The People, Process, & Progress Podcast - The Burg Box Began Here | Jennifer's Prevette's Path to Success in Blacksburg, Virginia

Episode Date: January 22, 2026

In this episode of People, Process, Progress of the New River Valley, I sit down with Jennifer Prevette, founder of The Burg Box, a locally rooted gift box company built around community, craftsmanship, and care.Jennifer shares her journey from studying architecture at Virginia Tech to working in marketing, to becoming a full-time mom, and eventually building a business that connects people through thoughtfully curated boxes featuring local makers. We talk about faith, intention, and what it really looks like to build something meaningful and sustainable, one box at a time.Connect with Jennifer and The Burg Box:Start with the website to explore current boxes and local makers: https://www.theburgbox.com/Follow on Instagram for new releases and behind-the-scenes updates: https://www.instagram.com/the_burg_box/?hl=enConnect on Facebook for community updates and gifting ideas: https://www.facebook.com/theburgbox/More conversations highlighting the people, process, and progress shaping the New River Valley at https://peopleprocessprogress.com

Welcome everybody back to the People Process Progress Podcast. I'm here with Jennifer Prevet of the Berg box. We're continuing the New River Valley series, right, to the People Process and Progress that people have made the New River Valley in Blacksburg and Christiansburg and Radford and Gailax we're going to go to in Pulaski, all these areas. So we're going to learn more about Jennifer, where she came from, how she got to the Bergbox, which you can see her on the table, which we'll really dive into. So Jennifer, thanks so much for being here.

I really appreciate your time, and it's good to see you again. You're welcome. Thank you for having me. You bet. You bet. So let's jump in and let folks know, like, where are you from? Where'd you grow up? And then, you know, come to how you came to the New River Valley in Blacksburg. Yeah. I grew up outside of Annapolis, Maryland, suburbs of Annapolis, between Baltimore and Annapolis. My parents lived there 36 years. Wow. They ended up migrating down to Blacksburg as well after we did. But so I grew up there and went to Virginia Tech for college. And met my husband here.

We migrated up to Northern Virginia as a lot due after tech. And we were up there for about 14 years and then had opportunities. We'd been trying to sort of get out. You know, it's kind of a love to up there. Traffic and busyness. But growing family wanted to sort of get out and just kind of opened up our, you know, scope of looking for new jobs and stuff like that. And Blacksburg became a possibility. So a firm that my husband had worked for before, had a Blacksburg office. So that's how we ended up here.

That's good. Yeah. Was Annapolis, did your parents end up there from a Navy connection or just their families from that area? No, no. Both my parents were from Pennsylvania. So I was in chemical sales. And so it just was a central location, like the mid-Atlantic was his region. Okay. And so being close to Baltimore Airport, you know, easy transportation, they just, they landed in a suburb of there. Right. That's neat.

It's a great place to grow up, actually. I bet. We always state when I was in the Navy, I was at Bethesda. So we used to go up there. And then Wendy and I, we met we were in Rockville, Germantown, Gatorsburg. And so we'd go up there near Annapolis, our first. first date was the Renaissance Festival, which is right in that area. We go every year.

Yeah. It's amazing. Yeah. The first exposures to Mead and turkey legs and like legit jousting, knocking each other off the horse. You're like, holy smokes. But it was good neutral ground for first date for anybody that's got one, right? Because you're like, let's just go to this place.

We could leave. It's such a magical place. So you go in and you just like get transported into this, you know, medieval town. And some folks are way into it. They live in the festival. I don't think just during the festival, like all the time. I think they visit all the different ones around the country. Yes.

There's a whole circuit of them. Which is cool. That's one thing I haven't done in this area yet. It's gone to more so, I guess we have the Highland Games, like in the, I think of the Radford area and stuff. I don't know where we're on a festival here, yeah, but something to do. Compare the Mead from the Maryland area in this area or something and see how it goes. Do you remember Johnny Fox, the swords follower?

No. Oh, he was. I wasn't really like probably paying a lot of it. Actually, we went every year growing up. Oh, so you got more reps. Right, like, real close. By there. Yeah, it was wild getting there because it was like way through the woods.

And then, of course, it backed up. I mean, it was, they have to generate some good money because it was always, which is great. It was always very busy and waiting in line and stuff. But one year, my friends and I were like, let's wear kilts. You know, getting away, you know, getting away, you know, getting away. Because I think Braveheart had come out. It was like in the 90s when we were there.

Yeah. Yeah, late 90s and stuff. But cool stuff. So Blacksburg for work, which is. you know, as others in a very different landscape than where you came from, right? Again, that Northern Virginia, like you said, love, hate. For me, like, I work, you know, for a company at Richmond and I come back and I'm like, the mountains, you know, we're back, we're here.

