We were lucky to catch up with Kevin Thomas recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Kevin thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?

Coming up with the name “FattyPack” was a not an easy task. I had this product idea for years before dedicating time to bring it to market. Initially, I was set on a different brand name and spent $5,000 on its domain in preparation for our launch. However, as I started the trademark registration, my attorney concluded that we would likely infringe on an existing trademark. That was a tough pill to swallow—a huge setback early in our start-up journey.

I went back to the drawing board and compiled a list of new brand names to share with friends and family for their feedback. “FattyPack” emerged as an instant favorite. It’s playful, memorable, and, while I worried it might be too edgy, the excitement around the name was undeniable. The name is simple: FattyPack—a fanny pack for your hat! It felt like the perfect fit, and I now realize that the $5,000 spent on the other domain was a mistake worth making.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’m Kevin Thomas, a product designer now working on my second startup, FattyPack. I have a passion for creating unique, first-to-market products that allow me to express my creativity. I enjoy the process of building a strong brand and look forward to growing FattyPack with my two business partners.

FattyPack—a fanny pack for your hat—is a small tri-fold pocket that wraps around the back of your hat, perfect for storing a few small emergency essentials that are always ready to go. We’ve created a unique product with huge potential in the promotional marketplace. FattyPack can be customized with a company logo and branded colors, making it the perfect promotional and merchandising product. Imagine a FattyPack branded to your favorite sports team or brand! We like to call FattyPack a “walking billboard at eye level.”

We’re working hard to spread the word about FattyPack. Our focus is on a fun and creative branding approach, and our social media presence is quite the experience. Derek, my co-founder, even has my face tattooed on his thigh! You’ll have to check out our social media to see why. As time goes on, we’ll continue to get creative with our social media content and hope to build FattyPack into a household name.

Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?

We manufacture FattyPacks with our Chinese manufacturing partner. Fortunately, this is my second startup, and I have almost 10 years of experience in product manufacturing. My biggest recommendation is to first communicate with your network to see if anyone can introduce you to a vetted manufacturer. Of course, you need to find a manufacturer who already produces products in your category. If this fails, hop on over to Alibaba, an online marketplace that connects businesses with suppliers and manufacturers worldwide.

Search for a product similar to yours, or, if there are no similar products, look for items made from the same materials and constructed in the same way. This will ensure that the manufacturer is capable of producing a product like yours. Once you find a supplier, do not hand over all of your designs. Make sure to protect your intellectual property. If your product is unique and novel, ensure you have the proper IP protection in place. I recommend pursuing a utility patent first if possible; if that’s not feasible, a design patent can provide a level of protection.

If you are still in the prototyping stage and your product consists of several components, I recommend splitting the assembly components between several manufacturers. This will allow you to further develop the product without giving any single manufacturer the keys to potentially steal your idea. Of course, this only applies to a product that you believe has a large enough market that you would be concerned about immediate knockoffs. Strong branding will always outshine knockoffs, but you still want to be the first to hit the market. When you are ready for mass production use the manufacturer who was easiest to work with.

FattyPack’s manufacturer was vetted by a friend of mine who owns a high-end outdoor clothing company. They have successfully worked with this manufacturer for years, which made it easy for us to build a trusting relationship right from the start!

How’d you think through whether to sell directly on your own site or through a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc.

We sell FattyPacks through our website and Amazon’s marketplace. With both brands I run, I find this to be a perfect pairing. Below, I’ll list my most important pros and cons of each platform:

Shopify Pros:
-Collection of customer data (email, phone number, address, etc.)
-Product bundling and upselling
-Control over website layout to fit the vibe of your brand

Shopify Cons:
-Honestly, I have no cons worth mentioning.

Amazon Pros:
-Large, active customer base
-All-in-one solution (Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA), advertising, product listing)
-Easy setup

Amazon Cons:
-No customer data; all data (email, phone number, address, etc.) is hosted by Amazon
-High commission rates
-Poor customer support

I recommend being on both platforms. Shopify is the best platform to direct all your social media marketing to, as you can capture customer data and upsell your customers to achieve a profitable average order value (AOV). The flexibility to upsell on Shopify is extensive. Shopify captures customer data that you can use to fully understand which parts of your business need optimization to become profitable and scalable.

While Amazon offers little to no transparency regarding customer data, it is customer-first, and you’ll want to capture that audience. Their return policy is trusted and unmatched. You’ll want to attract customers who prefer to make their online purchases through Amazon. You may also find that Amazon PPC advertising campaigns can be very profitable, depending on your product and its listed price. Low-priced items can be challenging to profit from on Amazon with their PPC advertising campaigns, but the organic reach is strong and may provide enough volume to support your business.

Contact Info:

• Website: fattypack.com
• Instagram: @fattypackco
• Facebook: @fattypackco
• Linkedin: fattypack
• Youtube: @fattypack
• Other: TikTok: @fattypack