Irene Chen: Co-Founder of Parker Thatch

Episode 654

In this episode of The Kara Goldin Show, I sit down with Irene Chen, Co-Founder of Parker Thatch, the California-based brand known for its functional luxury handbags and accessories. Irene shares how she and her husband, Matthew Grenby, built the company from its early days as an e-stationery business into a thriving eight-figure brand loved for its customizable, timeless designs.
We dive into the pivotal moment when handbag icon Kate Spade encouraged them to focus on accessories, the challenges of standing out in the competitive luxury market, and how Irene’s background at Donna Karan and Calvin Klein shaped her approach to building a brand. Irene also opens up about bootstrapping Parker Thatch’s growth, why personal expression is at the heart of every design, and what it’s like to run a company with your spouse while raising a family.
If you’re curious about scaling a brand, creating a strong community, or what it takes to build a business that lasts, this episode is for you. Tune in to hear Irene’s inspiring journey and the lessons she’s learned along the way. Now on The Kara Goldin Show!

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Transcript

Kara Goldin 0:00
I am unwilling to give up that I will start over from scratch as many times as it takes to get where I want to be. I want to be you. Just want to make sure you will get knocked down. But just make sure you don’t get knocked out, knocked out. So your only choice should be go focus on what you can control. Control. Hi everyone, and welcome to the Kara Goldin show. Join me each week for inspiring conversations with some of the world’s greatest leaders. We’ll talk with founders, entrepreneurs, CEOs and really, some of the most interesting people of our time. Can’t wait to get started. Let’s go. Let’s go. Hi everyone, and welcome back to the Kara Goldin show. Super, super excited to have my next guest with us here today. Irene Chen is the co founder of Parker Thatch, and if you love stylish yet very functional handbags that seamlessly blend luxury with everyday ease. Chances are you’ve already come across Parker Thatch, but Irene and her husband Matthew, Matthew Granby started their company in 2001 as an E stationary brand, and moved quite a bit over into an entirely different category. I cannot wait to get more into that. One of their first fans was somebody who you will recognize their name, Kate Spade herself was one of the early fans, encouraging them to lean into handbags and accessories, and it all went from there. So today we’ll dive into irene’s journey from Product Development at major fashion houses like Donna Karen and Calvin Klein to running an eight figure brand today. So I cannot wait to get into all things Irene Shen and Parker Thatch. So welcome to the show.

Irene Chen 1:58
Hey, Kara, thank you so much for having me on. Super

Kara Goldin 2:01
excited to finally meet you and have you here. So thank you for joining. Thank you. So let’s start at the beginning. What inspired you? First of all, you didn’t start in the category that you’re in today, but actually two things. First, can you talk about what is Parker Thatch today, and also go back to what in the world made you start this company anyway when you started in E stationary. Wow, what a transition that must have been.

Irene Chen 2:36
I know it’s so crazy to think about it now, but what is Parker Thatch. We make handbags that are, you explained it so well. It is, you know, we always say it’s functional luxury. And, you know, I was really thinking about it this morning. And my idea of luxury is something that has no expiration date, and you just love it, you know, something that’s made so well that you kind of always gravitate towards that, and you kind of always want it in your closet. And sometimes it’s something that you’ve had in your closet for 20 years that you just keep bringing to, you know, with you as you move through your life. And I think that’s true luxury, you know, to me, and I think that’s what we’re trying to do, and that’s what we’re what we make and and that’s what we do through our handbags, and that is our mission in our life, to do that. I

Kara Goldin 3:25
love it. And so you started in 2001 as an E stationary company. Can you talk about that first? Yeah,

