We recently connected with Jay Piper and have shared our conversation below.

Jay, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?

ParHopper’s name is actually a pretty simple, but fun story! We were downtown Denver back in 2020 hopping around to different bars. Me (Jay), my now business partner (Max) and my dad (Tommy) had been brainstorming names all day. We were having a hard time landing on a name that we really thought fit what we were going for or would stand out.

We had thought of names like “Pardie” and “Mulli” but they didn’t stick. We needed something simple, clever and easy to remember. We drank for a couple of hours, jumping from one bar to another and it wasn’t until we ended up at a wine bar that the name was finally discovered. My dad looked at Max and I and said: “Well we’ve been bar hopping all day, why don’t we play off of that and like par in golf together?” Thus creating the name ParHopper. We all started grinning at each other and agreed the name was perfect and absolutely unique.

Next, we had to decide what the logo would look like. To make our brand stick out in the industry, we wanted to be known as the apparel brand for golfers who love cold beer and smooth whiskey. I sat down the following days and started drafting a logo. I’ve been designing logos my entire design career for other brands, but never for my own. The logo came so clearly with not one single revision. I created our mascot, Hopper. Hopper is a rabbit with a bent ear and x’d out eye. Why? Because he’s drunk.

Jay, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I actually come from the design industry. I graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Graphic Designfrom the Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD) back in 2015. Throughout my career I’ve worked with print shops, web firms, marketing teams and now I own my own design firm here in Denver. I actually started my design business the same year I started 2020. Yes, a very risky move to start two businesses during covid. Risky, but so very rewarding.

My design firm specializes in social media management, ad campaigns, web design, photography & videography. Having this skill set allows me to have full control over ParHopper’s marketing, social media, content creation and advertising. I think what makes me love ParHopper even more is the fact it’s my creative outlet. I don’t get to illustrate for many of my clients now so designing our polos is my favorite part of the job.

ParHopper specializes in custom golf polos but not just any old polo. We spent the first 8 months of the brand constructing the fit and fabric of our polos. We hare 92% polyester and 8% spandex. We do have a custom fit so our polos fit different than any other polo you have ever worn. We never slap a pattern on our polos and call it a day. Every design we release has a story or concept behind it. Our polos are conversation starters and turn heads everywhere they go.

What sets us apart is we focus on collaboration polos with breweries and distilleries. As I mentioned, we are for the golfers who love beer and whiskey so these types of collabs are perfect for not only us but also for the partner we work with. We offer them a blank canvas to tell their story on. We create a concept together and then we handle all of the design and production processes. This creates a product that’s not only appealing to our customers but also to the breweries and distilleries customers! We then cross promote the polo together when it’s released to really get it out there in front of people. Really we are just creating a giant network and making so many friends along the way.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

The funding to get us started actually came mostly from Max, my business partner. We both invested what we could afford at the time. I want to say I put in around $3,000 and Max threw in around $15,000. The agreement was Max would continue to fund production and I would run the design & marketing sides. That initial $18,000 enabled us to start producing our first runs of hats and polos. I invested the time of designing the polos, handling production, running the social media and handling all of the marketing while Max handled the finances and logistics. Anytime the account was low for production costs Max would cover what we needed to keep rolling smoothly.

For the next 3 years we put every single dollar we made back into the brand. We never paid ourself anything those first 3 years and focussed on building the bank account up. Now, 4 years later, we are completely debt free with this brand, finally paying ourselves and growing faster than ever. We both still work our full time jobs and are letting ParHopper build in the background. Last year we produced over 3,200 polos and are on track to double that this year.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Social media is tough, no matter what industry you’re in. Our social following has been a long and constant grind. 4 years of creating content, posting every single day and networking with anyone I come across. Running ParHopper’s social media helped me get so much better at creating content.

When we first started ParHopper I didn’t do photography, videography or run ads. As we kept moving forward I kept looking for ways to push the brand and grow. I started learning and practicing photography. We started creating simple videos of us on the golf course or just showing the products. We really stuck with the mindset of promoting our polos through the brewery and distillery industries. Yes, we go after golfers, but really our polos are for anyone who loves a badass polo.

My best advice is finding the things that make your brand special and focussing on those things. When you see something work and get engagement, keep doing it! I also advise you to be consistent. Not only with your posting schedule but also with the type of content you’re creating. Find your style, find your vibe and keep doing it. It’s not going to happen over nigh but you will see results if you maintain consistency. Lastly my advice is to use all platforms. Don’t just use Instagram or Facebook. Promote your business on Instagram, Youtube, TikTok, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google and anywhere else you see fit. Every platform reaches a different type of follower. If you’re taking the time to create quality content you might as well use it in as many places as possible.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://parhopper.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/officialparhopper/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/officialparhopper
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/parhopper/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUX6sDasex1f4nAdEQprhxw
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@officialparhopper?

Image Credits

Photography Credit to Future Fox Media