Chelsea Moore is the co-founder and CEO of BOXFOX—a company dedicated to modern and seamless gifting in order to create "stronger relationships through personal gifts." Moore, along with co-founders Jenni Olivero and Sabena Suri, developed BOXFOX after a good friend was hospitalized. They weren't able to be there in person but wanted to show their support through a care package that was purposeful, personal and thoughtful. "We looked everywhere and when we realized no solution existed, we took it into our own hands and built it ourselves."

On The Weaknesses in The Gifting Landscape

When we launched, there were no other companies like BOXFOX. We wanted a shopping experience that felt like the thoughtful and digital equivalent of running to Nordstrom, Anthropologie, your local paper shop, and UPS, quickly, affordably, and effortlessly. Our goal was, and still is, to offer the ability to build beautiful gifts, from a selection of all the best brands in one easy to shop place.

There was nothing out there that was accessible, elevated, and most importantly, thoughtful to its core. We don't just offer all the best brands in one place; we only work with companies run by good people, offering products that are both utilitarian and well designed. We may be an online store, but we take the relationships represented in every purchase as seriously as if they were our own, and commit to amazing customer service at every step.

On Their First Major Victory

It's a tie between 2 big moments in 2016. I was the first full-time employee at BOXFOX because Jenni and Sebena agreed to continue working at their 9-5s (and working at BOXFOX every evening) until we could bring them on responsibly. We launched in November of 2014. Jenni was able to quit her job in March of 2016, which was right around the time we moved BOXFOX out of our apartment and into our first warehouse. 

I cannot properly communicate how big of a deal it was to go from living in our inventory-based startup, to compartmentalizing it properly and having Jenni around 24/7. We went from crinkle shred in our laundry to our first 2500 sq. ft. office in the back corner of an old aerospace warehouse. Later that year, in September of 2016, we moved into a 6500 sq. ft. warehouse and we realized Sabena could quit her job and come on full time, an entire 6 months before we thought we'd be able to! Having the three of us commit to what had once just been an idea made it feel that much more real and things just accelerated from there. 

On Company Culture + Living Their Mission

BOXFOX was built because maintaining and honoring relationships in the digital age can feel impossible, and we work day in and day out to answer that call in the most accessible, customer-centric way, both online and off. Our mission is alive and well in both our product and our company culture. For us, business is personal, and we knew from the get-go that we weren't only building a brand, but also the business behind it. With the latter comes the opportunity to build a community that pays competitively, hires inclusively, does well by our employee's mental health, and builds a meaningful livelihood for everyone who comes to work for us.

We really believe that with a healthy, happy and hardworking work environment, our team can turn around and be their best, not only for themselves but also for their family and friends. We even made the decision to close all operations from December 24-January 1st. While this was a hard decision to make since we value our customers and prioritize the expediency we serve them with, we're a company that treasures our employees and are committed to building a culture that thinks not only about our work, but the role of work holistically in our lives.

Our mission is to help our customers maintain the most important personal and professional relationships, and we are committed to practicing what we preach, by encouraging our team to spend time with the people that mean the most to them, especially after they work tirelessly all year. As a leader and business owner, I think it's these smaller decisions that benefit our direct community that help contribute to a healthier American work culture overall.

On What It's *Really* Like to Be A Young, Female Founder  

It's such an exciting time to be a woman in business! The talent and creativity we're met with from partners, vendors, and mentors inspire us to work even harder every day. However, one of the harsher realities of being a female founder—at least in our experience—is getting people to take us seriously. Our "cute little gift box company" has been demeaned, dismissed and the object of ill-advised and unsolicited advice.

This feedback has been a blessing in disguise for us though, because it's made us even more committed to our greater vision and has made our convictions even stronger, blocking out unnecessary noise and say no to anything that doesn't align with our mission.

The biggest setback in launching at a younger age has been having to grow our network from scratch alongside our business. Since launching at 22, we've really had to prove ourselves and our business model, not only to customers, but to colleagues, potential partners, and other entrepreneurs. The positive of that, we always say, is that our youth let us be un-jaded optimists and have the energy to work really, really hard.

On Making The Forbes 30 Under 30 List

This was such an exciting moment. I actually woke up from the email coming in at 5am and called both Jenni and Sabena immediately (and jarringly woke them up from peaceful slumber)! We're a self-funded startup, we started everything from scratch, and so moments like this are so rewarding and validating. Our company is built around celebrations, but sometimes we forget to celebrate our own milestones! So we went to Gjelina and had a fancy dinner (complete with my favorite Butterscotch Pot de Creme). It was perfect.