Irene Chen 3:33
yeah. So my husband and I, Matthew, started our company in 2001 and we had met in New York, and I was still working in fashion, and he was doing tech, and then we kind of came together at in the 2000s when everybody was, you know, the tech time, and we worked together. And then Matt and I decided we wanted to start our own business. And so when I was he was sort of, kind of in San Francisco, and I was in New York, and Matt’s the tech guy, and he would send me these amazing notes through email and email back then was still dial up Kara, okay, like, took a while. Okay, so this is really old, and what he would send me were these beautiful kind of notes that popped up on my email. And I’m like, wow, this is so cool. And I have a passion for stationery to begin with. So I love Smythe and stationery. There’s just something so beautiful about a beautiful piece of engraved stationery. So somehow we were chatting, and I was like, Well, how about that East like that, that stationary you send me through email? Is that something we can do together? So then that’s how the whole story started. And then Matt and I started this basically sort of paperless press, but way too early, and that was, you know, and so we were doing things where we’re, you know, like the mistakes made. So we charged for it in the in everyone was like, What are you guys doing? And so anyways, we, you know, could have quit and gone back to our jobs that we, you know, had big jobs. But we were like, no, let’s just keep, you know, moving forward. Work. So one thing that the customers kept asking was like, well, we love this concept, but we don’t really want to pay for it, but we do sell this in a physical form. And so Matt and I were like, All right, we you know, let’s try it. So basically, Matt and I started selling paper stationery with the designs that we had on the E stationary. And that’s how our company started. And so we were doing paper stationery, and then we were doing wholesale, and that’s what we did. And then the stationary, then moved into home goods trays and paper weights, and, you know, so it was just a, like, a crazy time. And we, you know, did everything ourselves. It was just nuts. And then, I think I would say in the year 2008 2009 Matt came to me, and we’re doing a lot of personalization at that time, and said, Hey, listen, I think I could print one offs on cotton. What can you do on that? And I’m like, wow, this is my jam. I’m now going back to product, right? And I’m like, Well, what about let’s make a tote bag. And he’s like, Okay, I could do that. I could print on it, if you give me the bag. And then, so we had no money, still, like, we were still, like, you know, he wasn’t like, we had millions of dollars to go to a factory and say, Hey, listen, can you make me a bag? So again, very, very, I would say sticks and stones. That’s what my friend Katie used to say all the time, rub two sticks and stones together, right? So I went, I said, Hey, listen, the guy, the woman who pegged, you know, hems my pants, she’s really good at that, and I could see that. And said, maybe I could ask her to see if she could make me a pattern, because I did see, like, a little plaque on her wall every time, and it said, you know, San Francisco fashion, you know Institute. And so I went to her, and I said, Hey, listen, I have an idea. I want to make a bag. Can you make me a sample and make me a patent? And she’s like, Yeah. So basically, our first bag that we still have on the line, which is called the meanie, was made at a dry cleaner in Danville, California. Okay, so it’s just nuts, right? And and then we had the bag, and then we had no handle. And that’s like, Okay, well, I could cut strips of leather. What do you want to do with it? And I’m like, Okay, well, why don’t we just put two strips of leather on the bag itself and rivet them in. We could do that. And so that’s how our whole bag came into play. And then the beauty of the bag was the shape itself. I thought, you know, just all the bags that I wanted in the size and what I wanted to have, like ideally, but then you could print on it. So we had, you could customize your name and strikes on it. So that’s how we started the bag business. And honestly, that’s, that’s where it went from there. That’s

Kara Goldin 7:36
wild. So what year was that? Then, how much longer before you originally started God, so that

Irene Chen 7:41
was in 2008 so we were doing paper, you know, Home Goods, up until about two so it was a while, and then we got to bags. And then that’s where we started, like going into accessories and handbags. But we had one bag, and it was just always customized with different and we took, see you always take what you have, right? So we took all the really great graphics that we had on the stationery that was super popular, and then we printed them onto the bags too. So that’s how we kind of transitioned into bags.

Kara Goldin 8:10
That’s that’s so wild. So, so Kate Spade played a big role in encouraging you to focus on hand bags. Can you share that story? Yeah, so,

Irene Chen 8:21
you know, it’s so funny how the world works. So serendipity, right? So when we had our bags, I, you know, she had was buying our bags, the the customized one for, you know, in the paper goods for herself. And then somehow, you know, we were doing invitations. And Anyways, long story short, her system was like, I think you guys would really get along. I don’t know why. And I’m like, Okay, sure. And so that’s how we became friends. And then Katie and I became friends, and she really encouraged us in terms of, you have this great bag, but I really think you should try to do it in leather and other, you know, materials, because that’s how we went from nylon, her little black bag, and she’s like, that’s how we kind of 10x where we were going by moving into leather. And I was like, Okay. And I, you know, like, it was just one of those things where I’m like, okay, yeah, sure. And then, you know, her, her advice was so amazing, because when we did that, that’s when we kind of started leaping into what we were doing, you know, coming out of just the canvas with the natural color handle to using colors and swathes. But we kind of stuck with the same body for a while, and that really helped us jump from where we were, you know, with just customizing bags to to our whole eye. So yes, her advice was great, along with other things, yeah, huge.

