March 13, 2025 • 23 mins
Sarah Richardson, of Rochester, Minnesota, never expected to transform corporate gifting. As a graphic designer, she was focused on helping clients build their brands. But when the pandemic hit, a weekend idea to create an e-commerce platform for locally sourced Easter baskets turned into Gift Rochester, raising $6,000 for local businesses in one week. When Mayo Clinic sought employee recognition gifts, the project exploded, growing 12,000% in its first year. Now known as Neighborly Gifts, the company operates in five states, partnering with 200 small businesses to create curated gift boxes for corporate clients.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Growing Destinations podcast is brought
to you by Experience Rochester.
Learn more about Minnesota'sthird largest city, which is
home to Mayo Clinic and featureswonderful recreational and
entertainment opportunities, byvisiting
experiencerochestermncom.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
This was the first time as a service provider to
others.
This was the first time Iactually took my own creative
energy and put it internal, andI think that's something to be
said about entrepreneurs,especially service provider ones
is what are you doing foryourself and for your company
and for your brand and for yourculture to get it stronger so
you can ultimately then servemore?
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Welcome to the Growing Destinations podcast,
where we take a deep dive intodestination development and
focus on a wide range of topics,from tourism and entertainment
to economic development andentrepreneurism, and much more.
I'm your host, bill Vaughn Bank.
The best gifts are the oneswith the biggest impact.
That simple belief sparked thecreation of Neighborly Gifts, a
(01:01):
Rochester Minnesota company thatmakes corporate gift-giving
easy while supporting localbusinesses.
Belief sparked the creation ofNeighborly Gifts, a Rochester
Minnesota company that makescorporate gift giving easy while
supporting local businesses.
Joining me today is SarahRichardson, the founder and CEO
of Neighborly Gifts.
We'll explore how a weekendidea during the early days of
the pandemic turned into asustainable and thriving company
(01:22):
, and we discussed the role ofcommunity partnerships in
fueling growth and what it takesto scale a business while
staying true to its mission.
Sarah Richardson, welcome tothe Growing Destinations podcast
.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Thank you, Bill.
It's such a pleasure to be here.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
I've known you a while here in Rochester
Minnesota.
Tell us a little bit aboutyourself and your background, my
background started at the ripeage of 19.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
I am a little bit about yourself and your
background.
My background started at theripe age of 19.
I am a graphic designer bytrade and I worked at a local
agency for about six years, mostof it in downtown.
As a native from southeastMinnesota, my roots are really
deep in the area.
After the six years it reallykind of just launched into my
next wave, which was starting myown creative agency business in
(02:06):
the branding and marketingworld, and I've been doing that
for 15.
So my creation of the designside is really thick behind all
this project.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
Take us to the early stages of this new venture,
although it's got a few yearsbehind it.
Neighborly Gifts.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
The first rendition started in March 2020.
And if you take yourself backto that moment, man, the
emotions were high.
We didn't know what was goingon.
We're told to go home, stay put, doors are forced to close my
business.
Fortunately, at that time wedidn't have a huge shift because
(02:45):
we were already working fromhome.
There was four of us, so wedidn't have such a disruption
that others did.
And one day we're just like.
We're creative people.
We solve problems.
This is what we get paid to dofrom an agency's perspective.
So what can we do to help ourbusiness friends?
And that's really where itstarted was a brainstorming
(03:06):
session on a Thursday with theteam to.
I remember that evening veryvividly, going around and
walking with my husband aroundZolders Field Park and it's just
sitting in the back of my brainand I'm chewing on it and I
look at him and I'm justexplaining this idea and he's
like Sarah, just do it.
So I just like almost ran hometo our thousand square foot
(03:26):
apartment downtown at that pointand worked in my son's bedroom,
because that's where my officewas, and put together this
website over a weekend bytapping on some friends'
shoulders.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
So the entrepreneurial spirit helped
you envision this new business.
So tell us more about thebusiness itself.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
The entrepreneurial spirit definitely did.
I think it's the creator in me,the go-getter of we're just
going to get in to do it.
So it was less thinking andmore like I'm going to design a
website, so jumped on and did it.
That weekend called up mynetwork from the past, part of
my history and my journey ofjust saying, hey, business
friend owners, this is my crazyidea.
(04:07):
Are you on board?
And the idea was the idea wasto create an e-commerce website
with local gifts for kids'Easter baskets.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
Okay, so very specific.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
Very specific.
We were at a timeline Easter'saround the corner.
As a mom myself, I was like man, you know, I kind of I don't
love the idea of just the bigbox stores being able to get all
this revenue where our friendswere forced to shut their door
and they don't necessarily havethe e-commerce presence or the
ability to buy from them at thistime.
So that was the very specificidea where, like, we can do this
(04:41):
, it's one week.
We got one week to start thisproject and finish this project
and that's exactly what we didand it was focused on
specifically those kid gifts forEaster baskets and 124 people
ordered and $6,000 of money wasdirected back into those
business owners.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Were the business owners people you had already
relationship with through yourother business, or was it just
you knew that you wanted tocreate an Easter basket and this
would be a good product for it?
Speaker 2 (05:11):
Definitely had a relationship with them.
