23-year- old Jackie Rodgers may have changed the Christmas gift wrapping game forever! Year after year, she was in search for wrapping paper with Christmas characters that represented her and her family or atleast the African American community but unfortunately she always came up with nothing. Eventually, Jackie got fed up with the typical Caucasian Santas and decided to create her own Santa, thus #ClarenceClaus wrapping paper was born!
Rodgers and her husband Shaun both stepped into The Shade Room where they discussed the origins of their business Green Top Gifts (@greentopgifts) and even dropped some jewels for new aspiring business owners. Get into it!
TSR: What made you want to create the Clarence Claus wrapping paper?
Jackie & Shaun: “It all started with my frustration in not being able to find a brown Santa and getting tired of coloring Santa brown on paper and ornaments. When I did my holiday shopping I wasn’t seeing anything that looked like my family, it simply didn’t exist. So this year we decided that we would create what we wanted to see. We wanted our friends and families to have their very own Santa on wrapping paper, gift labels and more for every Holiday Season. And with that, Clarence Claus was born!”
TSR: How did you come up with the name?
Jackie & Shaun: “We played around with lots of names but we landed on Clarence. It is actually my father’s name. We joked around about it at first but then it stuck. However, my father looks nothing like Clarence which makes it funnier. He is tall, thin while Clarence is a jolly old man with a chocolate complexion. We knew we wanted an image that instantly brought joy and happiness to my son Eli and to our friends and their families. Clarence just seemed like a good fit.”
TSR: You were business majors in college, but did you ever think you’d own a gift wrap business? What was your original plan post-graduation?
Jackie & Shaun: “After graduating from Clark Atlanta University with a degree in Business Administration I was determined to build a career in corporate America. When Shaun graduated from Morehouse College with a degree in Finance and later with an MBA from Duke University he decided to pursue a career on Wall Street. Even while pursuing industries that we thought aligned with our degrees we had an eye towards being entrepreneurs. However, we never thought we’d own a gift wrap company, but here we are several years later with just that.”
TSR: How did you come up with the name for Greentop Gifts?
Jackie: “We named our company after my grandfather’s restaurant, Greentop, which he ran in the 1940s and 50s in rural North Carolina. It was my family’s first step into entrepreneurship. Greentop was a gathering spot for many in my hometown. We hope that Greentop Gifts will be people’s source of celebrations when they gather together.”
TSR: Is there going to be a Mrs. Clarence Claus coming? What other products do you all currently have and what are some that you’re about to release?
Jackie & Shaun: “We are working on new products for after the holidays. We have received lots of feedback and suggestions from our customers. We did a marketing stunt in October where we had brand ambassadors visiting various historically black college campuses and universities. Through those events we gained valuable insights into what our customers want to see next. But definitely sign up for our newsletter at www.greentopgifts.com to stay in the know about our new product announcements.”
TSR: What advice do each of you have for new and aspiring business owners?
Shaun: “One of my favorite quotes comes from John C. Maxwell that says, ‘Ideas have a short shelf life. You must act on them before the expiration date.’ If you have an idea, don’t let it go to waste. Act on it and do everything you can to bring it to life.”
There you have it Roommates! I hope that this inspires a lot of you to dive into entrepreneurship. There is so much to life that you don’t get to experience from a cubicle!
TSR STAFF: Talia O. @theclosetratchet on Instagram & @tallyohhh on Twitter!
