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Irene Chen- Redefining Functional Luxury with Parker Thatch · She’s Smart

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Hey, everybody. Welcome to She's Smart. I'm your host, Maria Robotham.
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You know, sometimes you meet someone and there's this instant connection,
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not because you've known them forever, but because you share a piece of where you came from.
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That's how I felt meeting today's guest, Irene Chen, co-founder of Parker Thatch,
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the California-based brand redefining functional luxury.
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Irene and I both grew up in the same little pocket of Northern California.
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These close-knit towns where everyone knows everyone and you still remember
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every face in your high school class.
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So right away, there was this shared sense of home and nostalgia woven into our conversation.
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With a background at Donna Karan and Calvin Klein, Irene went on to build Parker
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Thatch with her husband and partner Matthew Grenby.
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What began as an e-stationary company back in 2001 has evolved into a thriving
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accessories brand known for its timeless, beautifully made handbags,
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the kind that are as practical as they are chic.
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In our chat, Irene shares how the brand's very first bag was born,
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in the most unexpected place, a dry cleaner,
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how a few words of advice from handbag icon Kate Spade changed the course of
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her business, and how Irene's approach to design, family, and life is rooted in optimism,
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resilience, and a little bit of California cool.
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I loved this conversation. It's inspiring, funny and deeply human.
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So get cozy as we connect, learn and laugh together on She's Smart.
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I'm just so appreciative when people want to come on and hang out with me.
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It's just great. I love it. I love it.
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Thank you for having me. So, Irene, thank you for being on She's Smart.
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This is the most fun to have you here. I have to tell the story of how we met.
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I had Melissa Connor on, who's from Jennifer Beck Communications.
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She was on this really lovely event and invited me. It was at Graybarns.
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And she's like, oh, it's for this brand called Parker Thatch.
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And I was like, wait, I know them. They have a store in my hometown. town.
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My really good friend Tyler turned me on to your brand because she follows you on Instagram.
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You always post what you're wearing that day, your outfits.
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You're talking about how you're supposed to feel good in what you're wearing
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and add some fun to what you're wearing. I'm like, this woman's amazing.
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And she has a story, Linda.
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So when we got to meet and I got to meet your wonderful husband,
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I always feel so connected to people from where we live, where I grew up, Right.
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Yeah. And it's we've got these three little towns.
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People all know each other from those little towns. I just immediate connection.
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Whenever I meet someone, I get so excited because I just loved growing up there.
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Saying. I always feel so proud of it.
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I also feel like people are really lucky to get to raise their families there and live in that space.
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Well, it's a little bit rare too sometimes. It's not like New York,
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but just a tiny area outside of the Bay.
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So it's kind of interesting. A little dot, but I was so excited. I was like, what?
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And you're in Connecticut? This is so crazy.
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It's like, yeah. And like, you are right. Like, it is so great that we get to bring up our kids here.
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Really, really lucky. It's such a special spot. Living in Weston,
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I always joke that it's like the Arenda of the East because it is that same small town.
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You've got one high school. Everyone grows up together.
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I know every face in my high school class, class of 97.
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We all know each other. I love that I might not be home in California,
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but and I still call it home, even though I've lived here on the East Coast
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longer than I live here. Yeah, it's crazy.
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A lot of people go to work and then come back to where they grew up.
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And then you're like, oh my gosh, I was in her class in high school.
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Now our kids are in school together. It's amazing.
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My mom was a teacher at OIS for 30 years. That's so crazy. And she just retired after COVID.
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She had kids of students in my graduating class that were now her students.
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So she not only had the parents when we were in seventh and eighth grade,
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but now she has their kids like that
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is insane isn't that crazy like a generation of
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kids that she taught oh and so they still call
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her mrs riso yeah so they're like hey mrs riso
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that's one of the guys was a friend of mine he put football and he walks in
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he's like hey mrs riso what is going on he's like well my kid's in your class
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and she's like there's no way that is a trip that is so crazy i love that yeah
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all right so let's get into parker thatch i have I have my bag sitting right here.
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Oh, my God. Thank you so much. Fits my laptop. I'm obsessed.
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So I would love to know what sparked this idea of Parker Thatch for you.
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What sparked this idea? My husband and I worked together and we've been doing
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Parker Thatch or another form of Parker Thatch for about 20 years.
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We've gone through this little trajectory of doing various types of businesses,
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working in different types of products, and landed on handbags around 2009.
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So it's been a long journey, but it's just sort of an accidental journey.
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But also, I was working in fashion and product for a very long time before we started.
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Working together. It started as a tech e-stationary play, and then it somehow
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then slowly made it, meandered its way into a bag, which is very strange,
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but great. Do you remember the first bag you made?
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Yes. And the first bag we made is still on our line, but it's just in a different form.
