About Us
I Owe it All to Pit Bulls & Parolees
RedHeaded StepChild was founded on the belief we can all make big differences by doing a little better. Currently run solely by the founder, Jennifer Todd, this site is the first step in a massive journey. By partnering with non-profit organizations across Ontario and beyond, Jennifer is using print on demand services to revolutionize the way we think of gift giving and community service. By providing the opportunity to make these two things one in the same, Jennifer's dream is to take the joy we feel when giving the perfect gift and to extend it throughout the community.
Inspried by the show Pit Bulls & Parolees while she lived in a rural community caring for a small colony of neighbourhood stray cats, Jennifer had the idea to start a business that would one day employ housing insecure people.
Pitbull & Parolees features a rescue in New Orleans called Villa Lobos Dog Rescue. They employee several people out on parole at the rescue. Since employers are often hesitant to hire parolees and many people are equally hesitant to work with pit bulls, Villa Lobos found an opportunity to have a greater impact. To do a little better by making one small change.
It occurred to Jennifer that she could start a business not only for herself but one that benefited the community at large.
It's a big idea. A really really big idea. From that day on, Jennifer's moto became "just a little better." Over the course of the last few years she'd contact with at least half a dozen cat rescues, all who had help her tend to her colony. She wanted to pay them back. She keep her mind open as she bounced around ideas of how to have a sustained positive effect on the rescues' efforts.
After experimenting with a couple business models, Jennifer learned about "print on demand." Print on demand became the solution for several reasons:
- It allows the company to be highly responsive to individual customer requests because it doesn't require big inventories
- It allows Jennifer to use her natural creativity to create original products
- It provides increased ability to support manufacturers who use fair business practices
- It allows for more Canadian options; hence supporting the Canadian economy and reducing carbon footprints during shipping
- It reduces consumer demand by only producing what's necessary thus reducing waste
RedHeaded StepChild Fundragers was born.
Jennifer is committed to growing the business to be not only an important source of support to local non-profits, but also so it will one day be able to contribute support to all vulnerable community members.
With time RedHeaded StepChild will have both an animal rescue branch and a manufacturing branch. We will partner with existing businesses to provide opportunities to those in need and produce our own products. In the future we will also partner with Housing First and Harm Reduction initiatives to provide housing and stability to the most vulnerable community members so they may achieve what is needed to participate fully in society.
As we said at the start, they are big plans, big goals. But that's ok. By starting this shop we are providing a more sustainable way to give gifts. Small steps make a big journey. It's already just a little better.