In 2023, Sherisha Haynes was expecting her first child, but despite a healthy pregnancy, Sherisha went through a difficult time leading up to and following the birth.
The 36-year-old told Your Local Guardian: “I had to have an emergency C-section, and my son was in neonatal for the first week of his life.
“As parents, me and his dad had to spend that first week at the hospital with him.
“When I returned home, I started to heal, but started to go through postnatal depression, but I didn’t realise it was that at the time.”
Sherisha had two friends who also had children of their own, and together, they started a mum meet-up group in Croydon called Mummy Hood Chronicles.
She added: “I started telling them about what was going on and asked them what do they do for self-care?
“Everyone was confused on the concept of self-care, so I started looking for products to pamper myself to take care of myself.
“But I couldn’t find anything where everything was in one place – everything was on different websites with different things.”
Noticing how complicated it was, she asked the mums in the group if they would be interested in pampering boxes to help them at home with their wellbeing.
They all said yes, and Sherisha made sample boxes for all the mums who received them positively.
This then led to them asking Sherisha to make them for other occasions.
Sherisha said: “They asked if I made boxes for birthdays or baby showers.
“So, I started looking into that, and it grew the product line through my mum group.
“We started as just three, and we’re now 45 through social media and word of mouth.”
The business is called Giftful Box, and its products stand out for being more than just a box full of items.
Receivers can expect to see a personal message from their sender.
She explained: “The difference between what I do compared to other businesses is that personalised touch, and it’s tailored for those that can’t always get out for self-care and wellbeing, or celebrate those moments where you can’t be there for your loved ones.
“We have this special video message feature.
“It’s a personalised video message that can be added to the gift boxes via a QR Code, allowing the customer to upload their message for whomever they’re sending the gift to.”
Giftful Box is set to celebrate its one-year anniversary this March.
Sherisha wants her business to prove to all women and mums that it is possible to start a business no matter the personal circumstances.
Currently, Giftful Box doesn’t have a location, but Sherisha has launched a GoFundMe to get a premises in order to “boost inventory”.
She aims to raise £25,000 to “make this vision come true”.
She added: “This business started off as a way for self-care after a traumatic birth, and now I see it as an opportunity to encourage people and build a strong community.”