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The bag we made was called a mini, and it was made with a roll of canvas and
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two leather strips. It was a canvas tote, basically.
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It's a square with two little handles, and it's still on our line,
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and performs as one of our most popular bags online, which is so crazy.
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Yeah. It's a classic. And yeah, this bag was born in a dry cleaner.
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So we have a very odd history in where we started.
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Can you tell that story because you touched upon it when we were at that dinner,
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where you actually started producing your bag? Yeah.
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So when Matt and I started this idea of doing a canvas tote,
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Matt brought this idea, because we've been doing personalized stationery,
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personalized everything, ice bucket, tray, and that was our business.
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And so he came to me and said, hey, listen, I think I could work on all cotton.
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What do you want to do? And I was like,
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I get to finally do a pattern. This is what I want to do. And we were still,
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you know, from day one, we're self-funded.
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And so we really did not have a budget to work with any pattern makers or any of that stuff.
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So what I did was I noticed that our dry cleaner was an excellent hemmer of
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pants. And I worked in fashion, so I could definitely tell when someone could really hem a pant.
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And so I said, I think I could ask the woman that hems my pants to maybe make
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a sample for us. And he's like, well, such. Okay.
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No, I didn't. It was so crazy. Like sometimes you're just like, okay, let's try this.
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She was trained at the design school in San Francisco. And she was just working
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with her mom and dad at their cleaners.
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And she was so excited. She's like, I totally want to do this.
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So she cut the pattern and made our first bag out of a roll of canvas that we
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had gone to, you know, Joanne.
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But you grew up here. So we went to Joanne's, used our coupons,
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and bought the heaviest canvas that I could find there. And that's how we made the bag.
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It's so crazy. Had that industrial needle to get through the double layers of canvas.
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So she was like, OK, I think I could do this. And then we're like, well, we really don't.
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We're not Leathersmiths. So how are we going to put this handle on?
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And Matt's like, all I can do is cut strips.
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He's like, why don't we cut strips and punch holes and then,
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you know, make two handles for this bag that you want to make?
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Well, that's how we did it. And it's crazy.
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Was your first store in Arenda or Lafayette? It was in Arenda.
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We had an office. We never had a store, and so we moved to Orinda.
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We've always been online, and we've always done direct-to-customer.
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Okay. That is incredible.
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So once it started taking off, how did you then start? Okay,
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you bought this one bolt of fabric.
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I was in fashion before. I changed careers. You have to produce and get enough
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of that fabric to produce more and more.
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So you've got this one bolt. How did you find more bolts that were similar to
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fabrics that you could keep building once you were selling all these bags?
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Yeah. So we started with one bolt and then Matt and I would go to Joanne's every
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single day, two coupons, and just keep buying bolts of fabric.
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And that's what we did initially.
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And then finally, I looked at the bolt and I was like, oh, this is where I could get it from.
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And then we still didn't have enough quantity to get it wholesale.
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So it was just like this for a little while until we could get to enough quantity
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to then get larger bolts and rolls of fabric.
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But yeah, it was a journey and you've got to do these little tiny things, right?
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Yeah, but that's a true testament to being like, I know what I want.
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I know it's going to work.
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We will find it. And I find so many entrepreneurs and founders.
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That is how they do it. I listened to this really great podcaster named Guy Raz.
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Who's great. Right? He's amazing. I love how all of these founders,
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there's always a hitch. There's always something they come up against,
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but they find a way to make it work because they believe enough in it to be
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like, this is going to happen.
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We're going to think outside of the box and do something different that will make this work.
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But I totally believe that. But I also think a lot of these founders were trained
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in a strange way or they had a past life where they could have the ability to
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believe like I can do this, you know, so, you know, sometimes you're like,
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I don't know why I did that job.
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But then it was something you learned to make decisions. Oh,
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yeah, we need to use this canvas that leads you to that path.
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I don't think you could just drop in and be like, I want to make a bag to make
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smarter decisions and figure things out when things don't go your way.
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Past training really helps. So you started off, did you start at Kate Spade
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or did you end up working at Kate Spade? How did that trajectory happen for you?
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Oh, I never worked at Kate Spade. Where did you start out when you were in the profession?
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I was in the 90s and I worked at Calvin Klein and at Donna Karan and I did product for them.
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And I met Katie when she was one of our clients, basically.
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And, you know, somehow things, you know, we just threw business and,
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you know, she was making orders with us. We, you know, met each other and then
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we really became really fantastically great friends.
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So that was one of the best things that, you know, when you look at what you've
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done, you can really like meeting great people like you.
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It just, you know, this is such a great, you know, for us, it's just like that's
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the greatest, you know, having this amazing community and all these friends
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that we met that we would have never met, which is amazing. It's a gift.
