About Us

Our Mission

Little Fish Studios blends peaceful words and meditative images into paper products that offer refreshing originality and high quality at a competitive price. We strive to make each interaction with our customers, vendors, employees and friends a positive one; we realize they each contribute to the success of our company and play a role in the journey we have undertaken.

Our Founder

Little Fish Studios was founded by Mary Ann Rinkleff, a former journalist who spent more than a decade managing marketing and communications activities for nonprofit organizations. Fresh from a six-month sabbatical she took to Nepal in 2001, Mary Ann sought to create a product that caused people to slow down and reflect. She launched Little Fish in 2002 and now serves as its Creative Director. All of the photography we use on our cards are Mary Ann's -- we don't buy stock images or from freelance photographers. Mary Ann also selects each quote and writes the sentiments found on the inside of our greeting cards.

Our Team

Little Fish got off the ground and survived its first few years in business because of several friends and family members who were - and still are - generous both with their time and with their financial support.

These days, Mary Ann manages the administrative and creative ends of the business. She gets a lot of help from part-time staffer Connie, who picks and packs cards for our distributors and also works downstairs in our gallery.

We also get help from Erik (Mary Ann's multi-talented husband), from Pat & Dick (her mom and dad), from Wendy & Jason (her sister and brother-in-law), and from a variety of friends who think it's fun to count and package cards.

We're usually joined in the office by Mary Ann and Erik's daughter, Anka; Libby, our Vice President of Joy (and a golden retriever); and, occasionally, Wilbur, our Director of All Things Treats (and a black lab).

Our Partners

In 2008, Little Fish partnered with Collage Greetings, an innovative greeting card distribution company in Bend, Ore., with coverage throughout the United States. Collage now handles all of our U.S. wholesale sales and marketing, order fulfillment and distribution, and customer service. For information, go to www.collagegreetings.com or call their customer service staff at 866.763.3861.

Our Canadian wholesale distribution is handled by Jannex Enterprises.

Our Home

We live and work in Door County, Wisconsin, a peninsula in the northeast part of the state that boasts 250 miles of shoreline and acres of forests and meadows. The area also is home to a variety of artists - watercolorists, potters, woodworkers, photographers and others - who draw their inspiration from the natural beauty of their surroundings.

Our offices are housed among a cluster of retail shops, upstairs from our own gallery. We enjoy a relaxed work environment, preferring jeans and fleeces over suits and skirts, and making sure we find time every day to romp with the dogs who share our space.

Please Note

Little Fish Studios is primarily a wholesale business, with several hundred retailers around the country. We want to be accessible for the general public as well, especially those customers who might not have a retail shop nearby. (We hope to have an up-to-date retailer list posted soon.) We do not have a catalog available for the general public, so if you want to buy directly from Little Fish, you must do it via our web site.