“We believe a small amount of inspiration each day can have a tremendous lifelong effect. Our desire is to share that inspiration with you and your customers, to grow hope and joy, no matter where you are in your journey.”
– Holly and Ben Torrens, Think Pray Gift
Gifts that tell a story
By Stephanie Hintz
Holly and Ben Torrens have a clear vision of what sets their business, Think Pray Gift, apart from others
in the industry—their vision of positive inspiration. “We truly believe that the accumulation of daily encouraging and inspirational interactions will create lifelong positive effects,” the couple says.
Six years ago, Holly and Ben Torrens created their first Prayer Angel. “The Prayer Angel was more than just an angel that holds cards. It was an idea we wanted to share with the world,” the Torrenses explain. “The idea was that an interactive physical item could encourage positive thoughts and prayer every day.”
The idea for the Prayer Angel started with Holly’s parents, who save greeting cards they
have received. Each day, they choose one card and pray for the sender throughout the day. The Torrenses loved the idea, and followed suit.
“Unfortunately, we did not have a place to easily display the cards, and they were constantly tipping
over,” says Holly. Ben had already been creating gifts for family members—figurines fashioned from
nails and washers. He made one for his wife—a figurine of a person kneeling with hands together
in prayer, with a space reserved to hold a greeting card. Every day the Torrenses placed a card they had
saved in the hands of the sculpture, allowing them to focus on one friend or family member for the day, and enjoy the cards for a second time around.
Ben crafted another figurine for Holly’s parents, and the requests came flooding in for more. “That is when we were inspired to create the simple and elegant white porcelain angel, which adapts to whatever or whomever it is embracing,” the couple says. They realized the angel could hold more than a simple greeting card, and says the Prayer Angel “serves as a constant inspirational and visual reminder for prayer by holding photos, memorial cards, inspirational cards, and other items you wish to memorialize and hold dear.”
For the next few years, Holly and Ben decided to take their newfound treasure to another level and started their entrepreneurial business journey with Think Pray Gift. They formally launched their company and brand in 2012, and say every year since, they have been “relentlessly dedicated to
creating unique interactive gifts that represent more than a simple gift—they represent a positive life.”
For example, Think Pray Gift’s Open Art secret message boards can be used by loved ones to leave daily
notes for one another, and can help fortify their relationship in a fun, creative way.
The Think Pray Gift team says they are excited to launch new designs in their Color Changing Story Mugs collection. The new designs are the result of customer requests. “If I had a quarter for every time someone asked for a Dad mug, I could have funded the development of it,” says Holly.
They will also be launching a new Signature Series to their original Prayer Angel because the Prayer
Angel is the sole reason the company is where it is today. The Prayer Angel in the Signature Series will feature meaningful messages written in beautiful black and gold script on her wings. The Torrenses say the addition is the perfect touch to their best-selling gift item.
Think Pray Gift is a wholesale-to-retailer business. “We are tremendously thankful to our wholesale customers,” the Torrenses praise. “Through their great success with our gift items, we have been able to
grow and flourish. We are constantly broadening our gift offering by adding new and exciting gifts every year. Additionally, we have been growing our amazing team. We are truly blessed to have the most amazing people working at Think Pray Gift.”
Think Pray Gift will be attending the Atlanta, Las Vegas and Minneapolis gift markets this winter. The Torrenses say it is their dream to have every fine gift retail location nationwide carry their inspirational items. “We have seen firsthand how it can have a positive effect on store owners, through both encouraging them and improving the bottom line,” they say. “All the while, we are able to reach many people in their town. Is it too bold to say that in some form of measurement, it will make for a happier town?”
The Torrenses offer some advice to others in the industry: “Have fun and embrace change. We are
in one of the most versatile and emotion-based industries, which keeps us excited. Also, reach out to others in the industry. The best friends we have in life are people we meet along the way.”
Open Art Grow Old With Me: Think Pray Gift’s Secret Dry Erase Board—The Best Is Yet to Be—opens to reveal a dry erase board perfect for jotting down love notes, a simple thank you, or kind words of inspiration. The patent-pending artwork (closed) measures 12” x 12” x 1” deep, and includes a dry erase marker.
Facts at a Glance
Business Name: Think Pray Gift
Location: Holdingford, MN
Phone: 888-584-9083
Website: www.thinkpraygift.com
Email: contact@thinkpraygift.com
Opening order: No Minimum
Minimum order: No Minimum
Find on Facebook: www.facebook.com/thinkpraygift
Pinterest: https://fr.pinterest.com/thinkpraygift