They were in my phone so I'mtexting and calling them, you
know.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
Sounds like a true entrepreneur.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
Yeah, yeah, you just, you know when you're in the
business world, and especially Iwas downtown and there's this
very tight-knit community, soyou just kind of know each other
.
You know when you're in thebusiness world, and especially I
was downtown and there's thisvery tight knit community, so
you just kind of know each other.
You know I'm calling Seamus atCarol's Corn, will Forsman at
Cafe Steam, carol BittnettCounterpoint.
Some are past clients, some arejust past fellow business
owners and it's really thatnetwork that has driven me to
(05:41):
get into that phase of saying,yeah, they trusted me, they
trusted my work and they believethat this idea was a good one,
and that alone gave me the evenmore confidence to just keep
going A one-off, essentially, tostart with over Easter.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
Did you create a name for it at that time?
Speaker 2 (05:57):
Yeah, the brainstorming to the website was
24 hours and at that pointwe're like what do we name this?
We need a logo, we need a youknow, an entire brand identity
which you know very well how todo which that's our sweet spot.
So the benefit is we didn't haveto tap on anyone else's
shoulders.
We really just internalize andsaid, okay, we're going to put
all our projects for clientsaside, this is our core focus.
(06:20):
I had a team of four and wejust we just ran with it and
really launched this website.
That direct to consumer so wewere selling to mostly friends
and family in our network,pushed on social media and that
was our model was direct toconsumer and we did everything
from built the website to sellit to customer support, to set
(06:42):
up a temporary distributioncenter to fulfill them
Contactless pickups.
At that time we even diddeliveries.
We're wearing masks and glovesand being very careful of all
this stuff that we're being told.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
It was for Easter, so how long of a timeframe was it
to once you launched the websiteand people could start to order
to pick up?
Was it just a couple weeks?
Speaker 2 (07:05):
It was one week Bill.
One week, One week.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
From the launch.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
Yeah, from the launch , we the weekend, so the
Thursday's the brainstorming.
I built the website and webuilt the brand over the weekend
.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
And it was called at that time.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
Gift Rochester.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
Gift Rochester okay.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
Yep, Gift, Rochester and beautiful.
It all kind of just cametogether.
We launched really that earlythat next week Monday, Tuesday,
let orders come in, we closed itand then it was fulfilling the
following week weekend, just intime.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
What happened after that?
Speaker 2 (07:36):
I put it back on the shelf and said that was fun,
that was exhausting.
We really, as most new ideas,you don't know what you're doing
until you're in it and we'rebuilding the plane as it's
flying.
It's a project.
I got everyone in my familyinvolved, whether they liked it
or not, which tends to happen,but we had so many amazing
people with volunteers helpingand supporting it along the way.
(08:00):
It was kind of just back tobusiness.
We had to get back to our.
You know, Easter's gone and nowwe have to go to our clients
and give them the attention thatthey need.
So it was shelved, but it wasalways kind of just sitting
there, Because I will say therewas a moment throughout that
entire week that I found a sparkthat I haven't felt in a while.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
When did you take it off the shelf?
Speaker 2 (08:19):
Fast forward about four months, I would say Late
summer.
Very close friend of mine whois the executive director for
RDA the Rochester DowntownAlliance.
Yes, holly Masick and she was ina meeting with some
representatives from Mayo Clinicand they were talking about
employee recognition and how canthey recognize their employees
(08:42):
this coming holiday when they'reworking from home.
So no in-person holiday parties, and she, just like she was a
part of the Easter program,holly was, and she just
mentioned hey, you should talkto my friend Sarah over at this
Gift Rochester business.
She kind of did, just made thatconnection and then it really
kind of became a phone callafter the connection of them
(09:04):
asking can we do somethingsimilar for their employees for
that coming holiday?
And this is about August Of2021?
Speaker 1 (09:10):
Of 2020.
2020 still okay.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
We're still in 2020.
So about August, late summer.
This is the call that I hadwith representatives in Mayo and
I just said, as I love to doyeah, let's do it, let's do it.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
And it was a recognition program over the
holiday season just forRochester Mayo Clinic employees.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
At this time it was really isolated to Rochester and
really kind of focusing even onthe downtown.
So for Mayo it could be open toany manager, because there are
managers that are existing herebut have team across the country
and then there's also viceversa, where there's some onsite
and some not.
So we really created a programthat was open to anyone that
(09:52):
wanted to order.
It was an option for themanagers to order For vendors.
We knew, going from eight smallbusinesses during Easter to
servicing our state's largestemployer for holiday, we needed
more vendors, we need moreproducts.
So we really said okay to dothis and do it right in a short
(10:12):
timeframe.
I'm going to partner with theRochester Downtown Alliance and
leverage their connections withtheir constituents.
So we had a collaborativerelationship that said, okay,
we're going to bring it intodowntown, so any downtown
business could have applied.
We got 50 businesses betweenthe restaurants and brick and
mortar stores.
So there was excitement andenergy there and again we're
(10:36):
creating this as we're going.
So things like the restaurantvoucher program is a new one at
this point, to what kind ofgoods are we offering?
