We recently connected with CATHY HOGAN-SMITH and have shared our conversation below.
CATHY, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear the story of how you went from this being just an idea to making it into something real.
Years ago, as a real estate agent, I would attend closings, and noticed that other agents were bringing small gifts to thank their clients….I thought that was a very nice gesture, and considered that I should try doing something similar, (except much nicer!) I’ve always been a creative/artistic person, so I figured that I could create my own designs. I approached the builders that I was representing about the idea, and they told me to run with it!
I sought out products, and tried to create several different real estate related designs, and looking back now, I realize that they weren’t really that great, but seemed to get a great response when presented! I decided that I needed to research design/vendor possibilities for this to become a legitimate side business ,so I headed to the local book store to see I could find any books on the topic! I was surprised to find that there was a publication, and not only that, but the book mentioned a national gift basket convention! I searched to find the next convention and immediately signed up, and headed to Chicago the next month!
I learned so much from the classes that I took, and the convention also had a design contest, so I started entering, and surprisingly won! Several times over the next few years! The magazine that sponsored the convention took notice, and then hired me to teach design and marketing for the next convention, and from there, several other national magazines recognized my talent, and featured me in several issues for them!
I learned from the classes that I took, that my focus would be on designing for businesses, and not opening a retail store, which was my first intention. Since all of my designs are custom, I get to incorporate special items into the designs for the companies, that make them more personal for their recipients! The response that the gifts we create has been phenomenal, and I like to tell my clients that the art of gifting is actually an authentic expression of gratitude!
CATHY, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
We have been in business for 26 years, and create custom gift designs for businesses. We have won several awards over the years, for design and marketing, and we work with many companies around the country! Our focus is to create gifts for our businesses, that are extremely personalized, and show their recipients how much they value them! We teach them that expressing gratitude in this manner is good for their companies, and creates good will and return business!
We currently have 3 programs that we offer. 1) Our custom gift design program, 2) Our Celebration Box subscription program, and 3) Our Pop-By gifts program.
We are heavily involved in several Chambers of Commerce in the Atlanta area along with numerous local networking groups. Through these connections, we have also met with, and cooperated with, several local charities! Being able to contribute to our community has been an important part of our mission as a company, and we even give a portion of all sales to these local charities, so that lets our clients know that not only are they showing appreciation to their customers, but by purchasing from us, they are helping provide funds to the needs of their communities….we consider this a Win-Win, for everyone, and this is something we are so proud of!
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
When Covid 19 hit the country in 2020, business shut down due to the lockdowns! I had just returned from a large food show, where I had purchased around $20,000 worth of gourmet products, all of which had shelf lives. Without having any idea how long the shutdown would be, the thought of losing all of my product to expiration, was daunting! I had to really put my thinking cap on, and decided that rather than lose my product, I would create small boxes that included different treats, and offer them for sale to people who wanted to send something to their friends and family members around the country, who could not leave their locations, i.e., college students, senior home communities, etc. The boxes sold for only $10, including shipping, and were a huge success! All customers had to do was email us the info for the recipients, and we would send these out all over the country during the lockdown! The project was so popular, that we added this to our everyday offerings, and also inspired our Celebration Box subscription service!
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
Once I decided to focus on business-gifting, and had gained some notoriety as an excellent designer from my clients around the country, I remember receiving an interesting call from a potential new customer.
The new customer was a big named national corporation, that had been referred by one of my local clients. They were planning a company convention in Dallas, Tx, and wanted me to create hotel amenity gifts for all their employees who were to attend the convention. I told them that yes, I would be happy to take care of that, and asked them their theme, their budget, and their timeline for the event, expecting them to say in the next couple of months…..however, they apologized for the late notice, and said their event planner and suddenly resigned, and that the event was in 10 DAYS!!! What????? After I picked myself up off the floor, I had to get busy like never before!
For this order, I had to have cookies custom designed in the shape of a particular car, by a bakery in another state, no less! (This was an automotive company)..had to find the proper container to place the items in, create the design, box all of the gifts up and then ship to the hotel in Dallas…..all within those 10 days! Yikes! But……I was determined that I was going to get this taken care of, and surprisingly, with all my vendors pitching in to help with that ridiculous timeline, we were able to make the delivery on time, and confirm that the order arrived and was distributed properly! That event truly made me reconsider my motto, “The answer is yes, now what is the question?” HaHa! It was most definitely a challenge, but it proved that we could rise to any occasion, and do a stellar job in the process! And yes, my new client was amazed and totally please with the job we did for them, and are still a client to this day!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.cachetcorporategifts.com
- Instagram: cachetcorporategifts
- Facebook: Cachet Corporate Gift Services
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