Kara Goldin 9:42
So the luxury handbag space is obviously very competitive. I know competitive industries very well, but what like you had not this was your first kind of foray into being an entrepreneur. You had worked for some major brands. Those very successful brands, but now the buck stops with you, right? You’re, you’re out there, you’re, you know, scrapping things together. You’re trying new things, you’re pivoting, but all of a sudden you actually have to sell stuff and make stuff and make anything happen. So how did you think you could set Parker Thatch apart from some of those other brands that were out there? I mean, what? What was sort of the key thing that you were doing. Obviously, you had to go beyond where you were with the East stationery. But also it was probably a different consumer too, right?

Irene Chen 10:38
Well, it’s so interesting because we, you know, the consumer that we had with the customized tote bag is sort of the same kind of, you know, it was, it’s, we took that same customer and brought her along for the ride with our leather goods. Because it was not a cheap tote bag, you know, you’ve got almost $100 tote bag. And so it was that, you know, and those were the people who believed in the functionality of it, but the luxury of having your name and your stripe kind of printed on there, that was the luxury, you know. And so I think from that, even from that bag, I always knew like I wanted to do, I wanted to make a product that was something that you could use every day, and that it’s a pedestrian type product that was, like, just the everyday tote bag made out of, you know, Canvas that you step on. However, how can we elevate that so that it could sit on, you know, like, sit with someone who was actually carrying a Birkin bag, and that’s her bag that she was, you know, putting all her beach stuff in, you know. So it’s the same lifestyle, but that’s how you mentally kind of saw that bag and this product. And so I always took that idea with along for the ride. When we made our leather and suede bags, it was always the same kind of thinking. And so it was the same woman who was, you know, thinking like that too. And so it’s really interesting. And like, we have the most amazing customers, and I think that’s for us. That’s, that’s my like, pride and joy is, like, we have this, what we call our perfect thatch family, and it’s been an amazing ride with them. And we had a, you know, a lot of our clients have been with us since we were doing the canvas bags, which is quite amazing. That’s,

Kara Goldin 12:19
that’s so yeah, so functionality, I It’s, like, stylish, but functional. Would you say that that’s your your consumer. That’s my

Irene Chen 12:27
jam, right? Yeah, and I think because I’m really practical, so for me, it has to work. It can’t be fussy. It can’t be something where I can’t open. So when we make the product, it really does. Sometimes product development from us takes about eight to 10 months, because it from inception to finish, because we really try to use it ourselves and figure out all the different like, we just have one bag now where, you know, they’re like, Okay, you try it. And I was like, Okay, this is all wrong, because when I have it on, I need the zipper to open it a certain way so that I could, you know, it’s all these little, tiny things that you have to test. And for me, that’s, that’s the real key to like, that’s our secret sauce. Is like, how do you make it functional but yet look really luxurious and makes it easy for you to look like you’re dressed throughout the day. And I, well, you know,

Kara Goldin 13:13
I love all the straps that you do as well. They’re so, they’re just so cute. And so, you know, such an easy way to make everything so personalized as well.

Irene Chen 13:23
Yeah. So I think that’s like, that’s where I think I see the most, like, when I see people order things, it always surprises me, where I’m like, wow, you know, like, she did that with that. That’s amazing. And it’s just that’s, I think, where people’s personalities come out. And I think that’s really important, and I love that.

Kara Goldin 13:40
So I feel like Parker Thatch, you and I were chatting. We both live in the same part of the world. In Northern California, you have such a strong community. What? What strategies have you used to really help build those communities and connect with your audiences over the years?

