Parks Project founders, Keith Eshelman and Sevag Kazanci, are advocating for the outdoors in a unique way.
Using their backgrounds in apparel and marketing, Keith and Sevag launched Parks Project, a brand that donates its proceeds to conservation projects within our National Parks. But their clothes aren’t your typical park paraphernalia. Parks Project teams up with artists to create outdoorsy graphics with vintage vibes. With a unique model and huge success, Parks Project is making an impact and inspiring the next generation to take care of our public lands.
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Shelby Stanger:
The presenting sponsor for this season of wild ideas worth living is Ford. Their 2021 Ford Bronco Sport is the SUV that'll get you to your outdoor adventures. It's an off-road SUV built for the thrill seeker, the sightseer and the daytripper. This SUV has many available features to help you get to your destination. With enough ground clearance, off-roading capabilities, and purposeful design, that includes easy to clean surfaces and plenty of interior space, this SUV is your gateway to the outdoors. The Ford Bronco Sport is equipped to help you get out there to the mountain ranges, the Woodland trails, and to the coast, you can learn more about what the Bronco Sport has to offer at ford.com or in our show notes.
Shelby Stanger:
There's a feeling we get when we're outside. The way the sunlight filters through the leaves, the sound of running water down a creek, the smell of a wooded trail. The waterfalls, mountains, and vistas we visit, means something to us that's hard to describe. As outdoors people we care deeply about the places where we adventure. A lot of our guests have turned that passion into activism like fighting for climate change or protecting our public lands. But Keith Eshelman and Sevag Kazanci are using their business chops to support the outdoors. They're the founders of Parks Project, a retail brand that raises funds to conserve our national parks. I'm Shelby Stanger, and this is Wild Ideas Worth Living. Keith and Sevag met when they were both working at the shoe company Toms. Sevag Was designing and developing apparel, and Keith was Director of Retail. With a shared passion for the outdoors, they decided to start their own company. Parks Project is an apparel company that encourages people to leave the outdoors better than they found it. So far, Parks Project has contributed over a $1,200,000 to help fund conservancy projects in our national parks. It's a cool model, and one that seems to be having a real impact.
Shelby Stanger:
Keith Ashelman and Sevag Kazanci welcome to Wild Ideas Worth Living. We're excited to have you on.
Sevag Kazanci:
We're stoked to be here. Thanks for having us. This is Sevag speaking.
Keith Eshelman:
How are you doing, I'm Keith.
Shelby Stanger:
So tell me about your experience with national parks and this amazing volunteer trip that inspired you guys to create your brand, The Parks Project.
Keith Eshelman:
I'll go ahead and field that question, I grew up with a great exposure to national parks and the outdoors, and just have always had a massive appreciation for the outdoors. I think later in life, something hit when I had my first child, Everly, seven years ago. I started looking at how I received parks and in what condition they were in and what it was going to look like for my next generation. There's something that struck a cord and specifically it was around a trip up to Big Sur. At that point we had taken some paternity leave, went up to Big Sur and my wife and I were going to hike a trail that we normally go visit and the trail was closed.
Shelby Stanger:
So wait, this was the Julia Pfeiffer trail. Right?
Keith Eshelman:
Yeah. Trail closures probably mean it's going to be gone forever and understood how the majority of the network of trail in the Big Sur area is maintained by volunteers and said, it's probably my turn to pitch in and do some volunteering. That led to Sevag and I organizing volunteer days in the greater LA area. The rest kind of rolled into more awakenings on how we can play in this space.
Shelby Stanger:
So interesting, so basically for those who are listening and don't know, Julia Pfeiffer trail is this like magical trail in Big Sur where you overlook these blue, emerald green lakes and a waterfall going in and it's stunning. So I'm really confused though, so it was closed. And why does that mean it will be maybe closed forever?
Keith Eshelman:
When a trail gets so overgrown and rutted, it's kind of past the point of return. That's why the trail maintenance is so important because once it can become just a huge rut with tons of overgrowth, you're going to need to basically rebuild the trail and who's going to do that? You know, our parks it's a lot of work for volunteers.