So it was really that was ourfirst rendition and it was
solely focused in downtown in2020, but our sales at the end
of this we grew 12,000%, whichended the year of holiday 2020
(10:56):
with 15,000 gifts and just shyof $365,000 in impact.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
Wow, yeah, incredible .
And was it still your smallteam you had?
Speaker 2 (11:07):
Yes, small team.
And I will tell you, my father,who's retired, a small business
owner himself, is the onethat's jumping in the U-Haul
with me to go get shelves fromFacebook Marketplace in the
cities to set up a pop-upwarehouse downtown to do this
fulfillment.
Because, again, we were notjust building the vendor
relations, we were creating thee-commerce website, we were the
(11:30):
customer support to our clientand then we filled it, we packed
and shipped gifts, we packedand prepared them for pickup and
it was just a wild time filledwith volunteers of family and
friends and really anyone that'slike I'll jump in and pack some
boxes.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
At this point, mayo Clinic was the only client then,
at this point, yes.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
We took this project that I call it from March 2020
off the shelf to say, well, itworked.
Then, in a small scale, let'stry this, why not?
Let's see what it does Curious.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
Mayo Clinic's big, and Rochester is just one of
their markets.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
So fast forward a bit .
And how did that?
Speaker 2 (12:13):
grow.
Fast forward a bit to.
We just closed our fifthholiday season with Mayo Clinic.
We are now in five statesrepresenting their territories,
so their neighborhoods, goingfrom holiday 2020 to this
holiday 2024,.
We've just been reallylistening to them, listening to
the gift recipients, theemployees who are receiving the
(12:34):
gifts to help us build thecatalog, the data that's been
performing to.
We've been listening to themanagers.
They've been constantly askingyou know, how about this?
Can you do this?
Are you guys open?
And as a small team we're threefull-time people we can do that
, we can be flexible, we can bea little agile.
(12:55):
So we have, in the period ofthe four years, have rebranded,
because gift Rochester, when wemoved to Phoenix Arizona, was
weird, obviously didn't work.
So Jacksonville, florida andthen we went to Jacksonville.
But before we went toJacksonville or Wisconsin was
really at that point we knew weneeded a rename.
So that's where NeighborlyGifts came in, and that took a
while.
It took a while to come to thename.
(13:15):
We wanted something that wasgoing to embody the essence of
this mission that we're creating.
We also wanted something thatwas ownable, so trademarking,
making sure that we had somelongevity, that if we're going
to do this, let's do it right.
So we went down that processwith legal including we also our
product development during thistimeline and working with our
client Mayo Clinic, ourcustomers, to say, hey, can we
(13:37):
do this, Does this meet yourpolicy and how can we?
Speaker 1 (13:43):
really service the restaurant community
specifically, what were some keydecisions or turning points
that allow Neighborly Gifts totransition from just a one-off
seasonal project to working withMayo Clinic in five states?
Speaker 2 (13:54):
I think the number one is I have to give credit to
my team, the internal team as asmall agency that were hired as
graphic designers.
They stepped up every path ofthe way to everything from
creating a new brand tofulfilling boxes.
Without them we wouldn't havebeen able to do the fulfillment
(14:16):
and test and trial, includingvolunteers and then really our
vendor pool.
I mean, this is the backboneand the heart of this entire
mission is, without them sayingyes and they're on board with
this, we wouldn't have a productto sell, and our place in this
relationship is truly about justcreating this bridge between
them.
(14:36):
So my mission has always beenthe big guys are already
recognizing their team andthey're doing it through things
like a branded coffee mug.
They're already spending thosedollars.
We know that exists.
They want to do the good bysupporting local, but what we're
hearing is managers, it's hard.
I don't want to go to 14 storesor there isn't one place to
(14:58):
make it convenient.
So those pieces along the wayhave helped us realize that this
singular website to excitement,but also just the growth tells
the numbers, tell itself thatthis is an option for them and
they chose it because it has abigger impact than just that one
(15:20):
gift.
The gift of delivery providesthe appreciation, but that gift
really actually supports so manymore neighbors within their
community.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
In Florida or Arizona ?
Are the gift boxes related toproducts from those communities?
Speaker 2 (15:34):
Absolutely.
We created a private store it'scalled a private gift store for
Mayo Clinic managers that theyhave to request access to shop
for security reasons.
The private store is filledwith criteria that our customers
told us.
We have price point criteria,obviously, their locations, the
geography.
We have gifts from smallbusinesses in all five states.
(15:57):
We do solely focus on theJacksonville campus, the Phoenix
campus, along with, obviously,the Rochester campus and then
expanding into the enterprisewith the smaller clinics around
Wisconsin, even Iowa.
So we have at this point, 200businesses that are partnering
with us vendors across thosefive states that we can tap into
(16:18):
for whether it's a curated giftbox for a conference that
someone wants to add that flairof local and have that support,
or it's the year-round catalogthat managers can buy and shop
anytime.
It's open for male managersyear-round for any gifting,
whether that be Nurses Week tothe holiday.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
Sarah, the success of this program is evident and you
have a lot of growth with MayoClinic.
Will you continue thatrelationship?
Speaker 2 (16:45):
Definitely, this idea really started as a way to help
bridge their workforce at home.