How was that adjustment from the, you know, suburban, urban area of Northern Virginia to to the mountains? Did you all kind of jump into, hey, let's go outside or was there like, oh, my gosh, it's so dark at night here and there's, you know, a lot going on? Or were you, I guess in Annapolis, you get kind of a mix of that, yeah? Yeah, it was funny. We made the decision and it was Labor Day weekend and the kids were starting school up there. Oh, wow.

And we felt like we couldn't tell them because they were starting a brand new school here. Right. And so we waited about a month because he started his job at end of September. Okay. So he moved here and stayed in an Airbnb for three months. I stayed up there and let the kids do school for a semester. Right. And then we moved mid-year, December 20th.

We moved, which do not recognize. Oh, wow, yeah. That's that time. But in that time, anyways, we moved and I found out I was pregnant with number four. Oh, wow. That was kind of a nice surprise. But the adjustment was, it wasn't too hard because we knew Blacksburg. Okay.

He was in grad school here. I was in undergrad and we met during my last year and his second year. That's true, yeah. So in a way, it was kind of like coming home. This was where both of us met each other. It was a big part of our lives. And we craved that more space, number one. We were in a tiny house and not literally a tiny house, but just a small house up in McLean.

And wanted the space, wanted. just breathing room. Right. So it was really good to move here. Nice. Very different. Right. Being here as a student and being in that mindset versus when I was a student, I didn't even, you don't even think people live here.

Like, I just remember that coming back and being like, there's a whole like world here. And it was pretty amazing. So that was just an adjustment. It was pretty good. I mean, it was pretty, it's not been easy. Right. Nothing's easy. It's right.

You're starting over. For sure. But it was great. Yeah, being a local, it's funny because you hear that about the opposite of it. You're like, all these students, and you're like, yeah, but the students keep the town alive. You know, it's like this whole back and forth. Exactly. It's silly, but, you know, I'm glad for both all parties involved.

Yeah. People are local. Speaking of that, like one sort of byproducts with the Bergbox, like just jumping right in. Yeah. It has been really cool how it's become sort of this bridge between town and university. Oh, yeah. Because my focus is local products and highlighting local businesses. Like, there's more here than Virginia Tech, like this big university.

But I actually got licensed this past spring with Virginia Tech. Nice. So I can put license stuff in the box. So it's been really fun to collaborate with them. Right. And also bring together like local and license. in one place and kind of be that bridge between local and university. In addition to folks just going to the football games,

they're like, hey, we can also get memorabilia and, you know, branding stuff and all that kind of stuff. And that is really cool. It's a great, one of the great things about, I think, being in a college town, which I went back to school when I was like 31, so it was a totally different college experience. And so I would just go, do my work, come home, through the baby, like, you know, all that kind of stuff.

But, you know, for folks that, like, are alumni or still here, you know, in that kind of traditional college thing, it's, yeah, it's, that is such a great connection to go, oh, there's still products I can get and not have to go like the campus import, you know, like on store, you know, on campus or something like that. So it's super cool. So yeah, I mean, since we're, we're jumped in, let's talk about it. So you went to school here and you went to school for architecture, right? And so take us the path from architecture, Northern Virginia to the Bergbox, right?

Sure. So I studied architecture, but it's a five-year program. Wow. After my fourth year, I pretty much decided I didn't want to be an architect. Sure. Parents were like, okay, what do we do now? So I ended up finishing it out. I loved my education.

Nice. Love design. Right. Funny story. So in architecture school, you do something called a pinup, and you literally pin up your work on the board. So on a critique day, the walls are covered with work. And so multiple professors would say, to me. You've got the best

presentation up here, but where's the architecture? Oh, there's going to fall over. A theme is building. It's great. You can sell it. Right. So I knew pretty early on that, like, I love the world of design. Sure. But I'm better at the graphics, the marketing, the presentation.

Right. So out of school, I worked for a firm called Gallagher and Associates up in Bethesda. Okay. And lived and worked up there for a while. they do exhibit design. And so I worked at Smithsonian, the Spineenomen, the Spy Museum. I worked on that.

Several, a Cleveland Jewish Museum, rock and roll Hall of Fame was starting right as I left. Just really cool. So independent museums as well as Smithsonian, national things. So that was an incredible job. Great exposure there. Great job, great experience, really intense, left that and went back into architecture,

worked in the marketing department at an architecture firm. And so that was a great experience of sort of knowing the world of architecture, having learned it in school and knowing the words and the lingo and the, you know, what they were talking about. But then being the one to do the presentations and the proposals and the... Oh, gotcha. Yeah. Seems like a bridge kind of right of the whether it like not having to do like the technical

stuff or did you but then also sell it. No, it was. I was in the marketing side. And so the architects were doing the work and feeding us stuff to put proposals together to get new work. It sounds like getting things and then presenting them well for other people like. Oh, like the bird parks, right? Yes.

