Meet Paul & Terra Cunningham | C0-founders of Notch

We had the good fortune of connecting with Paul & Terra Cunningham and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Paul & Terra, we’d love to start by asking you about lessons learned. Is there a lesson you can share with us?
Patience and managing expectations. While we’re proud of how far we’ve come and how much we’ve learned, I imagined initially that our path to success as a brand would be much shorter. It took some time before I realized that this was going to be more of a marathon than a sprint. I now understand when someone says, “It only took me 15 years to become an overnight success!”

What should our readers know about your business?
What sets us apart from other baseball cap companies is that we have a utility patent for the notches in the brim of our baseball caps. For some people, when they wear a curved brim cap and sunglasses (or eyewear) together, the brim of the cap pushes their glasses down onto their nose, making it uncomfortable. It’s not a problem for everyone but it is a pain point for many people. The notches provide additional clearance for your eyewear so you can adjust your hat & sunglasses for an optimal fit. We like to say, the war between your hat & sunglasses is over!

Our journey has been filled with successes and failures. It’s been anything but easy but it has also been very rewarding. We realized early on that there would be no shortage of challenges and obstacles to overcome. Knowing this and accepting it ahead of time, makes it a little easier to deal with them when (not if) they come.

We’re also very proud of the fact that we’ve not only brought a unique and innovative product to the market, but we’ve leveraged that opportunity to do good at the same time. From the very first Notch hat we sold, we’ve partnered with Children’s Hunger Fund to help feed kids in need. To date, we’ve helped provide nearly 600,000 meals! It’s not a gimmick or an add-on for us, giving back has always been a part of what’s important for Terra and I. We feel very grateful to have such an awesome opportunity.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Easy… Chile Pepper for Bean & Cheese burritos and rolled tacos

We’d probably take them to the Yuma Territorial Prison for a cool tour and an awesome view of the Colorado River as well.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Tyler Merrick of Project 7. He’s been an awesome mentor to us and has helped give valuable feedback and input along our journey! Also, Eli and Jen Crane of Bottle Breacher. They’re long-time friends who’ve helped us immensely on our journey. They even helped get us on Fox & Friends on the Fox News Channel several years back which was a huge boost for our business.

Website: www.notchgear.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/notchgear/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-cunningham-84a94368/

Image Credits
Image of Terra and I: Andrea Hauck All other images Eric Castaños