The Gifted Group
The Metamorphosis of a Business
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A group of gifted individuals with unique talents, creative visions and shared values were drawn together to create The Gifted Group, an ever-evolving and diverse retail and hospitality company with the purpose of inspiring thoughtful living.
When three women walked into Esther Miller's life as customers of her specialty gifting studio, Gifted, she was unaware of what the combination of their ambitions would create.
Collectively, they have used their gifts to bring to life their visions for their company, but not before they faced hard work, failures and much anticipation.
This is the story of their business’ metamorphosis.
Just The Beginning
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Esther started Gifted, a specialty gifting studio dedicated to representing artisans, in 2018 after more than a decade of corporate work.
As a buyer at heart, gift-giving is her love language she said.
“I am a very customized gift giver,” she said, making it apparent why she needed to open a store where she could curate such thoughtful gifts.
Despite this, opening up a small business was never Esther's dream. She was determined to climb the corporate ladder after graduating from TCU in 2009 with a BS in Fashion Merchandising and Studio Art.
She worked throughout college at The Gap. Then, after interning at Dickies, she accepted a position there.
Although Esther set out to start Gifted to create a sustainable and ethical space, she values the professional skills she learned and appreciates the time she got to see how the world works through a corporate lens.
"Esther always had a very strong entrepreneurial drive," said Esther's mentor and former professor at TCU, Sally Fortenberry. She attributed Esther's success to her personal skills but also the talent she inherited from her artist mother and a family of entrepreneurs.
Being an entrepreneur has allowed Esther flexibility, greater human connection and more time with her family, she said as she sat behind the counter at her new storefront while her 8-year-old daughter played with her hair.
She continued to speak about her curating process and the values she requires the brands she represents to align with when the CEO of a clothing label she carries stopped by to chat. She greeted her like an old friend, a testament to her belief in the brands she represents.
“She is amazing at finding unique products that you can’t find other places,” Fortenberry said. “That is very challenging in this day and age, to find something that stands out and is different.”
Meant to Be
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Gifted's success allowed Esther to add more people to her team. Over the first three years of Gifted, Esther invited some of her most loyal clients, Jazmin Ramirez, Jeanette Ramirez and Luriel Black, to form a partnership. Together as co-founders, the four women reimagined Esther's original business to launch The Gifted Group in 2022.
“I never felt like I was just an employee, but I’ve always felt like this was also mine in how we were creating together,” Jazmin Ramirez said.
With a mission to get to know her community after coming back to Fort Worth out of college, Jazmin got involved in the Fort Worth coffee scene.
"It was something that wouldn't feel like a job because it was something I was already passionate about," she said. "The coffee shops here were a place where you can meet other people."
Jazmin started her journey in coffee around the same time Esther began her entrepreneurial ventures, the first of many concurrences that would bring them together.
A coincidental interaction with Esther began the process of melding two passions Jazmin had been perplexed about how to combine coffee and photography. When Jazmin was sitting for an interview for a coffee position, Esther recognized her as a beloved customer of Gifted and approached her about doing photography for her shop.
"I basically started my coffee journey and my journey with Gifted all at the same time," Jazmin said as she got both the photography job for Gifted and the coffee position, the perfect blend of her passions.
"That shop was fully aligned in the things I like aesthetically and their values," Jazmin said. "For me it was cool to see somebody take that risk and open something like what she was doing in Fort Worth, because no one was doing that."
Soon, Jazmin's twin sister, Jeanette, joined the Gifted team when the sisters created a seasonal catalog together, as Jeanette specializes in graphic design.
Creating New Spaces
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The pandemic took away Gifted’s foot traffic, necessary for the survival of any brick and mortar, forcing them to pivot to a primarily online presence like many other small businesses during that time.
With the closing of their first storefront, they relied even more on their “Gifted family” to advocate for them and invest in them, which Esther said they wouldn’t have been able to survive without.
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“PS1200 embodies the benefits of contemporary city life—working, living and relaxing in one beautiful, convenient and central location,” said Marlon Blackwell, Founder and Principal of Marlon Blackwell Architects.(Courtesy of Prince Concepts).
“PS1200 embodies the benefits of contemporary city life—working, living and relaxing in one beautiful, convenient and central location,” said Marlon Blackwell, Founder and Principal of Marlon Blackwell Architects.(Courtesy of Prince Concepts).