You know, we're like building. Yeah. That's cool. So that's what I did for a few years. And then we started a family. And it was this, do I go back to work in a professional capacity or, you know, do I stay home? And we lived in Northern Virginia. It's expensive.

Child care is expensive. We did all the numbers. And I was able to do some freelance work. Again, that set up before I had the baby. So I never went back to the office. Right. So fast forward. We have four children, had three up there.

And then, like I said, one down here. But I did freelance work sort of, it ebbed and flowed as we would have a baby. You know, I'd get to a place where I could do some work. And so I have had my sort of foot, my toe in the door of the design world. Did a lot of freelance graphic design. I did marketing stuff. I did some event stuff. just I've been flowed.

I mean, and then you make a big jump to life creation and life like, well, keeping kids alive, like, right? And talk about, you know, packaging things, structure, you know, parenting for parents out there is no joke. If you're not a parent yet, it's no joke. But well, worth it, we'll say, right? Every day, we'll, you know, argue that kind of thing. But I would say, you know, and the decision you made, a lot of women make a lot of families, make, right? And so, one, thanks, I'm sure on behalf of your kids for doing that, and your husband and everybody else. What did you take or what do you take now from being

a parent because you're still a parent, right? And from that transition from your world before that kind of took you toward the bird box, right, from raising kids, which is an infinite list of projects and programs itself from the world of architecture that kind of helped you get to a point to start the burn box. Sure. I think there's a lot of factors. I have a strong faith. And for a while, you know, being a parent is great.

Right. I had this itch to like want to do something else and be productive and use my gifts and do something that I enjoy. Right. And so for several years, we were homeschooling. We were on that journey too for a while, not because of COVID. Right. Did it prior to COVID.

But COVID hit. And we just kept doing it. Head of the curve. Already in process. Yeah. So it worked out well. Good. So we homeschooled for about five years.

And just sort of during that, there was this itch to be like, I want to do something. I want to get back into something. Didn't know what it was. Prayed about it. You know, talked to friends about it. Just was kind of open. And then, of course, COVID hit. And that's when this kind of the idea of the story.

started. We used to Airbnb, our house, for football games. Oh, right. And every year we would have groups of friends come and just stay and go to a game or whatever visit, Blacksburg. And, of course, during COVID, everything shut down. Everything was canceled. Games for camps. I mean, everything. Right. And there was a point when I was like, I, there has to be a way to send a little bit a Blacksburg to them because they couldn't get here like they normally do every year. And so I went out looking, there wasn't anything. Nothing existed. So went to the farmer's market, started gathered things. I went to Mill Mountain, got coffee, went all around town and just collected things and kind of made these care packages. Nice. And other friends started

asking me to do them for them, you know, they would buy them from me to send to their friends. And so another, some other friends were like, I think you might have something here. Like, other people might want this. Right. So it was never really intended to be a business. Like, hey, I'm going to do this. Yeah. And it just kind of organically happened.

And it was great. And it revealed that there was sort of a void in the market for something like this. Right. I think the point when I realized there was real potential was when realtors, a couple local realtors came to me and said, you know, this would be a great closing gift or a great welcome to Blacksburg gifts. Right. Absolutely. Oh. You know, so then the life ups went off.

New business line. And it was like, there's something here. Right. And so that's been really exciting. And I think I've had this entrepreneurial bug in me. for a very long time. It's just, like I said, I don't have a business background. It's architecture.

So I never pursued business necessarily, but it just kind of landed in my lap. But I do think that it was a huge, just how it started and where it's gone. It has really been a beautiful coming together of. my passions and skills and talents, just the creativity, the design, the coming up with new products with local vendors, local restaurants, you know, saying, hey, can you package up your signature sauce so I can send a little bit of it, you know, out to alumni or whatever. And then just hospitality is a big thing for me. I love hosting. And so this sort of brings that piece together as well. So it's really been a beautiful way for me to

I feel use my gifts and create something that didn't exist before. That's awesome. And in a time when we were and had to be disconnected, connecting people, right? And even now, I mean, even, you know, after COVID where we can be closer than 60, all this stuff, right? We're digitally now more empowered to not be connected, like working remote or hybrid or whatever or just, you know, people in their phones more, you know, you drive down the street and we have a great transit system. everyone at the, so just head down right everywhere. And so to your point, whether it's, you know, a local box here between people or that's shipped out. Yeah, to alumni. That's a great, you know,

connection that, you know, we talked about of just, you know, being humans and connection. And a thing that I've talked about and put in, I wrote a book called Disability Equation about, you know, these seven pillars and one of them's connection because I read Johann Hari's lost connections book, which, if you haven't, awesome. Okay. Which talks a lot about, a lot of people are depressed or anxious or upset or something because they're so disconnected. They isolate that kind of stuff. And one of the great examples is a community came together. They came together over like they were going to shut down this whole apartment building. So, you know, a different cause, but they came together and they all started being happier and doing better.

