Behind The Print: Building Character from the Start with Tiny Values
Welcome to the latest episode of Behind The Print, where we bring you the creative stories of industry leaders shaping the world of professional printing. In this episode of Behind The Print, we’re joined by Angelique Reisch, Founder and CEO of Tiny Values. With a background at Pixar, Angelique has created a delightful solution for teaching values to kids aged four to seven. Through monthly subscription boxes featuring original stories, hands-on projects, and engaging workbooks, Tiny Values is transforming how we instill important concepts like kindness, gratitude, and resilience. Angelique shares the inspiration behind her company, how she bridges storytelling and character development, and why providing accessible tools for parents has changed how she sees life, legacy, and learning.
Below, you’ll find the transcript of our conversation, edited for clarity to ensure easy reading. If you want the full, authentic experience, make sure to check out the video attached below.
12-minute read
“PrintingCenterUSA has really enabled me to take off and we’ve gotten our price point down to only $25 a month with free shipping, which is kind of amazing considering how many things are in the box and your very reasonable prices have helped us do that.” Angelique Reisch, CEO and Founder of Tiny Values
Transcripts from Behind The Print with Angelique Reisch, CEO and Founder of Tiny Values
Welcome back to Behind The Print podcast, where we feature industry leaders and uncover the creative minds behind businesses in the professional printing world. Our mission is to provide you with inspiring, actionable resources to elevate your business projects and accelerate your journey to excellence in profit and print.
Today’s episode is Building Character from the Start, and I’m here with Founder and CEO of Tiny Values Angelique Reisch!
Angelique: Hi, how’s it going? I am so excited to be here!
Zoe: We are so glad to have you! I have been well, how about you?
Angelique: I’m doing great. Busy. It’s May, and things are nuts with the kids in school and busy with business, so it’s fabulous.
Zoe: For sure. And summer’s coming up too. It’s almost here.
Angelique: Good, good. Glad to hear it.
Zoe: So can you just start by telling us about Tiny Values and who you help?
Angelique: I would love to, yes. So, Tiny Values is a monthly subscription box for ages four to seven, designed to teach a new core value each month. We help parents teach their kids kindness, gratitude, courage, resilience, independence, and patience. Each box contains a book, a hands-on project, a workbook, discussion cards, and a surprise gift. While the kids absolutely love learning to manage their anger or practice empathy, we really aim to help parents. Teaching these tricky concepts can be tough. We make it engaging and easy for families to learn together.
“We pack as much value as we can into each box knowing that parents are on a tight schedule. As an emotionally driven brand, that has definitely been something we’ve overcome the learning curve on and really tried to create a product that is easy for parents to use.” Angelique Reisch, CEO and Founder of Tiny Values
Zoe: Right? And those are such tricky and hard concepts to teach to young minds. Even some adults today don’t have some of those values that are taught in your subscription boxes. So how do they use those different products to learn?
Angelique: Great question. I worked at Pixar for 15 years, and at Pixar, everything is about story. “Story is key” echos in my Pixar mind. We start every box with a story where kids meet a character facing a value-related struggle. They’ll see the character struggle, learn a clever tool to help them, and then watch them overcome that challenge using the tool. What’s really cool is that this tool is usually also the hands-on project in the box. So, our children get to actually practice what they just learned in the story.
Zoe: Right. That’s super cool! It reflects the character in the book to how they can use it in real life.
Angelique: Exactly. And then they’ve got an activity book as well, which is really cool because we try to make it fun using word scrambles and mazes and all the while we’re reinforcing the theme of the month.
Zoe: Totally. So are there any other programs like this, or what do you think makes you stand out?
Angelique: That’s a great question!
Angelique: While there are other book series about character building, we do things a bit differently. Many of those books anthropomorphize their characters, meaning they give human traits to animals like a fox struggling with patience or a dot that’s angry. For me, I think that just makes it harder for kids to truly connect with the story.
