March 14, 2024 • 45 mins
Kris Cody is the founder of Paka Apparel with a dream of changing the way people play outdoors and the clothing that makes it possible.
Kris launched Paka in 2017 and brought alpaca sweaters to the public through the brands’ first Kickstarter – Paka exceeded its goal of $20,000 in under 24 hours and raised more than $350,000 in 30 days. From that inception, Paka has now created a line of washable alpaca apparel and ethical performance outerwear, along with Paka's tried and true sweaters, hoodies and socks.
What makes his approach to business stand out is his effort to localize Paka’s supply chain: all of Paka’s alpaca fiber is sourced from free-roaming herds in Peru, 90% of products are manufactured in the country, and over 100 Quechua women weavers are employed (at 4x the living wage in Peru) to craft hand-woven Inca ID’s that appear on all Paka apparel. Paka donates 1% of revenue to Peruvian Hearts, an NGO encouraging the education and empowerment of young women in Peru, to support their PakaScholars program.
Last year, Paka launched Traceable Alpaca, which allows customers to see the coordinates in Peru where the fiber of their Paka sweater was sourced. All hand-woven sweaters are signed by their creator – an effort to connect the craftswomen and consumer. Paka has balanced maintaining a community-driven attitude while developing industry-changing innovation in natural fiber.
In today's conversation we dive deep into the Paka Story, Kris's unique entrepreneural journey, the power of sustainable clothing, how to have a successful Kickstarter Campaign, and how clothing can help live a outdoor lifestyle.
Learn more about Paka at https://www.pakaapparel.com
Kris launched Paka in 2017 and brought alpaca sweaters to the public through the brands’ first Kickstarter – Paka exceeded its goal of $20,000 in under 24 hours and raised more than $350,000 in 30 days. From that inception, Paka has now created a line of washable alpaca apparel and ethical performance outerwear, along with Paka's tried and true sweaters, hoodies and socks.
What makes his approach to business stand out is his effort to localize Paka’s supply chain: all of Paka’s alpaca fiber is sourced from free-roaming herds in Peru, 90% of products are manufactured in the country, and over 100 Quechua women weavers are employed (at 4x the living wage in Peru) to craft hand-woven Inca ID’s that appear on all Paka apparel. Paka donates 1% of revenue to Peruvian Hearts, an NGO encouraging the education and empowerment of young women in Peru, to support their PakaScholars program.
Last year, Paka launched Traceable Alpaca, which allows customers to see the coordinates in Peru where the fiber of their Paka sweater was sourced. All hand-woven sweaters are signed by their creator – an effort to connect the craftswomen and consumer. Paka has balanced maintaining a community-driven attitude while developing industry-changing innovation in natural fiber.
In today's conversation we dive deep into the Paka Story, Kris's unique entrepreneural journey, the power of sustainable clothing, how to have a successful Kickstarter Campaign, and how clothing can help live a outdoor lifestyle.
Learn more about Paka at https://www.pakaapparel.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Amine as ten, nine, eight, seven, pick five or two on
Hey there, welcome to Jumble Think. My name is Michael Woodward. I
am your host, and every weekwe talk to dreamers, makers, innovators
and influencers, those authors, thoseathletes, those actors, all the a's,
oh and entrepreneurs too. We talkabout how they turn their dreams and
(00:20):
ideas into reality. We get tolearn about amazing products, great movies that
are coming out, stories about books, and the messages that they carry.
My hope is that every week youare inspired to chase your own dreams and
turn them into reality too. Beforewe dive into today's conversation with Chris Cody,
I just wanted to take a momentand pause and just say, Hey,
we are working hard on finishing outthe studio. You can see them
(00:44):
in the dark here at my officethat I'm still building out here, and
I'm so excited about the fact thatwe've taken the podcast from audio format into
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(01:07):
that subscribe button too, and hitthat bell so you get those notifications.
My hope is that we build acommunity of just amazing dreamers who are turning
those dreams into reality. Now,our guest today is Chris Cody. Chris
is an entrepreneur in a very unexpectedway, he started a company called Paca.
The website's pacaapparel dot com, sogo check that out. Of course,
(01:27):
they're taking our pacas and using themto build a new line of sustainable
clothing. I fell in love withthis company I stumbled on a couple months
ago, and I've just been inlove with what they create. They have
sweaters and socks and T shirts andall kinds of apparel. You're gonna see
the hoodie and a little bit thatI was wearing in the interview too.
(01:49):
So without telling too much about thestory, I'm going to go ahead and
join the conversation that we had withChris Cody. Hey, Chris, thanks
so much for joining us on JumbleThink I'm looking forward to this conversation.
Thanks so much for having me.You know, I love companies who are
taking an industry or space and doingsomething unique, and Paca is very much
(02:13):
like that. You're you're approaching somethings and unique ways, and we're going
to dive into how you're doing that. But before we do that, can
you tell us a little a littlebit about Paca, what you're doing and
how you got here. That howwe got here is a little bit longer
than the other quick phrase, butPaca is apparel company making clothing from a
(02:35):
paca fiber. I originally was travelingthrough South America and came across this alpaca
sweater and never touched a material likeit before in my life. So got
the US and every time I woreit, people would always ask where it
came from. And for me itheld such a moment in my life of
the experience alongside the local peruviing peopleand how it was always there for me
(02:59):
as a companion. The material justworked like the fiber always worked in any
climate. It was so soft,so light. So I flew back down
to Peru on a one way flightthat summer and started living alongside a family
of weavers to make the initial prototypes. Wow obviously evolved a lot since then
(03:21):
to building really functional I'll pack ofclothing to bring ol pack it to the
outdoor industry in a way that youknow, functions and works really well for
people's lifestyles. I believe a lotin this as a magical fiber for really
being able to work in all scenariosand climates because it evolved in this place
(03:42):
where you freeze and burn a deathin the same day, and so you
really can wear and as you'll needone really great sweater, and so that
that lifestyle is applied through our productsof being there for you always with our
packa fiber. So we're in innovatinga lot to make really great products.
We like to think of it asyour adventure companion that's always going to be
(04:06):
there for you. And alongside that, we are so devoted to impact in
Peru, not only with where thingscome from and who made them with the
women's signature on you know, thesweater, but the traceability and the impact
associated down in Peru locally. Sowe can get into that. But the
(04:27):
piece of pack is ultimately why Ireally started this and bridging this gap that
I saw as an opportunity. Iwant to back up there because I think
a lot of people when they thinkentrepreneurs are business, they're thinking, oh,
this person set out to start abusiness, but it sounds like yours
kind of happened accidentally by seeing agreat product with great opportunity and then exploring
(04:50):
that is that right completely? Yeah, I wish I'd had a business plan
and some curiosity and curiosity to thisdage. One of pack is core values
and really how we show up andinspiring that for nature, for the culture
within Peru. I was just amazedby this, you know, everything that
(05:14):
it came with, and learning fromthe Catchwalk people they sell pack of fiber
and working together we were able tocreate this modern product. But it was
the journey to learn more about itthat this was birth. That hoodie that
you're wearing that was our original starter, like the original hoodie and just following
that. And so as I've gonethrough the years, it's been obviously distilling
(05:39):
down where this vision can translate andhow and our core why that is evolving
but still stays core to who weare. And yeah, you know,
for me, like I, likeyou mentioned, I have the product on
me and I have some really greatsweaters. I have some great cashmere sweaters,
I have some great from different materials, and this stands against like like
(06:03):
some of my most expensive stuff,like just the quality of it, but
the feel of it. To me, it almost feels like a combination of
like the benefits of what you thinkof with outdoor wool with like the softness
of like a cashmere where it justfeels really soft and but it's rugged.
I mean this, this garment isbuilt in such a way that it moves
(06:23):
with you. And that's one ofthe things that really surprised me as I
explored more about Paka and was learningabout the brand, was like, this
is not just a hey, thisis a great thing to wear to work
or school or whatever you're doing.This is a great product to wear outdoors
while you're hiking or where you're you'redoing whatever, that that that you can
get out into nature. That's ourgoal. We actually want people out in
(06:45):
nature, but more so wearing naturein the air or It blows my mind
that the majority of outdoor pail nowis made from oil plastics. And for
us, we see the intelligence ofnature, the beauty within it, and
we want to singe into it bybuilding something that connects you to nature.
So that's really what we're so inspiredto do now. For you were you
(07:12):
you know, you go on thistrip, you see this product, you
kind of get inspired. Were youentrepreneurial before this or was it like a
spark moment for you where it wasjust like all of a sudden, like
I never thought about business, butthis is the way I want to go.
