We recently connected with Lauren Parrish and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Lauren, thanks for joining us today. Parents can play a significant role in affecting how our lives and careers turn out – and so we think it’s important to look back and have conversations about what our parents did that affected us positive (or negatively) so that we can learn from the billions of experiences in each generation. What’s something you feel your parents did right that impacted you positively.

What my parents did right. it’s funny, I have believed for most of my career that we learn from the people/bosses/contacts-what was done wrong, so we can learn a lot from what would change and do differently.
My parents..my mom and dad-they taught me independence, love, AND partnering, to show up and to never judge a book by it’s cover.

THEIR unwavering support showed me to never give up- to follow my dreams and take out the noise.

My mother was a dancer and my father constantly creative, but took a job with my mother’s family business to provide for his family. I always respected his loyalty and love to our family-even though that may not have been his ideal passion.

MY FATHER allowed my mom to realize her vision, supported her and meanwhile worked to provide, but always found outlets for his creative energy whether through photography, music or art, it was beautiful to watch their bond. He was also able to watch my mom realize her goals and vision, which in reality, became their shared vision for family and unity.

At that stage in our lives, we spent weekends together, antiquing, exploring nature and doing simple things that expanded our imagination. THIS way of life for me really taught me to lead with my creative spirit ALWAYS.

I live this model daily. it reflects with everything I do, all the decisions I make..yes, even the hard ones. I take a minute, think about the big picture, how this may affect those around me, my business and then feel my decisions are always made with love and my heart.

My mom- even though she is no longer with us- is with me in spirit, and my father to this day, leads with the same energy so, the long distance phone calls are lengthy and fill us up with love.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

About me, I have always grown up around fashion and creativity. I knew from a young age that I wanted to be in fashion, so once old enough, I got a job at a retail fashion store and loved every second. From there, I realized in order to figure out what I really wanted, I needed to gain a well-rounded experience in the industry so I proceeded to work in a corporate environment, learning management training, promptly moved to NEW YORK..the fashion capital, and worked in wholesale for my favorite contemporary brands. Once I felt I had that down, I moved to LA, where I launched my first company called BROCHU WALKER. I successfully sold it and went onto find more experience to round out my fashion education. this lead to me open up my second brand called PARRISHLA -a knitwear brand founded with all the love, creativity and spirit I grew up with-poured into every sweater. Each sweater has a small red thread sewn into the back neck that signifies togetherness and family- perfect for me and my upbringing.

I have learned to stay passionate with everything I do, forge ahead even in the hard times and never ever lose sight of the vision and WHY I started the brand in the first place.

PARRISHLA is made to fill the white space in your closet with sweaters and knits in shapes that work for your body.
We pay attention to detail, how it fits on the shoulder, the body, the waistline, the lengths of each shape, HOW, WHEN and WHERE to wear them.
When I used to get dressed for work or a dinner and didn’t want to wear a tee shirt, and most of the time, woven tops are uncomfortable, I thought, why can’t sweaters be fashionable, cool and have the ability to replace those options?
hence, PARRISH was born.
I want to dress everyone day to night. with ease, allure, comfort and attainability.

What will always set PARRISHLA apart will be me. I will always provide the best customer service experience, be the one to answer questions/concerns and stay connected with who we want to dress and inspire.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

At this time, this very moment, I am in the process of pivoting my business. I am trying to get my equity shares back from a partner that no longer serves the business needs or provides help in scaling or growing the business. it was a very hard decision to make and has been extremely emotional, as the brand has needed to grow at a slower pace for now. but I know this change with impact my business in every way to bring positive results to the brand.

We were gaining valuable momentum, but at the moment, until I have full access and equity in my own business, I am keeping our best sellers running, learning how to service our customers the best way I can, learning about the financial process, how to raise capital, how to run marketing and all the back of the house operations in order to run a successful business.
I am confident in my business, my model, my product, my values and my successes, that is keeping me on track and keeps me going!

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

The initial thought for PARRISHLA was incepted with me and friend who believed in me and the concept. he lent me the seed money to get started in a very grass roots way to grow the business in an organic way and scale.

He is now growing his own business and I am working hard to pay him back for not only his financial interest, but his belief in me and my ability to grow a business.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.parrishla.com
• Instagram: theparrishla.com
• Facebook: ParrishLA
• Linkedin: Lauren Parrish Walker

Image Credits
mark hanson