We’re back again with the third issue of our Austin project blog series! A collaborative effort with our friends and favorite photographers over at the Kara Marie Collective.
Austin, TX is a city that is so rich in culture and life, and the people are what make this city so magnetic. There are so many fascinating people doing exciting things. The city constantly keeps us inspired to continue to do the work we do here at Sleekform: creating alternative, comfortable ways for people to sit while they do whatever it is they do while seated.
We felt the urge to get out into our community and meet some people who make Austin great. We chatted to each person about their businesses, passions, how they use the chair and how they define self-care.
Today we are featuring Angie Hejl- the owner of Austin-based party and event planning company A Soiree By Angie.
Angie welcomed us into her world of color, fun, excitement and talked to us about the realities of event planning. It’s not always flowers and colourful cakes (although, it often is), it also requires a lot of logistics, planning and hours sitting at a desk.
Angie has been using the Austin chair for a little over a year and we were so excited to talk to her and get her impressions of using a kneeling chair on a daily basis.
As a former fitness instructor and trainer, Angie is passionate about keeping the body healthy, and a lot of that comes down to the proper alignment of the spine while she’s having to remain sedentary. As soon as she came across the chair (while doing a different shoot with the Kara Marie Collective- it’s a small world after all!) she knew she needed one.
We took the rare opportunity to speak candidly with a long-time user of the product to see what she would change about it. We were ecstatic when her only note was to offer an all-white version of the chair! Aesthetics we can do!
During our conversation, she did bring up the fact that occasionally she would find her glutes starting to get pins and needles. We asked her if she was taking advantage of all the different ways you can sit in the chair- legs in, legs out, legs crossed, one foot up on the knee pad- and she had her mind blown! She had been so committed to using the chair “correctly” that she hadn’t been utilizing the chair to its full capacity.
One of our biggest mantras here at Sleekform is that the “best posture” is actually the next posture, which basically means that there is no perfect posture, the best thing you can do is keep moving and switching up your posture all the time.
On top of being a dedicated kneeling chair user, Angie was a big fan of our Portland folding table. She was drawn to The Portland because she does a lot of styled shoots, a lot of them being outdoors and she’s always looking for natural wood tabletops, but it can be difficult to find affordable natural wood. On top of it working for her vibe, she loves that she can easily fold it up, put it in the back of her car and transport it to various event spaces all on her own. She doesn’t need an extra set of hands to carry and assemble it with her and can then easily tear it down quickly after the event. Having done a lot of events on her own in the past she has had to hire help just for moving things, but with The Portland, she can do it all on her own.
If you’re in Austin make sure you check out Angie’s business A Soriee By Angie and give her a follow on Instagram! Angie also does custom dried floral arrangements, like the one pictured above!
We have plenty more Austin Project blogs coming up with so many rad people. Make sure you check out Issue #1 and Issue #2. You can also check us out on Instagram for more photos from the Kara Marie Collective and more from our conversation with Angie.
If you’re located in Austin and would like to be featured in future Austin Project blogs, please reach out to us directly at hello@sleekform.com.
You Can shop the Austin (version black) here.
The Blonde Austin is returning to the shelves at the end of the month!