Irene Chen 13:59
Oh, it’s so funny, because I would say it started with COVID, and when COVID happened, you know, I think we were when we approached the company before, it wasn’t really through this like, idea of like, we’re going to make this community and have this community, but through COVID, I don’t know, something happened where we’re like, Okay, well, we really don’t have much to do. Let’s get on Instagram Live, or let’s just get on Instagram and let’s chat. And it also happened, I think for me personally, after my friend Katie died, I went through some things myself where I personally was like, you know, what? Like, what do I need to do to improve myself, and what’s going on mentally with myself? And I think it was the those two things put together, and that became topic of conversation for us on our Instagram. It had nothing to do with handbags. You know, it was always about, and I think that’s a real mission with what our product like. When you look at product, you’ve got, you know, a bag. But I really the the essence of the product is all about moving onwards and moving forward. And I think for me, personally, you. That was what I was trying to do personally. And it kind of as I was learning. And I, you know, somehow I got into this crazy exercise regime that I still do every day, and but during those exercises, I was listening to podcasts, and I would learn certain things, and so then I would share them, and then that’s how our community really started formulating, and how we are together all the time. It’s crazy. And it’s, it really was born out of a mission to get people moving and get out of bed. How do I do it? And for me, it’s through our product. Because it’s like, how do you get dressed? Really easy. So all those things kind of converged, and that’s what we’re all about these days. And it’s, it’s really remarkable. It’s like, you had to go on your own personal journey. And that got put into the product itself. And it was, it’s really, really interesting.

Kara Goldin 15:47
I love it. So you talked a little bit about the podcast, but also, can you talk a little bit about Parker Thatch TV and how that’s grow your business and live shopping? I love that.

Irene Chen 16:00
Oh, my God, that’s my favorite thing. So we have one today at Fridays. We do PT TV, and really, we go live and we talk about stuff. So it could be, you know, whatever I learned through my, you know, podcast, or whatever I did that week, or whatever I’m fascinated by. And then we’ll go into bags, what? We have new bags, and people will come on, and then we put straps on. And, you know, people have questions like, how do you put this on? And it’s just this one hour of just amazing fun. And it’s like, it’s a podcast mixed with, you know, QVC. And then, you know, sometimes we’ll bring other people on. My mom will come on. We’ll dress her, you know? So it’s just, it’s just really fun, and it’s, we do that every Friday, and I think it’s just a really fun part of our community

Kara Goldin 16:47
that’s awesome. I love and you’re selling, you’re doing live shopping as well. Basically,

Irene Chen 16:51
yeah, and so we do it through so we’ll do live shopping. We do it through YouTube at the same time, through Instagram, and then now we’re gonna start doing it through Tik Tok, and we’ll have all the all the channels on, and then we just do it for one hour, and it’s just, you know, there’s nothing pretty about it. The lighting is kind of crappy, and, you know, I’m in my little showroom, and that’s what we do. So it’s, it’s just, I love it. It’s so fun. And I was that is where we really want to kind of focus on this year is kind of growing that channel. So

Kara Goldin 17:21
I read that your business is completely bootstrapped. Is that correct? 100% yes, that’s amazing. So how have you managed to grow without without outside investors? Oh,

Irene Chen 17:34
my God, it’s, you know, it’s interesting, because I think when we first started to our handbags. Now we did a lot of customization, so that allowed for us to really keep inventory tight and not not take on crazy risks. And because I was thinking about that, like, how did I keep, you know, and then it went up and down, and we went through a lot of things, you know, through COVID, all these things. And I think by really being, um, smart about our inventory in that way has really allowed for us to just slowly build our company and and I think everything is a slow build. I think, you know, I think most entrepreneurs who have companies that last for a long time, it’s a slow build. It’s not fast. And I think that’s the difference, you know, slowly, methodically building it.

