We recently connected with Annie Johnson and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Annie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard.

Unlike most gift basket businesses, Take Care, South Bend is based entirely on local collaboration. I seek out “the best of the Bend and beyond” to fill gift baskets for clients and support our local economy. Sometimes this means doing limited runs or absorbing higher costs, but I believe in the shop local movement and started this business to support other small business owners. Even my business cards and labels are printed locally. Many years ago, I heard a theory that the only way independent businesses would survive against big box stores is by collaborating. I hope my work inspires others to get creative and band together with other indies.

Another typical practice I refuse is cellophane and shrink wrapping. My clients and I care about the environment, and I help them be more sustainable with recyclable or reusable packing – fabric bows instead of plastic ribbon, shredded South Bend Tribune instead of virgin paper crinkle, and when I have to ship gifts, I reuse packing materials from my suppliers. I used to work in zoo animal care and education, so getting to know and love wild animals affected by our single use plastics profoundly affects my decisions.

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

I started Take Care, South Bend in Feb 2020, unaware of how our world would change. My original goal was to provide care package subscription plans to parents of college students. When the universities closed and sent students home several weeks later, and I started getting requests for single package porch drop-offs, I pivoted along with the times and focused on helping clients shop local and provide comfort to their loved ones while apart. While I still offer custom subscription boxes, I also do corporate gifts, individual gifts, and do holiday basket bar pop-ups, where customers can choose a container or bring their own and fill it up with their choice of local goodies. My offerings are diverse, from handmade soaps and leather keyrings, to artisanal jams and maple syrup tapped from local trees, to fresh seasonal flowers and even photo cards that depict flora growing in our own country parks! The Take Care brand is about warmth and comfort, the knowledge that a gift can’t make hard things go away, but knowing you have people showing up for you certainly helps.

We’ve seen so many drastic economic changes year to year, and it’s hard to know what the new normal will be for independent businesses. What I do know is that we’re stronger when we work together.
I’m most proud of being a part of The Portage Collective, a shared shop and workspace where women- and queer-owned businesses can split the costs and labor associated with brick and mortar. I hope it will incubate many more businesses in the years to come.

How did you build your audience on social media?

When I first started, social media was all I had. No website, no store front. I focused on taking the best photos I could, borrowing a friend’s light box. To highlight the collaboration in my brand, I tagged all the vendor partners in each picture I posted and asked them to share as well so we would all grow together.

I would advise those starting out to consume social media of brands you admire and curate your content to share not just your products, but things that inspire you and things that tell your story. When I started adding in photos and videos of local restaurants I was trying or events in the community, my audience grew; I’m no longer just using my social media to advertise my own products but to connect and inspire people to fall in love with South Bend. What can you do with your platform that’s relevant to your mission?

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

A wonderful thing about the gift industry is that with each order, both the client and the recipient learns about your business. Each box goes out with a business card that has a QR code to my website. Lately, I’ve also been asking happy clients who reach back with a thank you email if they’d be willing to copy-paste that same message into a Google review. My SEO has improved because of this, and I’m getting more clients who find me through Google these days.

Contact Info:

• Website: takecaresouthbend.com
• Instagram: @takecaresouthbend.
• Facebook: @takecaresouthbend
• Linkedin: Take Care, South Bend
• Other: TikTok @takecaresouthbend

Image Credits
headshot by Molly Alexander