We recently connected with Abby & Alex Milan and have shared our conversation below.

Abby & Alex, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

A few years ago while planning our wedding, we had a difficult time finding the perfect gifts for our wedding guests. Willinglee sparked from the idea that we could make the lives of engaged couples—and gift-givers of all sorts—a little easier.

We had grand plans to gift something special to those traveling from afar to celebrate us. We wanted our gifts to be genuine and fun, simple and useful, thematic and not-at-all kitsch. With our high standards and with so much to do before our big day, our plans for the perfect gifts fell short.

About 6 months after our wedding, the pandemic hit and, with both of us transitioning careers, it seemed like the right time to embrace a company together. The concept for Willinglee was born out of wanting to transform the gift-giving experience into one that had real benefits for everyone involved. We knew people struggled with finding great gifts for their friends and family, and we wanted to make it easier than ever to find the perfect gift and have it wrapped and delivered without leaving your couch.

We both have backgrounds in the arts, and above all, we wanted to help small artisans get their names and products out there. Everything we sell in our shop comes from a small maker in the United States, so you can feel good about your purchase. Beyond that, to give back to our community, we donate 1% of all sales to incredible charities in need.

Our hope for gifting is that it becomes more than something to do on birthdays and holidays. We imagine kindness occurring on nothing special weekdays: a treat for a friend at work who always has your back, a gift for the mailman to brighten his day, a surprise for your partner to show your love. It’s the small moments that matter most, and the small (special) gifts that have the biggest impact.

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

Gift-giving, at its core, is about connection. It should be thoughtful, but also fun and simple. It should bring a smile and leave both giver and recipient feeling loved.

Willinglee is a gift box shop and marketplace of handmade products from makers throughout the United States. We’re your go-to for “every day” gifting. Our products are gender-neutral and inclusive. We partner with emerging Makers & Artisans and donate 1% of all sales to local charities.

A little more about our core differentiators:
These gifts are for everybody. While most other gift box services trend toward the feminine, we’ve made it one of our goals to make our boxes a bit more inclusive, so you can find something special for that hard-to-shop-for grandparent, aunt, uncle, parent, sibling, cousin, friend, mentor, colleague, lover, or kid you know… no matter their gender or preferred pronouns.

Our gifts are hand wrapped and affordable. We want this to look like it came from you—because it did. We wrap each gift with hand-painted paper and tie it up with a bow. And because we’re in this business to make you, others, and ourselves happy, we work diligently to get you the best price possible while still supporting our makers and communities.

We’re truly supporting small. In an effort to introduce more people to their work, we carry inventory from companies that are small or just starting out. As artists ourselves, we know how important it is to support other creatives. We showcase our artisan makers on our site (visit willinglee.co/makers) and in our boxes with a detailed card that informs your recipient of the stories behind their special gifts.

We do all that we can. Every 3 months, with our customers’ help, we decide on a new charitable organization to support. We donate 1% of all sales (not profits) to those in need. We’re kind to the earth and intentional in our packaging and product selections. We love this place we call our home and want to take care of it.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

Word of mouth is powerful.

Because we bootstrapped this company with only our personal savings, we’ve never had a large marketing budget. We’ve tried partnering with a couple of local (marketing) businesses in the past, but what we paid into those opportunities was unfortunately never made back in sales.

Instead, we’ve gone old school. We have an email list that’s slowly, slowly growing. We include paper collateral in every gift box sent — little postcards that educate gift recipients about our company and give them a small discount on their first purchase. We’ve mailed letters to our previous customers, thanking them for being a support. And we’ve shamelessly asked friends and family to help spread the word about our small business.

Everything worthwhile takes a village. And while money and marketing can help immensely in growing quickly, we don’t believe there’s ever a replacement for customers turning others on to our company. A raving review, either online or in person, goes incredibly far.

How’d you think through whether to sell directly on your own site or through a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc.

We sell only through our site because we want our customers to have a curated experience in creating their gifts, and believe the best place for them to do so is at willinglee.co. Our site is the only place where we can really educate our customers about the products behind the gifts they’re selecting for their loved ones. We have an entire database of maker profiles at https://willinglee.co/makers.

Growing up, my (Abby’s) parents owned an antiques and home furnishings company in Cape Cod. It taught me the value of hard work and showed me how important community connections were. While the Amazons, Etsys, and Cratejoys of the world have their place, we find selling strictly on our site helps us maintain a 1 to 1 connection with both our makers, and customers.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://willinglee.co
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/willinglee.goods/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/willinglee.goods/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/willinglee/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/willingleegoods

Image Credits
N/A