Kara Goldin 18:23
I totally agree. So the when you think about innovation, I mean, how often do you have to I guess this would be advice to anybody thinking about their their skew, mix, their selection. And obviously this totally depends based on, you know, not only your industry that you’re in, but also whether you’re in certain categories, probably, and seasonality and all that kind of stuff. But how many different items do you think you need to come out with per year, per season? I mean, is there some Matt, like, do you ever think about it as like, oh, we have to come out with three colors in order to launch something. Do you have any kind of guide that you try and go by? You

Irene Chen 19:12
know, I do? We do have bodies, or we really work with Evergreen bodies, because I’m a real practical person, and it’s really interesting, because of a lot, of our clients will have one bag, but they’ll have it in eight colors. So we really stick to our bodies that work very well. Innovation said, Thank you, Kara. And innovation comes from, I think sometimes, like for us this year, it comes from material. So I may utilize the same bodies, however, introducing a new material. And so for us, the big thing was kind of surprising and kind of a weird thing that I kind of went out on a limb with last I would say fall, was this concept of bringing in a beautiful broken in leather, and I think when I brought it to the table, everyone’s like, I don’t know, Irene, like, it’s all scratched up and it looks. Like, it’s been used. And I’m like, No, this is luxurious. It’s so amazing. And I broke it in, and this most beautiful leather, and that is our best selling leather right now. So it’s, it’s just really, you know, so innovation comes through sometimes bodies, sometimes through the, you know, materials that you find when

Kara Goldin 20:19
you think about some of the major brands that you worked with, Donna, Karen Calvin Klein, what do you think you take away from those experiences, those brands that kind of have stuck with you as you’ve built your own brand?

Irene Chen 20:36
I think my experiences at both those places, it’s really interesting, because you see these giant companies like that. However, in both of those companies that I worked with, the the size of the team itself was very small, and so I think for both of those countries I worked in, teams were small, and we were almost like in each team, you were building your own business within that team. So it was a miraculous time. I think it was in the early 1990s where things just happened. You know, there wasn’t, it wasn’t so it was just like, you guys go do it. And so in both those that’s where I learned how to be scrappy and figure out how to do things. There was no rule book in a weird way. Yes, you had seasons. You had all these things that you had to do, however, to build this business and be innovative. It was really up to this tiny little team to figure it out. So I don’t know, it’s just really fascinating that I had that amazing opportunity to do that there and just really learn how to do, you know, start a business from nothing. You know, it was the same guy doing, you know, you worked with sales. There was, you know, it was just, you you got to see a product, start to finish, start to finish for, you know, four times a year. And really, like, that’s really where I learned how to be scrappy and figure things out. And, you know, I think running a business as you know, things come at you every day and sometimes and somehow, you figure it out. But it’s you have to have that tenacity. And I think that’s where I really learned that is like, Okay, this is really hard and it seems impossible, but then after five o’clock, you’re like, I figured it out. It worked, you know, and you really have to go out on a limb to do some of these things. And that’s, that’s, you know, to this day, this is what’s coming at its incoming all day long, and solving problems I’ll do I

Kara Goldin 22:21
get it. I absolutely get what you’re saying. Sure. Was there one time that you created something that you thought was going to be a massive success, and then it wasn’t. I remember, actually, we had the founder, not too long ago, of Goldin branch on okay? And he talked about bed skirts. He had grown up with bed skirts like on every one of his beds. He’s like, Oh, we have to have all these different bed skirts. And it ends up like he never thought about the fact that no one changes out their bed skirt, or not usually, right? Unless it gets dirty, then they change it out. So he had bed skirts. He still has bed skirts from, like, the original run. And he talked about, yeah, and I thought that was so funny. Is there a story like that for Parker?

Irene Chen 23:10
Think of a funny one that I think, you know, I I’m trying to think of what we have still in the office that I yes, many products come to play, and they’re like, Irene, seriously, you cannot do this. Peace of love. Please don’t do this again. I think, I think one of the ones I had was monogrammed eye masks. I think that was one thing where I was like, Oh, this is gonna be huge. People all want to have monogrammed eye mask. And I don’t think that was a thing, because you get eye masks everywhere. You get them on the plane. And so to this day, we still have, I think, from 10 years ago in the office that I thought we were going to customize a monogram, and everybody needed a monogrammed eye mask, and it was like this whole travel kit that I put together, and we still have those in the office. So, yes, it’s just crazy, weird ideas like that. We

Kara Goldin 24:02
all make those, those choices, I should say, not mistakes, but just choices along the way that luckily, there will somebody will come to your site, I’m sure, and see that exactly what they’re looking for. So might not happen today, but it might, yeah,

Irene Chen 24:21
I come to the table with odd things like that. I love it.

