Our Story: Three Businesses, Three Kids and Why We Built Dad Certified
If you’ve followed our journey since our very first business, some of this will sound familiar.
But if you’re new here—hello. 👋
We’re Jeremy and Larissa Jones: parents, product designers, marketers, customer-service people, packers of emergency snacks and the founders of Dad Certified.
Dad Certified is the third business we’ve built together.
And by far the biggest. 🙌
Business number one: Page and Pine
When we were 22, newly married and fresh out of university, we realised our planned careers were going to take us in very different directions.
In my case, working as a mechatronics engineer would likely mean travelling to Sydney every day.
We wanted another option, so we combined Larissa’s creativity with my technical brain and started Page and Pine.
We made laser-cut homewares and children’s toys, and ran the business for five years.
When it was time to move on, we sold it to a new mum who dearly wanted to stay home with her babies rather than return to nursing. She and her husband continued the business—and that still makes us incredibly happy. 🥹
Business number two: Salt of Australia
Next came Salt of Australia, a Christian surf brand selling faith-based shirts you would actually want to wear. 😉
We eventually sold Salt to another young couple who wanted to experience small-business life alongside their careers.
Once again, it felt like the right business found the right next owners at the right time.
Then we became parents
By the time I started dreaming seriously about our next business, we had two little boys and hoped to have more children.
I knew the next chapter needed to fit into our lives as parents.
More than that, I wanted it to encourage us in the role.
Fatherhood was deeply fulfilling—but it could also feel overwhelming.
There was no shortage of jokes about incompetent dads, absent dads or dads who needed Mum to organise everything.
We wanted to build something different.
Why Dad Certified exists
Dad Certified was created around a simple mission:
To build greater confidence in dads for a more fulfilling fatherhood experience.
We design practical products that make it easier for dads, mums, couples and grandparents to spend intentional time with the people they love.
Not by demanding Pinterest-perfect family life.
Not by pretending parenting is always easy.
But by removing the hardest first step:
“What should we do together?”
The family business behind the brand
Running a business while raising three children is a constant juggle.
Even something as simple as having an uninterrupted work conversation can become a tactical operation. 🤪
Larissa and I regularly ask each other:
“Are the pros still outweighing the cons?”
As long as the answer remains yes, we’ll keep building.
Because we believe this work matters.
We see it in the photos customers share.
We hear it in stories about dads feeling more confident, couples reconnecting and grandparents recording memories their grandchildren will one day treasure.
If you have supported Dad Certified at any point in the journey, thank you.
You haven’t just bought from a faceless company.
You’ve backed a small Australian family business—and helped another family create time together. ❤️
Jeremy + Larissa Jones
Dad Certified
Adapted from an update originally shared with Dad Certified subscribers on 21 October 2025.