Agnes Maher smiles as she shares a story about how she helped a recent client find the perfect gift.
“It was for a dad who wanted to buy his daughter a birthday present for her 18th and he didn’t want his wife to do it. I was thinking: ‘That’s really special, this has to be something that she will always have,’” she explains.
“So we got her antique pearl earrings and I think it’s a really nice one because she’ll probably wear them on her wedding day, her daughter might wear them on her wedding day … that’s the start of a little family tradition.”
And it’s just one example of the work that Agnes does through her bespoke gifting company, The Thoughtful Shopper, which she set up last year on the family farm in Co Laois.
Agnes Maher runs The Thoughtful Shopper bespoke gifting service. \ Una O'Connor
Joking that she is the “classic cliché of the primary school teacher who married a farmer”, Agnes first met her husband Pádraig through some friends who decided to play matchmaker.
“We met for a drink in the June, we were married by the following April,” she says of the whirlwind romance.
Today, the couple have four children – Henry (14), Joe (12), Tom (nine) and Beth (three) – and live on a beef farm. Though…
“Tom bought a pig with his Communion money and now he’s hell bent on turning the place into a piggery,” laughs Agnes.
Between work, farm and family commitments, however, Agnes felt that something had to give and made the decision to take time out of teaching to stay at home full time.
Agnes Maher runs The Thoughtful Shopper from the family beef farm in Co Laois. \ Una O'Connor
“I know it’s hard for everyone to juggle, but I think for a farmer’s wife it’s really difficult,” says Agnes. “Most women who work have a sort of wingman at the weekends who can help out while you catch up on all the things that have to be done when you have young children. A farmer’s partner has no recovery time at the weekend because the farm has no concept of downtime.
“We didn’t want it to be so chaotic all the time but we also knew it was going to be short-term, only until they were a bit older and I would go back to work.”
That said, Agnes knew they “couldn’t raise four children on a single income, never mind a beef farm income” and began to brainstorm ways she could work from home.
Start-up business
The concept of The Thoughtful Shopper was born after her best friend, Gráinne, was diagnosed with breast cancer at the start of lockdown. Unable to visit because of the restrictions, Agnes and her friends would make gift hampers to keep her spirits up.
“Say the initial one was to start chemo, so we put in lots of gear from Sweaty Betty and silk pillowcases and Neom diffusers,” she explains.
The Thoughtful Shopper offers a personal shopping service, as well as gift boxes. \ Una O'Connor
“And then halfway through we did silly things, like we got a 5,000 piece jigsaw made of her head. So we thought really particularly about things that would target her needs because we weren’t there.”
It was actually Gráinne who suggested that Agnes turn her talent for gifting into a business in January 2021. Though she admits that she did not have a clue at the start how to turn the concept into a company.
That was tough going because I’d never been in retail, nobody knew who I was at all and so it was kind of begging
“You’re looking up at a mountain and you’re thinking: ‘How am I going to get to the top here?’ You just keep taking steps and the learning curve was vertical,” says Agnes, who completed a Start Your Own Business course and worked with mentor, Clare Jordan, through her local enterprise office, as well as investing €10,000 to cover costs like start-up stock, packaging, professional photos for her website and registering as a limited company.
Challenges ranged from learning to run a retail website to convincing brands to let her stock their products.
“That was tough going because I’d never been in retail, nobody knew who I was at all and so it was kind of begging. I sent emails to lots of brands and I got plenty of rejections from brands who were protecting their image and didn’t want to be stocked by this nobody,” says Agnes.
Agnes Maher is a primary school teacher and mother of four who set up The Thoughtful Shopper so that she could work from home while her children were young. \ Una O'Connor
Fortunately, however, independent Irish brands such as Bean and Goose Chocolate, Jo Browne skincare and Milis Candles were willing to allow Agnes place a small minimum order to get up and running.
“And they were so kind to do it because they were trusting me with their brand image, so that was a big bet for them,” she says.
There are several strands to The Thoughtful Shopper. The first is what Agnes calls her “Gift Edits”– basically hampers she has made up with Irish luxury products – which you can buy online. For instance, “The Thoughtful Edit” from €46, which contains the guided “Sixty Second” journal and a hand-poured soy candle from Stoneridge Aromas.
