Cliff T.: Miss Schwartz, this is an interesting idea, gratitude as a part of business culture. I have not heard of this idea before so can you explain how this idea works in Whitney Howard Designs?
W. Schwartz: Thanks for asking, it feels great that you noticed us for our sense of Gratitude. It is literally an automatic response for me when we receive testimonials; I just want to send them a gift of Gratitude for taking the time to share their thoughts with us about how our product touched their life. Wanting to gift gratitude is in my make up, it takes no pre thought it’s just who I am, it’s who Howard is. Expressing a grateful heart is one of the very best feelings I ever get when I get to say thank you, or I am grateful. At a recent gift show, at the last hour Howard wanted to play a game so he offered passers by the opportunity to have something free in the booth but there was a caveat, after they picked something for someone special, they had to pick out something for themselves. Howard took video of some of the people and asked what they picked and why. The videos made me cry so hard, my heart was expanding with love and appreciation. I love this story but I tell it to you because not for one second did I care that Howard was giving away product, all I wanted to do was watch the videos and the stories of why people picked what they did, it was a moment of ‘Life in Action’ combined with gifting tangible reminders…beautiful.
Cliff T.: How did this idea come about in the company?
W. Schwartz: Since we began selling Blessing Rings, we would offer passersby the opportunity to take a Blessing Ring out of the complementary bowl. People would stop; explore the bowl for a long time. Often this is how we got customers; it gave a passing by retailer the chance to experience all the heartfelt, inspiring and motivating words and quotes on the tokens. Something that always happens at shows, people walk up to Howard and I and share with us that they were offered to take a token out of the bowl, be it a year ago or years and years ago. People show us their treasured Blessing Rings on their keys or hung on a necklace chain, and we get to hear how something so small means so much to them. Our hearts could not be fuller. It was those interactions that led Howard and I into thinking; how can we ripple gratitude in the way we ripple the energy of the Blessing Rings?’ When we gift the Gratitude Blessing Rings we have a style in which we do it. First we take their hand and ask if we can place a Gratitude Blessing Ring in their hand, we hold their hands and say our Gratitude’s. If they are a new customer we say how with all the things to see at a show, Thank you for shopping with us and trusting our brand will work in their shop. If it’s a reorder customer that Gratitude is different, reorders are a tremendous win for each of us, we are both succeeding at selling goods that touch hearts. If it’s not a wholesale account, then that expression of gratitude is typically face to face at a show and the exchange of love is measurable by everyone witnessing. After we gift the Gratitude Blessing Ring we pass on another to that person and request that they pay their Gratitude forward. It is a joyous and tremendous feeling.
Cliff T.: Has the pandemic affected your business; and how has being grateful, if did helped you and the company?
W. Schwartz: 100% it affected our business. All our museum and destination business slowed tremendously, and many retailers were closed. We chose to make giving back our focus. In 2020, we donated 5000 Gratitude Blessing Rings to nurses in 6 different hospitals during Nurses Week. We could not be more grateful for the nurses who showed up to work during the pandemic. In the beginning of 2021 we gifted Gratitude Stones to the staff at the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, it was our way of saying Thank You for coming to work and keeping the museum clean and cared for during the Pandemic. In Spring of 2021 we gifted 500 Gratitude Stones to the staff at West Hills Hospital to say thank you for caring for our community. Business slowed greatly in 2020-2021, but our hearts grew in size.
Cliff T.: When you explain this idea and how it is used in WHD to others what kind of reaction do you get?
W. Schwartz: We get testimonials every day. We send out goody bags to all our customers, retail and wholesale. Each goody bag is filled with stickers. A Gratitude Blessing Ring to pay forward, and other relevant goodies. People react in authentic ways, tears of gratitude, lots of hugs, handwritten notes, and emailed thankyous explaining how they payed forward the Gratitude. People react with love and surprise, they are often shocked we are saying thank you, and when we add the second Blessing Ring for them to pay forward…it is the most beautiful of moments.