Yeah. I mean I wasn't likea you know, a business student
by any means. I was studyingneuroscience at the time. Oh wow,
(07:33):
I'm really amazed by science and likematerials and working with my hands and nature,
having grown up like in the woodsof main and really just being connected
to it. But this, Imean, other than sort of standard high
school you know, some of thoseparking cars, working you know, landscaping
(07:57):
jobs and whatnot, I'd ever doneanything business wise, and so there's a
big learning of falling forwards to thisday and it's been fun for sure.
Yeah. So yeah, so walkus through the process. Okay, so
you go and experience this product,this material, this fiber, and you
(08:20):
know, I think a lot oftimes in business or even with ideas,
we rush before we're ready. Andit seemed like the first thing that you
did is actually said, let mego and really understand this, let me
step back and really you know,you take time to the design of garment
that works, instead of just saying, hey, let me rush something to
(08:41):
market. So why like what inspiredyou to slow down and say, let's
get this right from the beginning insteadof trying to just get something out and
get it to market. I seethat happen a lot to your point of
like rushing nowadays with I mean havinginvestors and trying to you know, bring
(09:03):
and grow almost unnaturally or just reallyreally fast without building the right foundational blocks.
And I think you know, withPaka innately being bootstrapped, it had
to work. There was no opportunityto make something that people wouldn't want and
then scale it really fast. Sofor me, like when I was living
in Peru, I was sending travelersto Machu Picchu on their tracks to test
(09:26):
it out, let me know whatthey thought of it, implementing those changes,
and then still that summer, Icame back with like fifty sweaters in
a Duffel bag and launched out ofmy dorm room. I got the weaker
cell phone so we could stay incontact. It was starting at like fifty
sweaters on you know, an Ikearack in my dorm room. Wow wow
out and then from there obviously ableto implement those learnings and hear customer what
(09:52):
people thought of it, how itcould be better, And that's where the
original Kickstarter was birth from then ofreally bringing that up, getting it out
to the world and sharing this amazingfiber and everything behind it. So you're
launching it out of a dorm room, so you're like test subjects. The
(10:13):
people you're getting feedback from, I'massuming they're people that you're living around that
you're going, hey, try this. What was the feedback in that iterative
process, like to get it sothat you go, this is what I
want to sell. This is whatI want to offer the world. Yeah,
I mean I knew it just hadto be right when people felt the
product, and instead of trying toguilt traate people on the impact associated with
(10:35):
it, I quickly learned the productjust had to function for it to make
the most impact. And so meit was the people putting into the test
in Peruf first and foremost, andyeah, just just all of those changes.
I wish I had had a littlebit more apparel design background, other
than being like, hey, itused to be you know, an inch
(10:56):
shorter in the armpit for movement,how to build that with a pattern design
construction rather than like just doing thisin the kitchen with the Weaver family,
and like that was what made PakaPaka for sure. But I had to
learn, you know, apparel designalong the way, which has been a
fun challenge. Yeah. I havea real good friend. He lives in
(11:18):
California, and what he's known foris he helps people build out a Kickstarter
to take their business from concept tolaunch. And one thing he says time
and time again is just because it'sa good idea and just because you think
people want it doesn't mean that yourproduct is going to succeed. So Kickstarter,
(11:39):
I think sometimes people go, thisis like the silver bullet or the
golden buildet or whatever you want tosay, that if I get it right,
then we're going to be made.But that's not always the process.
So walk us through that process.Now you've kind of you've kind of come
up with your proof of concept.This is what we want to take the
market, We go to Kickstarter,we get it up there, we get
it ready to go. What wasthe pro us through that? And then
(12:01):
do you feel like that really expeditedyour success or do you feel like that
was part of a just the startof the process of getting off the ground.
Hmm, well, I mean definitelyfor a We're pack is now.
It was the start. For meat the time, it felt like the
most insane explosion of bringing this visionto the world and nothing was accidental with
(12:24):
a Kickstarter campaign, the sense ofso much preparation behind the scenes of building
that traction and making sure we hada real audience to speak to, you
know, email building and the wholesort of roadmap pre launch of making sure
that we weren't you know, puttingthis out to crickets and being able to
(12:48):
have proven that year before, likethe whole year before from that dormom website,
getting it out to the world andbuilding traction that way. I think
if you go to his logic kickstart, think that's it. To your point,
it's not the rapt success, butI think it's an awesome mechanism to
share with the world. And forme that was the video, so I
(13:09):
really needed to show people. Iknew the power of video would be able
to translate this. I mean theamazing story of these like the creators and
connecting and consumer with the creator toperu to the Andy's mallains. They I'll
pack a free roaming and running inthe landscape, the weavers and the ink
(13:30):
ide that's on all of our products, and the story behind that generational knowledge.
Being able to tell that in astory and video format for me felt
like the most powerful way to sharethis with the world. So I cold
called and got in contact with thisamazing team of videographers that believed in me,
a twenty year old kid that hadno money, and flew down to
(13:50):
Peru and helped tell the story.And I'm infinitely grateful to them to this
day for having believed in the storypart of it. And of course the
product's definitely got to be there forsure, and we had that year to
flush it out. As opposed toyou, I think sometimes in Kickstarter you'll
see like it's it's an idea,but the product, even the prototype,
(14:13):
has been finished and fully flushed outyet in that sort of thing, so
I just think it's it's preparation andbringing this to the world, making sure
it's ready. It's like if yougo on a podium to go speak or
show something in a room full ofpeople, the same way, like is
this really ready to be shared withthe world? You feel like is it
I mean, not even feeling justsubjectively are people going to buy this?
(14:35):
Yeah? And one thing I loveabout your product just from that that story
aspect, because we love story hereat Jumble think that's part of our passion
is that. You know, Ihave a good friend that say says that
a wine bottle is simply just astory on a label that gets you to
buy it. But I love thatyour story, the wrapping around your product
(14:56):
is one of sustainability. It's oneabout like like responsibility. You know,
recently I was watching some videos andinterviews with the founders of north Face and
Arii and Patagonia, and they werejust talking about the journey of what they
set out to do and how alongthe way they kind of lost their way
(15:18):
sometimes and how coming back to thatplace of saying, we are building these
companies because we love the earth aroundus, and yet sometimes we fall short.
This seems like it's such at theforefront of every decision you're making,
like how does this impact the peoplemaking the product, how does this impact
the earth around us? How doesthis get you out into nature? How
(15:39):
does it get and that part ofthe story about it is more than just
a product. It is a lifestylethat you're trying to communicate. So walk
us through like that ideal if aperson were to hear the story of like
the product and how it's made andhow it gets to hear. And I
love how like on this garment,right, I look at it and it
(16:00):
says handmade by Rosa l And sothere's a story there. There's a name
now attached to this garment. Sotell us about that story of like the
process of each garment and how itgets to the consumer. Yeah, to
your point of sustainability, I thinkbecause the term has just uh there is
(16:22):
a million different meanings to a milliondifferent people. And for us and Paka,
we were lucky to be birthed atthe source of donation in terms of
like where this viber came from,the people making it, and all really
was about connecting that with the utmosttransparency and candor of you know, how
we show that and show up ona product with really connecting you to source.
(16:48):
And is this amazing how disconnected webecome from source? I think a
lot in terms of impact from amaterial perspective is just being closer to source,
right, whether it's you know,the carbon to with the transit but
just the material itself and same thingwith growing the food in your backyard in
the garden, like yeah, it'ssimilar in that way of really making things
(17:11):
start to finish and being connected towhere that thing comes from. And so
that was the genesis of paka andso it's innately in our DNA of that
and you know, and we haven'thad to really reverse engineer for sustainability,
which it just needs to be embeddedin our DNA in every decision we make.
So I mean the process for allthe way from the fiber you know
(17:34):
out in the middle of the ruralAndy's mounds that you would, uh,
is this amazing that alpacas live naturallyin herds of sixty ninety old pacas in
the rural andyes, mounds, sothey're not no ou packas are mass farmed,
unlike even the marine or cashmere industrywhere you'll see thousands of animals per
(17:56):
herd or farm. So that's whatactually makes it so sustainable is it's all
small scale and each herd has analp paquetto family living alongside the all pacas.