Customers can also put together their own “Little Box of Thoughtfulness” by picking products from the online shop, which could be anything from a Chez Emily hot chocolate swirl (€2.50) to a Bláthanna lip balm (€9).
The thought that counts
The other side of the business is personal gifting. Simply, if a person wants to buy a special gift – but is lacking inspiration – Agnes will organise a personal consultation and, based on that, take care of all the thinking, sourcing, shopping, wrapping and delivering, with three different gift options for the customer to choose from. A 20% service charge applies to orders under €250, with a flat fee of €50 applying to orders over that.
We got his name monogrammed into them. Like that’s a really special thing, that’s something that will be passed down
“We don’t want this to be a very cold, outsourced thing,” says Agnes. “Obviously a gift is supposed to be thoughtful, so what we’re doing is we’re eliminating the work for you and you are actually picking the gift so the sentiment is yours still.”
For instance, for a retirement gift, Agnes organised bespoke luggage from Irish company, De Bruir.
“We got his name monogrammed into them. Like that’s a really special thing, that’s something that will be passed down,” she says. “His grandchildren will use that and there’s a story that they can tell and remember.”
However, she emphasises that it’s not all about “high-end” gifts and budgets.
It’s more about getting something that’s spot on
“Like we’ve literally sent just a little bar of chocolate for somebody. It’s more about the thought of it. It’s not about the money. It’s more about getting something that’s spot on,” she says.
Agnes has also branched into corporate gifting and before Christmas, received orders for companies including LinkedIn, Google and Wrike. She recently launched her own range of gift cards and will be adding candles in April. At present, she operates from “the good room” at home, but she plans to convert a farm shed as the business grows.
Family and farm commitments still mean that life is hectic, with lots of late nights once the kids have gone to bed. And yet?
“If I knew that it would turn our lives on our heads and I would be busier now than I was when I was full-time working, would I still do it?” reflects Agnes. “I think I would.”
Visit www.thethoughtfulshopper.ie
Agnes Maher smiles as she shares a story about how she helped a recent client find the perfect gift.
“It was for a dad who wanted to buy his daughter a birthday present for her 18th and he didn’t want his wife to do it. I was thinking: ‘That’s really special, this has to be something that she will always have,’” she explains.
“So we got her antique pearl earrings and I think it’s a really nice one because she’ll probably wear them on her wedding day, her daughter might wear them on her wedding day … that’s the start of a little family tradition.”
And it’s just one example of the work that Agnes does through her bespoke gifting company, The Thoughtful Shopper, which she set up last year on the family farm in Co Laois.
Agnes Maher runs The Thoughtful Shopper bespoke gifting service. \ Una O'Connor
Joking that she is the “classic cliché of the primary school teacher who married a farmer”, Agnes first met her husband Pádraig through some friends who decided to play matchmaker.
“We met for a drink in the June, we were married by the following April,” she says of the whirlwind romance.
Today, the couple have four children – Henry (14), Joe (12), Tom (nine) and Beth (three) – and live on a beef farm. Though…
“Tom bought a pig with his Communion money and now he’s hell bent on turning the place into a piggery,” laughs Agnes.
Between work, farm and family commitments, however, Agnes felt that something had to give and made the decision to take time out of teaching to stay at home full time.
Agnes Maher runs The Thoughtful Shopper from the family beef farm in Co Laois. \ Una O'Connor
“I know it’s hard for everyone to juggle, but I think for a farmer’s wife it’s really difficult,” says Agnes. “Most women who work have a sort of wingman at the weekends who can help out while you catch up on all the things that have to be done when you have young children. A farmer’s partner has no recovery time at the weekend because the farm has no concept of downtime.
“We didn’t want it to be so chaotic all the time but we also knew it was going to be short-term, only until they were a bit older and I would go back to work.”
That said, Agnes knew they “couldn’t raise four children on a single income, never mind a beef farm income” and began to brainstorm ways she could work from home.
Start-up business
The concept of The Thoughtful Shopper was born after her best friend, Gráinne, was diagnosed with breast cancer at the start of lockdown. Unable to visit because of the restrictions, Agnes and her friends would make gift hampers to keep her spirits up.
