We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Vanessa West a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Vanessa , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.
I’m a professional gift wrapper; had you told me I’d be doing this 10 or even 5 years ago I wouldn’t have believed it was an option, however, I would have loved the idea. The initial idea for the gift wrapping portion of the business began as a way to connect with my new neighbors after moving to Memphis, TN. We moved in 2020 during the pandemic and I was looking for a way to be a part of our community without the ability to socialize. I have a genuine knack for presentation and I’ve always used gifting as a way to express a sentiment so the idea of giving gifts to my neighbors came easily and gave me an outlet full of joy and creativity. Turning that into a business idea evolved from people approaching me to help them with the presentation of their gifts. Once people started referring me to friends and neighbors, that’s when I knew I could create a business out of wrapping gifts. A few short months after wrapping my first gifts, in the spring of 2021, I acquired my first contract with a shopping center to wrap during the holidays and others followed. After a year of working out of my home office, I began to casually look for a brick and mortar to act as my gift wrapping studio and house a gift shop component. This part of the business was much more involved, purposeful, and required a business plan; it took me months to finalize a decision because I was scared of the financial risk and all the unknowns that come along with owning a new business. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that throughout this whole time, almost daily, I would talk myself in and out of the idea that a hobby could become a legitimate business. During the times I was talking myself into the idea I knew the reason I wanted the gift shop component was because I wanted to provide consumers the option to find unique one-of-a-kind gifts (the type of gifts I shop for; artisanal and handcrafted items) and I also wanted to provide them with paper options designed by artists and pattern designers that they’ve grown to love seeing me use. I was and am one of the few gift wrappers in the city who will wrap items purchased from anywhere and I do it in a way that is unique to the recipient so each gift is custom.
Vanessa , 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?
I’m the owner of a gift shop offering professional gift wrapping. After having my son 4 years ago, I planned to go back to work once he started kindergarten but the more I was away from working in a clinical setting (I have my Master’s in Counseling) the less desire I had to go back. Two moves later and a pandemic, we were brought to Memphis, TN. What started as a gift wrapping service as a way to connect with my neighbors, quickly turned into a small business (a bespoke gift wrapping service and curated gift shop). When I gift wrap, I feel pure joy and pride. I take a different approach to my gift wrapping; it’s custom and unique to each recipient. Many of my individual customers come to me because they care about the presentation and want to present something beautiful. Before I wrap, I talk with my clients about the gift recipient, their personalities, favorite colors, background, etc. I want to make the gifting experience personal. This is one of the biggest elements that sets me apart from other gift shops, I listen and infuse my desire for connection into the curated items I carry in the store and the way I wrap.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
As a small business, especially a creative one, you are often the face of your brand; I dove heavily into this, and still do (albeit unintentionally at first). My personality is infused into my business from the products I carry in my small shop to my gift wrapping service. I think the act of gift giving lends itself to some transparency, vulnerability, and genuineness and I also feel consumers deserve that so I have built a reputation with my market by showing them those qualities in myself.
Have you ever had to pivot?
I love reading about women who know what they wanted and went for it – my story is not that clearcut. During undergrad, I always had a desire to be an interior designer or gift shop owner but talked myself into counseling being the better career path because it felt more “professional.” Fast forward 15 years later and a toddler and I no longer had the desire to continue down that career path. In hindsight, I recognize my core was always being pulled in a creative direction, however, I would often silence that part of myself and do what I felt was the more logical path. Once I decided to offer gift wrapping services and open a gift shop, the path to that went quickly and there were very little hurdles in my way (aside from my own waffling). There was definitely some pivoting (or swaying with the waves one could say) in getting my gift shop up and running; all I knew was I wanted to open a gift shop but didn’t know how I was going to make it happen. I explored a number of ideas I felt would be “easier” such as one where I contacted existing small businesses whom I felt would be a good fit and pitched them an idea of a shared space idea that would act as one unit where we would respectively run our own businesses, share the overhead costs, but look like one unit to the public. There were hiccups and time lapses during this, so I tried to listen to those (in addition to following the research from my business plan). What that lead me to was ultimately opening my own gift shop in a traditional brick and mortar location. I feel some pivots are from necessity and others, in the case of this example, is pivoting from societal stigma, perceived norms, etc. and how that can result in the adage of following your gut.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.avenuewrapping.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/avenuewrapping/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/avenuewrapping
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avenue-wrapping/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/avenue-wrapping-memphis-2
- Other: Email: [email protected], Phone: (901) 250-5075, Address: 3092 Poplar Ave. Suite 13 Memphis, TN 38111
Image Credits
Image Credits: Katie Barber Photography Image Credits: for the photo with the handmade notecard sets and wrapped gifts with blue backgroung-Justin Fox Burks