From 2010-2015 I worked in product development for Avery Dennison in their Apparel Heat Transfer Labels group where I developed new reflective material or adhesive for small logos that brands like Nike or UA use.  Part of that work left me with a lot of swooshes and brand logos that were reflective.    

 

At the time I would run after work with my son and in the fall, it would get dark by the time I finished my run.  I wanted to make sure cars saw me so I plastered these logos all over my existing running gear.  

 

In the summer of 2016, I was running the online sales of our now family business (Oh, Susannah) and my wife, 4 year old and I were living in Montreal which is a very bike friendly city.  We rode bikes every day and often came home in the dark.  I felt so unprotected riding around cars, but noticed that even with all the city lights, it was really easy to notice the pedals that had reflectors on them or wheels that had a reflector in the spokes.   I realized then how effective a large reflective area around the ankle would be and thought, why isn't this on your socks?   

I knew that it would be challenging to be on a stretchy sock material, but with my extensive experience in product development for big sporting brands, I knew exactly where to begin to create a reflective sock that worked. 

 

After several samples and finding the right partner factory, in 2017, I got a sample that worked and ReflecToes was born!