“Say the initial one was to start chemo, so we put in lots of gear from Sweaty Betty and silk pillowcases and Neom diffusers,” she explains.
The Thoughtful Shopper offers a personal shopping service, as well as gift boxes. \ Una O'Connor
“And then halfway through we did silly things, like we got a 5,000 piece jigsaw made of her head. So we thought really particularly about things that would target her needs because we weren’t there.”
It was actually Gráinne who suggested that Agnes turn her talent for gifting into a business in January 2021. Though she admits that she did not have a clue at the start how to turn the concept into a company.
That was tough going because I’d never been in retail, nobody knew who I was at all and so it was kind of begging
“You’re looking up at a mountain and you’re thinking: ‘How am I going to get to the top here?’ You just keep taking steps and the learning curve was vertical,” says Agnes, who completed a Start Your Own Business course and worked with mentor, Clare Jordan, through her local enterprise office, as well as investing €10,000 to cover costs like start-up stock, packaging, professional photos for her website and registering as a limited company.
Challenges ranged from learning to run a retail website to convincing brands to let her stock their products.
“That was tough going because I’d never been in retail, nobody knew who I was at all and so it was kind of begging. I sent emails to lots of brands and I got plenty of rejections from brands who were protecting their image and didn’t want to be stocked by this nobody,” says Agnes.
Agnes Maher is a primary school teacher and mother of four who set up The Thoughtful Shopper so that she could work from home while her children were young. \ Una O'Connor
Fortunately, however, independent Irish brands such as Bean and Goose Chocolate, Jo Browne skincare and Milis Candles were willing to allow Agnes place a small minimum order to get up and running.
“And they were so kind to do it because they were trusting me with their brand image, so that was a big bet for them,” she says.
There are several strands to The Thoughtful Shopper. The first is what Agnes calls her “Gift Edits”– basically hampers she has made up with Irish luxury products – which you can buy online. For instance, “The Thoughtful Edit” from €46, which contains the guided “Sixty Second” journal and a hand-poured soy candle from Stoneridge Aromas.
Customers can also put together their own “Little Box of Thoughtfulness” by picking products from the online shop, which could be anything from a Chez Emily hot chocolate swirl (€2.50) to a Bláthanna lip balm (€9).
The thought that counts
The other side of the business is personal gifting. Simply, if a person wants to buy a special gift – but is lacking inspiration – Agnes will organise a personal consultation and, based on that, take care of all the thinking, sourcing, shopping, wrapping and delivering, with three different gift options for the customer to choose from. A 20% service charge applies to orders under €250, with a flat fee of €50 applying to orders over that.
We got his name monogrammed into them. Like that’s a really special thing, that’s something that will be passed down
“We don’t want this to be a very cold, outsourced thing,” says Agnes. “Obviously a gift is supposed to be thoughtful, so what we’re doing is we’re eliminating the work for you and you are actually picking the gift so the sentiment is yours still.”
For instance, for a retirement gift, Agnes organised bespoke luggage from Irish company, De Bruir.
“We got his name monogrammed into them. Like that’s a really special thing, that’s something that will be passed down,” she says. “His grandchildren will use that and there’s a story that they can tell and remember.”
However, she emphasises that it’s not all about “high-end” gifts and budgets.
It’s more about getting something that’s spot on
“Like we’ve literally sent just a little bar of chocolate for somebody. It’s more about the thought of it. It’s not about the money. It’s more about getting something that’s spot on,” she says.
Agnes has also branched into corporate gifting and before Christmas, received orders for companies including LinkedIn, Google and Wrike. She recently launched her own range of gift cards and will be adding candles in April. At present, she operates from “the good room” at home, but she plans to convert a farm shed as the business grows.
Family and farm commitments still mean that life is hectic, with lots of late nights once the kids have gone to bed. And yet?
“If I knew that it would turn our lives on our heads and I would be busier now than I was when I was full-time working, would I still do it?” reflects Agnes. “I think I would.”
Visit www.thethoughtfulshopper.ie
This is a subscriber-only article
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