Founded in 2017 in South Lake Tahoe, California, the Heartbeat Brand began as a small hat company and has grown into a lifestyle brand centered on passion, creativity, and connection. Built around the idea of living fully and expressing what drives people, the company blends design with meaning across its product lines. The Heartbeat Brand is best known for premium hats featuring a signature logo outline paired with a heartbeat inspired EKG line, with collections reflecting outdoor culture, sports, regional pride, and personal interests. Entrepreneur and designer Parker Alexander, a South Lake Tahoe native, founded the brand after hand drawing the original Tahoe Heartbeat logo, which quickly resonated with local communities. Beyond retail, the company supports custom hat programs, wholesale partnerships, and charitable initiatives, using apparel as a platform for storytelling, community engagement, and purpose driven impact.
An Overview of the Heartbeat Brand
Heartbeat Brand founder and CEO Parker Alexander maintains a dynamic, fashion forward hat company that has grown from hand-drawn designs on blank Yupoong caps to hundreds of distinct, ever evolving designs that are hip, outdoor influenced, and community focused.
Over the years, he has transitioned the company from primarily selling online and at local events in the Reno and Lake Tahoe area to 70 percent wholesale. Heartbeat Brand hats are now available at more than 300 retail locations nationwide. At the same time, he maintains a fully stocked showroom in Sacramento California.
On the Think Big with Dan and Qasim podcast, Alexander emphasizes the importance of creativity and persistence in bootstrapping any operation. He initially gained traction through unique designs and colorways, setting up a branded tent at local concerts, farmers markets, and simply interacting with people in the community.
This popularity caught the attention of local retailers, and his hats initially appeared at Raleys and Safeway supermarkets. Placement and uniqueness of the product were key to kicking off sales. The hats benefited from placement on racks near checkout, without any similar competing merchandise around them. At the same time, key in a market where visitors often outnumber locals, “they were nice Tahoe hats, and no one had ever seen anything like it.”
In addition, the Heartbeat branding began to encompass people’s interests and passions. The classic design features an outline of Lake Tahoe, complemented by a horizontal EKG line representing a heartbeat. It poses the question “What Makes Your Heart Beat?” and now offers many potential answers, including pickleball, golf, hunting, and many more.
Elements that reinforce this concept are subtly yet vividly found on the underside of the bill, which feature emblematic full color photos. The designs accommodate individuality and display one’s passion, without being as in your-face as slogans such as “I (Heart) New York” or “Don’t Mess With Texas.”
The Heartbeat Brand team experimented with text but found it to be a less effective messaging route than simple standout visuals spanning unique logos, color-ways, and designs. The company has trademarked its unique designs for every state and many sports, creating a broad umbrella that encompasses various subcultures and regional interests.
In an age of hypersegmentation and in-depth market studies, Alexander points to another differentiating factor: his identity as a faith based person willing to let his “intuition lead.” With the eyes of an artist, as well as an entrepreneur, he goes wherever the heartbeat indicates.
As an example, with Tahoe branded merch going strong, Alexander had one good friend moving to Florida and was able to market Florida Heartbeat to retailers there. Then a second friend moved to Idaho, which naturally led to expansion there through events and retail placement. Today, Florida is one of the brand’s largest markets, with its distinctive beach culture and outdoor lifestyle. Many tourists seek out a nice hat as both a practical source of shade and a memento of their visit.
From here, activities such as surfing and golf proved natural areas of brand growth. The coastal elements of surf culture worked well in California and Florida, and golf was broad enough to transcend a specific geographical region.
Alexander currently asks whether any new market is broad enough to warrant its own line. Pickleball, as the world’s fastest growing sport, has been particularly lucrative, and it helps that the company CEO has a passion for the pastime himself. Now, his team is looking to expand into hockey, basketball, baseball, soccer, and other sports with broad, dedicated appeal.
About Heartbeat Brand
The Heartbeat Brand is a South Lake Tahoe founded lifestyle and headwear company established in 2017 by designer and entrepreneur Parker Alexander. The brand produces premium hats featuring a signature heartbeat inspired logo system that represents personal passions, outdoor culture, and community connection. In addition to retail collections, the company offers wholesale programs and custom hat services for organizations, events, and causes. Community involvement remains central to the brand, with ongoing support for environmental and health focused initiatives through product driven outreach and charitable efforts.