Recently Stingray Advisory Group’s founder, Leandra Nisbet, had the pleasure of interviewing Taryn Kutches, a mother of two whose day job is being a sales engineer and has also found success as co-founder of the women’s fashion backpack company, Parker Design. As fellow entrepreneurs, the women were of no shortage of topics to discuss.
Kutches had always wanted to run a passion career of her own, but deciding on a path, at least initially, proved to be difficult for her. “I don’t have some hobby that I’m crazy good at; I wasn’t some super good chef that dreamed of opening their own restaurant someday or some insane painter that dreamed of being an artist, you know? I never really had that hobby that I wanted to turn into .” Because she was not overly passionate about a specific hobby, Kutches initially struggled with the idea for her project.
Inspiration can strike from anywhere, and that was certainly the case for Parker Design’s Rosa PAK. “The designing a backpack completely came out of the blue,” Kutches recalls. “ I was actually at the auto show in Detroit. I was walking around and just, for whatever reason, took notice of what people were carrying. A lot of men had backpacks on, and it looked fitting. They had suits and backpacks and it didn’t look too out of place. I started looking at what women were carrying, and most of them were carrying tote bags...I pictured in my mind what a backpack would look like on those outfits, and I realized that wouldn’t go.”
At that moment, Kutches discovered a need for a women’s backpack that was stylish, sleek, and an appropriate compliment to women’s formal business attire. “When we it, we wanted to be revolutionary. We didn’t want to take just the standard shape of a backpack you see every day and make it with a little bit nicer materials. We wanted a design to stand out and be different.”
When Kutches set out to make the perfect backpack for women, she didn’t want to make the same traditional, sporty backpack that is widely available to women on the market today. She specifically wanted to make sure it fit the lifestyle of women like her- who are constantly on the move and need a convenient bag to carry around that is versatile enough to look great with a wide variety of outfits from casual to formal.
So, how does Kutches’ design stand out from other backpacks on the market? What makes the Parker Design Rosa PAK the best backpack for women? For more inspiration, Kutches looked to her own life. As a mother of two, as well as having a full-time job and running a passion career, life is always a balancing act and Kutches is always on the go. She also does a fair amount of travelling for work. Kutches has a deep understanding of her target market, due to the fact that she is directly inside of it.
“So many women are traveling these days for work… work is always on the go. The backpack and its square design sits a bit higher on your back, which is better than lower because of weight distribution. We also designed thick, padded straps as well. Laptops, notebooks, phones, chargers, that stuff can get heavy. There’s a security pocket so when you’re traveling you can keep things like your passport and ID in that pocket of the backpack.”
Another driving factor of the functional design of the Parker Design Rosa PAK is the 15-inch laptop pouch. Most women’s backpacks today are made with a pouch that accommodates a 13-inch laptop, but many women today own 15-inch laptops. The Rosa PAK has an inherently simple design. With other backpacks, Kutches ran into the problem where there were so many pockets that she would forget where she put things. Having a small number of larger pockets in this backpack was an intentional design.
Taryn Kutches’ story of creating the Rosa PAK is a testament to the fact that some of the best products you can make are the ones that you personally want or need the most. Do you have an idea for a passion career, but you’re held up by the anxiety and uncertainty of starting a new business? Please connect with us today!