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It really is. I could never have said that 10 years ago, five years ago,
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but for some reason, I know you get a certain age and you're like,
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all of this is starting to make sense.
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The universe is doing the things. It's all coming together.
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You have to trust. That is a hard part, but you do. You have to trust.
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So you make the first canvas bag.
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What did you venture into next after that first canvas bag?
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So what happened was we were making these customized bags with the canvas bag.
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So it would have your stripe. It was like these beautiful stripes on it with your monogram.
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And that's what we did for a pretty long time. What was difficult was scaling
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customization is really difficult.
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So that bag turned into three different sizes, all these different designs you
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could put on it. Then we met Katie and we became really great friends.
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And she said, listen, I really think you guys should venture out of canvas.
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But she's like, you know, I'm the one who's telling you this because I started
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with nylon and I was kicking and screaming when they were like,
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let's introduce leather or let's introduce suede.
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She's like, I wasn't really open to it, but it was life changing for us as a company.
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And I was like, OK, but it was still very difficult for us because we weren't that big.
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So it was hard to start taking that risk. It's really hard to jump into that
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pool sometimes. But then we decided to do it, and it was very scary because
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now we're taking risks and buying different types of material.
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But we did it, and it was the best decision ever because now we get to do what
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we're doing and create different styles.
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The variety that you have now on the website, from sizes to fabrics,
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you really run the gamut from the individual, from the suede,
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which I just love, to the leather pieces.
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It's really a great collection of items.
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Thank you. I have found that I take mine everywhere because I can use it for
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work. I can use it to go to lunch. It carries all my things.
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It zips them on the subway.
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I'm a fan. I love that you're saying that it's useful because I think you nailed it.
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I truly believe there's so much luxury, but luxury is something you can use
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and really live in and it becomes part of your life.
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That's what makes a really luxurious product that you want to have in your closet these days.
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So that is really our, can you use it every day? Can you drop off at school
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and then take it to lunch?
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Take it on the subway, put my computer in it if I need to. Take it to dinner.
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Take it to soccer on the weekends, you know, and that's a great product thing,
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you know. So that's always been kind of the test of what we put out there.
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So thank you for saying that. When you were going through all these product
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changes, adding products, were there moments when you were like,
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we probably shouldn't have done that, but we're going to keep going?
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Or moments where you're like, okay, it didn't work, but now I know how I'm going to do it this way.
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Can you give us a little insight to the process?
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For sure. And I think that's part of growing is you always, you know,
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sometimes you're like, there's so many bags that have failed, you know, and it's okay.
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But you take the best of it and you're like, what happened there?
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Maybe it's too small. Maybe it didn't open right. Maybe it didn't have a zipper.
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But you learn from all those things and then make a better product from there.
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I think that's really important.
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Any entrepreneur or any product you put out there, you got to know that you're
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not going to hit it on the ballpark every six.
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Yeah, that's a given. How do you stay so positive every time you're putting
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out content and you have this energy? I'm sure people talk about it.
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Positivity that comes out of you. Did you grow up like that?
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Were you always very positive or were there just it's in growth that you've
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been able to find this piece, this piece with yourself where it just kind of glows out of you?
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You're so nice. No, I think a little bit like now that you're asking if I'm
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really, you know, I'm thinking about this. I came here when I was seven.
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From Taiwan and landed in Lafayette.
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Like you can imagine, this is crazy, in the 1970s. How nuts is that,
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right? We went straight to Lafayette from Taiwan.
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We went to Moraga. So you know where Moraga is. Yeah, that's where my sister lives.
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Yep. And then so we lived in Moraga for like six to eight months and then we moved to Lafayette.
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So when I got here, I was seven and then they're like, well,
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I was supposed to be in first grade or second grade.
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And they're like, well, you're going to have to be in first grade because you don't speak English.
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So from that experience, I've always
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had this idea of like okay I could do that so I said to
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myself I'm gonna be in second grade I can't be in first grade so
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I have to learn English and I have to figure this out I
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think it's always been ingrained in my DNA that things may be really hard but
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if you figure out how you what you need to do to do what you want to do then
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you'll get there so I was like I need to learn English so I watch TV I you know
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like there's all these things that I don't know why but I somehow figured it out.
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It was so weird. Do you remember which TV shows you would watch?
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Oh, God. Happy days. It was so crazy. And I just remember I thought,
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oh, my God, they're swearing.
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I just remember at school, they're like, yeah, there's this B word.
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And I'm like, whoa, OK, maybe it's some happy days. And I really thought the
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word bucko, because I think they use bucko on the check, that that was a really bad word.
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It was hysterical. But yeah, I would watch TV.
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I had this little recorder. I would record myself and speak things into the
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recorder and then see if that was pronounced right. Naturally weird.