During COVID, However, it wasmet with such warmth and success
from the managers ordering thatit's continued to the point
that we just finished our fifthyear and they have signed a
five-year contract for it tocontinue for the next five years
as an offering.
(17:06):
This is I forgot to mention.
This is a choice.
This is not required.
This is a choice that managerscan choose us as their gifting
platform.
So that kind of says it allwhen we see managers choosing us
and coming back year after yearand giving us that feedback.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
Great success, congratulations.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
Can other corporations do this as well?
Speaker 2 (17:27):
We have created private stores for other
corporations, mostly because ofword of mouth and some great
relationships like ThinkBank hasdone two holidays with us
through a private store.
We've done some gift boxes forsome smaller local clients
Experience Rochester being oneof them, elcor Construction,
jimmy's Salad Dressings and Dipsand those are really only
(17:47):
because we have a relationshipbuilt with them and they're like
Sarah, what are you doing overthere?
Hey, can we?
We want to.
Can you do this for us?
And it's not that we're holdingthe door closed.
We just had to, over the lastfive years, really go from a
tiny project to a full-fledgedyear-round business.
That's growing at a rapid pace,kind of hold back our sales and
adding on other corporations,but that's changing.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
Tell us what's next.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
Yeah.
So the reason we've held backis a big one.
For us right now is space.
You know we've moved a numberof times.
Our big move happened in 2022of going into a 5,000 square
foot space office warehousecombination and we are busting
at the seams.
This last holiday was the lastholiday we could function in
(18:33):
this place.
Our lease is actually up herein the fall, so good timing.
So I've been on a mission tofind commercial real estate for
the last how long.
So there's a decision to bemade about where that's going to
be located, and that space willnot only allow us to take on
more customers, more vendors,more products, but offering
(18:54):
potentially other services.
This last year we started doingsome pop-ups, just on obviously
a very local Rochester scale,but just dabbling into not
necessarily the brick and mortarretail space, but more
experiential pop-up version ofretails to bring it to a
different clientele.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
Can you do this year round, or do you primarily focus
on the holidays?
Speaker 2 (19:17):
We do it year round.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
Yes, we absolutely have year round, and we're
really amplifying our other ninemonths out of the year because
holidays are always going to bea big gifting season.
It's just, we want appreciationend of year, but no, there's
plenty of things happening likethis Friday is employee
appreciation day, so there'splenty of things happening like
this Friday is EmployeeAppreciation Day, so there's a
lot of gifts going out the door.
We have things like Nurses Week, the Bloodmobiles, offering our
(19:43):
gifts for the people that aredonating, conferences.
We've done gift boxes, clientappreciations.
We're really focused, though,on that corporate gifting versus
the public or general holidays,like a Valentine's Day.
We feel our retailers.
We don't want to compete withthem on that level.
Go directly to them if you wantto provide that gift.
(20:04):
We found a gap in the market ofjust really finding that
corporate gifting to get it downto the little guys in a quicker
, easier, more seamless fashion.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
What are some of the most important lessons you've
learned about launching andgrowing a business?
Speaker 2 (20:18):
I think one of the lesson I'm really realizing is,
you know, being in my career fora few decades is all of this.
I didn't have a plan.
It doesn't necessarily align towhere I thought I was going to
be, but it's really justlistening and continuing to
follow that spark, and I'vealways been a person that likes
(20:41):
to do change and adjust if I'mnot feeling something a hundred
percent.
So when that project hit andprovided that spark that I was
talking about earlier, I knewsomething was there and I just
knew there was something aboutit.
As a creative, this was thefirst time as a service provider
to others, this was the firsttime I actually took my own
(21:04):
creative energy and put itinternal.
And I think that's something tobe said about entrepreneurs,
especially service provider onesis what are you doing for
yourself and for your companyand for your brand and for your
culture to get it stronger soyou can ultimately then serve
more?
Speaker 1 (21:20):
What's the most rewarding part of running
neighborly gifts today?
Speaker 2 (21:24):
Oh man, the impact, the data.
I mean I'm not really a datageek, I'm definitely more of a
relations.
I like the emotional side of ittoo, and I could sit and talk
about dozens of amazingaccomplishments our small
business vendors have had.
I mean even the growth fromwhen we started.
We had one this year who wonOprah's favorite things list for
(21:46):
the holiday.
It was just getting that phonecall of Charles at Lovejoy's
telling us he made that list wasjust like we screamed in
excitement.
So my favorite part is to bechampions of these amazing small
business entrepreneurs.
Our goal is to do more withthem and to support more of
their growth.
But at the end of the day, thisdata, this impact, is something
(22:08):
that I just really didn'tanticipate.
But have always had a loveaffair for buying local.
You know, even as a little girlin the agricultural and
farmer's markets, theappreciation of it, just knowing
it.
It's an ethos in my roots thatgoes very deep.
So I think it's just finding Iget to live out the dream of
sourcing local goods and makingit easy for people to buy them.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
Sarah Richardson, it's wonderful to hear about all
of your great success over thepast five years with Neighborly
Gifts.
We really appreciate you takingtime to be our guest today on
the Growing Destinations podcast.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
Yes, thank you.
I so appreciate you having meand allowing me to tell this
story.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
Thank you for tuning in to the Growing Destinations
podcast and don't forget tosubscribe.
