Raquel Vélez is the Founder and CEO of Alpine Parrot, an outdoor apparel company that caters specifically to people of size and people of color. She brings with her almost two decades of engineering experience, having received her degree in mechanical engineering from Caltech, worked and studied as a robotics engineer, and eventually shifting over to software engineering and engineering management.
Now, as an apparel engineer, she's creatively tackling one of the oldest (and most polluting) industries by creating sustainable, inclusive clothing for a market of people who have so often been neglected in the outdoor space.
As a plus sized Latina who discovered her love of the outdoors later in life, Raquel has put an incredible amount of careful consideration into the design of each product, focusing on great fit and quality construction. She was named one of Outside Magazine's Outsiders of the Year 2021 and one of Well+Good Magazine's Changemakers 2023.
Raquel has lived in 4 countries, speaks 5 languages, and currently lives in California.
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Show notes
Who is Raquel?
Living in California, USA
Her early years
Loving to read and explore through books
Getting into the outdoors in her 20s
Learning how to ski and falling in love with it
Her gateway to the outdoors
Climbing, camping, surfing and backpacking
The lack of Latina role models
Growing up being surrounded by whiteness
Making friends in the outdoors
Learning how to sew and make patterns
Having a degree in mechanical engineering
How hard could it be?!
Designing an 8 piece plus size women’s ski/snow line
Being miserable but earning good money and doing interesting work
Starting to think about quitting her job
How Alpine Parrot came about
The reason behind the company name
Putting a plan in place to quit her job
The transition from full time employment to being an entrepreneur
Figuring out personal finances and if there was a market for a plus sized focused clothing company
Making plans and metrics for success
Engaging with her audience, designing hiking pants and getting feedback
Launching a kickstarter in 2021
Starting to sell clothing in August 2022
Needing to understand what the problem was with plus sized hiking clothes
How clothing is made
The fit model
Making clothes that fit people in bigger bodies
Making the outdoors more inclusive
Happy tears
Making people feel they belong
Why there is nothing wrong with your body
2 different fits for pants - Mountain and River
2 different fits for tops - Coastal and Forest
Using the outdoors to help manage stress
Having to make hard decision and needing to let people go
The power of being in nature
Expanding internationally
Buy Alpine Parrot in Australia/New Zealand - Plus Snow
Buy Alpine Parrot in the UK - Vampire Outdoors
How to connect with Raquel and Alpine Parrot
Final words of advice - on how to get into the outdoors
The power of taking one step
Walking with purpose
Social Media
Alpine Parrot - Outdoor apparel for sizes 14-30 and 1X-5X! Latina owned and operated
Website: alpineparrot.com
Instagram: @alpineparrot
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