It was like this shared thing. So the hearing people think, you know, or talk about, well, oh, this is a great idea and this might help other folks. And then standing that up, you know, is to me on the same vein of folks can really go, yeah, have you seen, you know, like, mentioned folks knowing, oh, you're with the bird box. And I love those and that's cool. You know, is the same thing. And I think just connection is so important these days. Right. Even to me, I'm always the guy that makes fun of people that aren't on camera for on a call. I'm like, hey, you know, is your camera broken? Let's see. You know, what's going on? Sure, everybody's tired of that same joke. But in person and sending a piece of this area out because it's, it's so beautiful. And, you know, all the stuff for the local crafts, we went to, I think, a market one of local wineries and, you know, the soaps and hunt, like all the stuff you can. Yeah, it's just, it's super cool.

Yeah. So you brought up a couple of points that I just want to hit on. Absolutely. The fact that it's connecting people, you know, through a gift, but also so many people talk about wanting to support small and local. It's hard. When it comes down to it, it's so easy to just pull up Amazon and hit that button and it ships. Right. So that was another thing just to be able to connect people with local artisans, local restaurants, local, you know,

bakeries, whatever. Right. So connecting them to support local, small and local, and also the gift that connects the giver and the receiver. So it's kind of a win-win all around. Absolutely. And you had a logo. Okay, it's official.

Your LLC or whatever you've got. There's challenges to get there. There's challenges to stay there. There's also strengths and opportunities. So I like to and any lessons learned thing, like start with the challenges and then end with, you know, hey, and this is what works well. What are maybe like two, three, you know, or other things you want to talk about that were challenges of getting off the ground, you know, starting to grow it as you get more

recognition, like all those kind of things. What are the things you can share with other folks that also are entrepreneur or just thinking I need to do something else and they have their idea and want to start something? Yeah. It's really funny because you think you're going to start and go in one direction and the path is never linear. It's been, you know, up and down and zigzag and all over the place. So, um, there was a pointed moment when I had a couple people reach out from Williamsburg and Harrisonburg. Oh, wow. I guess word had got out. Somebody received a box from a sister-in-law or, you know,

something. And, and I got a DM and an email. There were two separate occasions, but I'm right around the same time. and they said, you know, I received one of your boxes or my sister-in-law got a box. Are you going to be coming to Arburg? And so that's when the Whitefald went off. I didn't even think about that when you said the names of the town. I trademarked it right? Like right away, I talked to an attorney friend and he's like, you need to trademark that. So we started that process.

Nice. But this idea became so much bigger. It was like the vision was like, oh my gosh, like this could be. big, you know. So not just Blacksburg, but packaging up the burg, whatever burg that is, or whatever town that is,

you know, but this idea of capturing the essence of local, you know, in a box. And so that was really cool. I haven't done that yet. It's sort of, I'll start and then like, you know, once a

step forward, two steps back, you know, kind of thing. And so it's been a journey. but it's also been very seasonal. It's just been this like roller coaster. You know, it kind of builds up in August, September when kids come back to school and everybody's, you know, raw, rod for football. And there's excitement and all that. And then it kind of coasts towards the holidays, which is big. It's a great holiday gift.

Oh, good. But then it drops off in January, February, March. And then it kind of picks back up for graduation. Oh, yeah. Springtime graduation, weddings, Mother's Day. Right. There's just a lot of events around the late spring. And it seems to pick back up then and then it drops over the summer.

So that has been really hard. And it's been this question of can it be sustainable, you know, as a full on business. This year, January 2026, I've kind of committed to pivoting. to focus on corporate. Because I know there is a void in the market, especially here. I think that a lot of companies send gifts all the time. Right. And I think in this wake of, you know, just sending a gift to check a box is,

I think people are wanting to be more intentional. A little more personalized. Oh. Yes. There's opportunity for them to really show that they're investing in their community. Right. by giving a local gift, you know, or sending a local gift to a client. I've had local companies leave it in hotel rooms for clients coming to town.

