Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Michelle Scerbo. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Michelle thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

After working as a Child Life Specialist at UCLA for many years, I noticed a huge lapse in support for severely underserved teenagers dealing with life-threatening illnesses, and wanted to create an organization to solve this issue. So in 2010, I had the good fortune to start Wish Upon a Teen and today the organization serves over 75 pediatric hospitals across the country with our signature Design My Room® Program.

Becoming the head of my household for my three amazing children after my divorce was final, put me back in the workforce after being a stay at home mom for 15 years. I tried the 9-5 thing for a couple of years but that left my children (and me) in a place of complete loss. In 2016 started freelancing as a personal/executive assistant working with HNW individuals and families. During some downtime in 2020, I noticed a need for a more personalized way for gifting but also wanted to find a way to bring my passion for philanthropy into how gifting was done. After a lot of trial and error, The Little Black Box®, which is a personalized on-demand bespoke gifting service, that makes gifting more meaningful and easy for all was created.

This has really allowed me to merge my worlds in so many beautiful and meaningful ways. As a California-born entrepreneur it is so important for me to empower others, so I always try to use women and other minority owned vendors when fulfilling orders with a portion of each purchase supporting charities in the community that empower girls and women. I also love that most of the clients I freelance with also utilize The Little Black Box® for their personal and corporate gifting needs.

Michelle, 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?

The vision of The Little Black Box® (LBB) is to redefine the gifting industry by ingraining giving into gift giving, while providing the highest level of quality of products and service. Unlike other gifting companies, The Little Black Box® is a truly bespoke service, really elevating what it means to give a meaningful gift.

I’m truly proud of LBB’s evolution and where it’s going. The brand is not about how big you are but how much you do with what you have.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Every journey has its ups and downs and moments when you have to decide when to pivot and when not to and sometimes those moments are more defined than others. Recently, I had one of those times and really had to soul search what would be the right pivot, not only for me personally and professionally but also for my kids.

After months of an agonizing pros and cons list, I came to the decision to pivot is a big way and move back to California after being gone for nearly 20 years. This meant moving the business…the kids…our whole life. Of course, we also did this during the holidays making our pivot more exciting. But for us, even though it has been stressful and there have been a lot of tears, it has been the BEST decision for every aspect of all of our lives. Both businesses are growing and my kids have never smiled and laughed more. The learning that has taken place throughout this pivot has been the most profound and has pushed me to be stronger in every aspect of my life.

How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?

Keeping in touch with clients is extremely important. Utilizing social media and newsletters is typically what I use with Instagram being the most effective for me both with posting and messaging to current and new clients.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thelittleblackbox.com
• Instagram: the_littleblackbox
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-scerbo-1020b94a/

Image Credits
Marilyn and Olive