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Meet Your Neighbor: Angela Edgeworth
By Callie Thomas
A baby’s first shoes are a treasured reminder of how far our little ones have come. Particularly when you’re showing them to your baby-now-teenager with nostalgia while they dismiss the keepsake by rolling their eyes before sprinting out of the house on their size ten feet. Believe it or not, even baby shoes have come a long way. Doctors are recommending that barefoot walking or soft leather sole shoes are best for infants and toddlers. In 2004, resident Angela Edgeworth started thinking a lot about children’s footwear and the kind of shoes that would be best after she and her husband Brian had their first daughter Caroline. “We began looking for comfortable and stylish shoes with soft, leather soles. After we couldn’t find what we were looking for, we designed some shoes for our daughter and had some prototypes made,” said Edgeworth. “We would constantly get asked where we got the shoes.” And so, pediped footwear was born, along with a foundation that would support the needs of children in our community.
The couple already had a strong background in business, so starting their own was a natural. Angela graduated from the University of Western Ontario with an honors degree in business and had started a cosmetics company in her early 20s. Brian, a Harvard Business School graduate, had already worked on Wall Street for eight years before entering private enterprise with pediped footwear. It started by attending a tradeshow and obtaining their first few accounts. Today, the company is currently selling to over 2,500 retailers in 50 countries. “From the onset, we made a commitment to serve our customers, our employees and, most of all, our community,” Angela said.
The pediped foundation was established in 2010 with the goal of expanding the philanthropic activities of pediped footwear. Since the company’s beginning they have donated nearly $1,000,000 worth of products and monetary support to children across the globe. The first charitable organization they have and continue to support is the Make-a-Wish Foundation. “We chose them because they enhance the lives of children, and my husband had worked with them previously when he worked on Wall Street,” she said. “It was amazing to him how many high powered Wall Street executives appreciated a donation on their behalf instead of a corporate gift. It means that the charity is doing something right. It was a fit with our company.”
The Make-a-Wish Foundation provides hope, strength and joy to children with life-threatening medical conditions. They grant a child’s wish in the United States and its territories every 40 minutes. Each wish takes $7,000 for the foundation to grant. The pediped foundation has granted almost 70 wishes with their support. “It is amazing to hear each child’s story, know that we were able to make a dream come true and make their life better in a really tangible way,” she said.
The foundation has also assisted other charities, including Soles for Souls, K.I.D.S, Children’s Heart Foundation of Nevada, Sunrise Hospital Foundation, Southern Nevada Urban League WIC program and Operation Home Front, to name a few, although they have worked with hundreds of charities with product donations. Some have included donations of $80,000 in products to child victims of the earthquakes in Haiti and Japan. They also donated shoes to Operation Shower, which throws baby showers for military women whose husbands are deployed overseas. “These charities all assist children or mothers and are a good fit with our philosophy to enhance the lives of children everywhere,” said Angela.
Angela Edgeworth and her husband Brian hope to instill their giving spirit in their own two girls, Caroline, who is now seven, and Lauren, age six. “Everyone has the capacity to give in some small or large measure. It’s about making it a priority in your life, and it is very fulfilling and rewarding in itself.”
