Hi! I’m Jessica Freson, founder of PedTerra—and also a mom of three plus three bonus step kids, passionate believer in healthy feet, and accidental entrepreneur with a big heart for doing things differently. I am someone who cares deeply about how the things we buy affect our kids and our planet.
PedTerra started in a totally unglamorous way: me, late at night, frustrated out of my mind trying to find shoes that actually fit my kids’ feet. I was tired of shoving their little feet into stiff sneakers that left red marks and limited their movement. After a lot of trial and error (and some late-night Googling), eventually, I stumbled upon barefoot shoes—most from small European brands—and I was amazed. My kids feet could finally move freely, I felt I wasn't distorting their feet and as a bonus, the shoes were made with sustainable, non-toxic materials. I learned about the amazing health benefits, put a pair on myself, and never looked back!
That’s when it hit me: if I was struggling this much to find the right shoes, other moms must be too. So I started ordering extras, reselling them in Facebook Buy/Sell/Trade groups while my kids napped, and shipping boxes from my living room.
What started as a scrappy side hustle quickly turned into something much bigger than I expected.