Through fundraising and new connections, they were able to take the next step in their metamorphosis: reimagining Gifted and beginning a partnership with the developer of the PS1200 spaces they are now in, which they helped take from a piece of dirt to a vision, Esther said.
With the launch of their reimagined company, they opened up new storefronts that encompass five new concepts.
Gifted Reimagined
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“I’m thinking about sitting at the old Gifted because that is literally where all of these ideas were born,” Jeanette said, recalling one of the team’s many brainstorming sessions.
Two of the concepts, Gifted and Harmoni, offer what the original shop was known for: intentionally made and thoughtfully curated gifts. Harmoni, now its own storefront next to Gifted’s new location, is what used to be Gifted’s lifestyle and home curation section.
As they started to see their customer base divide, they naturally split up the two shops to hone in on them individually Jazmin said. They rebranded the new Gifted to be more youthful with accessible prices while Harmoni is more elevated and for people with discretionary income trying to create a “thoughtful harmonious space,” Esther said.
From a product evolution standpoint Esther said the brands have become less a reflection of her and more of a reflection of each brand and the clientele that they are shopping for.
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New Perspectives
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Detail inside Point of View (Courtesy of Jazmin Ramirez).
Detail inside Point of View (Courtesy of Jazmin Ramirez).
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Indie magazines, books, and contemporary art are displayed inside Point of View (Courtesy of Jazmin Ramirez).
Indie magazines, books, and contemporary art are displayed inside Point of View (Courtesy of Jazmin Ramirez).
Although The Gifted Group has collectively created these new concepts, they each seem to be especially drawn to one specifically that they entrust each other to use their gifts to nurture.
Jeanette has a big hand in curating and running their artist program part of their bookshop and gallery space, Point of View.
“We wanted to offer a contemporary gallery that felt accessible from a price point and a conversational standpoint,” Esther said adding that it is their most progressive concept that “confuses people in a good way” by pushing boundaries for this area.
The space, named after the notion that every book offers a different perspective, is intended to feel inviting for people aspiring to collect or just learn more about art.
Stay a Moment
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Ideas and inspiration flow through the doors of Point of View like the coffee they serve in the cafe located inside the space, Café Momento.
A transformative after-thought to the new spaces, Café Momento seemed to complete their vision.
The name encourages people who walk in to “really just soak in that moment that you have and be with yourself; get to know somebody; get to know something in the shop,” Jazmin said.
With Jazmin as the cafe director, it was important to her that she highlight her and her sister’s Mexican-American roots in the name and by the small-batch, ethically and sustainably sourced roasters they represent.
“When people walk into these spaces, they’re walking into an idea and a concept,” Jazmin said. “I want people to feel that whenever they’re in the space; like everything was thought of.”
And everything really was thought of, from the designing process of the spaces to the brands they represent.
David Brown of BWC, a Fort Worth woodworker who helped bring their designs to life said they wanted to create little moments inside the shops. “We made these cool little moments that hopefully other people enjoy as well.”
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There is intention and detail behind each beverage served at Café Momento. Here, their seasonal Persimmon Cappuccino is being garnished with a dried persimmon (Courtesy of Jazmin Ramirez).
There is intention and detail behind each beverage served at Café Momento. Here, their seasonal Persimmon Cappuccino is being garnished with a dried persimmon (Courtesy of Jazmin Ramirez).
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The designs for Café Momento and Point of View were brought to life by Ezra Lee, a graphic designer and writer based in New York City and also Esther’s cousin. (Courtesy of Jazmin Ramirez).
The designs for Café Momento and Point of View were brought to life by Ezra Lee, a graphic designer and writer based in New York City and also Esther’s cousin. (Courtesy of Jazmin Ramirez).
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(Courtesy of Jazmin Ramirez)
(Courtesy of Jazmin Ramirez)
Ever-Evolving
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“These next five years, I really want to figure out, what is the soul of what we do?” Esther said, excited at the prospect of more failures that would continue to push them and lead them to great ideas.
“The 10-year plan would be to grow more shops,” she continued, adding that they talk about venturing into the food industry or boutique hoteling as those ideas “are fun to chase.”
Jeanette hopes to continue to build an artist program that gets more notoriety and Jazmin wants to focus on representing more roasters to which people in the area wouldn’t otherwise get exposed.
They truly are an ever-evolving company dedicated to their values and the story of their metamorphosis is far from over.