Today we’d like to introduce you to Rebekah Murray.
Hi Rebekah, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I have been an entrepreneur for most of my adult life, although the business I run today is definitely not the business I thought I would be running.
I started my career as a photographer and spent more than 15 years photographing destination weddings. I loved the creative side of it, but I also loved getting to know people and being part of really meaningful moments in their lives.
I also started a clothing company called Virginia Dare Dress Co. I launched it on Kickstarter and was the designer working directly with factories, and that became my first real experience building a product-based business from the ground up. I learned everything from manufacturing and inventory to marketing, fulfillment, customer service, and all the glamorous things that happen behind the scenes when you own a small business.
Then COVID hit.
Like so many business owners, I had to figure out how to adapt as our factories were shut down several times. I’d always had gifting as a product line for the business, and during this season we leaned into those more as people started buying them more often.
What began as a pivot slowly started taking on a life of its own!
I realized there was a real need for thoughtful gifting made easy. It started as personal gifts, but then some customers who had businesses used them for their clients, and we realized that businesses want to be relational too, and needed help managing the details of thoughtfulness.
Over time, the gifting side became the business. We eventually transitioned away from clothing entirely and rebranded as Dare Gift Boxes.
A major part of that growth came when my business partner, Colleen, joined me. She brought strengths that complemented mine and helped us grow Dare from something I had started into a much more established company. Since then, we have continued building the business together and have grown into a full team.
Today, we are based in Leesburg and ship gifts nationwide. Most of our business is some kind of business gifting, helping companies thank clients, celebrate employees, recognize referral partners, welcome new hires, and make important relationships feel more personal.
It has been a very unexpected path, but when I look back, it actually makes a lot of sense. Photography, clothing, and gifting all look very different from the outside, but the thread running through all of them has always been relationships, creativity, and hopefully making people feel like they matter.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Definitely not. 🙂
Entrepreneurship has given me some incredible opportunities, but it has also included plenty of seasons where I had no idea if something was going to work, and second-guessing how much of my life I’ve given to an idea that might come to nothing.
My clothing company taught me a lot about risk. Product businesses require capital, inventory, and a willingness to make decisions before you know exactly how things will turn out.
Having to pivot was difficult because it was not simply starting something new. It also meant letting go of something I had poured years of work into.
Growing Dare has brought a different set of challenges. As the company has grown, my role has had to change too. There is a big difference between being good at making and selling a product and learning how to lead a team, create systems, manage cash flow, hire the right people, and build something that can function without you touching every single detail.
I have also been building businesses during some very full seasons of life personally. That has taught me that success does not always look like perfect balance. Sometimes it looks like figuring out what matters most in a particular season and being willing to adjust.
I think one of the biggest lessons I have learned is that businesses rarely grow in a perfectly straight line. Some of the things that felt like setbacks at the time ended up forcing us to become a better company, and us as better people.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Dare Gift Boxes helps businesses make gifting easier and more personal.
A lot of companies know they should be thanking clients, recognizing employees, or staying connected to referral partners, but gifting becomes one more thing on an already long list. We try to be the easy button for that.
We offer ready-to-ship gifts through our website, personalized bulk gifting, custom corporate gift projects, and ongoing gifting programs. We can help with everything from one thoughtful thank-you gift to hundreds of gifts shipping across the country.
What sets us apart is that we are able to offer a high level of personalization without making the process complicated. We can incorporate branded packaging, custom note cards, handwritten notes, branded products, private ordering portals, and scheduled gifting. We also store client swag for some of our corporate customers so they do not have to manage it themselves.
At the same time, I never want us to lose the human part of gifting.
One of the things I am most proud of is that even as we have grown, we still pay attention to the details. A handwritten note matters. Beautiful presentation matters. Getting the right gift to the right person matters.
Our phrase internally is that relationships matter most, and that really drives the company. While the quality of the products matter, the relationship behind it matters the most.
I am also proud that we have been able to build a growing company here in Loudoun County while serving clients nationwide. We work with small local businesses as well as large national organizations, and I love that we can bring the same level of care to both.
We also source from almost 200 small businesses for our products, and I LOVE knowing that any success we have is also helping so many other dreamers at the same time.
Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
Finding beauty.
It’s often found in people, but also in nature. I’m an introvert at heart, so I love escaping somewhere beautiful to enjoy an inspiring view. But “happiness is only real when shared” to quote Christopher McCandless, and I do agree with that too. I am happiest when I am spending time with the people I love. I also enjoy hosting, doing something creative, traveling spontaneously, finding new bakeries or coffee shops, gardening, or doing something active.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.daregiftboxes.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/daregiftboxes
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/daregiftboxes
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebekahjmurray/
