Interviews

A few of us have stayed on team Knock Knock for the long haul these past ten years (besides Jen, of course). Patricia Rudolph, whose been a Knock Knocker since 2003, is one of those select individuals. In this special “In It for the Money,” we picked Patty’s brain on her time at Knock Knock.

A third of Patty at Knock Knock's first National Stationery Show.

1. Knock Knock title you had when you started: Director of Sales

Knock Knock title you have now: Director of New Product Initiatives

2. What has changed the most over the time that you’ve been at Knock Knock? Sixteen new employees, additional office space, processes, published books, international presence, and key account relationships.

3. If you left Knock Knock in the past, how did you feel? Tell us about your departure. If you came back, tell us about that too!

I left Knock Knock when they we’re going through a period of logistical challenges to explore product development and manufacturing, which I also had an interest in.

I was always proud of Knock Knock’s continued rise in the marketplace, even as I watched from the outside. So during a phone call last spring, Jen and I realized that I could bring what I had learned about product development and sales and put it back into the Knock Knock mix. Now, I’m happy to say that I’m off and running again with Knock Knock. The creative energy across the company is energizing!

5. What are you proudest of during your time at Knock Knock? Expanding a nascent Knock Knock across the country and internationally.

Patty's fave Knock Knock ite. The Original Slang Flashcards came out in 2004.

6. What do you think would most surprise people about working at Knock Knock? You can swear as much as you want . . . for Christ sakes!

7. What’s the hardest part about working at Knock Knock? Being diligent about proper punctuation. Also, knowing the difference between ampersands and umlauts and hashtags and hyphens—oh my!

8. What’s the best part about working at Knock Knock? When we have direct orders from the head honcho to do things like check out Jon Hamm’s penis video.

9. What has surprised you the most about working at an entrepreneurial startup company? That a small group of talented individuals really can have an impact on a design trend, both nationally and internationally.

10. What’s your favorite discontinued Knock Knock product? Besides my nostalgic fondness for the Report Cards, I loved the first release of Slang Flashcards. The hysterical combination of the straight images and sentences peppered with current slang words made for fun selling, and I learned how to sound like a nerdy hipster.

While we’re revved up and ready to look outward during this tenth year and beyond, let’s not forget the leaders who have been the solid foundation of Knock Knock for quite some time—and their inherent solid taste. So, in celebration of our anniversary, we’re looking inward at our executive team and spotlighting favorite items on their product palette. First up: Craig, our publisher, tops the food chain on all-things cuisine.

Food. When I think about food and eating and the significance it has in my life, I think first of how grateful I am that I have never had to struggle with hunger, and that I have been able to afford most foods I have wanted to try.

As a child, I once came home from grade school and announced to my father that stealing was wrong. He replied by concurring that in most cases my statement was likely true, but also told me if a person is starving and steals food from someone who has plenty, it is not necessarily wrong. And he told me that as a child he had stolen food during World War II, when he and his family had none. This rocked my world. Later, it would help me understand my parents’ efforts to try and never waste food, and my own efforts to endeavor to do the same.

Food. I just simply love it. My parents had an enormous vegetable garden, and as a kid I would harvest all kinds legumes and edible treasures. To me, they were treasures and miracles—these living things that started as tiny sprouts and grew into robust plants, yielding morsels like candy-sweet peas, or enormous bottom-heavy fruits like eggplant. I begged my father to let me help in the garden, and he was more than happy to send me out with a pitchfork I used to hunt for gold—gold Yukon potatoes, that is. The garden was my playground.

All this to say that growing food and sharing food was an integral part of growing up for me. And today it still is. Preparing a meal for someone else is an act of caring and love.

I wanted to share some of my tools and “foodie” items (of course, including some Knock Knock products!) that I simply enjoy:

1. Because I am more of a recipe thief than recipe follower, I adore our Recipe Notes Sticky Notes for jotting down my personal alterations to cookbook recipes.

2. This is my great-grandmother’s hand coffee grinder that I use every morning to hand-grind my coffee beans. Making coffee has always been a ritual for me, and the effort of hand-grinding the beans—hearing the whirr and crunch, smelling the aroma—makes me appreciate that cup-o-joe even more.

(As an aside, I am now just realizing I essentially don’t use electric equipment to prep food in my kitchen. I don’t own a food processor, for example, and my beautiful [and useful] KitchenAid has been idle for many years. I actually prefer to do most things with basic tools and my own hands. Perhaps this will turn into—or already is—a new food movement. Huh.)

3. Our very recent title, A Foldout History of Cereal, always brings a smile to my face because the cover features a Cheerio, which reminds me of my European grandmother cringing when trying Cheerios, and making the claim that they tasted “like cardboard with holes in it.”

4. I could not live without my mortar and pestle that I purchased at one of my favorite kitchen stores in Los Angeles, Surfas. I grind so many things in it, including toasted cumin seeds and coriander.

5. Additionally, two key tools I use are my basic tongs and flexible metal spatula—both purchased two decades ago at one of my favorite stores in San Francisco, Cliff’s Variety. It makes me happy that I’ve had these familiar utensils for so many years; they are like old friends who always come through for you when the going gets tough.

6. My all-time favorite food-related title from Knock Knock? Our Foodie Flashcards. To me, it pokes fun at a movement that often seems to take itself too seriously, and simultaneously celebrates the same. It’s smart and funny. My personal favorite card is “spatchcock,” because I never roast a chicken without first spatchcocking it. Seriously! But I laugh out loud every time I look at the “supertaster” card. So, these flashcards are my go-to gift for all those food-crazed friends of mine.

Ah, food.

Meet Kate! (Photo courtesy of Kate Bingaman Burt.)

With a swish of a pen to paper, illustrator Kate Bingaman Burt creates bite-sized, black and white masterpieces on a daily basis. Her muse? Any item she purchases on that specific day. Her seven-year archive of drawings includes bargain Walgreens sunglasses, a copy of Steve Martin’s Let’s Get Small album, and most recently, a Hulu Plus subscription for $7.99 a month. Her daily purchase drawings, which fall under the umbrella of her Obsessive Consumption project, puts a refreshing twist on our society’s consumerist habitude—reinterpreted and documented with a whimsical and personable touch. And even before her Obsessive Consumption project came to fruition, Kate hand-drew her own credit card statements each month. (See how she easily stole our hearts?)

As fans of her work and multitasking skills (see question number four below), you can probably imagine how completely psyched we were to have Kate on board for our new Hand-Lettered line, available right now, FOKKErs! Excited is an understatement.

Our new Hand-Lettered line, featuring some of our favorite Paper Mousepads, Knock Knock Pads, and sticky notes—all illustrated by the wonderful Kate Bingaman Burt.

To get to know the master behind the beautified squiggles, we asked Kate six questions. She kindly answered them in her signature style—completely by hand!

More to show and tell:

Kate's pup Maybelle. Such a curious cutie. (Photo courtesy of Kate Bingaman Burt.)

Hooray for art and office supplies! A print from Kate's Daily Purchase Drawings. (Photo courtesy of Kate Bingaman Burt.)

. . . And succulents! Another print from Kate's Daily Purchase Drawings. (Photo courtesy of Kate Bingaman Burt.)

Want to check out more of Kate’s projects? Visit her site to read the latest!

Lastly, we can’t really choose our favorite product from the new line, so tell us yours in a comment!

“Knock Knocker Scribbles” is a column under our “In It for the Money” category, where you can get to know the Knock Knock team—from creative to sales to logistics to . . . everything! Each week, someone in the office fills out a questionnaire. They are given a day to complete it to their liking, with scrawls, scratch outs, doodles, and all.