Angelique: That’s why our characters are adorable human kids, like Carlos, who loves soccer and mac and cheese, and also has trouble with anger. When kids see a character just like them facing a similar struggle, they think, “Hey, what works for Carlos might work for me too!” That’s one big way we stand out. The other is our hands-on approach. Books are wonderful, but when kids can actually do a project that brings the lesson from the book to life, that’s when the learning really sticks.
Zoe: I totally agree with you. Seeing it on another kid who’s just like them, who they can find similarities with, makes it that much more impactful.
Angelique: Yeah, exactly. My expert personal opinion!
Zoe: So tell me about some of the milestones that have helped define Tiny Values.
Angelique: Okay, so I love this question because you guys at PrintingCenterUSA are actually really pivotal to this. So, I’m going to back up and tell you a little story when I first started the business. I would curate the children’s books based on the value I wanted to teach that month. I would read hundreds and hundreds of books before picking my favorite that was most aligned with my vision. I’d build the project around that chosen book and we would ship the book with the project.
Over the last few years, prices have increased and shipping these big hardbound books was just getting too expensive. I wanted to bring our price point down, and I knew that we were at a turning point for the company. I decided, “Okay, I’ve always wanted to write my own children’s book, let’s try this!” PrintingCenterUSA was already printing my activity book, so I knew I had no print worries.
What that’s done for Tiny Values has given me the freedom to create these really relatable characters and then to teach exactly the tool that I had in mind. No more sifting through endless pages to find the right message. I know exactly what I want the kids to learn and I know exactly what cute character is going to be able to teach them most effectively. PrintingCenterUSA has really enabled me to take off, and we’ve gotten our price point down to only $25 a month with free shipping, which is kind of amazing considering how many things are in the box. Don’t forget to order one for your child! PrintingCenterUSA has very reasonable prices that have helped us do that, so I’m thrilled to answer that question.
“I think books are wonderful, but when you can then take that book and create a project that is hands-on and they get to really practice what they’re learning in the book, that’s when I think it really comes alive for our kids.” Angelique Reisch, CEO and Founder of Tiny Values
Zoe: Well, we are so lucky and fortunate that we got to help you on that and just get the project off the ground and make it something truly yours, not something barrowed. It’s completely original and that’s so cool! So have you had to overcome any challenges in creating your own business and promoting an emotionally driven brand?
Angelique: Yes, absolutely. I think one of the biggest challenges is parents are so busy these days, and I get it, I have two kids. I’m busy with work, between getting them home, homework, activities, bed, it’s like there’s no bandwidth for extra stuff. We knew we had to stay original and streamline the process for parents. We know who our customers are, I know what it’s like! We want you to be able to get the most value in the fastest amount of time possible. We pack as much value as we can into each box knowing that parents are on a limited schedule. As an emotionally driven brand we have overcame our learning curve with creating a product that is easy for parents to use.
Zoe: Yeah, for sure. Parents are so busy these days, it puts that emotional learning to the side, so you’re really giving them a leg up in that aspect. Giving them the tools to empower their kids and say, “Hey, let’s work on this for 30 minutes or even 10 minutes, and see what we can do together.”
Angelique: Exactly. And get that really quick parenting win, for sure!
Zoe: Yeah, totally. So you use print a lot in your subscription boxes. That’s really cool.
Angelique: Yeah, absolutely. We print our booklets and activity books through you guys. We can deliver so much value through information that way. I like that it’s tangible and the kids can hold it, draw on it, take it with them. This is so much different from online learning.
Zoe: Totally. If Tiny Values were in every home in the country, what change would you hope to see in the world?
Angelique: Oh my gosh. I feel like there’s a change with each value we offer. I’ll just go through a few. I think that one of my favorites is the love box. What we teach kids is that they’re loved unconditionally no matter what, because I don’t think that kids fully understand that. It’s very clear in the book. It’s sharing the message of no matter what you do, you are going to be loved. You’re surrounded by a circle of loving people in your life that love you. And then they create this beautiful project where they get to print pictures of all the people that love them, and it hangs in their room so they know they’re loved.