Sevag Kazanci:
At that point Keith asked me, hey, do you want to join me in a couple of volunteer days? There's this group called the Santa Monica Trail Council. We were working at Toms shoes at the time and we're inspired by that business model of using business to do good, and got on a volunteer day. Two things struck us pretty quickly. First of all, we realized the average volunteer there was quite a bit older and we kind of had this realization of like, gosh, a lot of people we know in our age group are into the outdoors, social media in the outdoors, and the outdoor space visitation is getting younger. There's an opportunity to engage kind of the next generation in the work that's being done here. The other thing that we kind of identified was the product side. We just felt like the things that were being sold in parks and just in general around parks needed kind of a little creative uplift and a little bit of a way to speak to that generation in a cooler more fashionable way. And so we do product and that's kind of where the idea came from. It was like, okay, we can take what we're learning in the volunteer space, with what's happening on the ground with these organizations, apply it to what we know really well, which is product, and maybe build something here.
Shelby Stanger:
So the Parks Project is an apparel brand, and you have this greater mission. Talk to me about sort of what you sell and what the mission is behind it.
Keith Eshelman:
I mean the first thing that we found, like Sevag just said, is how there's a lack of engagement with the next generation of park champions or park supporters. We saw that quickly through volunteer days, and also through posting and sharing our own experiences. Everybody wanted to join and it's like, wait, there's something more than a beach cleanup. You guys are actually doing trail work or planting trees, actually doing some work out there that looked like it was going to be lasting and impactful.
Keith Eshelman:
That was the first thing that we noticed is that we could help create that connection for the next generation through product. The second was, like Sevag just mentioned, the product itself, it needed a refresh. We thought national parks are the biggest baddest brands in the outdoor industry. How come no one had participated in bringing these visuals to life and leveraging amazing art to just show the power of the brand. And then the third was just distribution. You know, for the most part, you couldn't find park goods outside the park stores, and we were the first mover to go online and to sell to a lot of wholesale. When you put those three things together, it was the right time and the right place, and it clicked pretty quick.
Shelby Stanger:
There are a lot of retail companies who give back, whether it's donating their products or donating a percentage of their profits to a non-profit organization. One of the things I love about Parks Project is how specific their give back program is. Their funds don't just go to one overarching nonprofit. Instead, the sales from a specific item go toward a specific project, whether that's trail restoration, planting, or even funding park visits for kids.
Shelby Stanger:
So if I understand your brand correctly, you have this really cool t-shirt, let's say that says Joshua Tree National Park on it. Then the proceeds of that t-shirt go to a nonprofit that specifically supports tree planting in Joshua Tree National Park. Is that how it works? And how did you guys come up with this model?
Keith Eshelman:
Coming from Toms just loved a business doing more than watching their own bottom line. I always thought you can run a business for a long time and then give back some money at the end. Why not just do it concurrently as the business grows and scales, it gives back during the moment. The growth is actually a good thing for the nonprofit partners. What we identified is that we wanted to fund projects, because things change in this world. Sometimes the visitor services are going to be flooded and then maybe that'll be resolved and the parks service will be able to take it. The non-profit partner has to work on something else and it could be reforestation, it could be youth programs, it could be wildlife programs, et cetera. We thought this model would be best suited for a social enterprise, if it could fund projects and then move on, fund a project and then move on. As we grow, we could even do a capsule collection and fund a project and say, thank you all for participating, we just completed this research within the park, or we just engaged a bunch of students in the surrounding area to come visit the park for the first time, so on and so forth. We wanted also the funding from the products to go directly to those parks. It's actually really easy to just give back broadly and say, Oh, a certain percentage of proceeds go back to this nationwide organization, and wipe your hands. We thought, let's get the dollars as close to the projects as possible. Let's make sure the money is going right back into the park that it is representing and make sure that we share where it's going and why we're doing it.
Shelby Stanger:
Really curious how what you learned at Toms translates to Parks Project. I mean, you talked a little bit about how you decided from the get-go, you're going to try to fund these projects, but how does it actually work?