And that is so cool because whatthat what that means is the eighty
six thousand of these families living alongsidethe alpacas and from there with the shearing
(18:18):
every year that happens annually, whichis good for their hygiene and supports a
lot of uh. Also the localfamily in terms of that is they live
with this animal. It is theirlife source and they all pack also relies
on the family for guiding them andthrough the seasons and and and bringing them
to good water and food. Thefiber is then sordid comb process but into
(18:45):
yarn in the majority of place inAriquipo, which is on the southern part
of Peru, that's where we createa yarns and like blends that are like
that hoodie you know that we wecreate distinctly there. And then right I
mean we're we're making our garments allthroughout Peru right now, depending on which
one it is. But we havewhat is this inca id that is on
(19:08):
the bottom right of your Yeah,have it right there, right there,
and that is a hand woven elementthat is from the team of ketchwell weavers
in the Sacred Valley. And we'vecome to realize to build the most functional
product. Not every not the wholegarment can be handmade, but we want
(19:30):
to carry that handmade element in everygarment that we make. And that was
our way to maintain the heart ofpack, shoot our DNA and still innovate
to make really functional products that knownothing about are going to work better than
your other competitors on the on theshelf, so to speak. You know,
So does that answer your question?Yeah? I think so, you
(19:52):
know, I think I think youknow. This concept of trackable garment is
really fascinating. So like when youtalk about traceable garments, what does that
mean? Yeah, I have togive credit where credit is due to our
head of Peru, Gisella, whobuilt our program, wasn't me, And
the idea and inspiration has been ateam thing of connecting people closer to who
(20:15):
obviously on the sweater where where itcomes from is the trace that's the traceable
element, solving for really showing youwith utmost transparency where this fiber, the
fiber literally in your sweater came fromwith the cordinates on a map in the
Andes Mountains. And so Gcella,our head of Peru that runs production,
(20:37):
built out this vertical system of tracingthat all the way from the fiber through
those points that I sort of outlinedright, the the sourcing, the combing,
the u turning into a yarn,through the garment all the way to
your doorstep and tracing that. Sotrace ball a pack is a really great
step. Now for us, it'sabout if we know where things come from,
(21:00):
how can we also improve the source? And obviously we're doing those through
efforts already associated with I mean theimpact programs. We have the scholarships that
we're giving locally to you improving womenthe catchrop women weavers with the ink id
now over two hundred. But forthe alpacos and hew pack is themselves,
we're developing a program because we wantto really also improve with a percentage of
(21:22):
every single sale. How you knowthat goes back to the source to improve
the well being of those are allpackage the health and what they need.
So traceaball pack is a really coolmechanism of using that technology to also impact
that source. I hope you're enjoyingtoday's conversation. We have a lot more
(21:44):
of this conversation coming up. Iwant to take a moment pause and just
remind you, if you haven't subscribedalready wherever you're listening or watching, go
ahead and hit that subscribe button ifit's on YouTube, believe us a comment
too. Let us know what youthink of this conversation, what you think
of pack on apparel and the conversation. Well, let's go ahead and join
the conversation back up with Chris Codyand Paca Apparel. You know, one
thing I love about this concept oftraceable is that there's a responsibility along the
(22:10):
way, And I feel like that'spart of your heart, Like there are
individuals that not only are working foryou, but you're looking for ways to
enhance their life and give them abetter opportunity. You're thinking about like the
animals, what is best for theseoutpacas? As we build these products,
how do we do a better jobfor them? And as you do that,
you know, as a business ownerand as an entrepreneur, one of
(22:33):
the things that I often say isthat the moment I stop loving the people
I work with and the customers weserve is the moment that I need to
get out of the way because Ican't really have their best interest in heart
for what I'm trying to do withthem. So how do you keep that?
You know? I think you know, so many companies, so many
individuals, so many entrepreneurs start outwith a pure heart towards their objectives.
(22:57):
How do you keep that so thatit's always front of mind, always part
of the values, always part ofthe culture that you're doing, and it
doesn't just get trampled by other thingsthat often pop up. Well to start,
I mean not having real intense outsideinfluence of investors to naturally grow and
(23:18):
to be able to maintain our rootsand be a small team, I think
has just naturally enabled us to makethe right decisions and how where we feel
in our hearts instead of you know, somebody that knows nothing about Packer,
these outback of families saying you needto grow by x percent and at the
cost of, you know, sacrificinga lot of those the opportunities we have
(23:38):
to improve and look with real passionand purpose and heart to wide pack exists
so that I think just was froma like in the sense of bootstrapping and
connected to the source, living downthere over the past six years, being
on the like the ground with theteam and really understanding building this together.
(24:03):
We would not be where we arewithout our partners in the sense of how
much they've helped us grow, whetherwith raw material reserves or even like the
optimization and improvements as we've been ableto grow with Fiber and so for us
it's like we don't exist without them, and working collaboratively has provided so much
(24:26):
opportunity for us to do our bestwork as well. I think where it
gets important is that kind of thestage PACK is at right now, Mike,
to be honest of team making decisionsbeyond even myself obviously, and enabling
a team to be guided by whowe are in our core values and why
we're here, in the true essenceof that embedded into our DNA, which
(24:48):
is what I've been working to reallydefine into the most core essence simplicity for
people to make decisions. And Imean that's every person that we bring into
this team right now at this youknow, young stage of like choosing,
I mean so much I'm falling forwardwithin this, but yeah, it's so
much you choose to also be it, whether a partner or team member,
(25:14):
and to bring that vision to lifeand really to find those things up front
instead of getting to a place whereit's like how did we end up here?
So I think we're stage yeah,yeah, Now as I think of
the company, you know, youmentioned that you're still young as a company,
You're still going. You've done thehoodies, you're doing sweaters, you
(25:37):
have other garments you're rolling out.What's the longer range dream and vision for
this what is like if ten years, fifteen, twenty years down the road
at what is your heart for thisbrand that that you're building Gosh, I
mean first and foremost, getting morepeople wearing nature I think is like the
ultimate goal here Alpaka is a greatmechanism to do so. But just to
(26:02):
the fact that within sixty years we'vemass industrialized plastic to a point that it's
in eighty percent of Americans, wefind those derivatives in all corners now,
eve know, like the Arctic Ocean, that impact sixty years that humans have
had in this sort of like destructivemass production. I think it proves the
(26:23):
power that we have the ability toshift as well, and within that like
the education and responsibility to do so. In looking at goals and so for
me, I think I've learned onebrand can't change the industry, and we
need one hundred creators working to thesame north star to do that and being
(26:45):
able to enable that in our ownway, but also for other brands as
well, like with the sort ofnatural technologies that we're building, like the
cell pack insulation for other brands tobe able to use things like that,
to be able to to create moreimpact faster to get there. That's kind
of my goal. But then onthe flip, I mean just the impact
(27:08):
and not losing touch to really theamazing amount of lives we have been able
to already touch, but the opportunitythere and impact and really creating a new
standard with what a company can dowith product, but to connect people closer
to it and improve the source ofthat. And so I mean I want
(27:33):
people more people wearing nature outdoors insteadof oil. I mean that's very important
to me. And also I reallywant to build a company that sheds light
and connects people closer to their impactand really makes a difference changes lives in
the Andes. You know, earlierwe were talking about how your brand incorporate
(27:55):
story to communicate what you've done,and I want to step for a moment
over to that element of your yourbrand. Can you maybe share a story
or two how how Paka has impactedthe local Peruvian world, uh, and
then how like maybe a story ortwo of what your customers have said about
how it's impacted their lives. Ooh, we have this program pack of scholars.
(28:22):
We work with an NGO Proven Hearts. That is how we're able to
finance university tuition for young proving women. And one of the young women that
we've been able to finance tuition forher story is absolutely incredible. And I
(28:42):
mean these these young women like atthe top of their class and have no
economic or financial means to continue theeducation. And this young woman would walk
three hours every day from the mostrural because that's where they are living in
the Andes to school in the morningand then three hours back after school ended,
(29:07):
every single day for an opportunity tocontinue education and family and everything.
And to be able to enable thatfor like Carlotte, that to be able
to bring that education back to herlocal community and actually prove that herself has
just been like an amazing story ofseeing something go full circle in a way
(29:30):
that when we share that with theircustomers for them to understand that impact,
it's just amazing. When you talkabout story, it's really just about connecting
and showing truly with authentic origin andtranslating that in a way that's that's digestible,
and so like Carlotta is a superstarand is continuing on her career to
(29:56):
build and enable tourism and entrepreneurship forher community. So I think that's a
really cool story. Another cool story. We've been able to even do things
off like in terms of like havinga massage day for our women weavers,
like our team of the Catchwa weavers, because they're literally on a hand loom
(30:18):
making think ideas and whatnot. Andto be able to provide them something so
different where they were crying because theynever like they had never had something like
that for themselves was really powerful experienceto sort of see happen on the consumer
(30:42):
side. Well, so now likeit's really crazy to be seeing Paco being
worn. Yeah, and walk bypeople wearing Paka, whether in the airport
or whatnot. And I was justdown in Patagony and I saw somebody on
the mountain, on the top ofa mountain where wearing Armenian socks, and
I walked up and I never saylike that, oh I created this.
