Giftful
Making gifting more meaningful one basket at a time
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We sat down with Carly & Kim who are the faces behind Giftful. They started Giftful with a clear mission; to make gifting more meaningful. Moving away from the traditional world of gift baskets and boxes full of generic, mass produced products and towards beautifully designed and curated gift options featuring premium and thoughtful products. |
Tell us what you do? And how you came about your side hustle(s)?
We started Giftful with a clear mission; to make gifting more meaningful. Moving away from the traditional world of gift baskets and boxes full of generic, mass produced products and towards beautifully designed and curated gift options featuring premium and thoughtful products. We really stumbled upon the idea when trying to find gifts for our loved ones during the height of the pandemic. It was surprisingly hard to find ready-to-gift options that were both beautifully packaged and supported local brands and artisans - so we thought to ourselves, why not fill that gap?
At Giftful, we're proud to say that we exclusively source products and blooms from small Canadian businesses: minimizing our environmental impact, supporting our local communities, and bringing together beautiful and original goods that people can be proud to gift to their loved ones, clients, and friends.
At Giftful, we're proud to say that we exclusively source products and blooms from small Canadian businesses: minimizing our environmental impact, supporting our local communities, and bringing together beautiful and original goods that people can be proud to gift to their loved ones, clients, and friends.
What about your work brings you true joy?
It makes us truly happy to know that our boxes bring others joy! We know how important and special gift giving and receiving can be, no matter the occasion, and we feel so special that we get to be a small part of that. We also LOVE all the amazing connections we've made with local brands and artisans - chatting with small business owners about their stories and curating gift options together has been so much fun and has made us feel much more connected to our communities across Canada.
What has been your most valuable learnings?
In this business, we've had a TON of learnings (and we're only 5 months in), but I think one that we learned early on is that we both couldn't do everything. We have full time jobs outside of Giftful, along with other life priorities (Kim is a mom of two beautiful girls), so we really needed to divide up the work and lean into our unique skills to not burn out and keep our enthusiasm for this little side project alive and well.
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If you could be any fictional character, who would it be and why? Carly: Such a fun question and I'm torn between a few. Definitely Cher from Clueless because I would LOVE to spend a day playing dress-up in her closet, and a close second would be Erin Brockovich (although not entirely fictional) because she is such a badass who speaks her mind. Kim: I would love to be Sandy from Grease! I've always LOVED the music, fashion, and cars of the time. I have much childhood nostalgia when the soundtrack comes on! |
Can you describe an experience/incident that happened that made you a stronger person?
Carly: For me, the loss of my Dad a few years ago really tested my strength and resilience. I think loss can have a profound impact on how one approaches life, and for me it's really shifted my perspective on who and what matters most - I feel more compelled to take risks, love deeper, and I find myself extra protective of where I spend my time and energy these days now knowing how precious time truly is.
Kim: For me becoming a mom has made me a stronger, braver, more self-aware person. Having two little girls in less than two years really shook everything up; my marriage, career, friendships, personal time and priorities were so different, but in a strangely perfect way. My drive to show my girls how to be confident women, who love hard, and challenge themselves, while honouring their needs has made me so self-reflective. I may be doing a whole lot of this parenting thing wrong, but all of us are growing and changing and I can't wait to see who we become!
If you could give your past self any advice, what would it be?
Say I love you every chance you get, worry less, and...kiss more boys (or girls!)
Carly: For me, the loss of my Dad a few years ago really tested my strength and resilience. I think loss can have a profound impact on how one approaches life, and for me it's really shifted my perspective on who and what matters most - I feel more compelled to take risks, love deeper, and I find myself extra protective of where I spend my time and energy these days now knowing how precious time truly is.
Kim: For me becoming a mom has made me a stronger, braver, more self-aware person. Having two little girls in less than two years really shook everything up; my marriage, career, friendships, personal time and priorities were so different, but in a strangely perfect way. My drive to show my girls how to be confident women, who love hard, and challenge themselves, while honouring their needs has made me so self-reflective. I may be doing a whole lot of this parenting thing wrong, but all of us are growing and changing and I can't wait to see who we become!
If you could give your past self any advice, what would it be?
Say I love you every chance you get, worry less, and...kiss more boys (or girls!)
Cover banner Photo courtesy of Glim n Glo