When Jacqueline Tatelman and her husband, Scot Tatelman, founded a nonprofit summer camp for hundreds of kids growing up in New York’s under-funded neighborhoods in 2009, they didn’t yet know that the experience would lay the foundation for a new business with a major give-back mission: STATE Bags.
Image Credit: Courtesy of STATE Bags. Jacqueline Tatelman.
“The first couple of summers, [campers] were coming to camp with their stuff in trash bags or plastic bags with holes in them,” Tatelman says. “We knew that a lot of them were coming with everything they own for one week away and that they were living in foster care, transitional housing, being raised by another, so that was a very challenging sight to see.”
The Tatelmans started giving backpacks to the campers, many of whom would immediately transfer their belongings into the new bags and fill them with school supplies from the couple’s supply shop, which offered in-kind donations from brands like Bombas and KIND Snacks.
“ Since then, we’ve evolved a lot on the give side, so now it’s for every STATE product sold, we donate to American kids and families in need, but in the ways they need it most, which allows us to do so much more giving and a lot bigger programs,” Tatelman says.
STATE Bags, officially launched in 2013, has grown into a multimillion-dollar brand over the years and continues to center its give-back commitment, which includes donating fully-packed backpacks and funding projects with partner charities and schools.
Image Credit: Courtesy of STATE Bags
The brand was self-funded until 2021, when it raised a $2 million seed round. STATE hasn’t taken additional outside funding since then.
STATE launched in an era when it seemed like disruptive unicorn companies were gaining traction left and right — making starting a successful business and brand look easy, Tatelman recalls.
Of course, typically the reality is anything but. It’s hard enough to “build a beloved brand [with] a cult following,” let alone navigate the logistical ins and outs of running a business, Tatelman says.
“You really have to understand the importance of profitability and sustainability and what it actually takes to run a company,” Tatelman explains. “A lot of people who start brands are dreamers, and they’re excited because they’re creatives, but they need to know a lot more. It requires a level of patience, intensity and grace that is kind of out of body.”
For STATE’s first seven years in business, Tatelman saw herself exclusively as one of those creatives, so she hired CEOs to run the company. However, after years building the brand — and with a unique perspective as its founder — she realized she could serve it in a way former leaders hadn’t. Tatelman stepped in as CEO in 2020.
Five years later, STATE has become a “full-fledged lifestyle family bag brand” with consistent growth.
Tatelman attributes much of the STATE’s recent growth and success to its category expansion, which began shortly before she assumed the CEO role.
Having “owned the market” in children’s backpacks for so long, STATE recognized the value in doing the same for the kids’ travel in a way that makes life easier for their parents — and products are given the full STATE treatment, Tatelman says.
“We like to take it totally over the top,” Tatelman explains. “Like, how do we take this dinosaur product and make it ridiculous, so colorful, so beautiful. Every single piece is a work of art, but it also has incredible utility, functionality, quality and all of the things that you want your family travel products to [have]. [To use] the STATE language, [product expansion] totally exploded us.”
It’s currently peak season for STATE, which has always seen sales spike during back-to-school shopping. Last month, amid this period the brand considers its “Super Bowl,” STATE released product collaborations with Hot Wheels, Barbie and Love Shack Fancy.
Image Credit: Courtesy of STATE Bags
But Tatelman says that no matter the time of year and how much growth STATE sees, she always feels grateful to spot one of the brand’s bags on the street, and she’s only recently come to terms with the brand’s “cult” status.
”People will write to me like, I’m setting my alarm,” Tatelman says. “I’m like, You’re setting your alarm for launch day? Over time, since our customer knows we sell out so fast, especially [out] of these crazy novelty products, they are hungry for the new collection. Year after year, it gets crazier and crazier. I still can’t believe that’s real for STATE.”
Despite STATE’s ongoing success, Tatelman believes the brand has just scratched the surface of its potential, and she looks forward to solidifying its position as a “true family lifestyle brand” with continued product expansion.
Image Credit: Courtesy of STATE Bags
STATE has transformed a lot over the years, but it’s never wavered from its original mission and vision — and it’s a principle that any aspiring entrepreneur should keep in mind when it comes to starting a business.
“You have to have a vision for it,” Tatelman says. “[But] you also have to be malleable in understanding that you have to go where the customer’s going to take you sometimes. But, at the same time, what is the vision, and do you love it? Do you have a dying passion for it? Because if you don’t, you’ll break. [You need] the passion and vision and then the knowledge, or at least the curiosity, on how to get there.”
This article is part of our ongoing Women Entrepreneur® series highlighting the stories, challenges and triumphs of running a business as a woman.