Kara Goldin 24:25
I love it. So what’s a moment in your journey that made you step back and think, wow? Or I should say, when was that moment when you said, wow, we really built something amazing, I think, in

Irene Chen 24:39
the journey. And I still have that wow, is I’m gonna tell you every Friday when we do that. PT, TV, it is. Sometimes I get taken aback because Matt will say, shout out from the other day, Mongolia, okay? And I’m like, Whoa. Like, that’s crazy, right? Like, those moments, sometimes I’m like, This is crazy. I. All these amazing people are joining us from, like, crazy places, and it’s five o’clock in Northern California, in or into California, you know. So those are the moments. And I’m like, you know, this is really amazing, and I think it’s the community. And I I never honestly thought that making a product could, you know, become this community that you’ve built, and these amazing people that you chat with, you hear their stories, and, you know, people go through hard things, and then they’re like, your product really helped me get out of this, or like someone was not feeling really well the other day, and they’re like, this broken in leather has become like my security blanket, and so it really has helped calm me down. And I was like, Wow, that’s crazy, you know? And so those are the days when I’m like, this is, this is like, this is amazing for me. Just those little touch points are really for me. What I feel is like, wow, we did this crazy thing, and we have people joining us from Mongolia. This is crazy.

Kara Goldin 26:01
I know that’s awesome. I love it so well. And I think dealing with consumers too, it’s like every I always talk about every time you are having a hard day and you it just so happens that if you, you know, get on Parker Thatch TV, or you, for me, it’s getting on an airplane, or people, you know, seeing that I have my hint gear on, and they’re like, No way, I love hint. And you’re like, wait what I mean, you know? And you forget about, how crazy, right? How crazy, yeah, and starting your own brand. I mean, I think too that when you’re working for a large company, you don’t always, and especially when you were working for large companies, but I think it’s even still true today. You don’t necessarily get that consumer feedback, like, you know, get with smaller brands, and

Irene Chen 26:54
no, and it’s so personal, you know? And I think that’s what it is, and it’s just like, Yeah, and you get to see, like, how you could have you change someone’s, you know, the way they dress or the way they move around. And I feel like that’s really amazing, that I get to be a part of your life in that way. And I think that’s so special. And, you know, one amazing thing that you can think of something, and then you make it and then it actually people use it. And sometimes I’m like, wow, this is, this is amazing. That’s amazing. I think being an entrepreneur is amazing. So

Kara Goldin 27:28
one thing you want people to take away from the park or thatch company or feel when they carry a park or thatch bag? I mean, however you want to leave us today.

Irene Chen 27:41
Yeah, I want to leave you with this concept of onward. I want I think it’s so important when things are not going your way, or like being an entrepreneur, or 50,000 things coming at you, or whatever it may be that you’re kind of experiencing, I think if you could just close your eyes and think of onward. I think moving forward is how we get better. And for me, that’s really important to leave behind. And I hope that, you know, with every product we put out there, we put that spirit into the bags.

Kara Goldin 28:12
I love that well, Irene, thank you so much for joining us here today. Parker Thatch is just an amazing company that you and your husband have built. And I love everything that you guys are doing. If you have not checked out, Parker Thatch, you must. And then, of course, Parker Thatch.com Parker Thatch TV, everything notes for my Irene on sub stack as well. You’ve got it all going. So thank you again, and thanks everyone for joining. Thank you, thanks again for listening to the Kara Goldin show. If you would please give us a review and feel free to share this podcast with others who would benefit. And of course, feel free to subscribe so you don’t miss a single episode of our podcast, just a reminder that I can be found on all platforms at Kara Goldin, I would love to hear from you too. So feel free to DM me, and if you want to hear more about my journey, I hope you will have a listen or pick up a copy of my Wall Street Journal, best selling book, undaunted, where I share more about my journey, including founding and building. Hint we are here every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Thanks for listening, and goodbye for now. Bye.

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