Today we’d like to introduce you to Judy Stoll.
Hi Judy, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
To put it bluntly, the idea for Forget Me Not Custom Gifts originated from my love of shopping, expensive taste, keen eye for unique and quality items, appreciation of small businesses, and ruthless competitiveness (i.e., always wanting to have the best gift at the party). But above all else, the idea is rooted in the importance of creating an impactful gift with every last detail meticulously thought out to perfectly fit the gift recipient. I create gifts to make sure your loved ones feel remembered and worthy through any and all walks of life.
In addition, my admiration for my older sister’s small business and modern lifestyle shop, Burke Mercantile (located in Long Beach, CA) led to my insight and education on the importance of small-batch goods, slow fashion, and sustainability. Thus, Forget Me Not’s mission, vision, and values of sourcing quality products exclusively from small businesses became clear.
I didn’t have money saved up to begin this business. All I had was an idea and I simply woke up and decided to start and used what leftover funds I had from my full-time job to get going. The creation of an Instagram page @ForgetMeNotCustomGifts led to a boom of familiar followers, reposts from other small businesses led to a boom of unfamiliar followers, orders from friends and family led to orders from strangers, which led to the need to create a website. A few believers gave me some seed money to get me off the ground and from that, I hired an amazing graphic designer who helped me with my logo and elevating my mediocre website at the time! Word of mouth landed me my first corporate gift deal for over 300 gifts in a year. One year after deciding to start I’ve had over 100 orders, gained so many new customers, had numerous repeat customers, and this business continues to surprise me in all the best ways.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I would say all things considered my road has been fairly smooth. In the beginning, helping people understand the “concept” of my business and pricing was difficult. But as time as gone on, I’ve found better ways to communicate my business structure. Again, I started this business with essentially no money, however, it seemed in times of need unexpectedly a family member would send seed money because they believed in me or an order would come in that would get me by. I think I continue to get lucky but also have an amazing support system behind me who’s wanted to help make my vision a reality.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Forget Me Not Custom Gifts is a boutique gift concierge, providing luxury gifting solutions for personal and corporate occasions. Our mission is to create intentional gifting, with ease.
Behind the curtain is Owner and Creator, Judy Stoll, a 31-year-old lifetime Cincinnati native, dog-mom, and Aries through-and-through. I’m passionate about everything I set my mind to, independent to a fault, and have relentless determination. I have always treated gift-giving as an art, and it’s one that not everyone understands. Impersonal gifting has become the new norm with gift cards, e-cards, and mass-manufactured ecommerce platforms that are ready to ship tomorrow… My goal is to put an end to this detached form of gift-giving and restore that personal experience and connection, all while making the process incredibly simple, and still representing and reflecting the best version of you.
For individuals, we curate custom gift boxes, baskets, bulk gift sets, and memorable party favors for any and all occasions or life’s ‘just because’ moments. Also available is a rotating selection of one-of-a-kind gift boxes when in need of a quick yet impactful gift.
For professionals, we strategize with you to create corporate gift options that are representative of you, feel personal, and help to cultivate and elevate your important professional relationships. From employees to clients, acknowledgments to appreciation, and everything in between.
Our solutions extend to year-round mobile gift wrapping, consulting, and bringing any gift visions to life, as well as facilitating merchant collaborations and exclusive curations, visual merchandising, and more.
Forget Me Not Custom Gifts is intended to be a built-in pay-it-forward, “the gift that keeps on giving”, if you will. I have always been a lover and appreciator of small businesses. Seeing my sister build and evolve her small business over the last 5 years has truly been awe-inspiring. On the flip side, seeing the struggles small businesses faced during COVID, I wanted to do something that would be helpful. Thus, Forget Me Not’s main value is to source products exclusively from small businesses. Each gift comes with an information sheet that tells what products are included, where they came from, and the small business’s websites and social media handles. The hope is that the gift recipient (and gift giver!) will be introduced to new small businesses, love the products, and want to purchase and replenish directly in the future. By sourcing strictly from small businesses and artists, our gifts are unique, high-quality, oftentimes hand-made, and offer vast product diversity.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
I think the last 2 years of COVID has reminded us all the importance of personal connection. Thus, I think creating more unique, personal, and impactful gifts will continue to build. I’ve had so many customers provide feedback that they are so sick of giving gift cards and wanted to do something different for a gift. There are so many holidays, occasions, and reasons to give gifts – I believe as people become more familiar with business-like Forget Me Not Custom Gifts, they will be more intrigued to give a unique gift and step outside of the box that still offers convenience but a more personal touch than items such as gift cards.
Pricing:
- – Sweet & Petite (Tier 1) $50-$75
- – Simply Stated (Tier 2) $100-$150
- – The Very Thing (Tier 3) $175-$250
- – A Little Luxury (Tier 4) $275-$375
- – Gifts of Grandeur (Tier 5) $400+
Contact Info:
- Email: info@forgetmenotcustomgifts.com
- Website: www.forgetmenotcustomgifts.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/forgetmenotcustomgifts/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/forgetmenotcustomgifts
