We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Monica O’Neil a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Monica 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?

Have you ever been struck by lightning? Not literally, but figuratively? All of a sudden you have a “Eureka!” moment and things look different. It happened to me a few years while I was, of all the mundane things, shopping for wrapping paper. With 3 children, a husband and very large extended family, I was planning to wrap a lot of presents. While at the cashier with a cart full of wrapping paper, bows, ribbon and tape, I had a vision: bags and bags of garbage on Christmas morning. I looked at the cashier and said, “This is such a waste! All this beautiful paper is going to end up in the trash Christmas morning. Do you sell reusable gift wrap?” Ignoring my rudeness, she said, “No, sorry, but that’s a great idea!” I got in my car and decided I should start a business making reusable gift wrap.

I called my sister because sisters will tell you if you are crazy. She didn’t think so. Then I called my friend, Cindy Estes, who was pivoting from a children’s clothing line called Seam that she had started. She liked the idea, too. All this time, I was Christmas shopping and talking on the phone. I was so excited and distracted that I bought all the wrong sizes and colors. Most of it needed to be returned later, But by the time I got home, Cindy and I had decided to give it a go and had come up with the name for our company: Rapt.

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 your business and give our readers some of your background and context?

Rapt is reusable fabric gift wrap that replaces single-use wrapping paper. We have put together beautiful kits which include sheets of fabric, accents, ribbon and gift tags to be used at the holidays, when the majority of people buy gift wrap, but also all year long. We have chosen versatile colors and patterns that work for all gift-giving occasions and our four sizes cover gifts of all shapes and sizes. You can keep Rapt in-house for all your celebrations or give it away for your friends and family to use and reuse.

This is not a new idea. In our research, we learned that furoshiki wrapping cloths have been around for centuries in Japan. Rapt is looking to make sustainable gift wrap a tradition here in the US. We are sourcing our fabric and having our sheets cut and sewn in the states. This year we connected with a women’s sewing cooperative in NY, and they are making our accents.

Americans throw away thousands of football fields worth of gift wrap at the holidays and it is truly a waste. Rapt hopes to change a small habit to make a big impact. That’s why our tagline is: Your Present . Our Future

Have you ever had to pivot?

We were just getting started at the end of 2019 and had multiple stores and museum gift shops interested in carrying Rapt. Our orders were stacking up. Then the pandemic hit, and shops closed their doors. Our sales plummeted. We knew we had a good idea, so we built a good website and pivoted to online sales. We invested in digital marketing and learned that we could reach a much bigger audience. As a result, we have had sales from almost every state except North Dakota, Hawaii and Alaska! If you know someone who might be interested in an ecofriendly product, please help us spread the word about Rapt.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

Before starting Rapt with Cindy, I had no previous experience in business. The first book I read was The Lean Start Up by Eric Ries. I learned so much from the book: about testing and evaluating and reevaluating. Having been a teacher in a previous life, it was my turn to be a student.

Other books I have found interesting and instructive are:

This is Marketing by Seth Godin
Deep Work by Cal Newport
Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg
Waste by Kate O’Neill
Dare to Lead by Brené Brown
The Future of Packaging by Tom Szaky
Inconspicuous Consumption, the Environmental Impact You don’t Know You Have by Tatiana Schlossberg

The most recent book I read was Shoe Dog by Phil Knight. I found this memoir of the creator of Nike fascinating. Phil struggled mightily in the beginning with production issues and cash flow and managing employees, but he never wavered from his vision, his “crazy idea.”

Contact Info:

• Website: www.raptgiftwrap.com
• Instagram: @raptgiftwrap
• Facebook: Rapt giftwrap
• Linkedin: Rapt Giftwrap
• Twitter: @RGiftwrap

Image Credits
All photos were taken by Cindy Estes or Rubi Lichauco