Inger McDowell-Hartye thought the economic upheaval of the Covid-19 pandemic might slow her gifting box business. But, the change in lifestyle and push to support local makers has actually seen her business With Love, From PDX stay steady and even spawned a new brand and product line.
At the end of July, she quietly launched Hello Curated, a line of gift boxes and activities designed to help event planners pair individual boxes of goodies to virtual gatherings.
“Hello Curated came about because we are all trapped at home,” said McDowell-Hartye. “As more corporations are not able to convene people in person wouldn’t it be nice to send elevated gift kits?”
Hello Curated is just getting started and McDowell-Hartye is still getting the marketing engine going, but she is optimistic based on what she has seen over the last year with With Love, From PDX.
Hello Curated kits include activities such as kombucha making, a cocktail kit or a team building exercise created using products created by small businesses. Many are in Oregon but with this brand there are also activities that include products from around the country.
McDowell-Hartye expects these to be used by companies and individuals planning gatherings that aren’t meeting in-person but using virtual platforms.
“I wanted to make it more around an event experience,” she said. So instead of everyone gathering at a bar for drinks, people on virtual meeting can all break and make the same cocktail or mocktail together or do some other activity to add some excitement when interpersonal interaction is missing.
Her existing business, With Love, From PDX, is more geared toward on-off gifts and not activities so she thought it made sense to separate the two products.
With Love, From PDX has been around for six years and in 2020, McDowell-Hartye was able to hire her first employee. She has someone part time who helps with fulfillment to get the 100 to 150 boxes a month the company produces shipped. The company is also now profitable.
“We are doing fairly well,” she said. “I hope to innovate and continue to work with more makers in the community and help people find products.”
Both of these businesses are a side hustle for McDowell-Hartye. Her background and her day job is community organizing and equity. These businesses have always been about being an outlet for her own love of finding new product makers and helping them tell their stories.
“I like keeping it grassroots and community. As long as I am able to pay the staff and make a little bit of income it’s fun,” she said.
She finds suppliers by going to farmers markets and other events. She works with more than 75 small businesses and she tries to regularly rotate through vendors and products.
The pandemic saw people looking for ways to send items to friends and family and colleagues so With Love, From PDX stayed consistently busy. She saw people looking for gifts to send in lieu of attending events. She also saw people looking specifically for gift boxes that feature products made by other small businesses.
“It’s not just about me but the businesses we support. When I order 200 bags of nuts from Albina City Nuts, he can keep his employees employed,” she said. “It’s the story of the makers I work with.”