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No, no, that's not weird. That's incredible. I didn't have that know-with-all at such a young age.
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I wonder if because when you came, you had to. Yeah. You're this new world,
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literally, this new place.
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Like, no one probably looked like you. No. I'm sorry. I grew up with a bunch of women.
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Not a lot of people understand, but you totally understand where I got dropped off into, right? It was.
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America. It's just really interesting. That's incredible. I was the only Asian
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girl, I think, in my entire class.
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Or maybe like two little classes in the first grade. Yeah, I was pretty nuts.
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Oh, I bet. Pretty wild. I bet at that point in California, that was spot on.
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When I was growing up, we didn't have, everyone was white. And you growing up
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in that area and doing that. Do you have siblings also? I have two siblings.
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My sister, Ellen, who is two years younger than me. And then I have one sister, Alice.
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She was born here. So, yeah, three sisters in it, three girls in that house.
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Do you find that Alice is the most American of all of you because she,
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like, This is the best part.
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She's the most Asian out of all of us.
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It's so crazy. And Ellen and I are totally, like, Americanized. I think it's very odd.
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Do you still have family in Taiwan? Do you ever get to visit?
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We do go back there and it's kind of cool.
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We speak Taiwanese in the house. So it's really great. I love having a different
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language and different food to expose my kids to that. It's super cool.
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I think that the gift of travel is so important for our kids to grow up.
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We haven't taken them to Europe yet. We just don't feel like we need them to
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really enjoy it and understand it.
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I have an 11-year-old and a 13-year-old, two boys.
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Their biggest dream right now is to snowboard in Japan.
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Oh, my God. We want to do that. Show that. And you should. They're big snowboarders,
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and that's, like, my 13-year-old, that's all he asks for every year is,
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like, can we just go to Japan?
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Can we just push Japan? We're really lucky. A friend of ours worked at Lululemon
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for Kate, if you're listening.
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She left Lululemon and was like, I'm opening up an inn in Japan on the mountain.
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Oh, my God. Her and her husband. Where? You have to tell me where.
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How? I will kill it on the podcast. I'm not going to do that. Okay.
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It's so cool. Just darling. They have this amazing chef and they drive you to
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the bottom of the mountain.
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And you're literally riding in like two feet of constantly out there.
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Okay. I need to know where this is. I'm going to tell you all the information.
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I love this. And boys, 11, 13, they would love Japan. That's an amazing experience
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for them. No, like just amazing.
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My kids love Japan. It's so fun. Number one on their bucket list.
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Both awesome. We went to Australia in August and it's just so fun.
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That's a great place. I find that as they get older. How old are your kids now?
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Mine are so. One is almost 18 and the other one is 20.
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Did you find that as they got older, they wanted experiences over things?
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100%. And it's so fun because then you get to start doing stuff like all going
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snowboarding or everyone getting on an ATV. So you guys, you know,
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we all get to experience.
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It's not like the little kids are like, oh my God, I need to go on this ride.
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So we all get to do crazy stuff. And it's so fun.
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It's such a fun time to go on holiday with the kids. Yeah. I definitely enjoy
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being a mom to older kids than I did.
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I know. I can relate more. I really enjoy that part of it.
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So how do you think creating, founding, and running Parker has formed you as an individual?
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Oh, my God. I agree.
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Doing what we're doing is the biggest gift for finding yourself.
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I really do believe that.
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And it's through failures. It's through struggle where you get better.
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And when you get better and you've actually accomplished that task,
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you're like, wow, I just did that.
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Let's go to the next level. And I feel like every day it's a struggle.
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But every day, if you look at it as I'm getting better and I'm learning something
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new, I think that is amazing.
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And then you learn to kind of figure out who you are as an individual and what you like.
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And it's okay to say, you know what, this is what we're going to bring.
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It's such a great lesson in finding yourself. And I think it's so important.
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So it has been a great cast.
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And how is working with your spouse? So I have to ask, because you two are just
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the absolute cutest when you're together and talking.
20:49
It's so nice. My husband is, after COVID, works from home. And I adore him. I love you, Ben.
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And he listens to every, he's so supportive on every podcast.
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But having him home, it's a lot. It's like, it's not, you know,
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I don't have separate spaces.
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So I'm always so intrigued by couples who actually like work together.
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You have your descriptions of what you do for your job, but constantly going
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over spreadsheets and going over numbers and going over fabrics together.
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Tell us a little bit about what that's like.
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Well, what's interesting is we both have our lanes and we were both pretty trained
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in our lanes before we started doing our business.
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So we kind of don't really have to go to them to be like, hey, do you like this color?
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Of course, we'll run it through each other. He's actually coming to me and be
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like, we found this new tech and I think we should plug this in.
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You know, whatever he finds. I think that's the most important thing.
