We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Leeanne Antonio. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Leeanne below.

Leeanne, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea

The road that led me to starting Bad Day Box stemmed from heartbreak. I had a couple challenging years in my personal and professional life… the fallout of what I thought was a very long term and committed relationship, and the loss of a job which I thought was my dream job. It was a dark time, but I was fortunate enough to have so many people show up for me. At a time when there was definitely “no card for this,” they found ways to express love and remind me to eat, sleep and be kind to myself. One of my friends flew me across the country the next day, another friend took me on an ice climbing adventure paid for on all her points. I received sleeping aids, a snack box, a massage and a place to stay.

Gratitude is such a fundamental part of being human and I think when you can recognize it, acknowledge it and pay it forward, the world is truly a better place because of it. I don’t know what I would have done if I didn’t have friends who would stay on the phone with me when it’s 3am their time or let me drink all of their wine or borrow their car to clear my head when I was visiting. I will forever be grateful for the ways they showed up for me. All of this would later lead to my inspiration for Bad Day Box. Because I have always loved snail mail and gift giving, I understand how the simple act of receiving mail can bring happiness. So I thought, what if I created modern care packages that can help people give more thoughtful gifts?

I designed Bad Day Box as a way to package up the empathy shown to me when I hit bumps in the road, so that others could easily send and receive self-care when they need it the most. I looked around and saw friends going through health issues, grieving deaths, struggling with heartbreak. I realized that we all have bad days sometimes, and there is not always a card or a gift that feels right. There are times when we don’t know what to say, but we still want to show that we care. The traditional flowers, plants or edible arrangements can feel generic.

At the time, I was working full time and working on Bad Day Box became my creative respite. I had listened to enough episodes of How I Built This to know, I didn’t need to have all the answers to pursue this idea, but I started with the branding first because that is what distinguishes you over another competitor. I wanted to acknowledge and validate someone’s bad day but also bring sunshine to their doorstep. My proclivity for snail mail is a heavy influence on the Bad Day Box logo. I want this brand to promote wellness and healing and remind people that we can get through bad days and turn them into good days, together.

In the summer of 2019, I applied for my DBA and obtained my reseller’s license and began to research. I learned that self-care is personal and can come in many forms. When people are going through hard times, they might find comfort in staying at home and focusing on wellness, or being distracted by traveling, getting outside, or trying something new. Bad Day boxes are themed to inspire creativity, adventure and healing. Inside are gifts personally curated with self-care and better days in mind for both men and women, featuring handmade, small batch, women-owned, eco-friendly and charitable products. These makers and small business owners are adding creativity and value to the community and I’m so excited to collaborate with them.

I introduced the brand to my family and friends back in December 2019 over my birthday and showcased what I called Beta Boxes and sold two initial boxes called Expletives & Hygge. I planned to crowdfund and launch the campaign on March 8, 2020 (International Women’s Day), days before California shut down for the pandemic. It didn’t feel like an appropriate time to ask for money. I spent the remainder of 2020 creatively and scrappily pivoting. While I held off on launching my crowdfunding campaign, I reminded myself what this brand stands for: showing up. So I launched giveaways for our frontline medical community, sending gratitude in a box to nurses and other heroes. In a year when all small businesses were struggling, I found ways to keep Bad Day Box growing while supporting my friends’ businesses in the same breath.

I gave it another go in 2021, trying again to launch on International Women’s Day, and in less than 48 hours my project was declined by Kickstarter because it included a resale component. I searched through various Facebook groups I belonged to while I was in line for my second vaccine. Later that night, I submitted my project to iFundWomen and when I woke up with a very sore arm, it was approved and I launched as planned. In a lot of ways, those stars really aligned for me. It’s a much smaller community that is invested in women in business, women of color and provides resources and opportunities. I was able to recoup some of my personal expenses from starting up but more importantly I was able to pay my designer and dear friend who really brought my vision to life.

Each box is themed to inspire healing in hard times with options for all genders. Two big personas I wanted to target were males and busy moms. There are not enough gifting options for either of these groups. It’s easy to buy someone a drink or bring them some treats but what if they live across the country? I wanted to make sure that sentiment was acknowledged from wherever you’re located.

