When our site went live one year ago, we had literally no idea how it would go. We invested so much hard work, hopes, dreams, and a huge chunk of my life savings into an idea that people and corporations wanted to spend their money in a way that makes a positive impact on the world. We believed that both the gift giver and the receiver would appreciate that each box is full of high-quality gifts that give back.
And when our website went live…well…nothing. No one bought immediately. And the concern set in. Did people get what we’re doing here? Do people get that this bar of soap helps a Palestinian refugee feed her family? Do they get that each mug helps prevent orphanhood in Haiti? Do they really understand how powerful their purchase is?
And then it happened. Our first sale. It was from my mom, but it still counted! It was so encouraging to know that someone really understood what we were doing. Then more orders started trickling in, mostly from close friends and family. The circle kept growing, often with gift recipients becoming gift givers. I remember when we got the first order from someone not at all connected to the beCAUSE minded internal team. That was the moment we all knew that this business was going to change the world forever.
These 12 months have been transformative for beCAUSE minded. When we started out, we had serious imposter syndrome. I mean, some days it felt like we didn’t know what we were doing. I had never run a product-based business. Jacquelyn had never done email marketing. Nora found herself neck deep in Google Analytics for the first time. It’s been a wild ride for sure, marked with many highlights along the way.
- Last December, we added the marketplace, which allows customers to purchase individual items.
- In May 2021 we added an option for branded business gifts, where we use a branding iron to burn a company logo onto the wooden box itself.
- Then we added the option for customers to create a box unique to them, with the ability to choose up to 6 items for their luxury gift boxes.
- This October, we put a maternity leave policy in place for our internal team that we believe supports new moms in a way that is family inclusive.
- So far in our final quarter of the year, we have received pre-orders that are literally 10x our sales goals for the quarter.
The truth is, some days we are still stretched beyond our capabilities, but in the best way. When you wake up and say “How can I change the world today?” it’s easy to stay motivated to grow in your skills and your role.
Over this past year, we have received orders from individuals and companies of every size. Every order is a validation that what we are building here is resonating with people. Every luxury corporate gift box we ship shows that the movement of companies shopping their values is gaining momentum. Every order changes the lives of individuals around the world. This is what we call Empowered Gifting. Now we are looking at year two. How can we change even more lives for the better?
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