The story of KMP

Hi, I’m Nadine, devoted mother, loving partner and founder and creator of Kiss My Parcel.
That’s me in the picture to your right with my beloved family.

When I was in school, I would put together little gifts to boost my friends and family,
which later became student care packages for my brother (also in pic) whilst he was in university.

 

A few years later, my beloved uncle received the tragic news that he was terminally ill with cancer and was admitted to hospital. I instantly got to work and the Hospital Boredom buster care package was born.

When I saw the happiness it sparked for him, I wanted to share this feeling with
everyone I could. I created the Kiss My Parcel retail store, looking to help people put a
smile on the faces of their loved ones, and hoping to share the joy of gifting but the retail gifting market is harsh and we were a very small fish in a gigantic ocean.

However, what I did have in abundance was individuality and in 2018 it was this that caught the eye of a prestigious watch company, who were looking for fun, bespoke gifts to send to the hotel rooms of their festival-going employees.

From retail to corporate

By now, our team consisted of just two people: myself and my fiancée (Steph), operating out of a garage lockup. Festival fun in mind, we put together packages of funky glow lights,
neon face paints and hangover goodies, and they went down a treat.
That’s when we realised that we could gift good vibes to an even larger audience.
Corporate gifting was something we could make our own!

Not long after, we struck gold again. A major airline contacted us, asking for a proposal for get well soon packages for staff off sick or on other leave.

Trouble in paradise

We knew that this could be our big break and so seized the opportunity. We sent over a proposal not just for gift packages, but for ultra cool amenity packs, kids rucksacks and more.

And it worked, they loved it! Everything was going perfectly; we moved out of our little lock-up garage and into a small office which offered us storage space we could use as a temporary warehouse. By December of 2019, we had a contract on the table.

But fate had other plans for us. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, the airline faced extreme challenges. Our contract was put on hold.

We couldn’t see where we were going anymore, and it was devastating.

Covid-19 struggles

I thought we were done for, I spent 2 weeks at home not even able to face our new office. One morning Steph convinced me to stop feeling sorry for myself and get myself into work. That same morning we received a phone call. With no expectations, crumbling plans and worn-down optimism, that phone call was set to change our course permanently.

Samsung were concerned about their furloughed staff and were looking to send a little something to raise their peoples spirits and show them that their employer really cared and understood what they were going through and they wanted ‘us’ to put it all together for them! US!

Corporate gifting

It became clear that the corporate world was becoming bored of bland corporate gifting. They needed something that worked for everyone, but wanted that personal touch, which is no easy feat.

Our ethos has always been to make every single recipient smile and to leave a lasting impression with every gift. That’s why we think outside of the box. We manage the impossible by getting to know your brand’s personality and by understanding who you and your team are.

Every cloud

We got down to research and discovered that the team at Samsung were fun loving and the type to enjoy a little internal competition. inspiration struck. We put together a box of lockdown goodies which included a grow-your-own sunflower kit, urging the furloughed staff to stay close to each other during lockdown by everyone entering into a ‘who grew it best’ competition.

The feedback was incredible! It brightened everyone’s day, and everyone got involved. It even hit social media, with pictures of these blooming flowers filling Instagram and Facebook daily. Soon after, we were receiving requests from large corporations for 20,000+ Samsung staff boxes. I needed to get more staff.

 

Our commitment to diversity

Kiss My Parcel has come so far since we started our retail gifting from a little lock-up garage space. Steph and I are two women, we are part of the LGBTQIA+ community and I am a woman of colour. All of the above has seen to it that we’ve had some truly difficult challenges thrown our way along the road, but both of us have grown as our gifting has grown.

We are so proud to be able to employ staff from underprivileged backgrounds and support those who have struggled, just as we have struggled in the past. Kiss My Parcel was our beacon of hope, and we want to share that hope with everyone.

From our Premium Party Pack to get your team in the mood to relax to a carefully crafted Zen Basket to show you care, Kiss My Parcel have a package for every occasion.

We’re not sure where we will go from here, but we know it will be exciting. We hope we can meet your company along the way and share with you our passion for making people happy!

We’ve come a long way since my days of frantically searching the house for an old
cardboard box big enough to contain a specific amount of items, but the feedback I get from recipients of my care packages makes the hard work worthwhile.

Thank you for taking the time to read my story, and I hope one of our packages will soon put a smile on the face of someone you love

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