About Cathy Lee
As president and CEO of RSVPstyle, Cathy Lee is the creative talent and public face of Hawaii’s hottest design/décor company. A born entrepreneur, she brings a flair and passion for people to every venture she undertakes. It was all but inevitable that when she and business partner Lissa Rodrigues created RSVPstyle, the company’s vision to inspire and teach people to add style to their spaces would carry her signature flair.
In 2002, when the interior designer hired to complete a half-finished house she’d bought stopped returning her calls, Cathy decided to tackle the project herself. With absolutely no design background, she embarked on a year and a half of self-study and on-the-job learning. The result—a lush Island/Eclectic house with movie theater, meditation room and floor-to-ceiling views of the surrounding Hawaiian mountains—caught the attention of the design world. Homescape magazine featured the home on its Fall 2003 cover with an 11-page spread inside.
Cathy continued to develop her unique style with luxury homes she purchased, remodeled, decorated and sold. She cites mixing styles and textures, making bold statements in relaxing spaces and avoiding matchy-matchy elements as key style signatures. The inspiration she draws from travels with her husband and their 10-year-old daughter is evident in her signature look: clean urban lines, bold pops of color against relaxing palettes, tropical touches, exotic Mediterranean and Asian accents.
As the company grew, it packaged design/décor lessons into DVDs and workbooks. The Deluxe Style Kit, affordable Starter Set and RSVPstyle’s $30,000 Style My Room Makeover DVD are all offered on the website, along with logowear and other items. Hawaii stores carrying the popular Starter Set include Borders, Barnes and Noble, Sam’s Club and Costco.
In late 2006, inspired by demand from design-challenged homeowners, Cathy and Lissa launched RSVPstyle. The venture was two-pronged. An interactive website, www.rsvpstyle.com, would feature video tips, articles and industry profiles for anyone interested in learning about home design and décor. Meanwhile, Learn to Decorate with Style workshops would allow Cathy to bring RSVPstyle’s design fundamentals, inspiration and excitement directly to live audiences.
Meanwhile, Cathy’s easy-to-grasp lessons and if-I-can-do-it-so-can-you message led to regular appearances as the first home style expert at Hawaii’s ABC-TV affiliate, KITV4. Her Living with Style blog is a fixture at www.honoluluadvertiser.com, Hawaii’s leading online news site with 17 million hits per month. Cathy’s work has also been featured in magazines and on HGTV’s House Hunters.
To date, every RSVPstyle design/décor workshop has sold out at venues ranging from the Hilton Hawaiian Village to the Hawaii Convention Center. Invitations have resulted in mini-workshops at Aloha Tower Marketplace, on board the Crystal Serenity’s Mediterranean Mezes cruise, and at Macy’s. Coming months will see more workshops as well as national tie-ins with Macy’s.
A hands-on mom, Cathy involves herself in school and community activities. She has brought her fresh ideas and energy to fundraising for the American Heart Association, American Diabetes Association, American Red Cross and Make-A-Wish Foundation. Her philosophy is that as with creating and learning, giving back should be fun.