Editorial: A business in full bloom
Originally co-authored with Alana Grimaldi for lumen magazine’s Winter 2019 edition
Featured image by Meaghan Coles
The SA powerhouse behind the home-grown gift business taking on the world.
Growing up in the small South Australian town of Balaklava, country girl Kelly Jamieson always aspired to own her own business. Little did she know that one day she would head up international gifting empire Edible Blooms.
Eager to cut her teeth in the marketing world, Kelly travelled overseas for the first time at 21 years old to work in London's magazine industry before returning down under to develop her experience in professional services.
In an effort to gain business management acumen, she enrolled in a Graduate Certificate in Management at the University of Adelaide in 2005.
In the same year that she completed her Graduate Certificate, the budding businesswoman founded Edible Blooms with her sister Abbey Baker.
Back then, she said "there was no such word as an entrepreneur."
"That was only for Richard Branson and people like that, I was just a business owner starting out."
Driven by a love of thoughtful giving, the sister duo threw everything at their self-funded endeavour. Kelly even dressed as a giant strawberry in the early days to deliver the bouquets.
"I solely dedicated myself to the business in the first year. I've never worked so hard. I think that's what life's about - when an opportunity knocks you've got to grab it."
And it paid off. At the close of Edible Blooms' first full financial year, the gifting retailer had racked up $1 million in sales and opened four stores nationally.
Fourteen years later and this determination has seen the duo go from strength to strength.
What began as "just nine fruit bouquets," the company has expanded to provide a myriad of edible gifting experiences and employs more than 70 staff during peak seasons.
Just last year, the Australia gifting empire went global, planting roots in London and Geneva under the sister brand Gift Rebellion. The move saw Abbey relocate to the UK as they settle into the European market.
Today the e-commerce juggernaut delivers an edible gift every two minutes.
Looking ahead, Kelly and Abbey show no signs of slowing down. While they strengthen Gift Rebellion's foothold internationally, the sisters are adamant to continue improving customer experiences closer to home through technological advances and an ever-expanding gift offering.
"We're moving into a really strong suite of personalisation. Our next stage of growth is all around customising products," said Kelly.
"People want to feel connected to a brand, they want to know that there's real people behind it.
"Technology for us is about getting closer to our customers, so anything we do is always about how we can improve that customer connection and we see some big opportunities going forward."