We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Whitney Baker. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Whitney below.

Hi Whitney, thanks for joining us today. One of the most important things we can do as business owners is ensure that our customers feel appreciated. What’s something you’ve done or seen a business owner do to help a customer feel valued?

The best, and most important, thing I have ever done for my customers to show I appreciate them is to extend all of my empathy to them.

Over the last five years, I would say 80% of my business is designing memorial keepsakes to help people dealing with the grief of pet loss. It’s a tough space to stay, mentally, and I even tried to gear away from it in the past, trying to focus on cheerier designs. But my customers, and my empathy won’t let me!

The stories of grief and loss my customers share with me don’t just move me to tears, which they often do, they move me to create the best possible item I can to help them cope with the pain that comes with grief. I know I’m not just making a keepsake, I’m encapsulating a memory for them to hold. I encourage my customers to send me lots of photos and tell me their stories; and I have a rule to always call the pet by name.

Customers sharing such intimate stories of love and loss is meaningful; and it means that I get to respond in a way that is equally impactful. When a customer shares their story with me, especially if they have moved me to tears, I’ve been known to add in extras and freebies because my job isn’t just giving them a keepsake, it’s offering comfort, and it’s the most rewarding part of my job.

Whitney, 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?

This year has been a year of metamorphosis for Wondermint, and now I’m so happy to answer this question!

As a creator of personalized gifts, I work with all kinds of keepsakes, but for some reason the people that most find me, are dog people. About 98% of my business has been dog items, and the bulk of that percentage is from pet loss keepsakes. Even when I tried to intentionally steer my business in a happier direction, my customers are all seeking the same thing from me.

When I surrendered to the fact that that wasn’t a coincidence, my business started to shift. I stopped chasing customers that weren’t coming to me; I stopped trying to mimic other successful businesses; I stopped hawking social media for trends and audio bites that would fit my feed. I honed in on my own purpose and mission: celebrating the deep and meaningful bonds we have with our dogs.

Honoring the deep bonds we have with our dogs is exactly what sets me apart from other pet brands: I’m a lot more than keepsakes; I want to change the way you experience your pet. I want to ensure that everyone that has a dog, has a Soul Dog, and that your Soul Dog is celebrated!!

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

One of the hardest lessons I’ve had to unlearn as a designer relates to my last office job. The objective of the company was never to make great or beautiful things; heck, I don’t even think they aspired to make nice things, much less beautiful ones.

The objective of that company was to make money. Design quality, customer service and work environment were much lower on the list of concerns. The business model was one that favored high profits and high turnover.

From that experience I had to unlearn stress-designing: designing while watching the clock to see if I was taking too much time, and volume-designing: trying to design as much as I can instead of as best I can.

Now I design with intention and purpose and joy and the results are so much better! Now I try to use those unlearned lessons with a new and improved approach: pace myself to design efficiently and always design from the heart!

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Learning my own mission has been the most integral part of building my social media audience in 2023. I’ve gained more followers in the last ninety days than I did in all of 2022, and the reason for this is voice! Not just finding it, but having the courage to use it, even if I might ruffle a few feathers along the way. Some of the posts I was most worried about, in terms of being against the grain, have yielded the most traction.

Another key tip that really helped me was to post two reels a day. I try to also balance, so I don’t stress if I take a day or two off to get a break, but I stay as consistent as possible. It’s been beneficial for two reasons: 1. it gets your stuff in front of a wider audience, and 2. Reels yield reels, meaning the more you make, the easier it gets to make them.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://wondermintgiftshoppe.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wondermintgiftshoppe/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wondermintgiftshoppe
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/whitney-baker-graphicsandillustrations/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/WondermintWhit
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@wondermintgiftshoppe?_t=8h8rRLksuIV&_r=1

Image Credits
All photos were styled and taken by me. :-)