At Hello Alice, we’re all about helping small business owners launch and grow their businesses, and we regularly hop on our soap box encouraging consumers to open their wallets and spend their hard-earned dollars where it has the most impact.
But as a growing business ourselves, we know first-hand how powerful it is when businesses large and small make the choice to source from the small business community. Case in point: our 2021 holiday gifts. For the third year in a row, we spent 100% of our budget on items and services from small businesses.
Holiday gifts are a great way to express our gratitude to investors, partners, and team of hard-working staff at the end of another rewarding (if challenging) year. But our commitment to entrepreneurs pushed us to look past the convenience of traditional gift baskets and two-day shipping to focus on small, local brands we know and love. Plus, as we kick off the Year of Small Business, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to walk the talk and demonstrate how the procurement process can be a powerful tool to invigorate our small business economy.
Let’s meet some of the small businesses we relied on to reward Team Hello Alice for a remarkable 2021.
Carve & Cast Co.
A big challenge for all-remote companies is finding a way to come together and celebrate as a team when you’re spread across the country and around the world. Rainie Brazil, the founder of Sacramento-based Carve & Cast Co., just might have devised the perfect solution.
A jewelry maker by training, Rainie started Carve & Cast as a way for individuals to make their very own rings. More than 75 Hello Alice staff members received a Carve & Cast Co. package filled with a wax ring mold, knife, ring sizer, and other necessary tools. When the time came, everyone Zoomed in to a session to hang out and get tips from Rainie on how to carve the wax into a ring of their own design. Each person mails their finished wax back to Rainie, who then spins it in a centrifuge and forges it in metals such as brass or sterling silver. You get the finished product back in a few weeks as a wearable keepsake.
“I have so much gratitude,” said owner Rainie Brazil when she learned that she would be hosting a virtual gathering for Hello Alice. Carve & Cast is still her side hustle, she explained, and group events and recurring clients are what will one day allow her to pursue the business full time.
Teak & Twine
Founded by Torrance Hart, a mother and proud veteran, Teak & Twine curates unique gift boxes filled with items from small businesses, many of which are owned by women and people of color. Torrance also happens to be a longtime Hello Alice owner.
With the help of Torrance, we spoiled our staff and investors with goodies from the following businesses:
- Notebooks from Appointed
- Snacks from Partake Foods
- Cookies from Lark Fine Foods
- Chocolate from Keller + Manni
- Sparkling white tea from Töst
- Champagne gummy bears from Sugarfina
Hey Bartender
With Hey Bartender, Hello Alice was able to take the party on the road.
How does it work? Top-rated bartenders host virtual events that invite you into what the company calls “the first virtual bar.” Guests get all the ingredients they need, and a bartender walks you through the step-by-step process for creating the featured cocktail in the comfort of your own home.
Sure, we weren’t in the same room together, but we were still able to raise a glass to a year of hard work supporting small businesses!
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