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More Than Just A Business
Bravely Beautiful blog post April 1, 2021
Amanda Owens' oldest daughter traveled home a few weeks ago and walked back to her once childhood bedroom. She was quickly met with the organized chaos of her Mom, Dad, and 14 year old sister stuffing boxes with candles, soup mixes, coffee mugs, and cocktails kits, etc. She quickly dropped all of her things and joined in with the chaos. Daymaker Gifts has humble beginnings. It is founded out of a tiny three bedroom house in the small town of LaSalle, Colorado. Daymaker Gifts was a hypothetical business idea that Amanda was playing around with while her and her family were all stuck in quarantine. She found herself trying to figure out unique ways to make people’s day. Amanda quickly found her passion as she was able to see the smiles that she was giving to her family and friends. Daymakers Gifts isn’t just a hypothetical anymore, it became real life.
Amanda has worked four part-time jobs along with being a stay-at-home mom for close to 20 years. She is a woman of many trades. Travel agent, tutor, zumba instructor, and substitute teacher, but if you were to ask her what she did for a living she would say, “I’m just a stay-at-home mom.” When COVID hit, all four of her jobs came to a halt. She found herself sitting in quarantine asking God what her purpose was. As she began to make and deliver fun gifts to her friends and family in quarantine, she quickly found her passion. When Amanda sat her family down to tell them about her crazy idea to start her own business, they were all hands on deck. Amanda has packed 100's of sandwiches for her oldest daughter's track meets, curled her youngest’s hair for every dance recital, and helped her husband shave and shower when he injured his hands. She has shown up for her family at every stage of their lives, it was time for them to do the same. Her husband and youngest have been creative soundboards for Amanda to bounce ideas off of. They have come up with over 20 different unique gift ideas that will guarantee to brighten someone's day. While away at college her oldest daughter, majoring in Communications, has been able to help create the Daymakers Gifts website, press releases, and social media platforms. The gift boxes that people will be receiving have been thought out, hand crafted, and created by one small town family who love to make people’s day.
Daymaker Gifts was designed to help people find unique ways to celebrate the everyday moments Hallmark doesn’t make cards for. All while supporting small businesses, giving back to the community, and creating a culture of generosity. Amanda is premiering 15 unique gift boxes on April 17th. These gift boxes range from a 'Missing Mom' gift for women who have lost their moms , Comfort Care kits for cancer treatment patients, and a Jerk n’ Nuts gift for the men in our lives. Daymaker Gifts wants to make it easy for you to show others you love them and to create a culture of generosity and year round giving. All it takes is a click of a couple buttons and you will be delivering smiles to the ones you love.
Daymaker Gifts isn’t just a gift giving company, it is much more than that. Daymaker Gifts supports local business, minority owned companies, and donates to local nonprofits. As you are about ready to purchase your gift box you will have the opportunity to add on a $5 Difference Maker item (items will change monthly). 100% of the proceeds collected from the Difference Maker item will go to a different nonprofit organization every month. These organizations include Damillion Jaize Legacy Foundation, Pregnancy Resource Center, The Women’s Bean Project, and many more. When you buy a gift from Daymaker Gifts you aren’t just making someone’s day, you're making a difference.
When your loved one receives a gift from Daymaker Gifts it won’t just be filled to the brim with goodies, but it will also be filled to the brim with love. The Owens family has banded together to not only make sure that Amanda’s business succeeds, but to make someone’s day in a time where we so desperately need it.
Written by Savannah Jo Owens
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OPEN EYES
Bravely Beautiful blog post January 17, 2022
26 years ago my tour with Up With People took me to Montgomery, AL on the weekend of Martin Luther King Jr. day. My host mom in that city was an amazing woman named Gigi and my roomies that city were Jay from Wyoming and Carsten from Germany. The 3 of us instantly connected with Gigi and found ourselves staying up late to learn about her story and what it was like for her to grow up as a woman of color in the south. Neither Jay, Carsten, or myself came from a particularly diverse part of the world, so needless to say listening to what Gigi experienced was eye-opening for us.
We decided to play hookie for a day from our daily cast activities and Gigi did the same from work. Gigi took us to many different historical sites around Montgomery, Alabama. We visited the Civil Rights Monument, the site where the Montgomery Bus Boycott started, a bus station that still had a 'coloreds only' sign over a drinking fountain (in 1996), the Dexter Ave King Memorial Baptist Church where Dr. King served as pastor from 1954- 1960, the State Capital where the Selma to Montgomery March ended in protest of voting rights, and of course Jay and I couldn't leave Montgomery, AL without a stop at Hank Williams Jr.'s memorial site.
This day meant so much to this country girl from small town Colorado and deepened my understanding of the struggles and trials that face people of color in our country (and world). Listening to Gigi's story, visiting these places first hand, and experiencing the culture of the area was life changing for me.
That week our cast performed at the Historical Davis Theater, the exact location where Rosa Parks was arrested and the Bus Boycott officially started. That night in our Green Room the staff played U2's Sunday Bloody Sunday and 155 young people from 22 different countries were keenly aware of the magnitude and significance of the moment we were living in. I remember being on stage that night and looking into the audience and noticing a distinct segregation of whites and blacks in the auditorium. It was 1996 so there were no official 'segregated areas' in this theatre, but even in 1996 the separation was abundantly clear.
One of Up With People's first and arguably their most famous song, What Color Is God's Skin, is no longer performed in every show, but it does find its way back into the show line up for significant locations and events. THIS was one of them. As my friend and fellow cast mate, Tami, came to the stage to sing our final song of the night I remember being so overcome with emotion and I couldn't hold back the tears. I was not alone in that feeling because as I looked around there was not a dry eye on stage.
I learned so much in those few short days. The lens I see the world through changed that week. I learned the power behind listening, the beauty in someone else's story, and the grace and courage it requires to forgive. I still have so much to learn and so much more listening to do. People that are different than us are worthy of our time, our love, and our understanding and permanent change will not happen until we fully grasp that concept.
To J. Blanton Belk, founder of Up With People and friend of Dr. King, and to Dr. King himself, THANK YOU for being brave enough to fight for what you believe in, strong enough to continue on when the road was rough, and for sharing your heart with the world.
What Color Is God's Skin
"Good-night" I said to my little son
So tired out when the day was done.
Then he said as I tucked him in
"Tell me Daddy what color's God's skin?"
(chorus)
What color is God's skin?
I said, "It's black, brown, it's yellow
It is red it is white
Every man's the same in the good Lord's sight."
(verse)
He looked at me with his shining eyes
I knew I could tell no lies
When he said, "Daddy why to the different races fight
If we're the same in the good Lord's sight?"
(chorus)
What color is God's skin?
I said, "It's black, brown, it's yellow
It is red it is white.
Every man's the same in the good Lord's sight."
(verse)
"Son that's part of our suffering past
But the whole human family is learning at last
That the thing we missed on the road we trod
Is to walk as the daughters and the sons of God."
(chorus)
What color is God's skin?
I said, "It's black, brown, it's yellow
It is red it is white.
Every man's the same in the good Lord's sight.
Words & Music by: Tom Wilkes & David Stevenson
Blog post by: Amanda Owens via Bravely Beautiful Blog