10 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY APRIL 20-26, 2023 www.montereycountyweekly.com 831 Jose Perez and Diego Sevillano are seated in a corner at Captain + Stoker coffee shop in Monterey. They are quick to smile and laugh often as they trade stories. It’s a bright morning, and for the longtime friends an exciting time. In December they launched a business—their first; the CSU Monterey Bay grads are young. But they are not huddled over laptops, tapping away remotely while sipping lattes. The only evidence of their work is a lavender pouch with a white strap Sevillano scooted to the edge of the table and a similar piece—this one appropriately in a cappuccino hue—Perez wears strapped diagonally across his chest. Waist bags. Belt bags. Fanny packs. Call them what you will. The pair named their company SunPaxx with the goal of merging utility and fresh, colorful fashion in the handy “cross body” accessory. “We don’t call them fanny packs,” Sevillano says. “We’re a Californiathemed bag company. That means so many things—California is so diverse.” The SunPaxx line hit virtual shelves at the end of 2022 with three palettes to choose from. They are currently bringing more to the market, with different fabrics and fun pops of color. The plan is for online sales to be the foundation while they seek out boutique shops like Monterey’s Dirty Girl Plant Co. to stock their line. “We’re hoping to keep going,” Perez says. Sevillano and Perez grew up in Modesto. Sevillano found a physical therapy position in Monterey while Perez moved to Sacramento, hoping to land a marketing gig with an outdoors outfitter—both are seasoned hikers. “As you can imagine, I struggled to get in,” he notes. His marketing experience is limited. SunPaxx started when Perez decided to design a backpack for his outdoors excursions. Meanwhile a random idea popped into Sevillano’s mind, that it would be cool if someone created a fanny pack with a speaker for music. The name came to him, but then he forgot all about it. As Sevillano tells it, Perez called to tell him about the backpack and a little problem—he needed a brand. “SunPaxx,” he responded. Perez took an instant liking to the name and told him, “We’re going to do it.” “I said ‘what do you mean we’re?’” Sevillano recalls, laughing. But Perez has always inspired Sevillano to step out of his comfort zone, from attempting dicey trails to becoming the first in his family to graduate from a four-year university. Bags strapped to the waist or chest have been common since ancient times. They were handy for cross-country skiers in the 1950s (there’s a reference to a “fanny pack” in a 1954 issue of Sports Illustrated). Yet the bulky nylon pack adopted by Americans in the 1980s almost doomed the accessory, in part because more overseas travel brought bag-wearing tourists to England and Australia, where “fanny” refers to a different part of the anatomy. And, well, they weren’t very hip. Over the past 10 years, however, they have seen a resurgence in popularity as belt bags, waist bags, crossbody bags—anything but fanny packs. Still, it’s not easy tapping into a market, even when it’s heating up. “There was a point when I was ready to give up,” Sevillano admits. “One day I saw four people wearing our product. I was a little teary-eyed.” Neither came into this with business experience. Perez studied health and human services, while Sevillano’s degree is in kinesiology—although he was a barista at Captain + Stoker when the popular shop opened. They learned quite a bit from Perez’s parents, who owned businesses in Modesto. “People are willing to help you,” Perez says. “The people around you want to see you succeed.” That’s one of the lessons he has gained from the experience of starting SunPaxx. For his friend of 20 years, the moral is far reaching. “The biggest thing I want people to take away is to take that leap of faith and see where it takes you,” Sevillano says. “I promise you won’t be disappointed.” View SunPaxx product lines at sunpaxx.com. Holding the Bag Two CSU Monterey Bay grads are making fanny packs fun and fashionable. By Dave Faries Jose Perez, left, and Diego Sevillano show off two cross-body (or waist) bags from their newly launched SunPaxx line. “We have an opportunity to create a brand in Monterey,” Sevillano says of the company. “Take that leap of faith and see where it takes you.” TALES FROM THE AREA CODE DANIEL DREIFUSS Local People, Local Bank Banking is better when it’s locally sourced. You receive personal attention from local experts, access to decision makers, and exceptional customer service. If you’d like some fresh ideas on how to grow your business, contact us. Our team is ready to serve you.
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