(31:04):
I'd love to just understand who theyare and the absolute passion that this girl
had for pack and telling me aboutthe brand was just like it blew me
away because not only was the impacton that person felt like a part of
our team, but to be onthe middle other side of the world in
(31:27):
a place outdoors that I envisioned thisproduct being used for and seeing it show
up there was like really blew meaway. And I think, like we
just have a family that way ofour customers. It's like this feeling when
you wave to each other like apaca somebody where's paca waves to you on
(31:48):
the trail, Like that's the kindof who we are. And it was
really cool to win us that firsthand. That's so cool. That's a great
story. Now, before we pivotinto our rapid fire questions, I want
to pause and just let people knowhow can they find the product, how
can they connect up with the brand, how can they learn more about the
story? Yeah, I mean ourwebsite is the best outlet for that.
(32:12):
It's pack Uppaka dot Coco and thenInstagram just pack up Paka as well.
We post a lot on there.Those are the two best ways to be
in the loop. But definitely signup for email newsletter because that's how we're
sharing a ton with our community,giving exclusive like product releases and really also,
(32:35):
for instance, we're about to openour first store or flagship in Cuzco,
the main part of Peru where Istarted Paka, and we're going to
have a big grand opening in Mayand inviting our community down to that and
so that with an email is Ithink the best way to be connected to
what's going on. And we'll putthose links in the episode notes, so
it's super easy wherever you're listening orwatching, just go ahead and go right
(32:59):
down, click on those and gocheck it out. I really encourage all
of you who are watching and listeningcheck out this brand. I have really
just grown to love and respect whatthey're doing, and it's so worth your
time to just check out the reallycool products that they're creating. Well,
we're going to take a break righthere, but when we come back,
it's going to be Rapid Fire Questionswith Chris Cody. We'll be right back
(33:23):
in a moment. We're going todive into Rapid Fire Questions. But before
we do that, I just wantto let you know there is a lot
more going on at Jumble Think.We have episodes coming out every week.
If you want to learn more aboutthe history of jumble Think see some of
the past episodes. You can checkthem out of course on YouTube, Apple,
podcasts, Spotify, and more.But you can also head an over
to jumblethink dot com and check outsome more about the jumble Think story.
(33:46):
So go do that real quick andthen come back and check out the rapid
Fire Questions with Chris Cody from PackApparel. We are back with Chris Cody.
Chris, all right, you readyfor rapid fire Questions. Let's do
it all right? As a child, what did you want to be when
you grew up? Mmm? Initiallya dentist because my dad is a dentist.
(34:08):
From there turned into a neuroscientist,and then from their vet I would
have been a vet. Yeah that'scool. That's cool. Now. You
know, we are all about dreamersand makers, innovators and influencers, people
who are chasing those ideas and dreams. If somebody has a big idea and
dream like you had with Paka,what is the first step you would tell
(34:30):
them to take on that journey ofmaking that a reality? Oh? Yeah,
I mean, if you're if you'rein touch with your gift for why
you're here and showing up in thisworld. I really think that's all you
need to know is really clearly understandyour purpose for being here. There's a
(34:52):
famous sort of try diagram that iswhat wakes you up in the morning,
what you can be the best inthe world, that and what drives your
economic engine. That third one notas I think as that's sort of like
a downstream impact of really channeling intowhat you can be the best at.
So I think that would just bemy advice. Love that you are all
(35:15):
about social change and especially around howwe're creating sustainable products. What's one change
you'd like to see in the worldanimal welfare, Like what I said about
being a veterinarian treatment of animals issomething that I care deeply about and I
would die for like for that cause. Nice. You know, I think
(35:39):
often you're a younger guy and you'repilling it at this business. It's just
like you're just doing so great withit. But you can tell that you're
a person of intention, like youmake intentional decisions. So if you think
longer, what do you want thatlegacy to be? What do you want
to leave behind as your story?Well, I think it's about enabling that
(36:04):
momentum to grow beyond, like legacyis interesting and that whether it's people think
about a book or a brand thatis there. I think about it in
terms of like really true momentum butterflyeffect of what you bring to the world
and spread and energetically too. Andso of course this brand I really believe
can grow too with for decades buildingthis brand trust and integrity to who we
(36:30):
are and building the best product andreally bringing this to the world. But
for me, I think it wouldbe to inspire connection to nature, Like
if we're really connected to the nature, to nature and seeing that as part
(36:52):
of us, I mean, whichis part of us when we think about
our biome and having ten times amountof cells in our body that aren't us
in that that us I mean thefact that we've disconnected ourselves so much from
nature. My I would love tobe a brand that connects people back to
nature. But beyond that, legacywise, there's momentum for people that are
(37:14):
inspired to protect, maintain, takecare of, be a steward for mother.
They call it down in Peru.Oh that's cool, that's cool.
I love that there's cultures that havewords for that. It's just so powerful.
Uh, you know. I Ithink learning is such an important part
(37:36):
of the entrepreneurial journey. I lovethat you use at the beginning of the
interview, you said packet is markedby being a curious brand that you liked
being curious as you explore. Soas an entrepreneur, as a dreamer,
what would be the book that youwould say, here's a good book if
you really want to go down thislane, that you should read or check
out for business or for just life. I think like there's some great business
(38:05):
books I've read that it helped meunderstand how to build a business, But
then there are others that have inspiredme for impact and passion. I'll let
you pick. You could give oneof each if you want whatever you want
to do there well. I thinkThe e Myth by Michael Gerber is a
really fun book to read and helpsillustrate why sometimes you build a business that
(38:31):
end up taking it ends up takingaway your passion for why you started in
the first place, and really beingconscious of, like you said during this
interview, the why that you're thereand developing that to to actualize that vision.
Good to Great is a really awesomeone about looking in the the mirror
(38:52):
when there are issues and looking attwo team when there are wins and successes
to be like that level five literI'll let you know, come to mind.
I love it, love it.You know, so many people talk
about I'm driving towards success, butI think that's like one of those hard
(39:15):
terms to really grab a hold of. For you, what does success look
like? Hmmm? It's changed inrealizing that I'm in this for the long
haul, over decades, to enjoythe journey and ride. And I think
success is us Packa for Packa successes. And that's what's funny is like I've
(39:37):
had to distinguish my identity for Pakabut for me, like my sharing that
gift with the world of being ableto make the best products from nature and
build something that changes the direction thatwe're headed, and that that I'm really
proud of, like just being proudof what we put out out in the
(40:00):
sense of the quality and the impactand what we're doing and how we show
up. And that's something that's successfor me now because I know building the
best product and being true to whowe are will grow this brand to a
well known global Freeman brand and experiencefor customers. And so that's really what
(40:23):
I'm dedicated to love it. Andthen for you, you know, you
started out and there wasn't a roadmapfor what you were doing. Looking back
now, what is one thing youwish you would have known when you first
started out? No, I meanit's mentors. It's really really being able
to add in cold calling. I'mvery grateful to have built advisors, mentors
(40:51):
that have been there for me andasked, just been aware and humble of
what I'm definitely not doing well andissues as they come up. There's so
many, and being able to havementors there to guide you. I mean,
being a solo founder is different thanbeing having a co founder in the
(41:14):
sense that you're doing it alone.And I think mentors and advisors have really
helped provide perspective throughout this journey becauselike when you're down there, you can
feel like that's the only thing youknow. When I was livving three dollars
a night and the Andy's Mallens tryingto birth this dream, getting pneumonia like
level, you know, for bootstrappingthis and being able to see a more
(41:39):
steady view on your journey, Ithink would be my biggest advice starting out
is have a good scaffold support networkthere for you. Yeah, I love
that. My business coach that reallyhelped us out in our first ten years
of business, he just recently passedaway, and I just know how hard,
(42:02):
uh it was to kind of mournthat, because that that business coach
was as a solopreneur who had employees, well you know, a found singular
founder and then having employees who doyou go to? And having him there
to mentor and coach was the differencebetween sustaining and making it through really tough
(42:22):
times and just folding, you know. So our final rapid fire question is,
you know, you have had awild ride building this, uh this
business. You've done it in sucha creative way, but your story's not
done. So what's the big ideaor dream you still want to do in
(42:43):
your life? Oh? Well,first and foremost, what we're trying to
do to bring the ol pack itto the outdoor industry and really proving that
and making it a household name.Beyond that, being able to work directly
with nature and on the materials,beyond even out paca and building a sustainable
incubator for natural materials would be likea really big dream of mine to like
(43:07):
that earlier the hundreds of creators workingto the same north Star get there a
lot faster. Personally, music isa huge outlet of my channeling just emotion,
how I feel and being you know, founder, Pack of had to
apply my creativity and that it hasto work within the frames of the business,
(43:30):
and I think at this stage ofmy life, I'm trying to just
develop outlets for that beyond and justcreating because it feels good, and so
music is kind of my outlet thereand then being more connected to animals if
I can be as much as possible. Love that. Hey, Chris,
thanks so much for joining us.I am not only wearing this product.