This podcast is brought to youby Experience Rochester.
Find out more about Rochester,Minnesota, and its growing arts
and culture scene, itsinternational culinary flavors
and award-winning craft beer byvisiting
experiencerochestermncom.
The Growing Destinations podcast is brought
to you by Experience Rochester.
Learn more about Minnesota'sthird largest city, which is
home to Mayo Clinic and featureswonderful recreational and
entertainment opportunities, byvisiting
experiencerochestermncom.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
This was the first time as a service provider to
others.
This was the first time Iactually took my own creative
energy and put it internal, andI think that's something to be
said about entrepreneurs,especially service provider ones
is what are you doing foryourself and for your company
and for your brand and for yourculture to get it stronger so
you can ultimately then servemore?
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Welcome to the Growing Destinations podcast,
where we take a deep dive intodestination development and
focus on a wide range of topics,from tourism and entertainment
to economic development andentrepreneurism, and much more.
I'm your host, bill Vaughn Bank.
The best gifts are the oneswith the biggest impact.
That simple belief sparked thecreation of Neighborly Gifts, a
(01:01):
Rochester Minnesota company thatmakes corporate gift-giving
easy while supporting localbusinesses.
Belief sparked the creation ofNeighborly Gifts, a Rochester
Minnesota company that makescorporate gift giving easy while
supporting local businesses.
Joining me today is SarahRichardson, the founder and CEO
of Neighborly Gifts.
We'll explore how a weekendidea during the early days of
the pandemic turned into asustainable and thriving company
(01:22):
, and we discussed the role ofcommunity partnerships in
fueling growth and what it takesto scale a business while
staying true to its mission.
Sarah Richardson, welcome tothe Growing Destinations podcast
.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Thank you, Bill.
It's such a pleasure to be here.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
I've known you a while here in Rochester
Minnesota.
Tell us a little bit aboutyourself and your background, my
background started at the ripeage of 19.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
I am a little bit about yourself and your
background.
My background started at theripe age of 19.
I am a graphic designer bytrade and I worked at a local
agency for about six years, mostof it in downtown.
As a native from southeastMinnesota, my roots are really
deep in the area.
After the six years it reallykind of just launched into my
next wave, which was starting myown creative agency business in
(02:06):
the branding and marketingworld, and I've been doing that
for 15.
So my creation of the designside is really thick behind all
this project.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
Take us to the early stages of this new venture,
although it's got a few yearsbehind it.
Neighborly Gifts.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
The first rendition started in March 2020.
And if you take yourself backto that moment, man, the
emotions were high.
We didn't know what was goingon.
We're told to go home, stay put, doors are forced to close my
business.
Fortunately, at that time wedidn't have a huge shift because
(02:45):
we were already working fromhome.
There was four of us, so wedidn't have such a disruption
that others did.
And one day we're just like.
We're creative people.
We solve problems.
This is what we get paid to dofrom an agency's perspective.
So what can we do to help ourbusiness friends?
And that's really where itstarted was a brainstorming
(03:06):
session on a Thursday with theteam to.
I remember that evening veryvividly, going around and
walking with my husband aroundZolders Field Park and it's just
sitting in the back of my brainand I'm chewing on it and I
look at him and I'm justexplaining this idea and he's
like Sarah, just do it.
So I just like almost ran hometo our thousand square foot
(03:26):
apartment downtown at that pointand worked in my son's bedroom,
because that's where my officewas, and put together this
website over a weekend bytapping on some friends'
shoulders.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
So the entrepreneurial spirit helped
you envision this new business.
So tell us more about thebusiness itself.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
The entrepreneurial spirit definitely did.
I think it's the creator in me,the go-getter of we're just
going to get in to do it.
So it was less thinking andmore like I'm going to design a
website, so jumped on and did it.
That weekend called up mynetwork from the past, part of
my history and my journey ofjust saying, hey, business
friend owners, this is my crazyidea.
(04:07):
Are you on board?
And the idea was the idea wasto create an e-commerce website
with local gifts for kids'Easter baskets.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
Okay, so very specific.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
Very specific.
We were at a timeline Easter'saround the corner.
As a mom myself, I was like man, you know, I kind of I don't
love the idea of just the bigbox stores being able to get all
this revenue where our friendswere forced to shut their door
and they don't necessarily havethe e-commerce presence or the
ability to buy from them at thistime.
So that was the very specificidea where, like, we can do this
(04:41):
, it's one week.
We got one week to start thisproject and finish this project
and that's exactly what we didand it was focused on
specifically those kid gifts forEaster baskets and 124 people
ordered and $6,000 of money wasdirected back into those
business owners.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Were the business owners people you had already
relationship with through yourother business, or was it just
you knew that you wanted tocreate an Easter basket and this
would be a good product for it?
Speaker 2 (05:11):
Definitely had a relationship with them.
They were in my phone so I'mtexting and calling them, you
know.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
Sounds like a true entrepreneur.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
Yeah, yeah, you just, you know when you're in the
business world, and especially Iwas downtown and there's this
very tight-knit community, soyou just kind of know each other
.