Sevag Kazanci:
There's obviously been quite a bit of learning in this process for us. When we first started a business, we didn't know quite a bit about the national park space and kind of the public land space and how to navigate it. We imagine there's just like one group and you kind of like support that one group and that's kind of doing everything, but it really, a lot of the great feedback we got from the National Park Foundation, which is one of the wonderful nonprofits in this space was like, hey, the way you can really do the best impact and make the most impact is working directly with these conservation groups and these specific association groups. So we do have a team that works with over 40 groups currently, and we're literally directly working with each group, finding out about the projects that we're supporting, finding out about what's the priority there, and then allocating funds based off of sales. So it's quite a bit of work, I think we could have definitely simplified it if we wanted to, but we really wanted to make it just so we could speak to it and be the most genuine business possible. We live it and breathe it for sure.
Shelby Stanger:
You guys work with so many cool organizations to do great things through your Parks Project collaborations. Tell me about some of the organizations you work with and sort of how you do the give back component with them.
Keith Eshelman:
We really try to celebrate on the product side. It's fun, it's fashion. We'll try to kind of bring something new to this, the outdoor industry basically, and we'll do a collaboration with Obey Clothing and get Shepard Fairey engaged to do some radical artwork.
Shelby Stanger:
I didn't know that.
Keith Eshelman:
With his studio.
Shelby Stanger:
Wait tell me more. That's amazing.
Keith Eshelman:
Yeah, that was the last earth day. We did a special collaboration with Obey. Lots of those online drops that we do are gone within the hours of the day. They sell out pretty quickly, but, conversely, we'll also do a collaboration with the Sierra Club like we did last fall. Really, it's we have a broad mix and we try to make sure all those collaborations represent the brand, which is from Obey all the way to Sierra Club and everything in between.
Shelby Stanger:
So you just mentioned the artist, Shepard Fairey, he made the famous poster of President Obama. The artists you work with are just incredible. How do you find them? Do you guys find them word of mouth or do you seek them out?
Keith Eshelman:
We have a pretty extensive artists network now. We do get a lot of inbound inquiries, and then we also reach out to people that we find on Instagram or, or through art magazines, et cetera, a handful of referrals in there too. The screening process is quite extensive, because we want to hold all the artwork we make in collaboration with artists to the highest level. We're doing more and more of using an artist that is very connected with whatever project it is or say, we're doing something in an urban park, in a city we're going to work with somebody who's in that city and connected to that park and just really tie it all together.
Shelby Stanger:
Parks Project focuses on collaborating with local artists who have a real connection with the park or the campaign they're working on. Their emotional attachment comes across in their work and it gives it a personal touch. Parks project is doing a lot for national parks. One of their main goals is to get the next generation involved and invested in our public lands. If you went to a national park 10 years ago, you probably would've seen a lot of young families and some retired folks, but there's been a big shift. And now a lot more young people are on the trails. So it makes sense that the company is focused on maintaining the national parks for generations to come.
Shelby Stanger:
How do you work With young people and get them involved? I know you mentioned earlier young people aren't traditionally, they weren't the ones out there on the trail. I remember that 10 years ago to like national parks were not there's way more young people, there's way more engagement than ever before in our national parks, but curious, how do you guys on the ground level get more young people involved?
Keith Eshelman:
I think there's a really cool shift that's happening. Where for us, we might've done a national park trip with a family or, with a friend's family or something like that. But now you're seeing a lot more kids do group trips. I'd like to think by educating and inspiring people and being very inclusive in our outreach, that we're getting more people in the parks that in itself is generating more support. Part of our model is to give everyone kind of inspiration and say find a park that means something to you. Then create a relationship with the park and maybe support the nonprofit and pay it back a little bit or even pay it forward by coming out and volunteering with us.
Shelby Stanger:
I feel like the pandemic especially has had such an impact on our national parks. They are closed for a while, then they're inundated, and this is kind of the one place people can play outside right now. So I'm just really curious, what's your opinion of how the pandemic has really changed how people view national parks? And how will you help ensure people can enjoy these spaces while also ensuring they're protected?