(43:53):
I've become a fan of this product, and I am so excited to the
continued success that you have, butalso to see what you do in the
future, because I truly believe thatthat you're gonna be an unstoppable force in
this space, and so I'm cheeringyou on. I know our listeners are
are too, and so thanks fortaking time out and sharing your story and
(44:14):
the pack of story with us.Congratulations for what you've built. Hey,
thanks so much for tuning into today'sconversation. I hope you really enjoyed it.
I hope you were inspired, andI hope that you will go and
check out what Chris and the teamat packup Apparel are doing. Can head
on over to packapapparel dot com,check out what they have on their website,
(44:34):
and make sure to buy some coolproducts. I have been loving my
pack of apparel. I have somesocks, I have a base layer for
hiking and that kind of thing.I have the hoodie, all that kind
of stuff. I love what they'recreating, and I hope you will too,
So go check them out packapparel dotcom and let them know that we
sent you. Well. That doesit for today's conversation with Chris Cody about
(44:57):
pack apparel, and with that,we just want to encourage you to get
out there, to dream big andto change the world around you. Thanks
again for tuning in. We'll seeyou again next week.
Amine as ten, nine, eight, seven, pick five or two on
Hey there, welcome to Jumble Think. My name is Michael Woodward. I
am your host, and every weekwe talk to dreamers, makers, innovators
and influencers, those authors, thoseathletes, those actors, all the a's,
oh and entrepreneurs too. We talkabout how they turn their dreams and
(00:20):
ideas into reality. We get tolearn about amazing products, great movies that
are coming out, stories about books, and the messages that they carry.
My hope is that every week youare inspired to chase your own dreams and
turn them into reality too. Beforewe dive into today's conversation with Chris Cody,
I just wanted to take a momentand pause and just say, Hey,
we are working hard on finishing outthe studio. You can see them
(00:44):
in the dark here at my officethat I'm still building out here, and
I'm so excited about the fact thatwe've taken the podcast from audio format into
videos. So if you're listening onApple Podcasts or Spotify, I encourage you
head on over to you click thatsubscribe button, hit that bell, get
the notifications. And if you're watchingon YouTube and you haven't subscribed to hit
(01:07):
that subscribe button too, and hitthat bell so you get those notifications.
My hope is that we build acommunity of just amazing dreamers who are turning
those dreams into reality. Now,our guest today is Chris Cody. Chris
is an entrepreneur in a very unexpectedway, he started a company called Paca.
The website's pacaapparel dot com, sogo check that out. Of course,
(01:27):
they're taking our pacas and using themto build a new line of sustainable
clothing. I fell in love withthis company I stumbled on a couple months
ago, and I've just been inlove with what they create. They have
sweaters and socks and T shirts andall kinds of apparel. You're gonna see
the hoodie and a little bit thatI was wearing in the interview too.
(01:49):
So without telling too much about thestory, I'm going to go ahead and
join the conversation that we had withChris Cody. Hey, Chris, thanks
so much for joining us on JumbleThink I'm looking forward to this conversation.
Thanks so much for having me.You know, I love companies who are
taking an industry or space and doingsomething unique, and Paca is very much
(02:13):
like that. You're you're approaching somethings and unique ways, and we're going
to dive into how you're doing that. But before we do that, can
you tell us a little a littlebit about Paca, what you're doing and
how you got here. That howwe got here is a little bit longer
than the other quick phrase, butPaca is apparel company making clothing from a
(02:35):
paca fiber. I originally was travelingthrough South America and came across this alpaca
sweater and never touched a material likeit before in my life. So got
the US and every time I woreit, people would always ask where it
came from. And for me itheld such a moment in my life of
the experience alongside the local peruviing peopleand how it was always there for me
(02:59):
as a companion. The material justworked like the fiber always worked in any
climate. It was so soft,so light. So I flew back down
to Peru on a one way flightthat summer and started living alongside a family
of weavers to make the initial prototypes. Wow obviously evolved a lot since then
(03:21):
to building really functional I'll pack ofclothing to bring ol pack it to the
outdoor industry in a way that youknow, functions and works really well for
people's lifestyles. I believe a lotin this as a magical fiber for really
being able to work in all scenariosand climates because it evolved in this place
(03:42):
where you freeze and burn a deathin the same day, and so you
really can wear and as you'll needone really great sweater, and so that
that lifestyle is applied through our productsof being there for you always with our
packa fiber. So we're in innovatinga lot to make really great products.
We like to think of it asyour adventure companion that's always going to be
(04:06):
there for you. And alongside that, we are so devoted to impact in
Peru, not only with where thingscome from and who made them with the
women's signature on you know, thesweater, but the traceability and the impact
associated down in Peru locally. Sowe can get into that. But the
(04:27):
piece of pack is ultimately why Ireally started this and bridging this gap that
I saw as an opportunity. Iwant to back up there because I think
a lot of people when they thinkentrepreneurs are business, they're thinking, oh,
this person set out to start abusiness, but it sounds like yours
kind of happened accidentally by seeing agreat product with great opportunity and then exploring
(04:50):
that is that right completely? Yeah, I wish I'd had a business plan
and some curiosity and curiosity to thisdage. One of pack is core values
and really how we show up andinspiring that for nature, for the culture
within Peru. I was just amazedby this, you know, everything that
(05:14):
it came with, and learning fromthe Catchwalk people they sell pack of fiber
and working together we were able tocreate this modern product. But it was
the journey to learn more about itthat this was birth. That hoodie that
you're wearing that was our original starter, like the original hoodie and just following
that. And so as I've gonethrough the years, it's been obviously distilling
(05:39):
down where this vision can translate andhow and our core why that is evolving
but still stays core to who weare. And yeah, you know,
for me, like I, likeyou mentioned, I have the product on
me and I have some really greatsweaters. I have some great cashmere sweaters,
I have some great from different materials, and this stands against like like
(06:03):
some of my most expensive stuff,like just the quality of it, but
the feel of it. To me, it almost feels like a combination of
like the benefits of what you thinkof with outdoor wool with like the softness
of like a cashmere where it justfeels really soft and but it's rugged.
I mean this, this garment isbuilt in such a way that it moves
(06:23):
with you. And that's one ofthe things that really surprised me as I
explored more about Paka and was learningabout the brand, was like, this
is not just a hey, thisis a great thing to wear to work
or school or whatever you're doing.This is a great product to wear outdoors
while you're hiking or where you're you'redoing whatever, that that that you can
get out into nature. That's ourgoal. We actually want people out in
(06:45):
nature, but more so wearing naturein the air or It blows my mind
that the majority of outdoor pail nowis made from oil plastics. And for
us, we see the intelligence ofnature, the beauty within it, and
we want to singe into it bybuilding something that connects you to nature.
So that's really what we're so inspiredto do now. For you were you
(07:12):
you know, you go on thistrip, you see this product, you
kind of get inspired. Were youentrepreneurial before this or was it like a
spark moment for you where it wasjust like all of a sudden, like
I never thought about business, butthis is the way I want to go.
Yeah. I mean I wasn't likea you know, a business student
by any means. I was studyingneuroscience at the time. Oh wow,
(07:33):
I'm really amazed by science and likematerials and working with my hands and nature,
having grown up like in the woodsof main and really just being connected
to it. But this, Imean, other than sort of standard high
school you know, some of thoseparking cars, working you know, landscaping
(07:57):
jobs and whatnot, I'd ever doneanything business wise, and so there's a
big learning of falling forwards to thisday and it's been fun for sure.
Yeah. So yeah, so walkus through the process. Okay, so
you go and experience this product,this material, this fiber, and you
(08:20):
know, I think a lot oftimes in business or even with ideas,
we rush before we're ready. Andit seemed like the first thing that you
did is actually said, let mego and really understand this, let me
step back and really you know,you take time to the design of garment
that works, instead of just saying, hey, let me rush something to
(08:41):
market. So why like what inspiredyou to slow down and say, let's
get this right from the beginning insteadof trying to just get something out and
get it to market. I seethat happen a lot to your point of
like rushing nowadays with I mean havinginvestors and trying to you know, bring
(09:03):
and grow almost unnaturally or just reallyreally fast without building the right foundational blocks.
