The joy of gifting
Achieving zero waste is one step closer thanks to four New Zealanders on a global mission.
There is so much waste in gift giving so we decided to end the cycle,” says Joyable co-founder and “chief joymaker” Rochelle Sheldon. Along with her team of cofounders, sister and actress Kimberley Crossman, writer Belinda Nash and web developer Igor Anany, Sheldon is kicking crap gifts to the curb with their new “joyful” payment platform, Joyable.
Joyable.co is a fast, easy, secure online payment platform where people contribute funds towards group-purchased gifts and bucket list experiences. Think Givealittle for gifting, says Sheldon.
While joy-filled now, Joyable began life aiming to fix a major pain point. “My alarm bells went off last year when, while tidying the garage I found a box of unwrapped, unopened Christmas presents given to my kids. My heart sank. I thought, there’s something very wrong and I have to fix it.”
Friends and family had spent time and money buying and wrapping the gifts. But her children felt no emotional connection to them, so they disappeared into the garage vortex. “It was no one’s fault,” adds Sheldon, “it’s the society we’ve created. We’ve been reduced to buying more and more stuff instead of experiencing the joy of giving, and it’s crippling our planet and filling landfills to unprecedented levels. But if we’ve created it, we can uncreate it too.”
Last year, Sheldon did just that. She returned joy to gift giving where it mattered most: her family. Instead of buying Christmas gifts she invited family to contribute to a family holiday in Fiji for everyone, and it was a huge success.
“It was magical,” Sheldon reminisces. “The whole family came and we all snorkelled, swam, rode horses on the beach and spent time together. We still talk about it today.”
The experience sparked the fire in Sheldon that saw Joyable burst onto the scene in October 2019. People create a Joyable occasion sharing what they’d like as a gift for themselves or someone else. This generates a unique URL which they can email or message to friends and family for them to contribute money towards.
“So far Joyable has been used for a 40th birthday tattoo, a dream European honeymoon, a 5th birthday bike, Elton John tickets bought by parents for a teacher, an artwork to celebrate an engagement, and a pink neon sign for an 18th… and many other memorable gifts and experiences,” says Sheldon.
Co-founder Crossman even used Joyable for their family Christmas dinner. “Rochelle always provides Christmas dinner so this year we’re using Joyable to spread the cost. I invited everyone to contribute so we could book WOOP! And because Joyable has an RSVP function, everyone has committed to coming on Christmas Day when other years Rochelle hasn’t known numbers until a few days out.”
Crossman adds there is no limit to the occasions or number of people using Joyable to purchase gifts or experiences for others. “[It’s] perfect for weddings, engagements, Christmas, hen and stag dos, graduation gifts and celebrations, birthdays, anniversaries and, well, anything your imagination can conjure,” she says.