Holiday Gift Guide: Alumni-Owned Businesses
Still have some gifts to buy? Check out these 12 shops and companies
Photo courtesy of Curie
Support These Alumni-Owned Businesses This Holiday Season
Still have some gifts to buy? Check out these 14 shops and companies
Still have some folks to buy for on your holiday gift list?
Keep it in the Terrier family and look to one of these 14 alumni-founded businesses to wrap up your shopping this year. From a TikTok-famous game to a whole lot of sweet and savory treats, we bet you’ll find something for everyone from the businesses below.
Happy gifting!
Batter + Bloom
Since Rachel Kashdan (COM’16) founded Batter + Bloom during the COVID lockdown, her pop-up bakery and greeting-card business has sent her to craft markets all over Boston and Cambridge. Kashdan’s crowd-favorite treats include s’mores Rice Krispies bars, snickerdoodles, cupcakes, and seasonal goods like gingerbread cookie decorating kits. Visit Batter + Bloom in person in the greater Boston area or order cards and goodies online.
Cupcake Therapy
Shironda White (Questrom’18) was always a hobby baker, but decided to start her own business after experiencing one too many close calls with non-allergy-friendly treats. The result? Cupcake Therapy, White’s Boston-based nut-free and vegan-friendly cupcakery. Cupcakes are available for pickup at the company’s Roslindale kitchen and at pop-ups around Boston. Ordering from afar? Cupcake Therapy sells “therapy in a jar,” or shippable cupcakes available via overnight and second-day shipping.
Curie
Sarah Moret (Questrom’11) began her natural body care line with a simple mission: create an aluminum-free deodorant that actually works. Four years (and one successful Shark Tank stint) later, Curie is a full-blown wellness company offering a range of decadent products—like whipped body wash and moisturizing body oil—in addition to its flagship natural deodorants.
Craggy Games
Have a beer lover on your list? Good chance they’ll love HOOKS! the ring toss–beer pong hybrid Kyle Czarnecki (CGS’11, Questrom’13) first created in his Virginia Beach garage. Sound familiar? It should: a viral TikTok put the tabletop game (and Czarnecki’s subsequent company, Craggy Games) on the map in 2021. Ever since, orders have been, ahem, pouring in. Read more about the company here.
FarmSteady
Sure, you could always buy a selection of hot sauces and stick them in a bag—but why not gift someone on your list the tools to make their own? That’s the idea behind FarmSteady, the DIY kitchen company started by husband-and-wife team Erica Shea (CGS’04, COM’06) and Stephen Shea (CAS’07, COM’07). FarmSteady’s roundup includes fermented hot sauce kits, as well as pickling kits, bagel-making kits, and kombucha kits—all designed with everything a giftee needs to make some kitchen magic.
Hartford Flavor Company
Tom Dubay (COM’86) and his wife, Lelaneia Dubay, knew they were onto something when they started making their own flavored liqueurs for friends and family. Their initial ventures morphed into the Hartford Flavor Company and its offshoot, Wild Moon Liqueurs, a Connecticut-based vodka distillery with a full line of organic plant-based liqueurs. Choose from flavors like birch, cranberry, lavender, and more to help elevate your loved ones’ cocktail game this holiday season.
Ilah Cibis Jewelry
Ilah Cibis Jewelry oscillates from edgy to ethereal, with pieces at a range of price points. The mini-collections designed by Ilah Cibis (CFA’02) take inspiration from the natural world, pop culture, creative experiments, and the frustrations of daily life (peep her Words of Wisdom and Deep Sigh drops). Peruse necklaces, earrings, and rings online or in person at her Worcester location. Looking for something a little more personal? Cibis will happily create a piece to your custom specifications.
Kindred & Co
Hey, staying organized can be fun—especially with pretty products to help everyone do it. If there’s someone in your life who appreciates a good planner, check out Kindred & Co., the paper goods outfit started by Valerie Pierce (CAS’14, SPH’16). Peruse Kindred’s selection of life planners, meal planners, and notepads to find just the right paper product (or products)—and appreciate the prompt thank-you card when it arrives.
Loyal Citizen Clothing
Loyal Citizen, started by Jeff Lauzier (Wheelock’00), creates clothing for the proud New Englander. The designs adorning the Portland-based line of hand-printed hoodies, tees, and accessories pay homage to Maine’s forests and coastlines as well as Pine Tree State history. Consider: the “First Flag” hoodie, which celebrates Maine’s forever-iconic first state flag. Or, the “Lady of Casco Bay” tee, which depicts a mermaid with some Portland-themed add-ons. (Hint: what’s more Portland than beer and donuts?)
Michelle Throws Things
Michelle Stolzoff (ENG’13) went from the lab to the pottery studio and never looked back. Her ceramics combine beautiful glazes with high functionality, leading to popular creations such as ramen bowls and coffee mugs and tumblers. Not to mention a touch of whimsy—Stolzoff’s porcelain cats and dumpling necklaces mean there’s something for the quirky folks on your list, too. Find Michelle Throws Things online or at pop-ups around the Boston area.
Pen and Paces
Have a lady in your life who loves to run? Pen and Paces, the brainchild of Cindy Smith (Questrom’05), creates fun stickers, accessories, apparel, and more that celebrate milestones of the 5k, 13.1, and 26.2 varieties (and, of course, every distance in between). Not only are Smith’s products super cute—and ahem, giftable—they also serve to empower runners at every stage of training. “Accomplishing ambitious dreams means getting through tough times and hard challenges,” reads Smith’s About Me page. “Pen and Paces creates uplifting products for when things get tough.”
Studs
Odds are you’ve seen Studs, the piercing and earring company cofounded by Anna Harman (LAW’10), all over your Instagram. That’s because Studs’ signature “earscapes” are not only aesthetically pleasing, but also safe for sensitive ears. Keep your giftees on-trend by booking them a piercing appointment at one of Studs’ 21 US locations (which include Back Bay and Chestnut Hill), followed by the jewelry of their choice from the Studs Earbar.
Tisha Mark Fine Art
Tisha Mark (CAS’99) beautifully renders the world around us in soft but vivid oils. Her painted landscapes, inspired by Massachusetts and her native Illinois, come in a variety of sizes for home collections big and small. Plus: have a specific scene or memory you’d like to preserve for someone? Mark loves taking commissions—custom pieces are “one of her favorite things to do,” she says—and will work with you to capture exactly the right mood for your gift-scape.
Urban Grape
The South End’s Urban Grape has long been a pioneer in the wine space. The shop, owned by TJ Douglas, a graduate of Metropolitan College’s Certificate Program in Wine Studies, and his wife, Hadley, groups wines on a “progressive scale,” a method of categorizing wines by the way they feel on your palate (regardless of grape varietal or origin). The Douglas family also endows a scholarship fund, the Urban Grape Wine Studies Award for Students of Color, at MET in an effort to increase the number of BIPOC individuals in the wine industry. The staff at Urban Grape are happy to make recommendations, and new customers can get 15 percent off their first order.
Do you know of another alumni-owned business? Shout it out in the Comment section below. And, find even more alumni-owned businesses and services on BU Connects.
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