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Respecting each other in terms of what they do and what they're great at.
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And respecting each other in terms of I really respect aesthetically what you
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like, you know, and we're very fortunate that we're going to do this.
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Both have the same aesthetic so that makes it easier but i
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think it's just like we really respect each other and we have our
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own team and of course we chat about
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things like big decisions but day to day i mean we do work from home a lot honestly
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i don't even see him all day until night time but we're in very close together
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like you might be in one room and i might be in the other but we're so on our
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own calls and everything it's kind of crazy but we really work well together.
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And I think it all comes down to respect and really admiring what he's all about.
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That respect, I think, is most important. I really do believe that.
22:25
Well, so let's say something has not worked out right, not leaving it at the
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office because you're both coming home to the same place at night.
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You've been able to shut down that conversation and give yourself like home
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time, us time, or does it kind of overlap a little bit?
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Sometimes it overlaps, but most of the time, we resolve it and move forward.
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When we were younger, the tension was higher because we were both more immature.
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But as we matured and grew respect, you know, in terms of like,
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okay, cool, let's just trust.
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Then it just makes it a lot easier. And we're like, all right,
22:58
fine. You know what? Do that. Try it. What's worth.
23:02
Yeah. And we leave it and come on. Yeah. That's wonderful advice too.
23:06
I have to remember that when we don't work together, but I see him all the time.
23:12
Yeah. There are days when I wear like six different hats, you know, like most of us do.
23:16
Yeah. There are days where I might be inside my office in the house and he's
23:20
walking around, talking to himself, doing things.
23:22
And he just starts talking to me and I'm like in the middle of something.
23:24
I'm like, I got to schedule you in because I'm in the middle and it looks like you're not doing it.
23:28
It was awesome. I got to put you on my calendar.
23:31
Yeah. I told him that one day. He's like, okay. I'm like, I need 10 minutes to get my stuff done.
23:37
That's awesome. I love that. So how do you find, because you work so hard,
23:42
you're building this amazing brand.
23:44
I would love to talk about bringing on a creative director if you can chat about that.
23:49
But I'd love to know how you nurture yourself away from this business that you've
23:55
created. Because I can imagine as a founder, as an entrepreneur, you live it.
23:58
You're probably going to sleep thinking about it. You're waking up thinking about it.
24:01
How do you nurture yourself away from that? I have my mornings they're just
24:07
non-negotiables there are things that I do in the morning for me working out
24:11
I've been working out you know.
24:13
Pretty much every day for a pretty long streak.
24:17
And I think that's really changed the way that that's my time.
24:21
Even when we go on vacation, they know in the morning she's got to go and leave
24:24
this room and then go do her thing.
24:25
That really has just really changed the way I see things. And it's really,
24:30
really important. I block out that time. I don't have calls.
24:33
And I don't start my day until that's done. It's really important for me personally.
24:38
And that's when I think, That's when I learn, I listen to podcasts,
24:42
and I feel like it's my improvement time.
24:44
I fully relate to that. My mornings are mine. Nobody comes. I'm down before everyone.
24:49
I've talked about this a lot on the podcast. Like, we need that reset in the
24:53
morning. We need that grounding.
24:55
Then we can do our thing because there are a lot of bodies and a lot of hearts
24:58
and a lot of souls that need us in all ways.
25:01
And if we can't start that for us first, it's really hard to put it out there.
25:06
Such a good point. when I was younger, I would feel bad. Like,
25:10
oh my gosh, I should not be taking this time for myself.
25:12
Even if it's like, let me go get a massage or a facial. I shouldn't be doing this.
25:16
But I think doing those things for yourself makes you a better person at home,
25:20
makes you a better mother, makes you a better person at work, makes you a better wife.
25:24
I think it's really important to do those things. Yeah.
25:27
Because you're in a better headspace. And you value yourself.
25:31
I've seen this a lot and it's kind of changed my perspective.
25:35
I grew up swimming and playing water polo in California.
25:37
And Arinda, we have a lot of athletes, right? We're all athletes out there ingrained in you.
25:43
Make up early for swim team practice. And it was what you had to do.
25:47
But that structure stayed. So last time wasn't just for my training,
25:52
but then it became for my brain and for my body.
25:55
And it kept going. It's changed into different variations.
25:59
Although I will tell you, Irene, I just picked up a new cap and goggles and swimsuit.
26:04
I haven't swum laps in like 20 years. That is awesome.
26:08
Something is bringing me back to it. Super cool. Does it feel good?
26:11
Tomorrow is my first day in the water. We'll see.
26:13
Do your boys play water polo? No, I wish.
26:17
They took to the snow. They surf and they swim. Okay, that's cool.
26:21
I wanted them to swim, but alas, they did not choose that sport.
