Hushd Creations is a customized gift-giving business born out of the owners’ kind hearts for bringing joy to others. Whether it be soy-coconut wax candles, luxurious natural-scented spray mists, cute slogan mugs, totebags and other accessory items, all of which are eco-friendly, Hushd offers house-made options for every buyer’s budget. Big or small, the gifts can be completely customized and tailored to the client’s individual needs, or there is an easy-to-browse feature on the website to find exactly what you’re looking for, depending on the occasion and event. We sat down with Shifana, the owner/CEO of Hushd, to find out more about her vision to spread thoughtfulness around the lower mainland.
What is your business called and what does it do?
Hushd Creations; we make gifts for all occasions, all with the ability to be personalized or customized.
What made you want to do this work?
Hushd was born out of a silent passion of mine. I’ve always wanted to have my own business that would not only let me express my creativity but would allow me to do so whilst bringing joy to others. Making your heart smile through gift-giving, is my “why”.
What problem did you want to solve with the business?
There is a gap in personalization and customization services, within the gifting industry. We want our gifts to be an expression of you! By letting us be a part of your journey and allowing us to personalize or tailor our item to your story, it evokes the heart-warming feeling we live for.
Who are your clientele/demographics?
Our target demographic is everybody because everybody wants to give or receive gifts! We have our standard products that can work as gifts for a variety of occasions, but we’re also able to make custom orders for business swag or professionals to gift their clients. Furthermore, we can make gifts that are occasion-specific for graduation, weddings, birthdays, corporate functions and more. Whatever you envision, we will do our best to bring your vision to life!
How does your business make money? How does it work?
Hushd launched in April 2022, so it’s been just over 1 year now. We are an e-commerce business but do in-person local markets and trade shows. We find that being able to make those personal connections with our customers is what brings us true joy and has been the most rewarding. We also do custom orders for other businesses or individuals, which helps to expand our portfolio and give us brand recognition.
Where in the city can we find your profession?
We are based out of Coquitlam, but we do in-person events all around Vancouver, North Shore, and the Lower Mainland. We’re currently working on getting our products into stores, so you’ll hopefully be able to find us at a local shop near you!
What is the best question a prospective customer could ask a member of your profession when comparing services? Give the answer as well.
The best question a customer has asked us when comparing us to our competition is: How can you guarantee that what I want you to make will match my vision? Our response to this is, it’s in the process! We get to know our customers, what they are looking for, what they like and don’t like in terms of colours/design, etc., and then we go back and make a mock-up of the design. We then get our customers involved and send them the mock-up to get their input, incorporate any changes or ideas they may have, and once we have settled on the final look, we go ahead and create their masterpiece! By getting our customers to be hands-on, it allows them to feel a sense of pride, knowing that they contributed and were able to help bring their vision to fruition. Alternatively, we do have those customers that don’t want to be involved in the process and give us full creative control. This is equally as fun for us, as we get our creative juices flowing, produce a final product and await that element of surprise when we deliver it to them! Either way, we want to ensure our customers are happy with the result and are proud to have our product be a part of their story or gift-giving experience.
What is the best part about what you do? What is the worst part?
Hushd has been a passion of mine since before its inception, so everything related to the business brings me true happiness. I’m just so grateful to be able to be living my vision – from meeting customers, designing, and creating new products, updating our website, and so much more, I love it all!
The worst part, if I’m being truthful, would probably be waking up at 5 am on weekends to go set up for our in-person markets, LOL. Although, once we get going and the crowds start to arrive, all of that exhaustion goes away and I get energized for what’s to come!
What is your favourite joke about your own profession?
The one thing that seems to be a constant joke amongst all of us small business owners, is that on top of being a business owner, a designer, a maker, a finance expert, a website designer, etc. etc., being a content creator is not a task that we ever envisioned needing to master! But we now are all fluent in taking photos, creating reels, shooting b-roll, editing, and so much more, that it really has taken over into being a full-time job on its own… which we find funny – it’s a whole other job that we didn’t sign up for! LOL
Where can we follow you?
Instagram, Facebook and at our in-person events, listed on our website
PAY IT FORWARD: What is another local business that you love?
Sweetgrass Soap! She is amazing and truly embodies the notion of collaboration over competition. From the very start, she provided so much insight and support for my business and to this day, continues to do so. It’s so refreshing to meet people that are genuine and always willing to help, and I’d love to pay kindness forward to support them!
