Registration Open

The Story of Saranoni

The story of Saranoni (website) began with the birth of our first child, Eliza. She was born with microtia, a congenital condition that caused her to be born without a fully developed outer and middle ear.

As Eliza grew old enough to be considered for corrective surgery, we learned the procedure was considered cosmetic and would not be covered by insurance. The cost was over $100,000 for the outer ear surgery alone, and it did not include the middle ear or other surgeries that would be needed. This was a high cost for our young family, which by then included two more children.

We started thinking about how we could help our daughter have the opportunity for these surgeries. We decided to launch our own business endeavor to bring in extra money. While raising little ones, I remembered the corporate gift baskets we received from Nathan’s company after the birth of a new baby. They were always well intentioned, but often full of low-quality items that were quickly disposed of and lacked real value. I felt we could do better, so we set out to build a highly curated baby gift basket company.

With three young children, an ambitious goal, and little to no experience, I took my first steps into the business world in 2006 while Nathan worked full time. I began assembling and selling gift baskets for new babies—something I understood well while raising our own children. I loved the creative aspect and often found myself at the family computer late into the night while my babies slept, emailing back and forth with artisans from developing countries. Featuring their beautiful work in our gift baskets brought me fulfillment and joy, and quickly became my outlet.

Among the items in our gift baskets—including jewelry and baby clothes—were luxury baby blankets. At the time, I had no idea those blankets would become what people loved most.

As exciting as it was to start this new venture, it was not always easy. Weekends were often filled with long drives to craft fairs, grueling hours of packing and shipping from our basement, and days where it seemed like nothing was working. At one point, Nathan and I fulfilled orders from a storage unit in the freezing dead of winter, with our kids bundled in the car.

One night, exhausted by the burden of this endeavor on top of motherhood, I told Nathan I was done. It felt like too much. After spending time in prayer and talking together, we knew Saranoni was here to stay. We decided Nathan would join the company part-time. We transitioned into a luxury blanket company, dropped our other products, and began selling to baby retailers.

That night changed our lives, and the decision to work together was a gift. We returned to the business with renewed energy and a commitment to live up to our company’s name, Saranoni, which combines the names of my and Nathan’s maternal great-grandmothers. These two women—Sarah and Noni—modeled faith, strength, hard work, service, and family. Their legacy continues to influence how we choose to do business.

We take pride in the relationships we have with our manufacturers and sewers, the quality of our products, and the culture of kindness and service in our everyday actions.