2022: The Year We Found Our Purpose

Every year around this time, I sit down and try to make sense of the previous twelve months. Usually it's a mix of wins, losses, and lessons. But 2022 feels different. This was the year Boxiki stopped being just a company that sells products and started becoming something more.

Sustainability Became Real

In March, we announced our partnership with ClimatePartner, and I wrote about it on this blog. At the time, I wasn't sure how seriously we'd be able to follow through. Carbon neutrality sounds impressive, but the day-to-day work of gathering emissions data, coordinating with suppliers, and purchasing verified offsets is tedious, expensive, and unglamorous.

We did it anyway. By the end of 2022, we've certified multiple product lines as carbon neutral through ClimatePartner. Our products earned Amazon's Climate Pledge Friendly badge. And we've started building the internal processes to eventually certify our entire catalog. It's been one of the most challenging initiatives we've ever undertaken, and also one of the most rewarding.

Giving Back Became a Habit

What started as donating a few imperfect products to a Vancouver shelter has grown into a formalized giving program. This year, we began building relationships with Habitat for Humanity, explored partnerships with food banks in Ontario, and started connecting with children's charities in the UK.

The total dollar amount of our donations in 2022 isn't the point — though it exceeded our expectations. The point is that giving became a habit, something woven into how we operate rather than an afterthought at tax time. When we have excess inventory, our first question is now "who needs this?" before "how do we discount this?"

The Team Grew Up

We added several incredible people to our team this year, expanding our presence across Canada, the UK, Pakistan, and the Philippines. For the first time, it feels like we have the right people in the right roles — not just filling positions, but genuinely excelling in them.

Priya joined our marketing efforts and immediately elevated everything. Rizwan continued to be the backbone of our operations, managing supplier relationships and quality control with a meticulousness that I deeply admire. Our UK team grew, our customer service improved, and for the first time, I felt like the company could function without me hovering over every decision.

That's a milestone that doesn't show up on any dashboard, but it might be the most important one of the year.

Finding Our Purpose

At the beginning of 2022, if you'd asked me what Boxiki's purpose was, I probably would have said something about making high-quality consumer products. And that's still true — we're obsessive about product quality and always will be.

But this year showed me that our purpose is bigger than products. We sell kitchen tools and travel accessories and children's toys, yes. But what we're really doing is trying to enrich lives — the lives of our customers, the lives of people in the communities where we operate, and the life of the planet we all share.

That sounds grandiose for a mid-sized e-commerce company, and maybe it is. But I'd rather aim high and fall short than aim low and hit the target. We sell products, but our purpose is to enrich lives. That's what 2022 taught us.

Thank you to every customer who bought from us this year. Thank you to our team, who showed up every day with energy and dedication. And thank you for reading this — it means more than you know.

Here's to 2023. I have a feeling it's going to be a big one.