Meeting Taylor Welden
Meeting my Heroes is an occasional essay series from Matt Carmichael.
On passions and communities and finding your people
In a previous post (Meeting my Makers) I talked about everyday carry and how I’ve met some of the makers whose products I deeply appreciate. I mentioned that if the community had a leader it would be Taylor Welden. Welden runs Carryology.com and helps lead the Facebook community that grew out of it. It’s a community that seems to thrive uniquely online. I say that partially because many of the brands are online-only, selling directly to buyers. Related to that challenge, there is only one place where you can find a physical store that carries these brands in one place. It’s called Suburban and is located in Hong Kong. Amazingly, I had a chance to go make a pilgrimage there during a lay-over on my China trip. It was… not easy to find.
But anyway, Taylor grew Carryology.com into a thriving Web site. The community it fosters is an interesting one in that there are folks from all over the world and all over the political spectrum. There are likely some odd overlaps in the Venns of their interests. But they come together to talk about… well, buying stuff. And like the Bullet Journal community, some seem to just be in it for the consumerism of it all. But some really just want to make sure they get the best stuff for their money because wallets, knives, bags, and pens can last a long time and yeah, you can have a sense of pride about the things you carry. Ipsos data shows that a growing majority like to buy things from brands that match their values. But also that value itself matters, too.
Taylor himself is an interesting cat, full of personality and a larger than life stature. I think that’s part of the reason he and this community succeeded. It’s not a cult of personality at all. But he’s out there leading the life, using the gear he writes about and sharing it and a bit of brotherhood with everyone. (It’s certainly not male-only, this space, but leans that way, see the overlapping Venns) Taylor is an award-winning beard grower, a world traveler and a photographer. At heart, though, he’s a designer.
We failed to meet up in person despite both being in the same convention center once (for very different events – his was about textiles, mine market research). But I was able to interview him for What the Future and chat for some time about this thing we both care about.
One of the stories he told me was about his trip to Suburban. I was able to work an edited version into the piece (below) but I’ll pull it out here. It was about how fascinating it is that a niche of people can be super passionate about, and other folks will buy the stuff even if they’re not super passionate about it. We care an awful lot about a thing that nobody else cares about.
Yes, I’ve gotten comments from other Tom Bihn fans from time to time when I’m wearing my backpack. But that’s because we see each other in a sea of people who don’t otherwise notice.
We do like to have others to nerd out about this stuff with, which is where the community comes into play. The Facebook group has spawned in-person meet-ups around the world. I went to a Chicago one out of curiosity. It was a fun swap-meet sort of vibe. But I find that “I like backpacks” is a harder jumping off point to build a lasting friendship or deeper relationship with than “I like Poi Dog Pondering,” for instance. Maybe it’s that bands, through their lyrics and music, tend to draw a slightly more like-minded following? At least for smaller bands? I’m not sure I agree with this even as I type it, thinking specifically of the Metallica/Five Finger Death Punch show I witnessed.
But the Venns are so broad in the Carryology community that maybe it’s hard to overlap. Or maybe we’re not just bag geeks but also a little bit geek geek and hard to bust through all of that introversion in an afternoon meet-up. Heh.
What’s a little different about this is that fandom unlike, say, collecting precious moments figurines, is that everybody owns this stuff. Everyone has pens or pocketknives, or flashlights, and backpacks, satchels, slings etc. to carry them in. Most just don’t think these things very much. It’s kind of like cars in that way. Some just buy a box to drive around in. Some really care what’s under the hood.
I asked Taylor about this and he agreed wholeheartedly. “Exactly,” he said. “Our community will research every material and zipper component. But someone else will just buy the bag because it’s cool looking.”
And then he told me this story: “I was at Suburban [in Hong Kong], and there was a well-dressed woman in her 50s or 60s. She's grabbing backpacks. She just picks them up, spins around. If I'm interested in a backpack, I'll research every single thing about it for weeks. She was just choosing a backpack based on feel and look and weight. She grabbed an Evergoods bag, and I went over to her and said, “Oh, this is a good one. My friend owns this company.” She just, like, looked at me. She wasn't rude, but she's like, “Why are you talking to me about buying a backpack?”
Here’s the full piece from What the Future’s Shopping issue.
How a blog can build a niche into a marketplace
For an independent direct-to-consumer accessory manufacturer, breaking sales records is a mixed bag. Fulfilling a huge rush of orders can be challenging, but the revenue is always a boon. That’s the dilemma makers face when they collaborate on a product drop with the blog Carryology. While millions schlep a backpack or sling or pen or pocketknife or water bottle, the Carryology community obsesses over these items. Taylor Welden, Carryology's creative director, fosters this community with nonstop information and unique products. When he thinks about the future, he sees the challenges and opportunities for makers and consumers alike.
Matt Carmichael: Not everyone knows Carryology, so it’s important to talk a little about how you got here.
Taylor Welden: The founders were in product design in the surf industry in Australia. But they wanted out of the corporate world. This is back in like 2008. The world was a little bit different. The internet was a little bit different. They started a blog thinking, “Let's explore better ways to carry things.” The insights they gained from that led them to start Bellroy and make a slim wallet.
Carmichael: What was the landscape like?
Welden: I was going on Google and typing in the word “backpack” and there were only like eight pages of results. There wasn’t Peak Design. There wasn’t GoRuck. There weren’t all these upstart brands that there are now. I mean, there wasn’t Bellroy.
Carmichael: How did it evolve into a thriving Facebook community and marketplace?
Welden: We launched the community around the COVID-19 times. People had nothing to do and really wanted to connect with people. What better way to connect over common ground and interests? It happened very organically.
Carmichael: Carryology collaborates with a lot of American companies. How do you think “buy American” fits into shoppers’ thinking?
Welden: Take Filson, which people think of as hard- wearing, rugged American wear. Most of their stuff is made overseas. I personally think that overseas manufacturing is technically, quantifiably better as far as quality is concerned. But when people look at a brand like Filson, they think rugged, tough American wear. “American wear” doesn't have to be made in the USA. It can be made in Indonesia or the Philippines or Vietnam and still be American. It’s about the perceived message of the brand and what that means to the customer.
Carmichael: Carryology has helped propel success for a lot of small brands. At the same time, you can get a no-name bag for $20 on Amazon. What does this tell you about the future of brands in general?
Welden: We're all judged and measured against Amazon. There’s four people working on Carryology. We're not a billion-dollar corporation. But brands are very important. Some brands really try to focus on one thing and that’s their world. But when a brand can really speak to you and back it up, that’s important.
Carmichael: Do you see any reason that this wouldn't work for other niches?
Welden: Carryology is a niche, but it's not a niche. Carrying is something everyone does, even if we don’t realize it. There are all sorts of different niches that are right in front of your face and almost hard to see. There are so many more things that people are passionate about, but they don't even know they're passionate about yet.