Angelique: For our Empathy Box, they learn how to step in another person’s shoes. So maybe they’re at school and someone’s sad. They learn how to empathize with that person and comfort them. They learn how to spread kindness in their home and then go spread kindness in the world. Our boxes are just spreading wonderful things throughout the world, and we’re hearing wonderful stories come back to us from the kids who have completed them.
“I worked on Inside Out for three years. Watching how those characters were able to connect with kids and teach them about complex ideas and emotions, really was a huge inspiration for this business. I thought, ‘if we could do that for all the values, we could help kids empathize and help them be more kind and help them be more patient.'” Angelique Reisch, CEO and Founder of Tiny Values
Zoe: That’s just life-changing for some people, I’m sure. Thank you. So, Angelique, I have a question. What was it like going from working at Pixar to starting your own brand?
Angelique: Oh my gosh, overwhelming. There’s so many things I would do differently now looking back. So many things. But so many things carried over as well. Making movies, connecting with kids. I worked on Inside Out for three years. I was the character lighting lead, so I worked closely on Joy, on Anger, Disgust, Fear, Sadness and the human characters. I think that watching how those characters were able to connect with kids and teach them about complex ideas and emotions really was a huge inspiration for this business. I was like, “Oh my gosh, what if we could do that for all the values, and use these characters to really help kids empathize and help them be more kind and patient?” It was overwhelming and a little crazy. But I’m here, we have a product, and I’ve learned a ton. And it’s fun, exciting, and terrifying every single day.
Zoe: Wow. That’s so interesting because when I first watched Inside Out, and it’s now one of my favorite movies, I was thinking the same thing, like, “Why don’t they come up with an Inside Out that has just all the emotions teaching all the things?” I’m so glad you tackled that and just knocked it out of the park.
Angelique: Thank you!
Zoe: So if you had a day completely free to spend however you’d like, and you weren’t working on Tiny Values, what would you be doing?
Angelique: Definitely with my family. I love exploring nature outside, so I think we’d be somewhere geocaching, hiking, having a picnic. Just a nice spring day outside exploring, my son would be catching lizards and my husband would be chilling.
“I always say, we spend so much time and energy, teaching them soccer and music, and these things are wonderful and important. But let’s not forget about kindness, patience, confidence, resilience, independence, and friendship.” Angelique Reisch, CEO and Founder of Tiny Values
Zoe: Wow, that sounds just so fun. So where can our listeners explore your helpful tools, find more info, or order a subscription box?
Angelique: Yeah, we’re at TinyValues.com. On Instagram @Tiny Values, and Facebook, @TinyValuesTeam. Please join us and follow along! We have lots of fun freebies if you want to see if Tiny Values is a good fit for your family. No matter what you choose, I truly believe prioritizing teaching kids values is so important. We spend so much time and energy on things like soccer and music, which are great, but let’s also remember to nurture kindness, patience, confidence, resilience, independence, and friendship. #TinyValues
Zoe: Totally. I love it. You heard her, check them out on Facebook at Tiny Values Team, Tiny Values on Instagram, and TinyValues.com.
That’s a wrap on another episode of Behind The Print. Thanks to our listeners for joining us as we explore the artistry and innovation of the printing world. Remember, have a strong vision, build the right strategy, and use tools like print to amplify your message and make your brand stand out.
If you enjoyed today’s episode, be sure to get your sample pack today from PrintingCenterUSA.com and share it with your fellow business enthusiasts. Until next time, keep your creative sparks flying, and remember, there’s always more to discover behind the print.
Printing a Brighter Future
Angelique Reisch and Tiny Values are proof that meaningful design can offer healing. Her work brings comfort to families when they need it most, turning struggle into understanding, and confusion into clarity. At PrintingCenterUSA, we’re proud to support her mission by delivering high quality printed programs that feel worthy of the children they help. Whether you’re planning a tribute or building a heart led brand, print has the power to hold space for the moments that matter. Order today!
Listen to the full episode on Spotify or check out the interview on YouTube!