You know when you're in thebusiness world, and especially I
was downtown and there's thisvery tight knit community, so
you just kind of know each other.
You know I'm calling Seamus atCarol's Corn, will Forsman at
Cafe Steam, carol BittnettCounterpoint.
Some are past clients, some arejust past fellow business
owners and it's really thatnetwork that has driven me to
(05:41):
get into that phase of saying,yeah, they trusted me, they
trusted my work and they believethat this idea was a good one,
and that alone gave me the evenmore confidence to just keep
going A one-off, essentially, tostart with over Easter.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
Did you create a name for it at that time?
Speaker 2 (05:57):
Yeah, the brainstorming to the website was
24 hours and at that pointwe're like what do we name this?
We need a logo, we need a youknow, an entire brand identity
which you know very well how todo which that's our sweet spot.
So the benefit is we didn't haveto tap on anyone else's
shoulders.
We really just internalize andsaid, okay, we're going to put
all our projects for clientsaside, this is our core focus.
(06:20):
I had a team of four and wejust we just ran with it and
really launched this website.
That direct to consumer so wewere selling to mostly friends
and family in our network,pushed on social media and that
was our model was direct toconsumer and we did everything
from built the website to sellit to customer support, to set
(06:42):
up a temporary distributioncenter to fulfill them
Contactless pickups.
At that time we even diddeliveries.
We're wearing masks and glovesand being very careful of all
this stuff that we're being told.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
It was for Easter, so how long of a timeframe was it
to once you launched the websiteand people could start to order
to pick up?
Was it just a couple weeks?
Speaker 2 (07:05):
It was one week Bill.
One week, One week.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
From the launch.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
Yeah, from the launch , we the weekend, so the
Thursday's the brainstorming.
I built the website and webuilt the brand over the weekend
.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
And it was called at that time.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
Gift Rochester.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
Gift Rochester okay.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
Yep, Gift, Rochester and beautiful.
It all kind of just cametogether.
We launched really that earlythat next week Monday, Tuesday,
let orders come in, we closed itand then it was fulfilling the
following week weekend, just intime.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
What happened after that?
Speaker 2 (07:36):
I put it back on the shelf and said that was fun,
that was exhausting.
We really, as most new ideas,you don't know what you're doing
until you're in it and we'rebuilding the plane as it's
flying.
It's a project.
I got everyone in my familyinvolved, whether they liked it
or not, which tends to happen,but we had so many amazing
people with volunteers helpingand supporting it along the way.
(08:00):
It was kind of just back tobusiness.
We had to get back to our.
You know, Easter's gone and nowwe have to go to our clients
and give them the attention thatthey need.
So it was shelved, but it wasalways kind of just sitting
there, Because I will say therewas a moment throughout that
entire week that I found a sparkthat I haven't felt in a while.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
When did you take it off the shelf?
Speaker 2 (08:19):
Fast forward about four months, I would say Late
summer.
Very close friend of mine whois the executive director for
RDA the Rochester DowntownAlliance.
Yes, holly Masick and she was ina meeting with some
representatives from Mayo Clinicand they were talking about
employee recognition and how canthey recognize their employees
(08:42):
this coming holiday when they'reworking from home.
So no in-person holiday parties, and she, just like she was a
part of the Easter program,holly was, and she just
mentioned hey, you should talkto my friend Sarah over at this
Gift Rochester business.
She kind of did, just made thatconnection and then it really
kind of became a phone callafter the connection of them
(09:04):
asking can we do somethingsimilar for their employees for
that coming holiday?
And this is about August Of2021?
Speaker 1 (09:10):
Of 2020.
2020 still okay.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
We're still in 2020.
So about August, late summer.
This is the call that I hadwith representatives in Mayo and
I just said, as I love to doyeah, let's do it, let's do it.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
And it was a recognition program over the
holiday season just forRochester Mayo Clinic employees.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
At this time it was really isolated to Rochester and
really kind of focusing even onthe downtown.
So for Mayo it could be open toany manager, because there are
managers that are existing herebut have team across the country
and then there's also viceversa, where there's some onsite
and some not.
So we really created a programthat was open to anyone that
(09:52):
wanted to order.
It was an option for themanagers to order For vendors.
We knew, going from eight smallbusinesses during Easter to
servicing our state's largestemployer for holiday, we needed
more vendors, we need moreproducts.
So we really said okay to dothis and do it right in a short
(10:12):
timeframe.
I'm going to partner with theRochester Downtown Alliance and
leverage their connections withtheir constituents.
So we had a collaborativerelationship that said, okay,
we're going to bring it intodowntown, so any downtown
business could have applied.
We got 50 businesses betweenthe restaurants and brick and
mortar stores.
So there was excitement andenergy there and again we're
(10:36):
creating this as we're going.
So things like the restaurantvoucher program is a new one at
this point, to what kind ofgoods are we offering?
So it was really that was ourfirst rendition and it was
solely focused in downtown in2020, but our sales at the end
of this we grew 12,000%, whichended the year of holiday 2020
(10:56):
with 15,000 gifts and just shyof $365,000 in impact.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
Wow, yeah, incredible .
And was it still your smallteam you had?
Speaker 2 (11:07):
Yes, small team.