Keith Eshelman:
What's really excited me over the past year is just, we're all looking at the parks. Parks aren't just for a select group of people. It represents America, it represents an idea. These lands have been there for a long time. We can all pay respect to those who were stewards of the land before they were titled the National Park. It's been a good remix and a good reset, where we can look at who's going to parks, how we encourage more diversity, equity and inclusion, and building a business and coming from a city like Los Angeles, I think sets us a little bit further ahead of that. That was always part of the fabric of this business. And we were kind of remixing things in with a different light, having influence from streetwear and skateboarding, and also just the appreciation for the outdoors. I think for the future of visitation, it's going to be really off the charts. I think they'll probably be more reservation systems and it may be a little bit more challenging to just hop around from park to park because just the sheer numbers that are pouring in and how everybody wants to be outside. I mean, do you want to go to a movie and kind of share air with somebody? Are you going to be at Disneyland touching things that many million other people are touching or you to get outside and feel good and kind of reset your mind. There's a whole mental health solution around parks too, and how it can get you to slow down a little bit. Maybe your phone doesn't work out there. That's great. So I think parks can, can really heal and it has for me. And it gives me the opportunity to travel with my family and reset a bit and connect, and then plug back into life. So how that all rolls up into each and every person's visit should be interesting to watch.
Shelby Stanger:
What's something about national parks that most people don't even know about?
Sevag Kazanci:
I would say the amount of dedicated people there are to keeping it the way it is. It's when you peel back the curtain and you see what these groups of people are doing, and they're doing it because they're dedicated and passionate about the space. It's pretty remarkable. When you hear about how many people are volunteering and how much that support that is, it's a big, big deal. So for me, it was kind of like going and seeing the park and meeting people in the park and being like, oh my gosh, you do this every day. And they're like, yeah, someone needs to do this every day to make sure so-and-so happens. That's pretty cool when you kind of meet people in that space, it shows you the level of dedication they really have to protecting those places.
Shelby Stanger:
What are those jobs that you're talking about?
Sevag Kazanci:
The Joshua Tree Nursery one was a big one for me. There was also one when I was in Glacier. So during the winter, they have basically massive snowstorms and people go snow shoe through the park and vandalism within the visitor center has been a problem historically. So when I'm there, they're, telling us a story about this lady who kind of got fed up with it at the park group and parks association group there. She basically decided to like snowshoe out there and like start protecting the visitor center from vandals on her own, and I remember just being like that is bad ass.
Shelby Stanger:
Of course Keith and Sevag want to grow their company. They also foster a greater connection between outdoor adventures and the places they play, but that isn't necessarily attached to buying Parks Project gear.
Shelby Stanger:
So what are you guys working on now?
Sevag Kazanci:
Working on quite a few things. I think the biggest thing we're doing at the moment is just trying to look at really the backend of our business and the supply chain of our business. We grew at a rate that was really exciting, but also created a lot of challenges. So we've been able to grow our supply chain, but also focus on it. So one of the things that we're really honing in on is how do we make our goods? Where are we making our goods? How can we work with more local makers and tell more stories about local makers? And then also, how can we kind of like educate our customers about visitation? I think when the government shutdown happened about a year ago, a lot of people came to us for info. Even through COVID, we've gotten a lot of people reach out just to "Hey, I want to go to this park and what are the things to do?" So we really want to take on this little bit more of a role of educating people and really engaging them and giving them the tools they need to visit these places and in the right way. So that's a big initiative for us, but there's a lot of big collabs coming down and I can let Keith speak a little bit to those.
Keith Eshelman:
We're all of a sudden getting the opportunity to work with brands that we've admired our entire lives. We're now getting to collaborate with big companies and we're asking them to maybe make something a little bit more sustainably and we're sharing our message and our goodwill that we've built. I think you come to a stage of building where it's like, we just focus on the things that are working and instead of inserting a bunch of new ideas and new things, and now it's like, we've got the exposure, we've got the niche of the market. We've got some things that are very integral to the business, like inspiring people to volunteer and all the ingredients are there. We just have to really turn it into some good, special sauce that people will enjoy consuming.
Shelby Stanger:
You're not going to tell us which brands that you're doing stuff with?