26:27
It's crazy. La Marinda has this crazy swimming culture.
26:31
Like, you know, we've said Olympian, like, it's crazy what we've done here.
26:35
Just in this little tiny dot of how many, like, crazy and, like,
26:40
these water polo girls these days, they are badass.
26:44
They are tough. And it's so amazing. It's incredible. And I think that's a whole
26:49
other conversation about the coaching and the environment and how we grew up.
26:53
But my sister still coaches swimming. She runs the Camp Linda Cabana Club.
26:59
My son goes to Campolindo. I got to ask that. So he and Ronnie and Donnie were my swim coaches.
27:06
Oh, my God. No way. Donnie has been my swim coach since I was five.
27:11
That is nuts. Are you joking? Yeah, they were at my wedding. It's incredible.
27:16
We grew up with Donnie because I swam at Meadow. And then I played water polo.
27:19
We started the first women's water polo team at Miramani.
27:22
Oh, my God. And then Donnie became our water polo coach. And then he was coaching Miramani swimming.
27:27
He has been a massive influence in my life and just like, not only as a person,
27:33
but like as an athlete, as a contributor.
27:35
He used to give us like a pamphlet every season before swimming started.
27:40
And it was basically like, you're not only going to be at practice every day
27:43
and you're going to be early, but here are the things you do.
27:46
You read a paper every day.
27:47
You read a magazine once a month. Oh, wow.
27:50
Read a book once a month. Like it was, I'll never forget it.
27:53
And you know what's funny? Every other person that grew up swimming with him
27:56
says the same thing, the things they remember about not only becoming an athlete,
28:02
but becoming a human being and how to be well-rounded and all that.
28:06
But it was this community.
28:07
I had on Nicole Brana. Nicole Brana. I graduated from high school together,
28:12
and she became an Olympic beach volleyball player.
28:16
I was talking to her about this and all of the incredible athletes that we have
28:19
grown in the three cities.
28:25
Insane. I'm telling you, the rowers that have come out of here and like the
28:29
swimmer. Swimming is the tough one.
28:31
You know, like that's where we're all like that. I think where these crazy Olympians have spawned.
28:36
It's water polo, though. And it takes such discipline.
28:39
Really, such discipline. You're badass playing water polo. It's pretty incredible. Wow.
28:44
I love that. I admire that. So, you have brought on a creative director.
28:49
Yes. Join Flea. Yeah, tell us about that.
28:52
It's so funny. I think Joyce and I are sort of Instagram buddy.
28:57
I never met her, but I always really admired her aesthetic and what she did
29:02
at Madewell and what she built over there throughout her career.
29:05
She's had a great career.
29:07
She's worked at Marc Jacob, Nicole Core. So, she's a real, like,
29:12
at the core, loves handbags.
29:14
That's her jam she just loves it and when we
29:17
started becoming friends we noticed that we both have the same
29:20
ecos exactly what you were just saying about your bag like creating
29:23
product that you could just wear and it's luxurious yet functional and we always
29:28
say like you know we would we love creating products that have that juxtaposition
29:33
like a product needs an llb sort of idea we really saw eye to eye with that
29:38
when she stopped working at madewell she was a consultant for another company.
29:42
I was like, hey, come on, you know, maybe we could do some things together.
29:45
And then so we started working together.
29:47
And then it just kind of grew from there because I felt like, wow, this is great.
29:52
I feel like I'm at the point where it's like a symphony that we have.
29:56
And it's like, let's add different viewpoints and let's add like it's just a
30:00
whole plet to what we're doing.
30:02
And she's just absolutely incredible as a person, as a friend,
30:06
so creative, so talented and so hard work, like just everything.
30:10
She's a mom, like it's pretty amazing what she does.
30:13
So it's just been awesome. Yeah, it's pretty cool the cohesion there.
30:17
To be able to integrate someone into something that I could imagine you've built
30:23
this years and years and years and come to the point where you really adore this other person.
30:28
And to feel that trust and that pull to be like, this could be a good collaboration.
30:32
This could really work and elevate this a little bit too.
30:36
Yeah, we really get each other. And I think it's just been such a,
30:39
and we're really trying to, you know, really create this brand.
30:42
What we're trying to create is like, I think a great brand is always like,
30:46
if you close your eyes, what would this hotel, like a Parker Thatch Hotel be like?
30:50
We're really trying to create that. It doesn't exist right now,
30:53
but how amazing would it be, Tina, like this? I want to go to that hotel.
30:57
That would be so fun. Right, it would be luxurious. But then I was saying like
31:00
all the chairs would kind of be beautiful vintage chairs that you could be not
31:04
uncomfortable. You know, the beds would feel the same.
31:07
But I think for me, it's like the bags, you know, like it's really luxurious.
