We Are The Change We Seek: A 2nd Birthday Retrospective

By Rana DiOrio, Founder

Two years ago this month we founded Little Pickle Press with a set of values that distinguished us in an industry that was undergoing rapid change. In our very first blog post I wrote, “It’s time to shift away from the old publishing paradigm and try something new. We need to do this for the sake of impressionable minds, underappreciated artists, Mother Earth, and those in need.” As I reflect upon what our company has achieved over our first two years, I am pleased to say that we are tracking well with our objectives.

We are producing award-winning content. Our mission is to help parents and educators cultivate conscious, responsible little people by stimulating explorations of the meaningful topics of their generation through a variety of media, technologies, and techniques. During our first two years, we’ve published five titles, one in French and Spanish. Of the five titles, the first three have garnered a myriad of prestigious industry awards. Our first song also won an industry award. Our media is being well-received by parents, grandparents, educators, industry authorities, and, most importantly, children all over the world. 

We are attracting and pleasing talented artists. We have had the great fortune of working with world-class talent—from first time illustrators and recording artists to internationally-acclaimed experts. Without exception, each has found our creative process to take them outside of their comfort zones to produce finished products that exceed all of our expectations. We respect, celebrate, challenge, and honor our artists, and it shows in the phenomenal work product we are able to create together.

We are protecting Mother Earth. Two years ago when we initiated our operations, we went to the white board and built a supply chain that was as environmentally-friendly as possible. We choose all of our products, materials, partners, and service providers based upon their commitment to protect Mother Earth. We pursued and obtained our B Corp certification. As we celebrate Earth Day this month, I smile knowing that both the spirit of the occasion and the awareness it brings are woven into the fabric of our company.

We are giving back. Consumers have power. They have choice. We honor this power, and we respect that consumers are increasingly conscious of what they are buying—how and where it is made, what its life cycle is, who (besides them) it benefits. We trust that among the many reasons why our customers feel good about the purchases they make from us is that we support Starlight Children’s Foundation by donating 10% of the purchase price of the What Does It Mean To Be . . .?® series of books to this worthy cause. We also support, through donations of time, books, and capital, many other nonprofits with common interests.

We are building a world-class team. When I founded this company two years ago I dreamed about building a high quality team of passionate professionals with expertise in a variety of disciplines and experience from many different industries. Well, that’s exactly what we’ve been able to do. We have the most amazingly talented, resourceful, dedicated, positive, and enthusiastic team I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. I have great faith in our team and what we will be able to achieve together.

We are grateful. The past two years have been replete with joy, frustration, victories, defeats, laughter, and tears. I know we have reached an inflection point in our growth and that we will be around for quite some time to serve children and to make a favorable impact in the industry and on the world. I am extraordinarily grateful for you, our valued community, our partners, and my incredible team. Thank you all for the opportunity to do what I so love to do.