Sometimes a gift is there to celebrate something wonderful. Sometimes it’s a way to bring a little comfort, say thank you or simply remind someone they’re being thought about.
At Gift Basket Boutique, we’ve always believed the thought behind the gift matters just as much as what’s inside it. For more than 20 years, I’ve had the pleasure of helping people send a little happiness, comfort and kindness across the distance when they couldn’t be there themselves.
GBB has grown and changed over the years, but the reason behind it has remained remarkably simple: to help one person do something thoughtful for another.
Long before Gift Basket Boutique existed, I came from a completely different world – hospitality. After years of working while everyone else seemed to be enjoying themselves, I was quite ready for a change.
More than 20 years ago, a local gift basket company needed an extra pair of hands for the busy Christmas period. I happened to be between jobs, so I offered to help for a couple of months.
A couple of months turned into a full-time job.
I started out making the gift baskets, then gradually moved into customer service and the day-to-day running of the business. Somewhere along the way, I realised how much I enjoyed being part of what happened at the other end – a birthday being celebrated, someone being thanked, a person being comforted or simply reminded that somebody was thinking of them.
I’d found a job that felt right.
Eventually, the time came to take everything I’d learned and build something of my own.
Gift Basket Boutique began in 2010, on my dining-room table, with industrial shelving taking over half the living room and most of my savings invested in getting the business off the ground. As GBB grew, stock slowly found its way into almost every room in the house.
It wasn’t exactly glamorous, but it was mine. And I loved it.
A lot has changed since those early days. Gift baskets became gift hampers, the dining room was eventually reclaimed from the stock, and GBB looks quite different from the little business that began around that table.
But the part that matters most hasn’t changed.
Behind every order is someone trusting us to send a gift on their behalf. Sometimes we know the story behind it and sometimes we don’t, but either way, I want the person receiving it to know that somebody was thinking of them.
That means paying attention to the little things.
Years ago, I helped a customer put together a gift for a friend recovering from surgery who couldn’t manage solid food. We worked out what she could enjoy and, before sending it, I realised there was one very practical thing missing – a straw. So in it went. A tiny addition, and a slightly funny one, but one that made the gift work for the person receiving it.
Those are the details I’ve always cared about. Not because they’re grand gestures, but because sometimes the smallest things are the ones that make a gift feel as though it really was meant for that person.
Over the years, GBB has grown, but I’ve never wanted it to become so big that we lose the personal side of what we do. For me, success isn’t about being the biggest hamper company in Australia. It’s about being able to make a living doing something I enjoy, while still having the time and freedom to care about the people behind each order.
That’s why there’s still a real person here when you need one.
If you’re not quite sure what to send, have a question or there’s something a little unusual about your situation, you’re always welcome to ask. We may not be able to accommodate every request, but we’ll always listen and help where we reasonably can.
Because after all these years, I’d still rather do things with care than simply do more of them.
More than 20 years after that first Christmas job, I still love knowing that somewhere in Australia, someone is opening a gift we’ve prepared because another person wanted to celebrate them, comfort them, thank them or simply let them know they were thinking of them.
And after all this time, it still feels like the right job.
Made with care, delivered from the heart.
