Inspiring Conversations with Kelli Kroneberger of Maker Hill

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kelli Kroneberger.

Hi Kelli, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I’m a creative and an entrepreneur at heart, and I’ve been this way since I can remember. The past several years, my work has included photography, retail ownership, business consulting and development, and art/painting. All of these experiences have refined my gifts and talents and ultimately led me to what I’m primarily working on today. Maker Hill is something my husband and I have been talking about for years because of a need we had in our other businesses and also our personal lives. We would finish a client project, and we would always talk about sending them a beautifully curated gift with a custom message. Or we would want to send a gift to friends and family far away, and we never had time to put it all together in the way we wanted. This need became even more evident not only for us but for our clients once COVID happened and we were all quarantined. With my past experience owning a retail shop, buying, and sourcing, we started curating modern, artisan-style gifts for our clients to send to their own clients, influencers, employees, etc. One thing led to another, and we decided that if our circle of clients had this need, we knew other people and businesses had this need as well. And then Maker Hill was born. We started Maker Hill online about five months ago, and since then, we’ve curated, delivered, and shipped hundreds of boxes for individuals and businesses all over the US.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
To get here today, it hasn’t always been a smooth road. I don’t think business or life is ever a smooth road, but that’s the beauty of perseverance. When I show up every day to do the little things well and work humbly, it pays off in the long run. I’ve learned that there’s nothing better than the human voice and connection. If I only do business through social media, email, and text I’m going to struggle. But when I put people and connection first, things usually start to happen. Lastly, I’ve learned and experienced that the more focused I am on my company’s vision and values rather than what others are doing, the better we can serve our customers well, and ultimately experience success.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Maker Hill is a modern gifting and lifestyle company, and we curate beautiful, artisan-style boxes for individuals and businesses to send to friends, family, co-workers, and clients. We offer ready-made boxes or you can build your own box. You simply add a card at checkout and we write a personal message, package, and deliver or ship it directly to the recipient. We can also customize gift boxes for businesses and events, large and small. Basically, we exist to help people gift better, easier, and with style.

Any big plans?
We actually have big plans for the future – we recently signed a lease on a small brick and mortar that will serve as a workshop to fulfill our corporate and online orders and also serve our local customers. We plan to expand our individual consumer gift boxes as well as our corporate gift offering. We love celebrating small makers who are experts at their craft, so we plan to add more “hidden gems” to our mix of brands. Ultimately we would love to be the go-to (locally and nationally) when people think of a modern and unique way to give quality, artisan, well-curated gifts.

Pricing:

• Boxes range from $40-$200+ depending on the gift.

Contact Info:

• Email: kelli@shopmakerhill.com
• Website: www.shopmakerhill.com
• Instagram: @shopmakerhill
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shopmakerhill

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