Here For You

Here For You is a business started by the wife and husband team Kellyn Shoecraft and Nate Stell. We deliver practical gifts and advice for life’s difficult transitions. Both of us faced significant losses at relatively early ages. When I was 20 years old, my dad died after a long illness. Nate’s mom died from breast cancer in 2011, and then my sister Alison died unexpectedly in 2017. After Alison’s death, we talked about the huge disconnect between what people send as sympathy gifts, and what people actually need. After these losses, we had counters covered in flowers, garages full of fruit baskets, and casseroles big enough to feed 50 people. But we still found ourselves having to go to the store every day to buy essentials — toilet paper, paper towels, hand soap, and trash bags. People are so kind and want to help their friends and loved ones in need, but are often at a loss on how to do that.

We started Here For You to bridge that divide. We tastefully package household essentials that are useful to people during big life transitions; not just death but also new babies, the end of a relationship, a move to a new home, a life-altering injury, etc. We are working to open the doors for honest communication about death, illness, and other major life transitions. We do this through our blog and our supportive Instagram communities, where people share about their lives both with and without the people they love.

We’ve used our real-life experiences to choose the products in our Compassion Packages. We thought about what we needed in the days and weeks after our family members died. We’ve also heard from customers about the products that they’d like us to offer. We allow partial package customization with a variety of self-care items. The brands we’ve partnered with offer high quality, small-batch handmade body care and tea blends that customers can choose to customize their Compassion Package.

We’re also deeply passionate about the environment. I have a background in environmental management, and we’re committed to offering products containing recycled materials and which are recyclable/compostable whenever possible. Our office is also powered by solar. We recognize the inherent wastefulness in single-use products, but sometimes we need to rely on disposables. It’s so important for us that we partner with high-quality brands who have an environmentally-focused mission.

Our branding is essential to our story — our signature floral delivery box is printed with our Here For You logo in handwritten script, which we designed to convey a more personal touch. The name carries multiple meanings for the recipient: it identifies our company, it expresses the sentiment of the person who purchased the Compassion Package, and it announces the presence of this box of practical items that can be helpful right now.

Though one of our social media mottos is #noflowersnofruit and we market our offerings as an alternative to flowers, we love flowers and named our Compassion Packages after different varieties, both out of respect and with a bit of tongue-in-cheek. Our delivery box itself is a huge bouquet that never wilts, requires no water, and goes in the recycling bin when you’re done with it!

We recognize that our practical gifts are unconventional for these occasions, so we try to make the unboxing experience as thoughtful as possible. Our packaging is high-quality, and we include a handwritten card and a beautifully designed insert which shares the purpose of the box before the receiver sees the contents. We use the motto ‘Gift What They Need’ and we fully stand behind it. There are occasions for surprises and indulgences, but when shit hits the fan, it’s really helpful when someone is thinking about toilet paper!

Choosing noissue was the obvious choice. The design experience was simple and allowed us to easily achieve the look we needed for our product. The website (both purchasing and design) was very easy to use. Given how focused we are on the environment, it is essential for us to partner with brands that have a similar mission. We use our noissue tissue paper to wrap the toilet paper for our Compassion Packages. We love highlighting what we consider the most essential element of our box. And to be honest, toilet paper always weirds people out. We have dressed it up to make it look beautiful, and the integral message of Here For You surrounds it.