About Phd Productions

Our Story

Savanna Groft, a ten year-old fifth grader, was assigned a project at school. Her teacher asked her to crochet a round placemat as part of her handwork studies. Savanna’s initial efforts yielded a round disk, but because she had not added enough stitches, the disc curled under forming a small lip. This placemat of sorts sat on a table in her living room until Savanna’s friends, Hannah and Ellie came over to visit. On a whim, Hannah and Ellie’s dad, Chris Larsen, picked up the disc and threw it. It sailed across the living room and the Phd was born.

The two families formed Phd Productions, LLC with the intention of making more flying discs. They worked for months refining the design and materials, with Savanna’s mom, Mindy Groft, crocheting new designs. Then Chris and Patrick Groft began looking for a place to produce the Phd’s. Chris, a veteran adventure traveler in Central America, thought immediately of the impoverished area south of Mexico. “Since my family returned from living with a Nicaraguan family in San Ramon, I have had a desire to contribute in that area of the world.” The first batch of Phd’s was indeed created in Nicaragua. Since then production has also been taken up in another Central American country, Guatemala.

The Mayans of Guatemala have been weaving and crocheting bright patterns for centuries and bring a deep cultural talent for handwork to the Phd’s. Each village specializes in a few patterns. The patterns of a village are passed down with the generations. Through a veteran importer, Chris and Patrick found a cooperative of Guatemalan women to produce PhDs. In return for the amazing artistry that these women add to the Phd, the women are paid a fair wage and work under good conditions. The money they make crocheting Phd’s and other hand-made products enables their children to go to school and helps keeps them out of poverty in a country in which 56% of people now live below the poverty level.

The toy has universal appeal and because of its inherent safety has been incorporated into the PE curriculum at a local elementary school. The physical education teacher who uses the Phd’s in his classes said, “I just can’t think of a way that these could hurt someone. I mean look at that keep away game we just played. If we had been using Frisbees®, there would have been 10 kids hurt before we were done.” A student listening nearby added, “When it hits me in the mouth, my lips don’t get caught up in my braces!”

The Groft and Larsen families combined include five children all of whom have been enthusiastically involved in converting Savanna’s handwork project into a business. Hannah Larsen has created her own Phd business card and attended a recent music festival where she threw the Phd’s with other children. Avonlea Groft and Ellie Larsen have helped to sort and categorize Phd’s by color using their developing math skills. Logan Groft, a middle school basketball player, has been featured on marketing material stretching to catch a Phd ten feet in the air. Savanna, an accomplished gymnast, catches Phd’s in a one-handed cartwheel for the camera. All of the children are a testing ground for new Phd games and uses.

Bringing the idea of the Phd and the idea of helping people in the developing world together has drawn the Larsen and Groft families together. Moms Rachel Larsen and Mindy Groft met nine years ago when they started their first year of law school together. Since then the families have swapped child care, shared meals, and now, with the creation of the Phd, the families spend even more time together working out the details of the website, a business plan, and carpools.

Patrick responds to the inevitable question “What does Phd stand for?” with a question, “What do you think it means?” When no answer is forthcoming, he tries a little coaching, “Well, when it’s used inside it’s a Perfectly Harmless Device that Prevents Home Destruction.” So far Patrick and Chris have a list of 45 possible meanings for Phd, but Savanna chimes in with her interpretation of the name, “The toy is so smart it deserves a Phd!”