The Women-Owned Makers Behind Our Gift Boxes

Giften Market is a WBENC-certified women-owned business. We've packed and shipped more than 75,000 gifts from our Minnesota studio, The New York Times' Wirecutter named us a top pick for care packages, and every box that leaves our warehouse is filled with products we chose one at a time. A lot of those products come from businesses that look like ours: founded by a woman, often at a kitchen table, and still run by her.

The simplest way to support women-owned businesses is to buy from them, and gifting multiplies the effect: one purchase supports the maker and introduces her brand to someone new. Women's History Month in March is a natural moment to do it on purpose. But birthdays, thank-yous, new babies, and hard weeks happen all year, and the makers below are shipping all year too.

Why is gifting a good way to support women-owned businesses?

Because a gift box works like a sampler: the person who opens it meets five or six small brands at once, in their best light. A caramel gets eaten, a tea gets brewed, a candle gets lit, and somewhere in there a recipient becomes a customer. We've watched it happen for years through the "About the Maker" details on our product pages: people open a box, fall for one thing inside it, and go find the business behind it.

That's also why we keep a dedicated Women-Owned Collection. It currently holds nearly 300 products, every one from a women-owned business, and every one available individually or inside a Build Your Own Gift Box.

Which women-owned makers are in our gift boxes?

Here are twelve we're proud to pack, with the real story behind each one.

Big Heart Tea Co.

Founder Lisa Govro started with a refurbished 1969 camper she turned into a traveling tea shop at St. Louis farmers markets; today her ethically sourced blends ship to stores in more than 40 states. Her Cup of Sunshine is one of the most reordered teas in our warehouse, and the Tea for Two samplers are built for sharing.

Annie B's

Handmade caramels from Kellogg, Minnesota, slow-cooked in copper pots the same way since 1978 and owned today by Amanda Henke. A fellow Minnesota company, an Oprah's Favorite Things alum, and the single most requested treat in our gift boxes. Start with the original caramels.

Rifle Paper Co.

Every Rifle Paper design begins as a hand-painted gouache illustration by co-founder and chief creative officer Anna Bond, who launched the company from a garage apartment in Winter Park, Florida in 2009. We stock the porcelain mugs and desk goods because they get used daily, not displayed.

Old Whaling Company

April Budney started handcrafting bath products in her Charleston, South Carolina kitchen in 2012; her sea-inspired line is still made by hand there. The bath bombs and body butters are staples of our spa and self-care boxes.

Nopalera

Sandra Velasquez named her Brooklyn-based botanical brand after the nopal cactus she grew up with, and built it into a line carried by Nordstrom and hundreds of boutiques. The Hand Cream Trio is a gift on its own, three tubes in packaging that doesn't need wrapping.

Brightland

Aishwarya Iyer founded Brightland in 2018 to sell traceable, California-grown extra virgin olive oil after learning how much imported oil is past its best. The ALIVE mini is our go-to for kitchen and housewarming boxes: small enough to gift, good enough to finish.

Cure Hydration

Lauren Picasso launched Cure in 2019 after struggling to recover from triathlon training; the electrolyte formula is based on the World Health Organization's oral rehydration standard, with no added sugar. The lemonade drink mix goes into our get well and recovery boxes.

Pinch Me Therapy Dough

Clinical hypnotherapist Nancy Rothner spent nearly three years developing this scented, squeezable dough as a drug-free way to bring stress relief to people who couldn't sit in her office. A 3oz tin fits in a desk drawer, which is exactly where most of them end up.

Itzy Ritzy

Kelly Meyer Douglas co-founded Itzy Ritzy in 2007 after she couldn't find baby gear that worked well and looked good, and she still leads the company as CEO. The rattle pals, crinkle toys, and teethers anchor our new baby gift boxes.

Emily Lex Studio

Artist and author Emily Lex creates step-by-step watercolor workbooks from her studio in Gig Harbor, Washington, with the sketches already printed on thick watercolor paper so people who have never painted can start. The Americana workbook is a favorite in our creative and thinking-of-you boxes.

Soup of Success

This Elkhart, Indiana nonprofit runs a 20-week job and life skills program for women rebuilding their lives, and the participants make the soup mixes themselves as part of their training. Every packet of Spicy Tortilla Soup we pack funds another woman's spot in the program.

ESW Beauty

Elina Wang took out a $25,000 loan in 2019 to create sheet masks built around the same raw juice ingredients she used in her own wellness routine. The Pink Dream mask slips into almost any self-care box we build.

And two of our own

The list wouldn't be complete without the brands we design in-house at our woman-founded, woman-led company: Liam & Louisa, our baby brand of weighted plush pals, swaddles, and newborn essentials, and Dusk & Dawn, the home of the fleece throws, candles, teas, and dried bouquets that anchor so many of our boxes. Designed here, packed here, and gifted everywhere.

Do I have to wait for Women's History Month?

No. Any gift you were already going to send can support a women-owned business instead of a generic one. Client thank-yous, employee appreciation, new baby gifts, get well boxes, holiday sends: each is a chance to put a dozen small businesses on someone's counter instead of another forgettable basket. March is simply the month when people remember to check who made the thing they're buying. The makers above would rather you check in September too.

Where to start

Browse the Women-Owned Collection to shop these makers directly, or pick your favorites and let us pack them for you with Build Your Own Gift Box: you choose every item, we wrap it, ribbon it, and tuck in your note on a printed enclosure card. One box, a dozen small businesses, and a recipient who gets to discover all of them.