Coworking with Chelsea Moore Shannon

On Wednesdays, we wear pink spotlight Retail Brew’s readers. Want to be featured in an upcoming edition? Click here to introduce yourself.

We’re getting to know Chelsea Moore Shannon, co-founder and CEO of gifting platform BOXFOX.

How would you describe your job to someone who doesn’t work in retail? At BOXFOX, we enable you to send custom gifts and care packages comprised of your favorite brands and topped with your note, handwritten by us. We also do large-scale corporate gifting, from custom gifting projects, to media mailers, to elevated swag and promotional gifting. My main job right now is driving innovation, offerings, profit, and creativity while simultaneously navigating a trickier year with regards to sales and capital availability.

One thing we can’t guess about your job from your LinkedIn profile? I’m still very hands on with marketing and design, often live sketching things for our in-house team to work off of directly or having really active working meetings.

What’s your favorite project you’ve worked on? Every single year, concepting and launching the holiday collection is my favorite project to work on.

Which emerging retail trend are you most excited about this year, and why? We’re entering into a really interesting era that’s a lot more challenging than the last 10 years. I think it will drive product design, innovation, and brand building like we’ve never seen before.

What’s your go-to coffee order? Flat white with whole milk.

Worst piece of advice you’ve received? An old boss told me I was wasting my time starting a company since 90% of startups fail. That was nine years ago.

What was your favorite retail product when you were 15, and what’s your favorite retail product now? My favorite retail product when I was 15 was probably anything in the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale catalog. My favorite retail product now is honestly Just Food For Dogs. Local to Southern California, they have changed my dog’s life with real food I pick up fresh from a local kitchen!