Sevag Kazanci:
No, we're not, obviously we can't say much, but there's some exciting things down the pipeline and some things I think you wouldn't even think for us. Like I said, trying to reach outside of the typical outdoor space and really bring in people that can kind of inspire maybe a more diverse audience in a more inclusive audience. So that's really the goal.
Shelby Stanger:
Good for you.
Keith Eshelman:
One thing that I'm really excited about is just, I worked so hard for a couple years to try to scale the idea of our company being a platform for volunteering. I used to say that was my hardest job, was getting 15 people out on a trail to help out. But trust me, after three hours as a group, it's just a spectacular experience. So we started getting a lot of inbound requests and we put together the Volunteer Alliance and that we have leads by city, but they organize the volunteer days with our resources and we pay them to do so. So that's the Volunteer Alliance and that'll be coming back online in the next year, as the world goes back to being normal, and we can be around one another. I think there's going to be a huge demand for community, a huge demand for being around others and sharing real experiences over digital. I think people see the good in the world and we're excited to harness that and bring them together. Oftentimes I think we can help people meet others and become friends with people in their community that they wouldn't have known otherwise, and Parks Project sparked that. It's cool.
Sevag Kazanci:
I think one of the other things we're just really focusing on is, is how we inspire that next generation, whether it's through education. We have built the community, we've showed that we can make product, and at the end of the day, the mission is the storytelling element and the work that the association groups are doing. So really what we're focusing on in the future is how can we educate our consumer? How can we educate our community to really visit parks in the right way and inspire their friends and family to do the same thing. And if they want to do more, whether it's donate, volunteer, or purchase something, how can they do that in the most impactful way? So that's really, our goal is to try to educate that next generation and inspire them and hopefully give them the tools they need to, to be the best park stewards they can be.
Shelby Stanger:
What's your favorite national park?
Sevag Kazanci:
Those are tough ones. Mine's Joshua tree. It's the first park that my wife and I visited together. We've been to quite a few parks now together and we've taken our son as well, but Joshua Tree is probably mine just cause it's about two hours from us. It's also the first park that I got to go visit the actual non-profit organization and see the work they were doing firsthand. And we got to see the nursery and where they're actually growing little mini Joshua Trees to help kind of the Joshua Tree and endure through climate change. Seeing that project firsthand for me and it being like two hours from our office was definitely a heavy hitter for me for mine.
Shelby Stanger:
So for those who don't know, what's this nonprofit at Joshua Tree?
Sevag Kazanci:
The Joshua Tree National Park Association, they are kind of the main nonprofit that helps support the projects within the parks, help support education within the parks, volunteer groups. I mean they're kind of the right arm of the National Park Service within Joshua Tree. So a wonderful organization that we have a awesome partnership with.
Shelby Stanger:
What's your favorite national park, Keith?
Keith Eshelman:
My really cliche answer is to say I haven't found it yet. I honestly stopped rushing through parks and checking lists as of a couple years ago, and I'm having such a better time. You know, you don't need to see everything while you're there. I love leaving and saying, oh my gosh, I got some more things to come back and see another time. I think every park is such a unique experience. And depending on the mood, depending on the season, it varies over time. But if somebody held me to it and said, you got to choose one, it would be Yosemite. I think there's so much to do there.
Shelby Stanger:
Parks Project isn't just about giving financially to these conservancy projects. It's about energizing people to take care of these public spaces. When we all help take care of the places we love to play, then they last longer. So the next generation of adventures gets to enjoy them too. Thank you so much to Keith and Sevag for coming on the show, I'm stoked for some of your upcoming collaborations. I can't wait to see how your company continues to grow. You can check out Parks Project at parksproject.us and follow them @parksproject on Instagram or at rad parks on Facebook.
Shelby Stanger:
Wild Ideas Worth Living as part of the REI podcast network. It's hosted by me, Shelby Stanger written and edited by Annie Fassler and produced by Chelsea Davis. Our executive producers are Paolo Mottola and Joe Crosby, and our presenting sponsos is Ford. This episode is brought to you by Parks Project. As always, we appreciate when you follow, rate, and review the show wherever you listen, and remember some of the best adventures happen when you follow your wildest ideas.