And I will tell you, my father,who's retired, a small business
owner himself, is the onethat's jumping in the U-Haul
with me to go get shelves fromFacebook Marketplace in the
cities to set up a pop-upwarehouse downtown to do this
fulfillment.
Because, again, we were notjust building the vendor
relations, we were creating thee-commerce website, we were the
(11:30):
customer support to our clientand then we filled it, we packed
and shipped gifts, we packedand prepared them for pickup and
it was just a wild time filledwith volunteers of family and
friends and really anyone that'slike I'll jump in and pack some
boxes.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
At this point, mayo Clinic was the only client then,
at this point, yes.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
We took this project that I call it from March 2020
off the shelf to say, well, itworked.
Then, in a small scale, let'stry this, why not?
Let's see what it does Curious.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
Mayo Clinic's big, and Rochester is just one of
their markets.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
So fast forward a bit .
And how did that?
Speaker 2 (12:13):
grow.
Fast forward a bit to.
We just closed our fifthholiday season with Mayo Clinic.
We are now in five statesrepresenting their territories,
so their neighborhoods, goingfrom holiday 2020 to this
holiday 2024,.
We've just been reallylistening to them, listening to
the gift recipients, theemployees who are receiving the
(12:34):
gifts to help us build thecatalog, the data that's been
performing to.
We've been listening to themanagers.
They've been constantly askingyou know, how about this?
Can you do this?
Are you guys open?
And as a small team we're threefull-time people we can do that
, we can be flexible, we can bea little agile.
(12:55):
So we have, in the period ofthe four years, have rebranded,
because gift Rochester, when wemoved to Phoenix Arizona, was
weird, obviously didn't work.
So Jacksonville, florida andthen we went to Jacksonville.
But before we went toJacksonville or Wisconsin was
really at that point we knew weneeded a rename.
So that's where NeighborlyGifts came in, and that took a
while.
It took a while to come to thename.
(13:15):
We wanted something that wasgoing to embody the essence of
this mission that we're creating.
We also wanted something thatwas ownable, so trademarking,
making sure that we had somelongevity, that if we're going
to do this, let's do it right.
So we went down that processwith legal including we also our
product development during thistimeline and working with our
client Mayo Clinic, ourcustomers, to say, hey, can we
(13:37):
do this, Does this meet yourpolicy and how can we?
Speaker 1 (13:43):
really service the restaurant community
specifically, what were some keydecisions or turning points
that allow Neighborly Gifts totransition from just a one-off
seasonal project to working withMayo Clinic in five states?
Speaker 2 (13:54):
I think the number one is I have to give credit to
my team, the internal team as asmall agency that were hired as
graphic designers.
They stepped up every path ofthe way to everything from
creating a new brand tofulfilling boxes.
Without them we wouldn't havebeen able to do the fulfillment
(14:16):
and test and trial, includingvolunteers and then really our
vendor pool.
I mean, this is the backboneand the heart of this entire
mission is, without them sayingyes and they're on board with
this, we wouldn't have a productto sell, and our place in this
relationship is truly about justcreating this bridge between
them.
(14:36):
So my mission has always beenthe big guys are already
recognizing their team andthey're doing it through things
like a branded coffee mug.
They're already spending thosedollars.
We know that exists.
They want to do the good bysupporting local, but what we're
hearing is managers, it's hard.
I don't want to go to 14 storesor there isn't one place to
(14:58):
make it convenient.
So those pieces along the wayhave helped us realize that this
singular website to excitement,but also just the growth tells
the numbers, tell itself thatthis is an option for them and
they chose it because it has abigger impact than just that one
(15:20):
gift.
The gift of delivery providesthe appreciation, but that gift
really actually supports so manymore neighbors within their
community.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
In Florida or Arizona ?
Are the gift boxes related toproducts from those communities?
Speaker 2 (15:34):
Absolutely.
We created a private store it'scalled a private gift store for
Mayo Clinic managers that theyhave to request access to shop
for security reasons.
The private store is filledwith criteria that our customers
told us.
We have price point criteria,obviously, their locations, the
geography.
We have gifts from smallbusinesses in all five states.
(15:57):
We do solely focus on theJacksonville campus, the Phoenix
campus, along with, obviously,the Rochester campus and then
expanding into the enterprisewith the smaller clinics around
Wisconsin, even Iowa.
So we have at this point, 200businesses that are partnering
with us vendors across thosefive states that we can tap into
(16:18):
for whether it's a curated giftbox for a conference that
someone wants to add that flairof local and have that support,
or it's the year-round catalogthat managers can buy and shop
anytime.
It's open for male managersyear-round for any gifting,
whether that be Nurses Week tothe holiday.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
Sarah, the success of this program is evident and you
have a lot of growth with MayoClinic.
Will you continue thatrelationship?
Speaker 2 (16:45):
Definitely, this idea really started as a way to help
bridge their workforce at home.
During COVID, However, it wasmet with such warmth and success
from the managers ordering thatit's continued to the point
that we just finished our fifthyear and they have signed a
five-year contract for it tocontinue for the next five years
as an offering.
(17:06):
This is I forgot to mention.
This is a choice.
This is not required.
This is a choice that managerscan choose us as their gifting
platform.
