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

Hi Raema, thanks for joining us today. Let’s talk legacy – what sort of legacy do you hope to build?

One of the reasons I started “Gifty Gal” was to have another opportunity to be generous. I want to be known as a person who was generous with their gifts, finances, connections, and time. I believe being generous keeps your heart happy and keeps you grounded. If I have the ability to provide a job, provide resources, provide my time to give someone else an opportunity, then I believe I will make a difference in this world.

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?

I have always loved putting gifts together for baby showers and for birthdays and holidays. I love the process of finding gifts that are unique and thoughtfully chosen for the recipient because I believe gifts can be one way to help people feel seen and known. I had four friends having baby showers in a month and had four different gift baskets in my office. My husband walked into my office, noticed the gifts and casually said, “you should do this as a business.” It had never occurred to me to turn this into a business. I decided to start a website and Instagram page to see if there was a market for what I was offering and it grew much faster than I anticipated. “Gifty Gal” officially became an LLC in January of 2022.

Gifty Gal thoughtfully curates gifts for any occasion. I enjoy taking a client’s vision and creating a gift they would be proud to give to the recipient. I have the honor of working with professionals across a handful of industries. I work with real estate agents in the DFW area providing their closing gifts. I partner with them to create a branded closing gift they can give to each of their clients. I have put together gifts for different sales reps in not just Texas but multiple states to give to their current customers or prospects. These gifts have been unique and eye catching, helping them get call backs and meetings scheduled. I have also helped people with personal gifts ranging from holidays, birthdays, get well, wedding, engagement and condolence gifts.

My specialty is gift bundles. I like creating gift baskets or gifts that have a theme. Some that are popular within the sales community are golf baskets, ammo can bundles, whiskey and cigar boxes and spa baskets.

I feel lucky to help with gift giving. For some, the process can be stressful and overwhelming and I love that I get to remove that stress from them. Some people are too busy to put the kind of thought into a gift they would like to. I am able to bring their vision to life.

I take pride in the creativity and excellence placed into each gift I am entrusted to select as well as being conscious of my client’s budget.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

My whole business has been built on my reputation and quality of work as well as word of mouth from customers who were happy with the gifts I curated for them. If I produce poor quality, sloppy gifts my business would come to an end quickly. I am not only representing myself with my work I am also representing the client I am creating the gifts for. If I make them look bad, I look bad.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I have always had to be feisty and resilient with whatever job I have held. This began when I was in the Navy and I was the only woman in my search and rescue class. I had to work harder then my male counterparts to simply pass the physical tests we all had to take. I couldn’t act like or carry myself like a victim to try and manipulate my way through completing the school. I had to work hard and figure things out. Resilience and my inability to quit or lose are the only reasons I graduated that glass.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.giftygal.co
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gifty.gal/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/raema-mauriello-747970118/

Image Credits
Madi May – 7 Seconds Media