31:11
Everything is impeccable but you could actually hang
31:14
out and be really comfortable and have food
31:17
like you know the experience you're probably going to have when you go to
31:19
starboard in japan what a great visual for
31:22
that what would the hotel be like yeah
31:25
i'm going to start thinking about that right now because yeah
31:28
something i think everyone can take away it's so yes
31:31
you're not you're creating an experience with your bag but like
31:34
yes if it was a hotel room what would it be like
31:37
what would the entrance be like what would it feel like what music would
31:40
be playing 100 what food would be there and how would you want the service to
31:45
be that's really important and that's what we're trying to strive for when we're
31:50
really trying to really build this brand and really make you feel it i'll be
31:54
guest number one at that parker thatchwood 100 i would be so happy.
32:00
So what is next for Parker Thatch? Is there something you're working on that you can share?
32:06
What is next? I think what is next is really building out the product itself.
32:10
And we're really working on the branding aspect of it.
32:14
So in terms of the customer experience, in terms of what the box looks like,
32:19
what the labels look like.
32:21
We just started a whole new icon that we have put out there,
32:25
new kind of logoing. So for us, that's really been my personal obsession is
32:29
like, you know, let's build this so that people could really envision what this brand is all about.
32:35
And I think, you know, with the products we're bringing in, I'm really excited.
32:39
What I love about the label is that it's not aggressive.
32:43
I'm going to call it the quiet luxury that people like to say right now.
32:47
It's not like in your case.
32:49
But anyone who knows is like, I know what that bag is.
32:53
There's something very nice about that, right? It's not like St.
32:56
Tisha's with it, but I do.
32:58
Very good. I love that. Thank you. This has been so fun.
33:01
I could talk to you forever. When you come back to Rinda, you have to tell me
33:05
because I would love to get a lunch week. I'm going to come back for Christmas.
33:08
That would be awesome. We need you to come to the store. Oh,
33:10
I'm coming. We'll make a date. We'll plan it. I'll be out there.
33:13
I have to check the dates, but I'm definitely coming for Christmas.
33:15
We fly back for East Coast snowboarding, which is basically ice.
33:20
It's great. East Coast snowboarding is pretty rough. You've got to be really
33:24
skilled. I'm taken to snowshoeing, then letting them do something on the mountain.
33:29
I just stay safe with the dog and snowshoe.
33:32
Yeah, it's kind of scary, I'm
33:34
telling you. Not when you've grown up in the delicious powder of Tahoe.
33:38
Oh, yeah, exactly. So at the end of every episode, I ask three questions.
33:44
Okay. The first question is, is there something on your bucket list that you're wanting to do?
33:50
On my bucket list? Oh, that's a great question. One of the things on my bucket
33:54
list is I would like to go to Iceland and see the Northern Lights.
33:59
Because we went to Iceland and it was not wintertime. That's one of the things
34:03
I would really like to go back to and experience.
34:06
I don't know why. I'm obsessed with wanting to see the Northern Lights.
34:09
So I'd like to do that. It's on my list. I want to see the Northern Lights.
34:12
And I also want to see the white horses.
34:15
We didn't see that either. They're like unicorns. I need to see them. I know.
34:19
I know. It's so magical there. They have these little houses and there's like their fairy houses.
34:25
And the whole place is magic. Another place for boys. Such a great experience
34:29
because there's so much to do. Yes. It's so fun.
34:33
Bucket list. The next question is, is there anything you've changed your mind about recently?
34:38
Oh, my God. Have I changed my mind about something? I change my mind all the time.
34:46
It's growth i love um i have
34:49
changed my mind about my workouts as women get
34:52
older and you go through menopause my mind about working out is i have to change
34:57
my mindset too much cardio increases cortisol and i had to really balance that
35:03
out because i was a big cardio person i love running i love biking and i always
35:07
thought i have to do this but what i was finding was that was no longer servicing me.
35:11
It was making me fatter. I was like, how am I doing this workout and this run?
35:16
And it's making me bigger.
35:18
So I changed my mind about it. And it's been a journey, more weight, less cardio.
35:23
I got a rowing machine. That's been a big adjustment and diet has changed.
35:27
So yeah, that's my mind is you can't stay the same all the time,
35:32
especially the body changes. You got to roll with it.
35:35
The body changes. I know the lifting of weights has been a game changer. Yeah.
35:39
You can't really change my mind on that. It is so important.
35:42
All those studies are very correct.
35:44
And it's hard to make that change because you've done this for so long,
35:48
you have a way of doing things.
35:49
And you're like, why is this not servicing me anymore? This is crazy.
35:52
So yes, that's been a big game changer for me. And it's still work. I'm still working on it.
35:58
Yeah, but that gives you time to work on it. And then it's another thing that
36:01
you get to learn and build on, you know? Yeah. What works and what doesn't.
