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Something truly special is happening in St. Louis. One of those rare, feel-good stories about how local business and local hearts can change the world.
What started as a single email has grown into a powerful partnership between SteadyRain, a full-service digital agency celebrating its 25th anniversary and its conversion to 100% employee ownership earlier this year, and TinySuperheroes, the national nonprofit that empowers children battling illness or disability with superhero capes and missions.
Together, they’re setting out to impact five million children over the next five years, including many right here in St. Louis.
For SteadyRain, this milestone year has been about more than just growth. “We want to continue to find special opportunities to use our digital superpowers to help the St. Louis community,” says Thompson Knox, Chief Strategy Officer at SteadyRain. “Now that we have converted to 100% employee ownership through our Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), our team of employee-owners collectively decided we want to use our success to serve others through our Digital Hero Project.”
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“This partnership is personal,” said Knox. “As a company, we have built our mission around always believing that any special skills or talents we have should be used to further positive energy in a world that seems overrun with negative energy. The ESOP allows us to help our employees build wealth and contribute to something larger than themselves. Now every team member has a direct impact on the organizations we partner with, not just our business as SteadyRain.”
Internally, SteadyRain has long embraced a culture of empowerment and purpose. Every team member is known as a Digital Hero, with a personal “Spirit Hero” they aspire to emulate and a “Hero Word” that captures the trait they strive to embody. Words like Altruistic, Gracious, Humble and Selfless. This internal, cultural brand is central to their identity.
“Partnering with TinySuperheroes,” Knox says, “is a natural fit. There is no organization we have encountered that was more appropriate for our team to put our effort towards. It is a perfect match for our internal brand and our external mission. It was kismet.”
For Erika Sinner, Chief Empathy Officer of TinySuperheroes, the collaboration represents a major step forward in scaling their reach.
“SteadyRain isn’t just providing support. They’re bringing their digital expertise to help us expand our platform, reach more families, and connect with more hospitals,” Sinner said.
Since launching in 2013, TinySuperheroes has delivered tens of thousands of personalized superhero capes to children battling illness and facing disability across all 50 states. Each cape comes with “missions” designed to build confidence, resilience, and community.
For both organizations, this is about more than a charitable initiative. It’s a shared vision of what business can be when purpose leads.
“This is St. Louis at its best,” Sinner said. “It’s businesses and nonprofits coming together, using their unique strengths, and proving that when we lead with empathy and innovation, we can change lives.”
As SteadyRain looks toward its next 25 years, its employee-owners see this partnership as the beginning of something lasting.
“Our goals as a company aren’t just to grow and thrive as an organization,” Knox said. “It is to help TinySuperheroes create a ripple effect of hope and empowerment throughout the world, starting right here in the true heart of America.”