Cliff T.: Miss Schwartz, what do you think the biggest benefit is for you, your staff and customers that being grateful offers?
W. Schwartz: I can go on for pages on the benefits of being grateful. I am also a teacher of ancient wisdom and meditation, from Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, all the faiths and beliefs…Gratitude is the one word that comes up in all of them as the foundation to a happy and healthy life. The benefits are totally physical, we see people tear up the minute they realize we are grateful for them. The heart is touched, the soul, the mind; Gratitude benefits the entirety of who we are.
Cliff T.: Of course we can’t just discuss being grateful. You have a business that is out there providing some unique products. What exactly does Whitney Howard Designs offer the consumer?
W. Schwartz: We offer the consumer a gift for every occasion and celebration in life. Most of us buy gifts for the typical holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, graduation, new baby, new home…but in between those are the times in life when gifting comes into play. We have gifts for those moments when you want to say, ‘I love you’, I am proud of you’, ‘you can do it, I believe in you, ‘you are going to be ok’, ‘way to go’, ‘you will get through this’, gifts for recovery, healing and new beginnings. Our collection encompasses life’s journey and placed into tangible, wearable reminders.
Cliff T.: The company has been around since 1999, congrats on that success. How do you keep it fresh what goes into keeping customer interest in your products?
W. Schwartz: We do not and have never followed trends. We always dive deep into our hearts, we say to ourselves ‘what do people need, long for, what are people inspired by?’ To design we ask questions like, ‘What is a healing way of saying something worth wearing’, what are people we know going through and what words and quotes relate to that particular journey, and we go from there. I have a friend who has a Heart of Gold; years ago I wanted to gift her something and I designed and created the Heart of Gold cuff and now the Hearts of Gold collection has many hearts to choose from. I thought to myself, who do I know with a Big Heart, Brave Heart, and so I made a ring and heart charm with ‘big heart’ and ‘brave heart’ along with other hearts of gold. Customers stay interested because as we continue on life’s journey, words, quotes and symbols change or gain meaning. We are a meaningful company, so as long as gifting meaningful gifts is on your list interest should always be present.
Cliff T.: As the Chief Designer you have a lot of ideas coming your way, what is the most interesting part of the job selecting or taking that design and creating the product?
W. Schwartz: The most interesting part is how impactful what we create has on people. The most challenging part of the job continues to be, trusting in myself. What I may sketch or find inspiring may not be to another. Trusting in myself that what I think is worth wearing is that to others. Years ago, I created The Peace Leaf, it is a leaf that one gifts to someone seeking Peace, an olive branch to repair relationships, turning of a new leaf, peace of mind, peace for the world. It was not a huge hit until recently we have had many requests for it. I trusted myself in creating this piece, which means so much to me though it is not popular in our collection, stay true to yourself, that challenge is interesting to me.
Cliff T.: Miss Schwartz if you could impart some wisdom to company leaders what would you suggest they do to make things better for the company, the staff and people they serve?
W. Schwartz: I would suggest they learn to meditate. There are so many myths around the idea of meditation but when we mediate, the best version of our self appears when we are in our lives. The practice of meditation gives us time to ourselves, when we are aware, and we cultivate awareness, our life after mediation, in work, in personal, it all changes, it all illuminates and your best version is at play.
Cliff T.: Excellent, I want to thank you again for giving us a peek into your world. I am sure more great things are coming along the way from WHD and I appreciate your taking time to share your story.
W. Schwartz: Thank you Cliff, honestly this time, your thoughtful, inquiring questions, is a big compliment to me and to Whitney Howard Designs. The fact that you think we are worthwhile to talk about, truly the biggest and best compliment.
I am grateful you took the time to get to know us.
Whitney
Whitney Schwartz is the Chief Designer for Whitney and Howard Designs. To take a look at what they offer visit https://www.whitneyhowarddesigns.com/. There is a really good article about their gratitude model which can be found at Expert Click.
Miss Schwartz wrote to us from the corporate site in Los Angeles CA.