Moms (new ones especially) have very little time for any kind of care. A very good friend of mine is the mom of two sets of twins. I wanted to create something she could use in her normal routine and that’s how the Shower Crying box came to life. Because let’s be honest, the shower is the most adult place to cry. By the end of 2021, I had multiple box themes to offer on my website, branded packaging, and features in Forbes and on CNN.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Hi there I’m Leeanne Antonio a trail blazing, first generation Asian American entrepreneur, bringing the world empathy in a box. I am the Founder and CEO of Bad Day Box, and an advocate for self-care and mental health. When life didn’t go as expected a couple years ago, I channeled my bad days into finding healthy ways to heal. Crying in showers, adventuring around glaciers, rock climbing on granite, and eventually starting a business. What really resonated in the world surrounding me — is that there is no shortage of bad days that need a little brightening, and so Bad Day Box was born.

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

I soft launched by business pre-pandemic in late 2019 with intentions of launching a Kickstarter in March 2020 on International Women’s Day. What followed, no one could anticipate. The pandemic brought a lot of unexpected bad days for so many of us. It didn’t feel like a good time to ask for money so I hit pause. Fast forward to 2021, I gave it another go with the same intent to capitalize on International Women’s Day. I spent an incredible amount of time creating branded assets taking many days off from my day job to prepare. This was a culmination of all my marketing experience but now the stage was set for me. My creativity was on fire and I was so eager to share this campaign with everyone. I submitted my project to Kickstarter a week ahead of my launch date to review.

In less than 48 hours before my launch date, Kickstarter rejected my project because my project included a resale component. I read the email over and over again and this was their explanation: Curating from various small businesses is still considered resale which is prohibited under our rules. “For example offering a basket of homemade pastries is perfectly okay, but a basket of muffins from a grocery store is not.” And while this rational logical statement is true, I stand firm these boxes wouldn’t exist without me coming up with a theme, selecting products and naming them. They told me they would reconsider the project if the incentives were something else. I didn’t want to rob myself of all the hard work only to modify my plan for a platform that wasn’t guaranteed to approve me.

I had to act fast if I still wanted to launch on International Women’s Day. I could cut out a platform completely and host it all on my website, the audience would be limited and it would take a lot more to set up. I’ve worked in marketing for over 15 years, I could probably figure it out. But this would mean I probably couldn’t launch on International Women’s Day. I did not want to pause this campaign, yet again because I failed to read the fine print.

I remembered a Facebook group I belong to that is dedicated to women in eCommerce. I entered “crowdfunding” in the search bar and “ifundwomen” came up. I went immediately to their website and wondered if I could submit everything I already created AND GUESS WHAT. I could. And I did. They approved it overnight and I was elated and relieved and ready to raise money. And that is how I pulled off a launch within 24 hours of International Women’s Day.
The hindsight is always after the fact. Could I have prevented this crazy turn of events? 100% but as entrepreneurs we are often wearing all of the hats. We are moving fast and oftentimes juggling a whole other full time job.
And while this could have been a huge fail, in a lot of ways the stars really aligned for me. The iFundwomen community is much smaller and invested personally in the success of women-owned businesses. They provided me with guidance throughout the entire campaign, included Bad Day Box in a ton of promotion and even gifted me a grant for Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month. All things I would have never received with Kickstarter. So while this was a cautionary tale, it allowed me to become part of a great community who has continued to help my business succeed.

For anyone who is looking to crowdfund, I recommend finding a tribe. Even if you are just a fly on the wall in a Facebook group. Chances are, you’ll find someone who successfully crowdfunded, someone who learned a lot of lessons along the way and someone who will validate everything you’re feeling.

Have you ever had to pivot?

One of the biggest challenges of my business is catching consumers at the right time, are they already part of my email list, will they remember when someone they love is hurting so they can send a Bad Day Box? I found that many people within my personal and professional networks started to reach out to me about other types of gifting, outside of bad days. This was an a-ha moment for me because it showed me that my super power is gifting. I have a knack for listening and understanding the target audience and the sentiment a gift giver wants to convey. Without planning for it, I began exploring the B2B aspect of gift giving. Back in 2020, I agreed to take on a company holiday gift for a health tech company. Their employees ran the gamut in age, location, and interests, but all shared a belief in progressive thinking and prioritizing mental health. I curated a personalized gift box that impressed their employees so much, they wanted to send their CEOs personal thank you cards.
I now keep the doors open for any custom gifting requests for real estate closings, referrals, client appreciation, product launches, events, holidays, onboarding, and employee recognition. I believe in value-added gifting and take pride in offering an exceptional level of service. I love featuring other small businesses owned by women, BIPOC, and LGBTQI+.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://baddaybox.co/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/baddayboxco/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/baddaybox
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@baddaybox

Image Credits
Personal Photo: Hannah Bernabe Top Down Packing Photo: Margaret Chiu Tabling Photo with Leeanne & Product Photos: Bad Day Box