And I think you know, withPaka innately being bootstrapped, it had
to work. There was no opportunityto make something that people wouldn't want and
then scale it really fast. Sofor me, like when I was living
in Peru, I was sending travelersto Machu Picchu on their tracks to test
(09:26):
it out, let me know whatthey thought of it, implementing those changes,
and then still that summer, Icame back with like fifty sweaters in
a Duffel bag and launched out ofmy dorm room. I got the weaker
cell phone so we could stay incontact. It was starting at like fifty
sweaters on you know, an Ikearack in my dorm room. Wow wow
out and then from there obviously ableto implement those learnings and hear customer what
(09:52):
people thought of it, how itcould be better, And that's where the
original Kickstarter was birth from then ofreally bringing that up, getting it out
to the world and sharing this amazingfiber and everything behind it. So you're
launching it out of a dorm room, so you're like test subjects. The
(10:13):
people you're getting feedback from, I'massuming they're people that you're living around that
you're going, hey, try this. What was the feedback in that iterative
process, like to get it sothat you go, this is what I
want to sell. This is whatI want to offer the world. Yeah,
I mean I knew it just hadto be right when people felt the
product, and instead of trying toguilt traate people on the impact associated with
(10:35):
it, I quickly learned the productjust had to function for it to make
the most impact. And so meit was the people putting into the test
in Peruf first and foremost, andyeah, just just all of those changes.
I wish I had had a littlebit more apparel design background, other
than being like, hey, itused to be you know, an inch
(10:56):
shorter in the armpit for movement,how to build that with a pattern design
construction rather than like just doing thisin the kitchen with the Weaver family,
and like that was what made PakaPaka for sure. But I had to
learn, you know, apparel designalong the way, which has been a
fun challenge. Yeah. I havea real good friend. He lives in
(11:18):
California, and what he's known foris he helps people build out a Kickstarter
to take their business from concept tolaunch. And one thing he says time
and time again is just because it'sa good idea and just because you think
people want it doesn't mean that yourproduct is going to succeed. So Kickstarter,
(11:39):
I think sometimes people go, thisis like the silver bullet or the
golden buildet or whatever you want tosay, that if I get it right,
then we're going to be made.But that's not always the process.
So walk us through that process.Now you've kind of you've kind of come
up with your proof of concept.This is what we want to take the
market, We go to Kickstarter,we get it up there, we get
it ready to go. What wasthe pro us through that? And then
(12:01):
do you feel like that really expeditedyour success or do you feel like that
was part of a just the startof the process of getting off the ground.
Hmm, well, I mean definitelyfor a We're pack is now.
It was the start. For meat the time, it felt like the
most insane explosion of bringing this visionto the world and nothing was accidental with
(12:24):
a Kickstarter campaign, the sense ofso much preparation behind the scenes of building
that traction and making sure we hada real audience to speak to, you
know, email building and the wholesort of roadmap pre launch of making sure
that we weren't you know, puttingthis out to crickets and being able to
(12:48):
have proven that year before, likethe whole year before from that dormom website,
getting it out to the world andbuilding traction that way. I think
if you go to his logic kickstart, think that's it. To your point,
it's not the rapt success, butI think it's an awesome mechanism to
share with the world. And forme that was the video, so I
(13:09):
really needed to show people. Iknew the power of video would be able
to translate this. I mean theamazing story of these like the creators and
connecting and consumer with the creator toperu to the Andy's mallains. They I'll
pack a free roaming and running inthe landscape, the weavers and the ink
(13:30):
ide that's on all of our products, and the story behind that generational knowledge.
Being able to tell that in astory and video format for me felt
like the most powerful way to sharethis with the world. So I cold
called and got in contact with thisamazing team of videographers that believed in me,
a twenty year old kid that hadno money, and flew down to
(13:50):
Peru and helped tell the story.And I'm infinitely grateful to them to this
day for having believed in the storypart of it. And of course the
product's definitely got to be there forsure, and we had that year to
flush it out. As opposed toyou, I think sometimes in Kickstarter you'll
see like it's it's an idea,but the product, even the prototype,
(14:13):
has been finished and fully flushed outyet in that sort of thing, so
I just think it's it's preparation andbringing this to the world, making sure
it's ready. It's like if yougo on a podium to go speak or
show something in a room full ofpeople, the same way, like is
this really ready to be shared withthe world? You feel like is it
I mean, not even feeling justsubjectively are people going to buy this?
(14:35):
Yeah? And one thing I loveabout your product just from that that story
aspect, because we love story hereat Jumble think that's part of our passion
is that. You know, Ihave a good friend that say says that
a wine bottle is simply just astory on a label that gets you to
buy it. But I love thatyour story, the wrapping around your product
(14:56):
is one of sustainability. It's oneabout like like responsibility. You know,
recently I was watching some videos andinterviews with the founders of north Face and
Arii and Patagonia, and they werejust talking about the journey of what they
set out to do and how alongthe way they kind of lost their way
(15:18):
sometimes and how coming back to thatplace of saying, we are building these
companies because we love the earth aroundus, and yet sometimes we fall short.
This seems like it's such at theforefront of every decision you're making,
like how does this impact the peoplemaking the product, how does this impact
the earth around us? How doesthis get you out into nature? How
(15:39):
does it get and that part ofthe story about it is more than just
a product. It is a lifestylethat you're trying to communicate. So walk
us through like that ideal if aperson were to hear the story of like
the product and how it's made andhow it gets to hear. And I
love how like on this garment,right, I look at it and it
(16:00):
says handmade by Rosa l And sothere's a story there. There's a name
now attached to this garment. Sotell us about that story of like the
process of each garment and how itgets to the consumer. Yeah, to
your point of sustainability, I thinkbecause the term has just uh there is
(16:22):
a million different meanings to a milliondifferent people. And for us and Paka,
we were lucky to be birthed atthe source of donation in terms of
like where this viber came from,the people making it, and all really
was about connecting that with the utmosttransparency and candor of you know, how
we show that and show up ona product with really connecting you to source.
(16:48):
And is this amazing how disconnected webecome from source? I think a
lot in terms of impact from amaterial perspective is just being closer to source,
right, whether it's you know,the carbon to with the transit but
just the material itself and same thingwith growing the food in your backyard in
the garden, like yeah, it'ssimilar in that way of really making things
(17:11):
start to finish and being connected towhere that thing comes from. And so
that was the genesis of paka andso it's innately in our DNA of that
and you know, and we haven'thad to really reverse engineer for sustainability,
which it just needs to be embeddedin our DNA in every decision we make.
So I mean the process for allthe way from the fiber you know
(17:34):
out in the middle of the ruralAndy's mounds that you would, uh,
is this amazing that alpacas live naturallyin herds of sixty ninety old pacas in
the rural andyes, mounds, sothey're not no ou packas are mass farmed,
unlike even the marine or cashmere industrywhere you'll see thousands of animals per
(17:56):
herd or farm. So that's whatactually makes it so sustainable is it's all
small scale and each herd has analp paquetto family living alongside the all pacas.
And that is so cool because whatthat what that means is the eighty
six thousand of these families living alongsidethe alpacas and from there with the shearing
(18:18):
every year that happens annually, whichis good for their hygiene and supports a
lot of uh. Also the localfamily in terms of that is they live
with this animal. It is theirlife source and they all pack also relies
on the family for guiding them andthrough the seasons and and and bringing them
to good water and food. Thefiber is then sordid comb process but into
(18:45):
yarn in the majority of place inAriquipo, which is on the southern part
of Peru, that's where we createa yarns and like blends that are like
that hoodie you know that we wecreate distinctly there. And then right I
mean we're we're making our garments allthroughout Peru right now, depending on which
one it is. But we havewhat is this inca id that is on
(19:08):
the bottom right of your Yeah,have it right there, right there,
and that is a hand woven elementthat is from the team of ketchwell weavers
in the Sacred Valley. And we'vecome to realize to build the most functional
product. Not every not the wholegarment can be handmade, but we want
(19:30):
to carry that handmade element in everygarment that we make. And that was
our way to maintain the heart ofpack, shoot our DNA and still innovate
to make really functional products that knownothing about are going to work better than
your other competitors on the on theshelf, so to speak. You know,
So does that answer your question?Yeah? I think so, you
(19:52):
know, I think I think youknow. This concept of trackable garment is
really fascinating. So like when youtalk about traceable garments, what does that
mean? Yeah, I have togive credit where credit is due to our
head of Peru, Gisella, whobuilt our program, wasn't me, And
the idea and inspiration has been ateam thing of connecting people closer to who
(20:15):
obviously on the sweater where where itcomes from is the trace that's the traceable
element, solving for really showing youwith utmost transparency where this fiber, the
fiber literally in your sweater came fromwith the cordinates on a map in the
Andes Mountains. And so Gcella,our head of Peru that runs production,
(20:37):
built out this vertical system of tracingthat all the way from the fiber through
those points that I sort of outlinedright, the the sourcing, the combing,
the u turning into a yarn,through the garment all the way to
your doorstep and tracing that. Sotrace ball a pack is a really great
step. Now for us, it'sabout if we know where things come from,
(21:00):
how can we also improve the source? And obviously we're doing those through
efforts already associated with I mean theimpact programs. We have the scholarships that
we're giving locally to you improving womenthe catchrop women weavers with the ink id
now over two hundred. But forthe alpacos and hew pack is themselves,
we're developing a program because we wantto really also improve with a percentage of
(21:22):
every single sale. How you knowthat goes back to the source to improve
the well being of those are allpackage the health and what they need.
