Message from the Founder
Folks Pants was founded while remodeling my freelance business in in the spring of ’08. After a year building sites for a growing clientele of amazing changemakers, I was itching to establish a brand anchored in my commitment to a better world. Rosschapman.net was a 1 dot OK. But the next incarnation would be a 2 dot OH HELL YES. Finding a branding concept that was representative of my vision was a challenge, but the universe ultimately provided. Walking through North Oakland one sunny weekend afternoon with a couple friends, we stumbled upon a case of abandoned books wherein I found Alice Walker’s The Color Purple. That night I went home and began the journey with Celie from broken to whole. Along her path of healing, Celie starts her own company called Folks Pants, and I remember feeling it in my gut like HELLS YEAH. So Folks Pants is a nod to Alice Walker, and to Celie. Celie’s startup venture embodied the beauty of business: entrepreneurship that can be self-empowering, commerce that generates self worth, and deep love for the products of our own labor. We are enlivened by this spirit.
Respectfully,
Ross Chapman
Social Responsibility
The revolution in a big glass.
Folks Pants is not your ordinary business. Triple bottom line is more than just a charming idea to us, or lord forgive a marketing strategy (gaaaag!). Really, it’s a Venn diagram of our three passions to
- be uncompromising in our dedication to a happy and healthy human community,
- be humble students and stewards of the natural environment, and
- making enough to sustain our work while giving away as much as we can.
Tag us socially responsible, triple bottom line, green, values-based, blended value, or the more pejorative “idealist” (must be said with a sneer). Actually, while we appreciate the framework this “change era” lexicon provides toward understanding a business culture that cares about more than just money, the terminology does get a bit exhausting and counter-productive. Really, we’re more excited to discard these definitions altogether in place of inhabiting the ever-creative un-nameable space of striving to be a business entity that is truly by the people, for the people. Real change is a tall order, but we’re prepared to drink the whole damn pint.
That said, we know that if your head’s in the clouds and your sneaks don’t hit the pavement, you’re on the verge of irresponsibilty. Below are some of the concrete ways we’re keeping it street-level.
Giving
Folks Pants repurposes 10% of its net profits toward progressive grass-roots organizations and alternative investment vehicles. Discover more details in the “prospectus”.
Green Hosting
Since 2007 Folks Pants has partnered with Sustainable Websites LLC to guarantee wind-powered web hosting at a great value to our clients from a small, smart-growing company. For just as long, I’ve staffed with Sustainable Websites helping to manage their 24/hr support team, and providing web development services to the luckiest of customers. With Folks Pants you get hosting and development expertise rolled into one. That is not normal, y’all!
WordPress Ballers
I can bust hot themes and setups with any of the major CMS players – Drupal, Joomla, ModX – but WordPress is my bread and butter simply because it’s so darn easy to use, which makes my clients just too happy. Come say hi at the WordPress Meetup in SF that I co-host monthly.