When Michelle Hensley, now the founder and CEO of luxury gift basket and packaging company Nifty Package, lost her pastor husband to cancer in 2014, she was in her 50s and “had a complete identity crisis,” she says.
Image Credit: Courtesy of Nifty Package Co.
Hensley’s husband handled their finances while she ran the nonprofit, and although she received a year-long stipend from the church after his death, she needed to find another way to make ends meet. At the time, she still had two children at home.
Hensley had to start over. She had been out of the workforce for over a decade; she didn’t know how to pay the bill online. She entrusted some money to an adviser who, as a widow, did not understand her needs and lost thousands of dollars.
Related: More than 75% of Americans have a side hustle during the holidays — here are the season’s most popular concerts
After that, Hensley hired a financial coach to help her determine her next steps. A coach suggested she build on her consulting experience and start her own business, but Hensley wasn’t interested in that route. “I was already in my own complaint,” Hensley explains, “and I just wasn’t ready for it.”
But Hensley became interested in coaching when he was “hand-in-hand with someone and helping them move forward with a goal.” So she got certified in finance, life and grievance coaching and eventually took a job in the financial services space. At one point she considered a position as director of a rehab center, but that required 60 hours a week and Hensley didn’t want to spend that much time away from her children.
“I was just rushing around like everyone else, but I had no idea how much the goods cost.
Hensley was determined to find a way to work when and where she wanted—and to uplift other female entrepreneurs. When she shared her goal with her sons, they suggested she revisit a business she had years ago: gift baskets. Hensley liked the idea and asked her daughter-in-law and several other women if they would be interested in joining her business and working from home.
Image Credit: Courtesy of Nifty Package Co.
They were: Nifty Package Co. was born in 2015. Hensley continued working in financial services and building Nifty Package as a side hustle, learning a lot about business along the way. “I was just racing like everyone else, but I had no idea how much the merchandise cost,” Hensley says. “I didn’t understand profit. I gave everything away. But I learned to go out and start talking to people even though I was scared. So I would just go and share that I had this gift basket company.”
Related: She Started a Side Business That Made Over $1 Million in 1 Year: ‘Manifest Your Best Life’
It didn’t take long for Nifty Package Co. evolved and started offering luxury baskets that meet the demands of its clientele. Hensley kept her day job and plowed all profits from the side hustle back into the business. Then, a few years later, during the 2018 holiday season, inspiration struck again — Hensley discovered a new way to boost her side hustle.
“I was up every day at 3:45, praying and reading my Bible and looking out the window,” Hensley recalls, “and I see my van sitting there, not being used, and I thought, Hell, the van is sitting there generating no income and I wonder if I could drive around wrapping people’s presents. I’m already making gifts. I wonder if I can wrap them up.”
“I was so tired, but I had a business, another addition.
Hensley immediately created a website advertising her gift-wrapping service, and within four days, a current client who didn’t like gift-wrapping wanted to hire her. So Hensley loaded all her supplies into the van, drove over, and got to work, excited to get the job done, until she realized her mistake — “I didn’t label the gifts,” Hensley recalls. “I had to unwrap and rewrap every single gift. I was so tired, but I had a store, another addition.”
At the time, Hensley didn’t know much about social media marketing, but she experimented with sharing her side hustle on Instagram and eventually her photos took off on the platform. In 2019, Too Faced Cosmetics enlisted her design services. It was Hensley’s first big ask: 400 presents to wrap.
Related: Best Friends’ ‘Scrappy’ Side Hustle Led to Product on Track for $1 Million a Year: ‘It’s rare to find someone with the same passion’
Then one day Hensley got a call from the Kardashian estate manager. She wondered if it was a joke and didn’t really know who the Kardashians were, she said. Her sons filled her in, and Hensley and her team were in Calabasas showing Kim Kardashian their gift wrapping designs. Several ideas missed the mark — until Hensley introduced the style with Furoshiki, a Japanese wrapping cloth that was a hit.
These projects helped launch Hensley’s side hustle, which quickly became a full-fledged career, into the corporate and celebrity realms. Nifty Package Co. has continued to focus on locally sourced and high-end products to differentiate itself from the competition and expand its impressive client list that includes Justin Bieber and Hailey Bieber, Meta, Van Cleef & Arpels, Mont Blanc, Hugo Boss, Versace. and coach, among many others.
Image Credit: Courtesy of Nifty Package Co.
“Everyone is treated the same, whether it’s a $20 gift wrap or a $100,000 gift wrap.”
Last year was a pivotal year for the business, Hensley says. Nifty Package Co. doubled, and its gift wrapping services accounted for 68% of all sales – valued at more than $316,000. No wonder Nifty Package Co.’s biggest quarter. takes place during the holiday season, when it sees about 50% of its annual revenue.
About three years ago, Hensley began exploring franchise options. Nifty Package Co. now has a licensing program that “provides the tools, support and guidance (licensees) need to thrive in the world of personalized gift experiences.” Today, the business boasts more than 20 people on its local team and 60 in the U.S.
“They’re contract workers,” Hensley says, “so they’re doing side hustles. They’re single moms. They’re older moms. They’re older women who’ve never been married but need a job. Maybe they’re retired, or they’re gift basket owners (companies) and they want to add packaging.”
Related: New Research Reveals Most Profitable Side Business – You Can Make $15,000 a Year From Home
Image Credit: Courtesy of Nifty Package Co.
These days, Nifty Package Co. for Hensely, it’s not just a side hustle, but a full-fledged business and career—one she credits her family and support network with helping her realize.
And since Nifty Package Co. continues to grow, Hensley plans to support the company’s “whole premise” of “bringing joy.” “(We have) a system in place that (ensures) every gift, every person who orders a gift, every person who lets us come out and wrap a gift, they’re all treated the same, really well, whether it’s a Gift Wrap for 20 $ or $100,000 gift wrap.”
This article is part of our ongoing Women Entrepreneur® series highlighting the stories, challenges and triumphs of running a business as a woman.