So traceaball pack is a really coolmechanism of using that technology to also impact
that source. I hope you're enjoyingtoday's conversation. We have a lot more
(21:44):
of this conversation coming up. Iwant to take a moment pause and just
remind you, if you haven't subscribedalready wherever you're listening or watching, go
ahead and hit that subscribe button ifit's on YouTube, believe us a comment
too. Let us know what youthink of this conversation, what you think
of pack on apparel and the conversation. Well, let's go ahead and join
the conversation back up with Chris Codyand Paca Apparel. You know, one
thing I love about this concept oftraceable is that there's a responsibility along the
(22:10):
way, And I feel like that'spart of your heart, Like there are
individuals that not only are working foryou, but you're looking for ways to
enhance their life and give them abetter opportunity. You're thinking about like the
animals, what is best for theseoutpacas? As we build these products,
how do we do a better jobfor them? And as you do that,
you know, as a business ownerand as an entrepreneur, one of
(22:33):
the things that I often say isthat the moment I stop loving the people
I work with and the customers weserve is the moment that I need to
get out of the way because Ican't really have their best interest in heart
for what I'm trying to do withthem. So how do you keep that?
You know? I think you know, so many companies, so many
individuals, so many entrepreneurs start outwith a pure heart towards their objectives.
(22:57):
How do you keep that so thatit's always front of mind, always part
of the values, always part ofthe culture that you're doing, and it
doesn't just get trampled by other thingsthat often pop up. Well to start,
I mean not having real intense outsideinfluence of investors to naturally grow and
(23:18):
to be able to maintain our rootsand be a small team, I think
has just naturally enabled us to makethe right decisions and how where we feel
in our hearts instead of you know, somebody that knows nothing about Packer,
these outback of families saying you needto grow by x percent and at the
cost of, you know, sacrificinga lot of those the opportunities we have
(23:38):
to improve and look with real passionand purpose and heart to wide pack exists
so that I think just was froma like in the sense of bootstrapping and
connected to the source, living downthere over the past six years, being
on the like the ground with theteam and really understanding building this together.
(24:03):
We would not be where we arewithout our partners in the sense of how
much they've helped us grow, whetherwith raw material reserves or even like the
optimization and improvements as we've been ableto grow with Fiber and so for us
it's like we don't exist without them, and working collaboratively has provided so much
(24:26):
opportunity for us to do our bestwork as well. I think where it
gets important is that kind of thestage PACK is at right now, Mike,
to be honest of team making decisionsbeyond even myself obviously, and enabling
a team to be guided by whowe are in our core values and why
we're here, in the true essenceof that embedded into our DNA, which
(24:48):
is what I've been working to reallydefine into the most core essence simplicity for
people to make decisions. And Imean that's every person that we bring into
this team right now at this youknow, young stage of like choosing,
I mean so much I'm falling forwardwithin this, but yeah, it's so
much you choose to also be it, whether a partner or team member,
(25:14):
and to bring that vision to lifeand really to find those things up front
instead of getting to a place whereit's like how did we end up here?
So I think we're stage yeah,yeah, Now as I think of
the company, you know, youmentioned that you're still young as a company,
You're still going. You've done thehoodies, you're doing sweaters, you
(25:37):
have other garments you're rolling out.What's the longer range dream and vision for
this what is like if ten years, fifteen, twenty years down the road
at what is your heart for thisbrand that that you're building Gosh, I
mean first and foremost, getting morepeople wearing nature I think is like the
ultimate goal here Alpaka is a greatmechanism to do so. But just to
(26:02):
the fact that within sixty years we'vemass industrialized plastic to a point that it's
in eighty percent of Americans, wefind those derivatives in all corners now,
eve know, like the Arctic Ocean, that impact sixty years that humans have
had in this sort of like destructivemass production. I think it proves the
(26:23):
power that we have the ability toshift as well, and within that like
the education and responsibility to do so. In looking at goals and so for
me, I think I've learned onebrand can't change the industry, and we
need one hundred creators working to thesame north star to do that and being
(26:45):
able to enable that in our ownway, but also for other brands as
well, like with the sort ofnatural technologies that we're building, like the
cell pack insulation for other brands tobe able to use things like that,
to be able to to create moreimpact faster to get there. That's kind
of my goal. But then onthe flip, I mean just the impact
(27:08):
and not losing touch to really theamazing amount of lives we have been able
to already touch, but the opportunitythere and impact and really creating a new
standard with what a company can dowith product, but to connect people closer
to it and improve the source ofthat. And so I mean I want
(27:33):
people more people wearing nature outdoors insteadof oil. I mean that's very important
to me. And also I reallywant to build a company that sheds light
and connects people closer to their impactand really makes a difference changes lives in
the Andes. You know, earlierwe were talking about how your brand incorporate
(27:55):
story to communicate what you've done,and I want to step for a moment
over to that element of your yourbrand. Can you maybe share a story
or two how how Paka has impactedthe local Peruvian world, uh, and
then how like maybe a story ortwo of what your customers have said about
how it's impacted their lives. Ooh, we have this program pack of scholars.
(28:22):
We work with an NGO Proven Hearts. That is how we're able to
finance university tuition for young proving women. And one of the young women that
we've been able to finance tuition forher story is absolutely incredible. And I
(28:42):
mean these these young women like atthe top of their class and have no
economic or financial means to continue theeducation. And this young woman would walk
three hours every day from the mostrural because that's where they are living in
the Andes to school in the morningand then three hours back after school ended,
(29:07):
every single day for an opportunity tocontinue education and family and everything.
And to be able to enable thatfor like Carlotte, that to be able
to bring that education back to herlocal community and actually prove that herself has
just been like an amazing story ofseeing something go full circle in a way
(29:30):
that when we share that with theircustomers for them to understand that impact,
it's just amazing. When you talkabout story, it's really just about connecting
and showing truly with authentic origin andtranslating that in a way that's that's digestible,
and so like Carlotta is a superstarand is continuing on her career to
(29:56):
build and enable tourism and entrepreneurship forher community. So I think that's a
really cool story. Another cool story. We've been able to even do things
off like in terms of like havinga massage day for our women weavers,
like our team of the Catchwa weavers, because they're literally on a hand loom
(30:18):
making think ideas and whatnot. Andto be able to provide them something so
different where they were crying because theynever like they had never had something like
that for themselves was really powerful experienceto sort of see happen on the consumer
(30:42):
side. Well, so now likeit's really crazy to be seeing Paco being
worn. Yeah, and walk bypeople wearing Paka, whether in the airport
or whatnot. And I was justdown in Patagony and I saw somebody on
the mountain, on the top ofa mountain where wearing Armenian socks, and
I walked up and I never saylike that, oh I created this.
(31:04):
I'd love to just understand who theyare and the absolute passion that this girl
had for pack and telling me aboutthe brand was just like it blew me
away because not only was the impacton that person felt like a part of
our team, but to be onthe middle other side of the world in
(31:27):
a place outdoors that I envisioned thisproduct being used for and seeing it show
up there was like really blew meaway. And I think, like we
just have a family that way ofour customers. It's like this feeling when
you wave to each other like apaca somebody where's paca waves to you on
(31:48):
the trail, Like that's the kindof who we are. And it was
really cool to win us that firsthand. That's so cool. That's a great
story. Now, before we pivotinto our rapid fire questions, I want
to pause and just let people knowhow can they find the product, how
can they connect up with the brand, how can they learn more about the
story? Yeah, I mean ourwebsite is the best outlet for that.
(32:12):
It's pack Uppaka dot Coco and thenInstagram just pack up Paka as well.
We post a lot on there.Those are the two best ways to be
in the loop. But definitely signup for email newsletter because that's how we're
sharing a ton with our community,giving exclusive like product releases and really also,
(32:35):
for instance, we're about to openour first store or flagship in Cuzco,
the main part of Peru where Istarted Paka, and we're going to
have a big grand opening in Mayand inviting our community down to that and
so that with an email is Ithink the best way to be connected to
what's going on. And we'll putthose links in the episode notes, so
it's super easy wherever you're listening orwatching, just go ahead and go right
(32:59):
down, click on those and gocheck it out. I really encourage all
of you who are watching and listeningcheck out this brand. I have really
just grown to love and respect whatthey're doing, and it's so worth your
time to just check out the reallycool products that they're creating. Well,
we're going to take a break righthere, but when we come back,
it's going to be Rapid Fire Questionswith Chris Cody. We'll be right back
(33:23):
in a moment. We're going todive into Rapid Fire Questions. But before
we do that, I just wantto let you know there is a lot
more going on at Jumble Think.We have episodes coming out every week.
