Profile: Tsedo Sherpa

Woman on top
Ms. Tsedo Sherpa
Wave Magazine, November 2010, Issue #179

“We are a family business, which means we are small. We don’t have hundreds of mouths to feed. We can offer same quality goods but with a more favourable price tag. “

Tsedo Sherpa says she always knew what she would be doing when she grew up. Visiting her father's office as a young girl, she once went ballistic when she found her older brother sitting in their father's chair. "Get off!" she recalls saying, "This is my chair!"

Despite early ambitions, with her charming personality and down-to-earth attitude, Tsedo, short for Tsering Dolma, doesn't immediately seem a natural fit for the cut-throat world of business. However, appearances can be deceiving. Tsedo is in fact firm, tough and determined, and at only 25, she helps run a multi-million dollar business empire as the Vice President of International Sales and Marketing for Sherpa Adventure Gear, the outdoor clothing company that is rapidly expanding its market from Johannesburg to Shanghai, Kathmandu to Seattle.

Tsedo's father Tashi started the company after moving to the United States from Nepal in 1989. He found himself a niche in the adventure gear market and decided to take on the big boys, providing high quality goods for the international market.

To begin, he worked out of a garage, outsourcing his manufacturing to Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan, before deciding to scale up. Noted American adventure clothing designers helped him, and he launched the Sherpa brand and its distinctive 'endless knot' logo.

Then he decided to set up shop in Nepal, moving the entire production function here while design and other marketing aspects continued to be dealt with from the United States. His daughter Tsedo joined him in 2005 after obtaining a degree from Washington University.

Getting into the family business might have been an easy decision, but managing the marketing of a multi-million dollar company whose products are sold all over the world is by no means an easy feat. It is especially challenging given that the down jackets, sleeping bags and thermal vests produced in Sherpa factories are in direct competition with big brands like North Face and Columbia.

"We are a family business, which means we are small," Tsedo says. "This is the advantage we have against big companies like North Face. We don't have hundreds of mouths to feed. Because of this, we can offer products of the same quality to consumers, but with a more favourable price tag."

Tsedo was also part of the small team responsible for the launch of the Sherpa Adventure Gear flagship store in Kathmandu, a strategic move to emphasise the 'Nepali-ness' of the brand.

"Well, we had people coming into our factory in Lazimpat asking if they could buy something because they had seen someone wear a t-shirt with the Sherpa logo," Tsedo says. "In the end, we are a Nepali brand, we have this strong connection with Nepal, and it just makes sense to have a flagship store here."

Every season, Tsedo spends half her time here overseeing the design and production of the new collection. But as Tsedo points out, doing business in Nepal isn't always smooth sailing. , "Sometimes I have to explain to my sales team that production has been halted for two weeks because nothing is running in the country," she says. "We allocate an extra month as leeway in each production cycle, just in case there is a strike or something goes wrong."

Despite the hiccups, Tsedo says they took a calculated risk and that the returns have been worth it. Last month, Sherpa Adventure Gear celebrated the first anniversary of its flagship store, and there is rising demand for their merchandise, especially in Europe. "That 'Made in Nepal' tag is our identity," Tsedo says. "Being here in Nepal means everything to us."