Modern Organization System, Cadence Offers a Functional, Sustainable Solution to the Wastefulness of the Personal Care Industry

There’s a simple yet inconvenient truth about the nature of our consumption today: everything comes in a plastic container. Our daily routines cause us to rely on all sorts of prescriptions, supplements, skin care products, and more, which results in a massive assortment of plastic receptacles. This results in general disorderliness, greater difficulty while traveling, and, most importantly, a lot of recyclable materials being disposed of improperly. Additionally, most of these products are designed to be single-use for a single purpose, which makes it challenging to reduce our consumption.

It’s difficult to find a product that can address these problems holistically. This emphasized the need for an organization system like Cadence, which uses storage capsules with durable materials to help users develop cadence in their routines and fight the problems of plastic waste. 

Founder Steph Hon created Cadence in 2017 because she needed to find it in her own life—from weekend camping trips to business travel, Hon was tired of trying to balance her personal wellness routine with the burden of carrying and keeping track of each of her products and containers. 

“As a consumer, I was constantly looking for a solution to this, and I became determined to solve this problem.” 

As Hon said herself, Cadence is all about creating the “feeling of having it all together.” The brand offers tightly-sealed capsules that easily hold on-the-go items for your personal needs. They are perfectly sized for travel, are TSA-approved, and have interchangeable labels for organizational purposes. The magnetic lid of each capsule ensures another layer of security by preventing spillages and leaks, and they serve as a more functional replacement for the typical travel bottle due to their sturdiness and portability. 

The sustainability initiative for Cadence goes hand in hand with the functionality of their capsules. The capsules’ design is expertly-crafted and environmentally conscious, presenting customers with an easy way to take control over their daily routines and environmental impact. While plastic is versatile, convenient, cheap to manufacture and easy to replace, plastic pollution is a serious threat to our environment, introducing toxic exposure in every phase of its life cycle. Which is why, each capsule consists of roughly 20% recycled ocean-bound plastics, and the brand continues to innovate their containers’ makeup to be even more friendly towards the environment. “We want to fight the single-use bottles that you’d get at a CVS or something,” Hon said, “and also the refillable bottles that are poorly made and end up getting thrown out anyway.” 

The capsules are specifically designed to be easily refillable, durable enough to last a lifetime and reduce customers’ daily plastic intake.

Cadence’s mission to lessen the negative impact of the personal care industry operates in a number of different ways—from engineers working to further increase the use of recycled material, to informative sections on their website dedicated to initiating a conversation about the industry’s significant impact on the environment, the brand incorporates sustainability in every aspect of their business’s model.

The nature of individuality that comes with Cadence’s capsules is something that enables this product to appeal to all kinds of customers. Hon noted that while the product attracts a lot of “skincare junkies” looking to carry their routine wherever they go, the product attracts just as many customers looking for a beautifully designed product, greater organization in their lifestyles or simply wanting to have a product that is better for our planet.

“One of our core philosophies at Cadence is individuality,” Hon said, “and when we developed our product it was important to give the user choice always.” 

As mentioned earlier, the capsules can be customized and labeled very easily, and customers also have the option to purchase as many capsules as they may need, whether it’s just a single capsule for jewelry or one for each and every personal care product. “We want Cadence to give you that extra ingredient so you’re prepared for whatever adventure you’re about to go on, so that you can feel like you’ve kept your cadence.” 

While COVID-19 has impacted the daily operations of Cadence, Hon emphasized the importance of perseverance while running a startup. Hon mentioned that through countless messages to anyone both inside and out of her network, she had an important sense of fortitude, and was open to whoever may find Cadence impactful. “I think it’s important for founders to have an open mind, be untraditional, and continue to move forward,” she said. This philosophy applied to Cadence’s product engineering, development, and design, and she iterated the same in addressing the hardships of the pandemic. 

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