If you want to learn more aboutthe history of jumble Think see some of
the past episodes. You can checkthem out of course on YouTube, Apple,
podcasts, Spotify, and more.But you can also head an over
to jumblethink dot com and check outsome more about the jumble Think story.
(33:46):
So go do that real quick andthen come back and check out the rapid
Fire Questions with Chris Cody from PackApparel. We are back with Chris Cody.
Chris, all right, you readyfor rapid fire Questions. Let's do
it all right? As a child, what did you want to be when
you grew up? Mmm? Initiallya dentist because my dad is a dentist.
(34:08):
From there turned into a neuroscientist,and then from their vet I would
have been a vet. Yeah that'scool. That's cool. Now. You
know, we are all about dreamersand makers, innovators and influencers, people
who are chasing those ideas and dreams. If somebody has a big idea and
dream like you had with Paka,what is the first step you would tell
(34:30):
them to take on that journey ofmaking that a reality? Oh? Yeah,
I mean, if you're if you'rein touch with your gift for why
you're here and showing up in thisworld. I really think that's all you
need to know is really clearly understandyour purpose for being here. There's a
(34:52):
famous sort of try diagram that iswhat wakes you up in the morning,
what you can be the best inthe world, that and what drives your
economic engine. That third one notas I think as that's sort of like
a downstream impact of really channeling intowhat you can be the best at.
So I think that would just bemy advice. Love that you are all
(35:15):
about social change and especially around howwe're creating sustainable products. What's one change
you'd like to see in the worldanimal welfare, Like what I said about
being a veterinarian treatment of animals issomething that I care deeply about and I
would die for like for that cause. Nice. You know, I think
(35:39):
often you're a younger guy and you'repilling it at this business. It's just
like you're just doing so great withit. But you can tell that you're
a person of intention, like youmake intentional decisions. So if you think
longer, what do you want thatlegacy to be? What do you want
to leave behind as your story?Well, I think it's about enabling that
(36:04):
momentum to grow beyond, like legacyis interesting and that whether it's people think
about a book or a brand thatis there. I think about it in
terms of like really true momentum butterflyeffect of what you bring to the world
and spread and energetically too. Andso of course this brand I really believe
can grow too with for decades buildingthis brand trust and integrity to who we
(36:30):
are and building the best product andreally bringing this to the world. But
for me, I think it wouldbe to inspire connection to nature, Like
if we're really connected to the nature, to nature and seeing that as part
(36:52):
of us, I mean, whichis part of us when we think about
our biome and having ten times amountof cells in our body that aren't us
in that that us I mean thefact that we've disconnected ourselves so much from
nature. My I would love tobe a brand that connects people back to
nature. But beyond that, legacywise, there's momentum for people that are
(37:14):
inspired to protect, maintain, takecare of, be a steward for mother.
They call it down in Peru.Oh that's cool, that's cool.
I love that there's cultures that havewords for that. It's just so powerful.
Uh, you know. I Ithink learning is such an important part
(37:36):
of the entrepreneurial journey. I lovethat you use at the beginning of the
interview, you said packet is markedby being a curious brand that you liked
being curious as you explore. Soas an entrepreneur, as a dreamer,
what would be the book that youwould say, here's a good book if
you really want to go down thislane, that you should read or check
out for business or for just life. I think like there's some great business
(38:05):
books I've read that it helped meunderstand how to build a business, But
then there are others that have inspiredme for impact and passion. I'll let
you pick. You could give oneof each if you want whatever you want
to do there well. I thinkThe e Myth by Michael Gerber is a
really fun book to read and helpsillustrate why sometimes you build a business that
(38:31):
end up taking it ends up takingaway your passion for why you started in
the first place, and really beingconscious of, like you said during this
interview, the why that you're thereand developing that to to actualize that vision.
Good to Great is a really awesomeone about looking in the the mirror
(38:52):
when there are issues and looking attwo team when there are wins and successes
to be like that level five literI'll let you know, come to mind.
I love it, love it.You know, so many people talk
about I'm driving towards success, butI think that's like one of those hard
(39:15):
terms to really grab a hold of. For you, what does success look
like? Hmmm? It's changed inrealizing that I'm in this for the long
haul, over decades, to enjoythe journey and ride. And I think
success is us Packa for Packa successes. And that's what's funny is like I've
(39:37):
had to distinguish my identity for Pakabut for me, like my sharing that
gift with the world of being ableto make the best products from nature and
build something that changes the direction thatwe're headed, and that that I'm really
proud of, like just being proudof what we put out out in the
(40:00):
sense of the quality and the impactand what we're doing and how we show
up. And that's something that's successfor me now because I know building the
best product and being true to whowe are will grow this brand to a
well known global Freeman brand and experiencefor customers. And so that's really what
(40:23):
I'm dedicated to love it. Andthen for you, you know, you
started out and there wasn't a roadmapfor what you were doing. Looking back
now, what is one thing youwish you would have known when you first
started out? No, I meanit's mentors. It's really really being able
to add in cold calling. I'mvery grateful to have built advisors, mentors
(40:51):
that have been there for me andasked, just been aware and humble of
what I'm definitely not doing well andissues as they come up. There's so
many, and being able to havementors there to guide you. I mean,
being a solo founder is different thanbeing having a co founder in the
(41:14):
sense that you're doing it alone.And I think mentors and advisors have really
helped provide perspective throughout this journey becauselike when you're down there, you can
feel like that's the only thing youknow. When I was livving three dollars
a night and the Andy's Mallens tryingto birth this dream, getting pneumonia like
level, you know, for bootstrappingthis and being able to see a more
(41:39):
steady view on your journey, Ithink would be my biggest advice starting out
is have a good scaffold support networkthere for you. Yeah, I love
that. My business coach that reallyhelped us out in our first ten years
of business, he just recently passedaway, and I just know how hard,
(42:02):
uh it was to kind of mournthat, because that that business coach
was as a solopreneur who had employees, well you know, a found singular
founder and then having employees who doyou go to? And having him there
to mentor and coach was the differencebetween sustaining and making it through really tough
(42:22):
times and just folding, you know. So our final rapid fire question is,
you know, you have had awild ride building this, uh this
business. You've done it in sucha creative way, but your story's not
done. So what's the big ideaor dream you still want to do in
(42:43):
your life? Oh? Well,first and foremost, what we're trying to
do to bring the ol pack itto the outdoor industry and really proving that
and making it a household name.Beyond that, being able to work directly
with nature and on the materials,beyond even out paca and building a sustainable
incubator for natural materials would be likea really big dream of mine to like
(43:07):
that earlier the hundreds of creators workingto the same north Star get there a
lot faster. Personally, music isa huge outlet of my channeling just emotion,
how I feel and being you know, founder, Pack of had to
apply my creativity and that it hasto work within the frames of the business,
(43:30):
and I think at this stage ofmy life, I'm trying to just
develop outlets for that beyond and justcreating because it feels good, and so
music is kind of my outlet thereand then being more connected to animals if
I can be as much as possible. Love that. Hey, Chris,
thanks so much for joining us.I am not only wearing this product.
(43:53):
I've become a fan of this product, and I am so excited to the
continued success that you have, butalso to see what you do in the
future, because I truly believe thatthat you're gonna be an unstoppable force in
this space, and so I'm cheeringyou on. I know our listeners are
are too, and so thanks fortaking time out and sharing your story and
(44:14):
the pack of story with us.Congratulations for what you've built. Hey,
thanks so much for tuning into today'sconversation. I hope you really enjoyed it.
I hope you were inspired, andI hope that you will go and
check out what Chris and the teamat packup Apparel are doing. Can head
on over to packapapparel dot com,check out what they have on their website,
(44:34):
and make sure to buy some coolproducts. I have been loving my
pack of apparel. I have somesocks, I have a base layer for
hiking and that kind of thing.I have the hoodie, all that kind
of stuff. I love what they'recreating, and I hope you will too,
So go check them out packapparel dotcom and let them know that we
sent you. Well. That doesit for today's conversation with Chris Cody about
(44:57):
pack apparel, and with that,we just want to encourage you to get
out there, to dream big andto change the world around you. Thanks
again for tuning in. We'll seeyou again next week.
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