Our intrepid leader, John Brown founded Gifts of Nature in 1995 to bring high-quality service and selection to the wholesale gift industry. After 25 years, Gifts of Nature is still going strong and still helping customers succeed and prosper.

In 2018, John sat down with the SD Voyager to discuss the past, present, and future of Gifts of Nature. Here are some excerpts from that interview:

SD Voyager: John, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.

John Brown: I always knew I was a natural salesperson. From 1993 – 1995 I didn’t have a job. While I was on sabbatical I had a chance to consider whether I wanted to go back into the workplace or not. I thought if I did, I would only do so under an ideal circumstance. In trying to figure out what characteristics, opportunities and possibilities were out there, saw there was nothing like what I was thinking, so I decided I would have to start my own and I ended up dreaming up what is now Gifts of Nature(…)

Our point of differentiation as a business is that instead of selling well know brands, we sell an obscure product that the retailer wants to buy but doesn’t necessarily know how and where to go do that. We go to the retailer and the help them make sure they are buying the best product they can to support their retail store.

 

SDV: Has it been a smooth road?

JB: We don’t have problems finding the product to sell or the customers to sell it to. Our greatest challenges is to find great, personable salespeople who won’t put pressure on their customers and although on the commission is confident in knowing that they will be successful.

 

SDV: How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?

JB: One thing we don’t change, that the industry has, is that reps don’t go into customer’s stores as much anymore to write orders and make presentations.

We do.

See the rest of the SD Voyager interview here and to learn more about Gifts of Nature, visit our About Us page and don’t forget to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and LinkedIn!