Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Gil Moody & Hilary Jones. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Gil Moody & thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

Success, to us, is about committing fully—not to a specific outcome, but to the path itself. It’s about deciding that you’re going to build the life and work you believe in, and not giving yourself permission to quit just because it gets hard. That doesn’t mean you won’t fail, or change direction, or have to start over. You will. But when you know that turning back isn’t an option, you find a different kind of clarity. You become more creative, more resilient, and more honest about what really matters.
We’ve learned that success isn’t always loud or fast. Sometimes it looks like making a quiet decision to keep going. Sometimes it’s choosing growth over comfort. But at its core, it’s about being uncompromising in your pursuit of what you know you’re meant to do—and taking full ownership of that journey.
We’ve seen steady success by realizing that we don’t have to do things the way we started—or the way anyone else is doing them. Our business has gone through so many phases: we’ve had a brick-and-mortar store, we’ve changed our name, we’ve reworked our product line more than once. We’ve let go of things that looked good on paper but weren’t actually serving us—whether that was certain offerings, strategies, or even mindsets.
What’s stayed consistent is our willingness to adapt without losing our sense of direction. Change isn’t something we fear—it’s something we’ve learned to expect and move with. Every shift we’ve made has brought us closer to the version of this business that feels aligned and sustainable. And we’ve learned that sometimes the most powerful thing you can do is stop chasing what doesn’t work and double down on what does.
It’s not about perfection—it’s about staying in motion, staying intentional, and refusing to settle for a version of success that doesn’t fit you.

Gil Moody &, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

We’re a modern gift brand creating pieces that blend quality, intention, and connection—things you can give (or keep) that actually mean something. From wooden cards and ornaments to bookmarks, journals, magnets, and totes, every product we make is built with purpose behind it.
G + H started because we were looking for ornaments that felt like us—something timeless that would still look beautiful years down the line. We are makers by nature, so when we couldn’t find them, we made them. That one spark led to more ideas, and eventually, a small line of gifts that kept evolving as we found our rhythm and our audience. We’ve always been the kind of people who, if we can’t find what we’re looking for, we create it ourselves.
We’re not chasing trends just to stay relevant. We care about things that last—designs that hold meaning, pieces that speak to people. Whether it’s a card with the right words for a hard moment or a tote that quietly brightens someone’s day, our goal is always the same: make it personal, and make it matter.
We’re proud of how much we’ve grown and how many people see themselves in what we’re building. And we’ve done it without losing sight of why we started. If you’re just discovering us, what we hope you feel in our work is that it’s meant to stick with you. That it says something worth saying. At the end of the day, we’re a business that believes good design, thoughtful details, and a little heart go a long way.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Last year, we made the tough decision to close our retail store—not because the business wasn’t working, but because the environment we were operating in no longer made sense for us.
We had invested time, money, and a whole lot of heart into building out a beautiful space. But after settling in, our property management company asked us to relocate to a different unit in the building—something they had the right to do, buried in the fine print of the lease. (Pro tip: always read every word of your commercial lease—in our area, the terms tend to favor the landlord, not the business.)
We were given two weeks to decide: move to a space we didn’t want and start over with another renovation, or walk away. And honestly? Our gut reaction was to leave. We realized we were in a situation where someone else was trying to dictate how we ran our business—and that’s a line we weren’t willing to cross. One of the most empowering parts of entrepreneurship is owning your decisions, and in that moment, it was clear that staying would mean giving up control.
We knew that closing the store would create some noise. There would be people speculating, spreading half-truths, or quietly celebrating the setback. But we stayed focused on what mattered—our vision, our integrity, and the long game. We chose strategy over ego, and it paid off. That decision gave us the space to double down on what was actually working: wholesale and vendor markets. And we ended up having a stronger year because of it.
The lesson? Don’t let outside perception outweigh your internal clarity. Do what’s right for your business, even if it looks like a step back to someone else. Sometimes a setback is just the setup to spring forward into something better.

Have you ever had to pivot?

After closing our retail store, we didn’t just pivot—we paused, took a breath, and made the decision to reassess everything. We looked at every part of our business with clear eyes and asked the hard questions: What’s really working? What’s draining our time with little return? Where do we want to go next?
For years, we offered custom work for individual customers. It was fun and creatively fulfilling, but when you’re trying to grow, you have to ask yourself one of our favorite guiding questions: Is the squeeze worth the juice? For us, the answer was no. So we shifted. Wholesale and markets had been growing steadily, and that’s where we saw real momentum—and more importantly, scalability.
Now, that’s where our energy goes. We still offer some customization for bulk orders and B2B clients, but we’ve moved away from the one-off model. This pivot gave us space to refine our systems, rebuild our brand, and realign with the future we’re building.
Behind the scenes, we’ve been quietly working on our rebrand—new name, new website, refreshed social presence. It’s a major shift, and it’s taken time and intention but the results have been Incredible. We’ve been lucky to have amazing mentors in the field and support from people who truly understand our vision and believe in where we’re headed.
Our full rebrand launches in early April, and we’re so excited to finally share this new direction with the world. We also will be expanding our line, we think people are really going to like what’s coming.
If you’re a business owner reading this: don’t be afraid to start again. Don’t be afraid to pivot, even if it means walking away from something that once felt safe. Your vision deserves room to grow—and sometimes, the only way to get there is to clear the path and begin again, on your own terms.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: if published before April 10th @ghcustomworkshop, if published after April 10th @shopghgifts

Image Credits

Taylor Jones (Bio Pic)