Alumnus’ company Thanks Mom honors single mothers on Father’s Day

Daniel Ordonez spends every Father’s Day with only his mother.

Having grown up in a single-mother household, Ordonez, a Design | Media Arts alumnus, said he remembers his mother taking him to the bus stop every morning at 6 a.m. to attend a magnet school. Now, he believes he was able to attend UCLA and lead his own company thanks to his mother’s guidance and sacrifice.

Ordonez is the owner and founder of Thanks Mom, a greeting card company launched in January that creates products with a message of appreciation for mothers. Ordonez said Thanks Mom donated hundreds of cards to single mothers on Father’s Day to give them recognition during the holiday. The company features a buy-one-give-one model: For every Thanks Mom card bought, another is donated to a single mother.

Ordonez said he wanted to give his mother a card for Father’s Day, but struggled to find one to fit the occasion.

“There is not one brand out there that makes products specifically for single moms,” Ordonez said. “It’s like a conveyer belt of cards that don’t resonate, there’s no meaning or soul behind them.”

Instead, Ordonez said he designed his own card for his mother, using skills he acquired from UCLA and prior work with advertising companies. Then, Ordonez said he decided to make a company that created similar thank-you cards.

Starting as a Kickstarter in May of 2014, Thanks Mom exceeded its goal of $1,500 and garnered more than 3,000 Facebook shares in 20 days. Ordonez said he was simultaneously working at ad agencies whose clients included Pepsi, Adidas and the Academy Awards, but knew he had to leave his career behind and focus on Thanks Mom.

“I thought, ‘I have the skill set, I’ve worked with all these cool brands, and I’m confident enough to start on my own now,’” Ordonez said. “That’s when I took the leap.”

Ordonez said his childhood experiences with his mother served as inspiration for his career move, as he was dedicated to honoring the sacrifices she had made for him throughout his life.

“My mom had a career and a lot of things going for her,” Ordonez said. “But she took other routes to make my life better and create learning opportunities for me.”

Moses Jaenson, the social media and public relations intern for Thanks Mom, grew up in a single-mother household with his four sisters and said this connection with Ordonez attracted him to work for the philanthropic startup.

Jaenson said he played high school football and for the last home game of the year, the players were supposed to give their away jerseys to their fathers. He said because he did not have a father, he gave his jersey to his mother, who wore it all through his last game.

Jaenson said his experiences made him passionate about reaching out to single mothers who also play the role of fathers in their children’s lives.

“There are 12 million moms in the United States that are single moms, but (Thanks Mom) isn’t just reaching out to those people,” Jaenson said. “We’re looking at everything having to do with moms and the appreciation of moms.”

Likewise, Eric Bae, the business development intern for Thanks Mom, said he grew up with his mother and two sisters. He said while Thanks Mom held a Father’s Day campaign, the company is really about saying thank you on any occasion.

“We want people to be aware of the impact of saying thank you to their moms anytime, not just on the holidays,” Bae said.

To connect with single mothers, Ordonez fostered partnerships with nonprofits like Mighty Moms Foundation, a foundation supporting single mother cancer survivors.

This Father’s Day, Ordonez focused on his partnership with Single Mothers Outreach of Santa Clarita, sending them donations of cards for distribution to single mothers in Southern California. He said he is currently also in the process of partnering with Homeboy Industries and hopes to partner with other philanthropic and compassion-based organizations.

“I don’t introduce (Thanks Mom) as a greeting card business,” Ordonez said. “That’s what we sell, but I by no means feel like that’s what we are limited to.”