Episode #112
Rachel Parcell
Recently Named #1 Social Influencer In Utah, Fashion Blogger Shares Her Journey As CEO of Her Own Clothing LineHer
Guest Bio:
Rachel Parcell is a women's clothing brand specializing in feminine and timeless pieces that will be worn time and time again.
The brand was founded in January 2016 by Rachel Parcell, of the blog Pink Peonies. Rachel's signature feminine, classic style has captured the hearts of women around the world and now she is bringing that signature style to life by creating a full custom designed brand.
Rachel started her blog in 2011 and one of her very first posts featured a skirt that she designed and actually sewed herself (you can see that post here). At that time she only had about 100 followers but she let them know they could purchase the skirt and she would sew it for them.
Quickly she realized her sewing skills were not up to par to create a piece of clothing that would fit another body type, other than her own.
The idea of creating a clothing line was always something she has wanted to do from the time she was a young girl. A year after blogging she was offered a design job by a clothing brand based in Salt Lake City. There she learned what it takes to produce products. She was able to go to Asia and actually visit the factories where her designs were being produced.
After a year of working for the brand, her blog began to grow so much so that she could no longer continue to balance both jobs. She chose to grow her own business and left the company.
Fast forward two years, she was approached to create her own jewelry collection that would be set-up in the form of a licensing deal. She quickly learned that because she was not the one funding the business she did not have the final say in important business decisions, which ultimately led her to step away from the licensing deal.
It was shortly after that she decided to follow her dreams, take a leap of faith and create her own brand that would be funded and operated by both her and her husband, Drew.
After a few hours of convincing Drew, Rachel started designing her 'first' collection. It consisted of four different designs (2 skirt and 2 dresses). She hired a seamstress to help her create the patterns and samples but soon realized she needed more help on the manufacturing side than sample development. It was important to her to produce a high-quality product, with a great fit.
After coming up against some stumbling blocks, she knew she needed to bring on a partner who understood manufacturing and was already producing apparel.
She called her friend from the industry, Tan Safdar, and asked him if he was available for a lunch meeting. A few days later they met and Rachel pitched the idea to him, and from there Tan came on as her partner on the Rachel Parcell brand.
Tan comes from a fashion background and owns a number of brands whose products Rach has worn before, so it was an easy decision to partner with him.
Since that lunch, they've worked together tirelessly to create a brand they hope you'll love.
Show Links
Show Notes
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Introduction (1:45)
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Making money from a blog (2:59)
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Using your skills to recognize something new to the world (6:14)
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How the love of scrapbooking turned into blogging (7:06)
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The beginning stages of the blog turned store (10:05)
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Signing up for different affiliate programs (14:29)
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Being authentic and relatable (16:21)
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Using Pinterest to go viral (18:34)
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Staying true to a personal connection (21:56)
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Cross marketing with other bloggers (22:48)
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What challenges and fails has she had on the way (25:19)
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Dealing with the "haters" online (28:10)
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Everything that you see was once an idea (33:47)
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Owning her own clothing line and the name (34:15)
