Holiday Gift Guide: Alumni-Owned Businesses
Still have some gifts to buy? Check out these 12 shops and companies
Peppermint bark and gelt from EHChocolatier, the award-winning Boston chocolate shop cofounded by Elaine Hsieh (CAMED’90). Photos courtesy of EHChocolatier
Support These Alumni-Owned Businesses This Holiday Season
Still have some gifts to buy? Check out these 12 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 12 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.
EHChocolatier
It’s safe to say EHChocolatier, cofounded by Elaine Hsieh (CAMED’90), is an all-around favorite among local chocoholics. The Cambridge-based shop has myriad awards to its name, including several Best of Boston wins from Boston magazine, as well as best-in-the-nation nods from Food & Wine and the New York Times. If you forgot to order your Advent calendar this year, don’t worry—EHChocolatier still has plenty of seasonal goodies for the sweet tooths in your life.
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.
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.
LVNGbook
Have a friend with food allergies who loves to cook? Consider LVNGbook. The custom cookbook company, founded by Shaun Chavis (MET’06), sprang from a friend’s autoimmune diagnosis that severely limited the foods she could eat. To help, Chavis leveraged her cookbook editor background to create LVNGbook, a platform where you can input dietary needs, food sensitivities, and cooking preferences to generate a fully personalized hardcover cookbook.
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 cat ornaments 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.
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’ 16 US locations (which include Back Bay and Chestnut Hill), followed by the jewelry of their choice from the Studs Earbar.
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.
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