Meet the Maker: Kate Lind and Nate Stevens of Pincause
Meet the Maker is a new blog series on The Dapple featuring Q&As with the small businesses, creatives, and makers who are crafting unique products for dogs and dog lovers. Know someone we should include? Email us at email@thedapple.com.
Elizabeth and Dave model the Humane Pin by Pincause. Two dollars from each Humane Pin purchased goes to the Humane Society of the U.S.
Today on Meet the Maker, we're talking with the founders of Pincause, Kate Lind and Nate Stevens. Operating out of the partners' small apartment in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Pincause creates pins and other small works of art that raise money for non-profits.
What inspired you to start Pincause?
We started Pincause in January 2017 as a way to bring people ‘Together in Love’ with wearable works of art that spark positive conversations. We saw a lot of negativity and wanted to combat that with a loving message.
Explain how Pincause works.
Each little work of art we create supports a big cause and raises money for non-profits doing impactful work in that area. Since launching, we’ve raised over $172,000 for Planned Parenthood, ACLU, International Rescue Committee, The March for Science, and currently The Humane Society of the United States.
Photo courtesy of Pincause
Tell us how Pincause helps dogs.
Pincause x The Humane Society of the United States aims to give animal lovers the opportunity to share with others the importance of considering adoption first. These conversations will shed light on the horrible breeding conditions of puppies purchased from pet stores and online. For every pin sold, $2 goes to The Humane Society of the United States' Stop Puppy Mills campaign. The HSUS’s Humane Generation: Friends of Finn committee is currently focused on getting pet stores to move from a selling-dogs model to an adoption model. Amazingly, California just passed legislation that bans the sale of dogs, and other animals bred in inhumane conditions, to instead offering only rescue animals from shelters. Our goal is to raise $100,000 for The HSUS’s Stop Puppy Mills Campaign.
Kate Lind of Pincause.
Tell us about the process of creating Pincause's pins.
We look for an artist that has a personal connection to the cause, and a style that we find interesting. In this case, we worked with Penelope Dullaghan, who volunteers at her local shelter, and creates amazing work. We've partnered with her before, and it's always a pleasure.
What motivates you in your work?
The reaction people get from these little works of art is awesome! We enjoy that we don’t have any customers, rather a community of people who are dedicated to supporting these big causes. We truly believe that Together in Love We Can.
Any exciting upcoming plans for Pincause?
We're currently helping support the Women's Marches that are happening across the county on January 20th.
What can dog lovers do to support the work of Pincause?
Dogs give us so much and demand so little in return. They can’t speak for themselves, so it’s our mission to help our community speak up for them. We'd love more people to buy the Humane Society Pincause and help raise awareness and support their efforts to End Puppy Mills and promote adoption.
Interested in supporting Pincause? Shop their work here, or follow them on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.