We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jonathan Floyd a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Jonathan thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

Box Of Care is a gift giving company based in Kenner, LA right outside of New Orleans. It started in a corner of a 2 bedroom apartment and with 3 founding members that turned into a solo business owner.

The company’s mission has been to bring the flavors and spirit of New Orleans to those who love the city, wherever they are. But within that work, the business has used staples to guide it’s work.

One worth mentioning is the ability to provide a platform for others. Within the gifts we make, we make it a point to shine a light on local businesses, both large and small, giving the most authentic view of New Orleans possible.

The next staple to mention is supporting minority and woman owned business. In a city like New Orleans, its important to identify the businesses that give the city it’s true culture. Not all but a great deal of the spirit of the city is due to its minority residents and the creators and makers in that population.

So when someone buys a gift from Box Of Care, they can be assured that is giving them a New Orleans that they can really feel.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My background for the last 12+ years had been in corporate recruitment. One day in 2016 while having a conversation with my wife that’s from Chicago, she was a little homesick which sent us down the path of finding a company in New Orleans that was doing the same thing. While finding a few companies who put together local gifts, I didn’t see anyone selling what I would want to buy. New Orleans is a diverse, culture rich city and if someone is going to receive a gift from here it needs to showcase that. This sent me on my journey of creating New Orleans gifts that tap into the businesses, people, creators, and makers that give the city what locals love and others need. We began to put together all sorts of combinations of items that touch on the food and cooking elements of the city, but also the celebrations of Mardi Gras.

When it comes to our retail gifts or even the custom event gifts that are done by Box Of Care we have ONE goal: Bring people the most authentic experience possible. And this starts with the products inside the box and ends with the opportunity to connect to the businesses through our digital guide. The bridge to learn about what you are experiencing in New Orleans is important to us.

Our pride in this business is obvious in the events and organizations we have gotten to support like: The Sugar Bowl, The NCAA Men’s Final Four, United Airlines, Burger King, and more. But from a vendor standpoint, we have put together thousands of gifts and put some of the smallest companies in the city in the hands of the dignitaries and leaders of world class organizations.

Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.

After running Box Of Care on the side since 2017, I finally took the leap of leaving corporate America at the end of 2022. I did have a plan of leaving at the end of 2022, possibly early 2023 but that plan did not go according to that schedule.

I began to grow restless in my job and saw opportunities slipping by because of not having the availability to meet the needs of customers during the day or even attend events. I knew those things were critical to my growth and it was passing me by. And after a week in late 2022 of essentially missing my day job to work in my business, I made the decision to leave right then and there.

So when I left that week I knew I had a ton to figure out but I was going to have more time during the day to do it. And to be honest, it was almost like starting a new business. With the amount of opportunities that were there, I had to begin to decide where I needed to be and that process (which is still evolving) had me lock in on what Box Of Care should be.

Over the years, I saw the business do certain things that gave incentive to consider it a full-time role like hit six figures in 2021 and 2022 and put together over 5000 gifts in consecutive years. Those milestones with the amount of opportunity a tourist destination city presented, I knew with the right relationships I could become a key player in the tourism gift space. And I am still pursuing that work to this day.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

I think this answer is different for most businesses, even within the same industry, but networking and building relationships has saved my business. When I went full-time in my business, I had to evaluate what was important for me to grow. And the thought of becoming popular on social media seemed like a no-brainer though it is a tough route to take.

After some months of searching, I saw myself step out into the public through joining local travel agencies, tourism groups, and any other organizations that connect me to business that may need my services or folks coming to New Orleans.

The networking has been a game changer for me and outside of having a product or service that is a necessity (which is subjective), having strong relationships can put businesses into positions and places a social media post could never do.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.boxofcare.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/boxofcarenola/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/boxofcare
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/box-of-care/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/Nolaboxofcare

Image Credits
Lilly Magnolia Rose Photography (for the pictures of myself and family)