36:05
The last question is, Is there one piece of advice that you would give to your younger self?
36:12
Instead of trying to control everything, sometimes you have to just let it go and roll with it.
36:18
It takes some confidence to let that go because you're always trying to manage
36:22
everything, make sure this is done, this is done.
36:25
Sometimes you got to just say, hey, it's all going to get done and we got to roll with it.
36:30
And I think letting that go sometimes it's so liberating, but actually things turn out better.
36:36
It's very weird just being in the flow and go with it.
36:40
And I think with what we're doing and what we're building, you really have to have that attitude.
36:45
And just knowing everyone that's around you and saying, hey, this is an amazing team.
36:49
Let's all row the boat together, but let's not one person trying to control
36:53
this whole situation. Everyone do it together. And it's pretty great.
36:58
That's brilliant. And it's so true. Everything that's forced,
37:02
everything that I've tried to force and push and control has either backfired,
37:07
failed, or I look back and go, I could have done that. It's so true.
37:11
And it's like with anything, like when you play tennis or whatever,
37:14
when you try to hold onto the racket too hard or when you're golfing,
37:17
the more you're just relaxed and you let the warm go and you practice enough,
37:22
that's when you hit your best shot.
37:23
That's when you're in the flow but you gotta let it go and it's scary
37:26
you know it is right but then little baby
37:29
steps letting go of something small and then you
37:32
get a little comfortable with that and then eventually all these pieces
37:35
start to lay out pretty nicely and you're like okay
37:38
you gotta trust i love the tennis reference because i
37:41
started playing tennis again over the summer and my
37:45
coach my tennis pro yeah was like maria
37:48
you're you're like you're holding up you're just
37:51
trying to hit it like this i was like i don't remember how
37:53
to play it's all i know he goes just let it go if
37:57
your swing is right just let it go you've got to relax relax
38:00
through your arm i'm like i don't know how to do that but i will try but then
38:04
it worked yeah my arm stopped hurting i was actually a little you get a beautiful
38:08
shot it's amazing that takes trust right and that takes time those are my three things it's beautiful.
38:17
It's just the best conversation. I love it. This is so fun. I would love to
38:22
have you back on to just talk about other things. Thank you.
38:24
Oh, my God. I love it. I love that whole dinner we had.
38:28
That was really special. I keep thinking about it. It was such an amazing group
38:31
of gathering and amazing people.
38:34
I laughed there on cloud 10. Me too. It was the vibe.
38:40
Everyone was chill. No one was positive. I don't go to a lot of these dinners
38:43
because I'm not an influence or something like that. Yes, you are. Maybe to myself.
38:48
I don't know what people are normally like at those, right?
38:51
And I don't know if they're sometimes can be fake and I don't know if it can
38:56
be fake and stuff, but this didn't feel like that.
39:00
It just felt like a bunch of women that were like, oh, what do you do?
39:03
That's fascinating. Tell me about that. It felt like people were interested in each other.
39:08
Yeah. And everyone was doing all these different things. So amazing at what they do.
39:13
And it was just so inspiring. I find that when we were growing,
39:18
I guess we didn't grow up with like, when I was at work, when I first started
39:21
working in New York, like women did not come together like this.
39:25
It's so empowering these days where women who are all doing things come together.
39:31
Have these amazing meals, share contacts, share best practices.
39:35
And we're all trying to lift each other instead of this whole competition of
39:40
like, you know, I remember in the nineties, where it's like,
39:42
there's only four women here, you know, and then a survival game of who's going to survive here.
39:46
And I find it so inspiring.
39:49
It's incredible what people, and like, I feel that's when you've got all these
39:53
people at the table and it's just lifting everybody up. And it's really amazing.
39:57
I connected with a bunch of, let's keep doing all of the things.
40:00
Connecting and keep helping each other. And I think it's so important.
40:04
And it's fantastic. Thank you so much. I will definitely connect with you on
40:08
December because I would love, love, love. I'm so excited.
40:11
It's so fun that I get to meet from one who it's
40:14
so random you're like I'm from a window I'm like what it's so
40:18
awesome that's what makes life so fun like never
40:21
know it's crazy you never so thank you this is
40:24
so fun this is awesome and the last thing I want to leave your I always leave
40:28
every podcast with this word onward you left the dinner that way yes and it's
40:33
really important that this message gets passed whenever you're struggling with
40:36
anything think that and you'll keep moving I love that. Thank you. This is wonderful.
40:42
All right. I'm going to see you over the holiday. All right. Yes.
40:46
Bye. This was some fun. Thank you. Be welcome. Thank you so much for joining
40:52
me today on She's Smart. New episodes drop every Thursday.
40:56
Don't forget to subscribe and share. Stay cozy.