So that kind of says it allwhen we see managers choosing us
and coming back year after yearand giving us that feedback.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
Great success, congratulations.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
Can other corporations do this as well?
Speaker 2 (17:27):
We have created private stores for other
corporations, mostly because ofword of mouth and some great
relationships like ThinkBank hasdone two holidays with us
through a private store.
We've done some gift boxes forsome smaller local clients
Experience Rochester being oneof them, elcor Construction,
jimmy's Salad Dressings and Dipsand those are really only
(17:47):
because we have a relationshipbuilt with them and they're like
Sarah, what are you doing overthere?
Hey, can we?
We want to.
Can you do this for us?
And it's not that we're holdingthe door closed.
We just had to, over the lastfive years, really go from a
tiny project to a full-fledgedyear-round business.
That's growing at a rapid pace,kind of hold back our sales and
adding on other corporations,but that's changing.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
Tell us what's next.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
Yeah.
So the reason we've held backis a big one.
For us right now is space.
You know we've moved a numberof times.
Our big move happened in 2022of going into a 5,000 square
foot space office warehousecombination and we are busting
at the seams.
This last holiday was the lastholiday we could function in
(18:33):
this place.
Our lease is actually up herein the fall, so good timing.
So I've been on a mission tofind commercial real estate for
the last how long.
So there's a decision to bemade about where that's going to
be located, and that space willnot only allow us to take on
more customers, more vendors,more products, but offering
(18:54):
potentially other services.
This last year we started doingsome pop-ups, just on obviously
a very local Rochester scale,but just dabbling into not
necessarily the brick and mortarretail space, but more
experiential pop-up version ofretails to bring it to a
different clientele.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
Can you do this year round, or do you primarily focus
on the holidays?
Speaker 2 (19:17):
We do it year round.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
Yes, we absolutely have year round, and we're
really amplifying our other ninemonths out of the year because
holidays are always going to bea big gifting season.
It's just, we want appreciationend of year, but no, there's
plenty of things happening likethis Friday is employee
appreciation day, so there'splenty of things happening like
this Friday is EmployeeAppreciation Day, so there's a
lot of gifts going out the door.
We have things like Nurses Week, the Bloodmobiles, offering our
(19:43):
gifts for the people that aredonating, conferences.
We've done gift boxes, clientappreciations.
We're really focused, though,on that corporate gifting versus
the public or general holidays,like a Valentine's Day.
We feel our retailers.
We don't want to compete withthem on that level.
Go directly to them if you wantto provide that gift.
(20:04):
We found a gap in the market ofjust really finding that
corporate gifting to get it downto the little guys in a quicker
, easier, more seamless fashion.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
What are some of the most important lessons you've
learned about launching andgrowing a business?
Speaker 2 (20:18):
I think one of the lesson I'm really realizing is,
you know, being in my career fora few decades is all of this.
I didn't have a plan.
It doesn't necessarily align towhere I thought I was going to
be, but it's really justlistening and continuing to
follow that spark, and I'vealways been a person that likes
(20:41):
to do change and adjust if I'mnot feeling something a hundred
percent.
So when that project hit andprovided that spark that I was
talking about earlier, I knewsomething was there and I just
knew there was something aboutit.
As a creative, this was thefirst time as a service provider
to others, this was the firsttime I actually took my own
(21:04):
creative energy and put itinternal.
And I think that's something tobe said about entrepreneurs,
especially service provider onesis what are you doing for
yourself and for your companyand for your brand and for your
culture to get it stronger soyou can ultimately then serve
more?
Speaker 1 (21:20):
What's the most rewarding part of running
neighborly gifts today?
Speaker 2 (21:24):
Oh man, the impact, the data.
I mean I'm not really a datageek, I'm definitely more of a
relations.
I like the emotional side of ittoo, and I could sit and talk
about dozens of amazingaccomplishments our small
business vendors have had.
I mean even the growth fromwhen we started.
We had one this year who wonOprah's favorite things list for
(21:46):
the holiday.
It was just getting that phonecall of Charles at Lovejoy's
telling us he made that list wasjust like we screamed in
excitement.
So my favorite part is to bechampions of these amazing small
business entrepreneurs.
Our goal is to do more withthem and to support more of
their growth.
But at the end of the day, thisdata, this impact, is something
(22:08):
that I just really didn'tanticipate.
But have always had a loveaffair for buying local.
You know, even as a little girlin the agricultural and
farmer's markets, theappreciation of it, just knowing
it.
It's an ethos in my roots thatgoes very deep.
So I think it's just finding Iget to live out the dream of
sourcing local goods and makingit easy for people to buy them.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
Sarah Richardson, it's wonderful to hear about all
of your great success over thepast five years with Neighborly
Gifts.
We really appreciate you takingtime to be our guest today on
the Growing Destinations podcast.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
Yes, thank you.
I so appreciate you having meand allowing me to tell this
story.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
Thank you for tuning in to the Growing Destinations
podcast and don't forget tosubscribe.
This podcast is brought to youby Experience Rochester.
Find out more about Rochester,Minnesota, and its growing arts
and culture scene, itsinternational culinary flavors
and award-winning craft beer byvisiting
experiencerochestermncom.
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