Although it was officially founded in 1993, Little Earth Productions' real birth date was the day their owners met six months before.
Rob Brandegee, a self-admitted "resort bum," and Pittsburgh native, was visiting home when he met Ava DeMarco. They made a date for five days before Rob was scheduled to return to his ski-instructor job at Aspen. Rob never got to Aspen. Instead, he moved in with Ava and soon co-founded Littlearth with her.
"We started this business," remembers Rob, "because we wanted to do something that was creative, had a positive social impact, and could be a viable, self-sustaining business."
After working up a few sample belts and bags in their basement they flew to Miami for a trade show. "We got $24,000 in orders," remembers Ms. DeMarco. "We were off and running."
