Meet the person behind Gift Pilot

Hi, I’m Abbey! 👋

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I’m a mum of two, a serial list-maker (who still manages to forget things),

and the person behind Gift Pilot.

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Having lived in New Zealand, the UK, Hong Kong, the US and now Australia,

I’ve become very familiar with the admin of gifting. Family in one country,

friends in another, birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas… you get the idea.

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And despite my best intentions, I’m usually the person who remembers a

birthday is coming up, makes a mental note to sort something, and then

remembers again about 24 hours before the actual day. Sound familiar?

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Even when I do remember in time, there’s still working out what to buy,

finding somewhere that sells it, ordering it and hoping it arrives before

the occasion has been and gone. All for something that’s supposed to

be enjoyable!

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So I wondered: surely I'm not the only one?! There should be somewhere I can enter occasions and everyone’s birthdays once, choose what to send (or have someone choose for me), and know it’s taken care of?

Apparently I wanted that badly enough to build it myself.

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Here’s what I wanted it to do

For my mum’s birthday, I might know exactly what I want to send, so I add it, set a budget and leave it. For my notoriously difficult-to-buy-for dad, I let Gift Pilot find ideas and decide whether to approve one or leave the choosing to Gift Pilot. For Christmas, I add everyone well in advance, instead of spending December frantically searching.

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I still want to give thoughtful gifts, and I still want people to know I’ve remembered them. I just don’t want another part-time job organising it all.

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Want to see it step by step? Here’s how Gift Pilot works.

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It’s not just a personal problem

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Before I stepped back to be at home with my kids, I worked in account management, admin and team roles. I know how much time the small, tedious jobs take: remembering them, chasing them, getting them done properly. They’re the jobs nobody has time for and everybody notices when they’re missed.

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That’s why Gift Pilot, a gift management service, also works for businesses. You can look after clients, staff and partners with approval preferences, budget tracking and gifts that reflect your company, without it becoming someone’s side project. See the Corporate plan.

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And yes, there’s a real person behind it

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Gift Pilot uses technology to keep track of everything and help find suitable gifts, and there’s a real human making sure things happen. Right now, that’s me. I’m personally involved in organising, purchasing and sending gifts, and I’m building Gift Pilot around the kind of service I’d genuinely want to use myself.

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It’s early days and I’m learning plenty along the way. If something isn’t right, email me at hello@gift-pilot.com.

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Gift Pilot currently sends gifts in Australia, New Zealand, the US, Canada, the UK and Hong Kong, and you can sign up from anywhere.

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Make gifting thoughtful, easy and one less thing to remember.

Because I think we all have quite enough to remember already.

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Abbey 💙
Founder, Gift Pilot