We recently connected with Danielle Fermano and have shared our conversation below.

Danielle, appreciate you joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

I love gift giving, I always have. I love giving surprise gifts or knowing that I am getting that person something they are going to love. When a shower or event came up I was the one to offer to be the lead on a group gift. Everyone happily handed me their money to do the work. After having my first child I decided to leave my job in education and stay home. I also decided that I would never bring a baby gift to a baby shower again. After doing all the hard work the new mom was the one who deserved the gift and needed the support. And from there an idea was born! I began bringing baskets to all the new moms in my life. I would write a special poem to go along with it to show them how amazing they are and support them in the best way I could. After, I made an extra special basket for an extra special lady in my life having triplets, I realized that what I was creating was something others may love too and I was running out of friends and family to gift to. I decided that I would start a business specializing in gift baskets for women and mothers, and furthering the mission to support women, would source my products from women-owned businesses too. After a few months, and many requests, I decided to expand and offer baskets for men and women for all occasions. I happily write poems that bring a personal and thoughtful touch that goes beyond a quick note. I make special gift giving easy and I love doing it!

Danielle, 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?

My name is Danielle and I am the creator of Poetic Basket Design. For years I have been putting together baskets with unique, personalized poems for family and friends. I love creating special one-of-a-kind gifts to show how much I care, especially for the new and seasoned moms in my life. That’s why I created Poetic Basket Design, to spread the love from one mother to another! And while I began offering baskets for women and mothers, I now have baskets and products for everyone.

Every gift basket is hand-crafted for each order, so even when you order a standard basket you know it is put together just for you and not just grabbed off the shelf. I take extra care to make each basket as special as the person who is receiving it! Your basket not only includes handcrafted, artisan products but it comes with a personalized poem for that special someone, making it a gift they are sure to treasure

And while I wanted to offer a gift that helps you express your love and support for family and friends, I also wanted to create a product that shows that same love and supports for local, women-owned businesses. Besides the handwritten, personalized poem our baskets are filled with products sourced from local, women-owned businesses. I have sourced products from some of the best local artisans and makers to create a unique product you won’t find anywhere else.

I wanted to create a product that not only brings me success, but hopefully helps others succeed too. One of Poetic Basket Design’s missions is to be a small part of other businesses success. That’s why we list all our vendors on that website, so when your soap or candle runs out you know where to find more, because the poem lasts forever but that coffee will run out!

We’d love to hear your thoughts about selling platforms like Amazon/Etsy vs selling on your own site.

I sell on my own site. I decided to go this route because it gave me more freedom to create a brand aesthetic and also more control on how I wanted to sell. While I offer standard baskets, I prefer to work one on one with clients to build something special and thought having my own website would facilitate that better. I think my website achieves both of those things. Some cons are getting customers to the website. Having your products on already established sites like Etsy or Amazon helps get your brand in front of a lot more people. Also, having a website gives you more control but I think it takes a lot longer to build since you are starting from scratch opposed to going to commerce sites that have everything set up and you plug in your products, info, etc. I have recently joined a sellers platform that specializes in highly localized makers and sellers www.feelgoodshoplocal.com and have been really happy with the support. Staff on this platform actively look to see how they can help you sell and are there for any problems. When working on your own site, while there is customer service, there is a lot less support. So far, I’ve enjoyed my experience with both.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I am a people pleaser by nature. I want to make everyone happy. Over time I’ve learned that’s just not possible. I have had to learn to say no. I have had to learn that not everyone is your customer and that’s okay. You create what you love, you price it as what you believe it’s worth and you stay there. Your customers will come. The right ones will meet you where you are. You don’t have to change what you’re doing so you can please everyone. This has been a hard lesson for me! I am still learning and growing in this aspect.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.poeticbasket.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/poeticbasketdesign
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100072743786573