: You deserve to feel beautiful and powerful, even in life’s messiest moments.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
A lesson I had to unlearn was the belief that you need an MBA, an advanced degree, or a perfectly polished resume to move forward with a great idea. For much of my life, I carried imposter syndrome and questioned whether I truly deserved a seat at the table.
The backstory goes back to childhood, when I struggled to learn to read, which left me feeling “behind” in traditional education. But at the same time, I was wildly creative. It took a few exceptional teachers to recognize that creativity and help me see it as a strength, even if it didn’t fit neatly into standardized tests or scantrons.
As I entered the workforce after college, I learned that test scores or credentials didn’t define success; it was built on work ethic, ingenuity, and creative output. Still, with a boss or VP always guiding the way, I often second-guessed myself. Launching my own business changed that. It pushed me to trust my instincts, believe in my vision, and value my lived experience and creative drive as much as any credential. With each meeting, each call, and each decision, I’ve grown more confident in my own voice as a leader, and more importantly, as a woman who can do hard things, just like my target market and customers.
Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?
My manufacturing story truly started from zero. With no background in fashion, I began by reaching out to people I knew who had created their own products, asking what had worked and what hadn’t in their journeys. Through those conversations, kind friends pointed me toward resources and specialists in product development, patternmaking, and sewing. But before I went too far, I decided to take sewing classes myself. I wanted to feel the process firsthand and learn to “speak the language” of fashion. At the same time, I checked out academic books on fashion history and merchandising to better understand the industry and the market I was entering.
As I clarified my vision, I partnered with a local nonprofit that helped me create my first tech pack and prototypes, which I used for user testing and gathering feedback from target customers. Unfortunately, after the testing phase, the nonprofit shut down and could no longer support manufacturing. I interviewed a small-batch manufacturer, one of the few available, but it wasn’t a good fit, leaving me stuck.
In a twist of fate, my daughter’s art teacher connected me with a consulting group in St. Louis with over 30 years of experience in the fashion industry. That introduction changed everything. Through their expertise, I was able to refine my product, source higher-quality materials, and ultimately connect with the right factory to produce my aprons.
The biggest lessons I’ve learned along the way are that manufacturing is rarely a straight path, and relationships are invaluable. Asking questions, staying curious, and being willing to pivot when something doesn’t work have been essential. Most importantly, I’ve learned that even without prior industry experience, persistence and resourcefulness can open the right doors.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://timelessgracewear.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/timelessgracewear
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/Timeless-Grace-Lifestyle-Wear-61579207798682/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cassidyblenke/
