The Paracord Planet Experience
An Interview with P2's President, Ryan Aldrich
CEO Ryan Aldrich, shown above, describes P2 as "an experience."
I had a very concrete idea of what my first internship would
consist of. I would be grabbing coffee for my manager, filing papers until I
lost sanity, and be called “kid” or “temp” instead of my actual name. My
experience interning for Paracord Planet has debunked all of these theories and
then some. I walk into the office where I’m greeted with a heartfelt “good
morning, Jack,” I take a seat at my desk amidst the rest of the marketing
department, and I am able to converse with the company's executives every day.
Not many of my friends can say the same. Here’s some further proof of how
awesome my internship is: I got to interview the CEO. The free-flowing of
communication and transparency of business affairs are part of the “sense of
community” that Ryan Aldrich, my boss and the president of P2, says makes our
company extraordinary. Here’s my interview with Ryan…
Me: How did Paracord Planet come into formation?
Ryan: We were
originally an online retailer of a lot of sporting goods and tactical goods,
and paracord was one of those items. I noticed that survival bracelets were
becoming very popular, and we decided at that point that it was a market we
could get into. We had the custom ability to enter the market because of some
of the products we had been selling, including Phiten titanium necklaces. So,
our original thought was that we were going to enter the bracelet industry, and
got our website set up for that. We also did offer just the hanks of paracord,
too, and those started taking off even more than the actual bracelets. We
started to look at the needs of the bracelet-makers out there and it just kept
expanding.
Me: What kind of advantage does selling the raw materials,
as well as the finished bracelets, give Paracord Planet?
Ryan: There are a lot
of people out there that sell the raw goods, but what gives us the advantage is
that we do both, and we do both well. We try to stay very in touch with our
customers and what they need, and having made bracelets, as well as now selling
the materials to make bracelets, we’re able to stay in-tune with the needs of
our customers.
Me: Asserting “Paracord Planet” as one of the largest names
in the industry, what would you say is the main reason for this company’s
success? What makes P2 special?
Ryan: I think there
are a few things; one of them being the passion that our people here have. Our
goal isn’t to sell paracord, our goal is for an experience. We want our
customers to come to our site and not only buy paracord, but also to interact
with other people through our social media, see examples of how paracord can be
used, and so on. We’re not just a retailer. We’re here to help customers have
that experience with our product.
Me: Paracord has really heightened in popularity over the
last handful of years. Do you see paracord crafting as just a “trend” or
something with more longevity?
Ryan: That’s a good
question—trends are always hard to predict. Our initial thought process was
that it might be a trend, but now I think that we can control it a little bit.
I mean, just look at the diversity of cords we offer; When we started, it was
just 550 Cord and it was 60 colors. Now it’s 550 cord, its 425 cord, it’s nano
cord, it’s shock cord, and so on. It’s 350 different colors. It keeps
expanding, and I think that will continue. There are some people that will be
doing it just for the popularity, yeah, but even after that, we want to be the
resource that the rest of our paracord users can come back to. Paracord is used
for a variety of different applications, and I think we will continue to see
that grow and expand.
Me: Just from operating our social media, I’ve seen how
paracord has taken off overseas. Do you think that Paracord Planet is an
organization that is scalable enough to deal with the increased demand abroad?
Ryan: Oh, definitely.
I mean, we already ship to Canada, Sweden, and the U.K., and we’re actually
looking at China, right now. There’s a lot of vendors coming out of China now,
and although Paracord Planet will never branch away from offering “Made in the
U.S.A.” products, as the quality of cord improves abroad, it’s another option
for us. As the Chinese market develops, it helps us open up our capabilities
and reach. Things are really starting to pick up in the U.K., too. That’s going
to be the target of our focus in August, though, is an international scope.
We’ll actually have Cari (VP of P2) switching over to an international role so
we can adapt to the growing popularity of paracord around the world.
Me: How has your life changed from “Paracord Planet”?
Ryan: Personally, my
life outside of work hasn’t changed a whole lot. However, inside of work it’s
been a dynamic change. It’s a lot easier to work with paracord than it was to
work with some of the tactical items. There were a lot more rules and regulations
with the tactical goods, and a lot more that you had to deal with in regards to
advertising in that market, which isn’t the case with paracord. The ease with
which we can do business in the paracord industry really helps us open up and
increase our capabilities. The one thing that has really changed is that when I
started working here, we sold products. That’s what we did; now, we’re a brand.
Me: Final question: if you could pick any type of paracord to describe
yourself as, what would it be?
Ryan: Oh boy, that’s
the hardest question on here…
Me: I know. You did this to me during my job interview
though, so it’s payback.
Ryan: This is hard,
they’re all strong, so…
Me: (laughing)
Ryan: I might actually
kind of veer away and go with something like “shock cord.” It’s a little bit
more flexible.
Flexible, indeed. A big “thank you” to Ryan for allowing me
to interview him, and thanks to all of you for reading this interview! I hope
you’ve enjoyed learning a little bit more about Paracord Planet and our
journey. Make sure to like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, add us to your
Google+ circles, and check out our Pinterest! We are also on Snapchat at
“ParacordPlanet.” We are constantly running contests on all of these social
media sites in which you can win FREE paracord, and would also love to connect
with you and help grow our “community” that Ryan spoke so highly of! Join the
#ParacordFam today.
Written by: Jackson Yakowicz, P2 Intern
