When Deborah Haile booked a flight to the Dominican Republic with her toddler in tow, she had no intention of building a global brand. She wanted to raise her son Jonah with a broader worldview shaped by travel, culture, and curiosity. That intention has since grown into Tiny Global Footprints, a dynamic family-owned media brand rooted in storytelling, entrepreneurship, and global education.
Today, Deborah and Jonah are co-authors, co-CEOs, and global storytellers who have published seven children’s books, launched an educational podcast, and inspired young readers worldwide. Jonah’s upcoming release, The Eri Basketball Boys, marks a new chapter—literally and figuratively—as Jonah, now 12, co-wrote the book alongside his friends who live in Eritrea.
It’s a story of youth authorship and how community, identity, and creative collaboration can power a brand far beyond the bookshelf.
A Brand Born from Real Travel
Deborah’s public affairs and nonprofit strategy background gave her the foundation to build a purposeful business. But motherhood gave her the clarity to reimagine what education and storytelling could look like. “I wanted Jonah to grow up grounded, compassionate, and globally aware,” she says. “Traveling together gave us that opportunity.”
Despite holding a highly demanding global leadership role in Legal Operations—a position that requires much of her time and energy—Deborah continues to prioritize travel with her son, co-author bestselling books, and lead their growing business. Her ability to balance a high-powered corporate career while nurturing a mission-driven family brand shows her unwavering commitment to both her professional excellence and personal values. That commitment to enriching Jonah’s life through experience didn’t just shape their travels—it laid the foundation for their first book.
One of those early trips inspired their debut title, The Search for Elephants in Thailand. From Jonah’s point of view, the story highlights a young traveler navigating a new country with wide-eyed wonder—and a deep desire to meet his favorite animal. That narrative structure—equal parts adventure and cultural discovery—became the signature tone of what would grow into a multi-book collection.
Subsequent books explored Cuba, Eritrea, and everyday childhood themes like chores, careers, and curiosity. The goal? To help kids everywhere explore global cultures, learn empathy, and see themselves in the pages.
The Shift from Writers to Co-CEOs
“When we published our first book, we weren’t thinking like industry insiders—we were just telling our story,” Deborah explains. “But very quickly, I realized we were stepping into a space where diverse families and multicultural stories were missing.”
That’s when Tiny Global Footprints evolved from a passion project into a business. With Deborah’s strategic oversight and Jonah’s voice anchoring the brand’s storytelling, the two formalized their roles as co-CEOs, building a company now expanding into educational partnerships, podcast production, and youth-led content creation.
“I saw Jonah not just as a child author but as a cultural ambassador,” Deborah says. “Kids connect with kids. Seeing someone their age writing, publishing, and speaking permits them to believe in their voices.”
The Eri Basketball Boys: A New Chapter in Youth Storytellin
The release of The Eri Basketball Boys represents a meaningful evolution in Jonah’s publishing journey. Co-authored with his friends in Eritrea, the book tells the story of friendship, teamwork, and perseverance through the lens of a youth basketball team.
“It’s about more than sports,” Deborah explains. “It’s about identity and collaboration. And what makes it even more powerful is that a group of kids built this narrative together across cultures.”
What makes the story behind the book even more remarkable is how it was created. Over the course of two years, Jonah and his friends wrote the book from opposite sides of the world on two different continents—collaborating through video calls and working on story ideas whenever Jonah visited Eritrea during the summers. That cross-continental partnership became an exciting part of the creative process, blending their real-life experiences with a shared love of basketball and storytelling.
For Jonah, the process was just as rewarding as the final product. He had long wanted to write something that blended his love of sports with his passion for storytelling—and doing so alongside his peers in Eritrea made the project uniquely personal. The book is already gaining traction for its ability to speak directly to boys in a voice that feels authentic, accessible, and entertaining.
Building a Platform, Not Just a Product
What began as a family publishing project is a multi-channel platform focused on impact. In addition to their books, Deborah and Jonah co-host the Global Footprints Stories podcast and speak regularly at cultural events. Their books are in circulation across the U.S. and internationally, and they continue to expand into curriculum-aligned educational content.
Deborah has her sights set on building a larger global education ecosystem. “We want to make cultural learning part of every child’s development, whether or not they have access to international travel,” she says. “That’s the big vision—creating a world where diverse stories aren’t the exception, but the norm.”
A Family Business with Global Impact
Jonah published seven books by 12, including Filling My Pockets with Nakfa in Eritrea, What Does Daddy Do All Day?, Finding My Amigo in Cuba, Basketball or Soccer?, and The Torture of Chores, co-hosts a podcast, has a flourishing content news channel on YouTube, and inspired countless young readers worldwide. But what makes their story so compelling isn’t just the milestones—it’s the mission.
In a media landscape still catching up to representing real-world diversity, Tiny Global Footprints is carving its lane—one story, one country, one collaboration at a time.