Oh, yeah, that's a great idea. We have delivered all over town, you know, to different, like, title companies or closing, you know, lawyer attorneys who are doing closings or whatnot. And so we will take it, deliver it, and they'll have it there at the table, you know, for their closing. So I think that with that pivot, that will either prove, you know, either it'll work it or it won't. But that's my next sort of big step or pivot to say, I want this to be, to work out and to go, you know, and be able to see my vision. Frantrides across Berg's, right? And being my family's from Pittsburgh, so also Pennsylvania. And I'm like, I just picture black and gold boxes and stuff, which would be great.

Well, and ironically, all of the Virginia burgs have universities. And I, this past spring I got licensed with Virginia Tech. Right. And so I could do JMU, William and Mary, Lynchburg, Mary Washington, and Fredericksburg. That would be cool. So there's opportunity, especially within the state, to sort of do a taste of local in their burg. So I would love to do that. And I think it's, I think people appreciate it.

Right. Absolutely. So for, so I'm in my program project management leader mindset now. So if I was to track those lessons learned that I heard, if you have a good idea, trade market. Yes, trade market right away. Right away because it's yours, it's worth something, all that good stuff. It's not cheap, but pay the money because it'll save you.

Save time to problem selling around, I bet. plan for the risks, but also benefits of seasonal work and logistics, right, and all that. And then also it sounds like you have, okay, let's kind of roadmap this and look ahead and say, which direction do I want to go to compensate for the troughs and the peaks and troughs of the seasons, right? And then obviously put a plan towards dealing with that all around, which has to be for personnel, because you're a company of how many people? Me.

Right, right? So, you know, imagining Virginia and all the Burgs and wherever else, thinking about, you know, a whole other legal aspect of franchise or you trying to do it or hiring people or all that kind of stuff. But, and also I would imagine not trying to plan and do all that all at the same time, short of getting a shark tank check where you're like, okay, right. It's got to be incremental growth, but then also planning like, how do I scale this? It's got to be a big focus, right? Well, and I think I need to get Blacksburg nailed down first.

Right, yeah. And that's, there have been times where I'm like, maybe I just do it. Like, maybe I just charge through and like bring on JMU or Harrisonburg. But it didn't make sense. I need to figure out. Build your base real strong. Yeah, for sure. Yeah, that's a great, that's a great way to put it.

That makes sense. So once that's established and sort of on autopise, I think then I can start thinking about bringing on other other bergs. That's super cool. Yeah. In addition to, you know, getting the trademark, getting, you know, permission or license from Virginia Tech, which is awesome. A great start to locking this area down, so to speak.

What are, what are like two or three things that have worked well that people should emulate, right? And what you've done? You know, we talked about kind of maybe steps from the challenges, but what are just, just some wins that it's like, hey, this worked. I try this thing and do this every time. Yeah. Or often. I don't know if this will answer the question, but a couple of things come to mind.

People around here especially are very willing to help you. And so I am very much a person who doesn't like to ask for help. Right. But I found that when I do, doors open. Nice. And so don't, don't limit yourself. Don't hold your own self back. You never know, you don't know until you ask kind of thing.

And so it's been amazing when I've, asked, things have happened or they know someone who can connect me with someone who, you know, so people are very willing to help. And I guess I was surprised by that. Because when you're an entrepreneur, you feel very isolated. It's just you against the world. And it's an island. You're like David and Goliath kind of mindset, at least I did.

So that's one thing. And another thing, so along those lines, one piece that I hadn't really mentioned yet, but has been an awesome coming. together of sort of the creativity and the design and the pieces for me are brainstorming new product ideas. So it's been really fun to talk to different entities, different places and say, hey, I'm thinking about this. Like, I went to breakfast with a woman, another entrepreneur, who owns a spice company. Oh, wow. So you wouldn't think, like, me and her would, like, have any way to connect. Right. We're at breakfast, brainstorming, just chatting, talking about

business and I was just starting to create like a game day box, tailgate box. Oh cool. Yeah. And so we ended up brainstorming and I think I have a sample. Yeah, it's right here. Oh, nice. Oh, no kidding.

And so we created that. It didn't exist. So we created a brand new product. Sandman, enter Sandman as paid before every Virginia Tech football game and the whole stage. If you haven't watched the intro. Yeah. People process progress.

YouTube channel I got one just self-promotion but yes. Yes. So amazing. So now that's an exclusive product that I carry. Oh, wow. Gives her business. It's a cool thing just for both of us to be able to say. The Palisades is a local restaurant sort of out in the middle of nowhere.

Right. But it's award-winning, fabulous food, very farm-to-table. Right. And they have packaged up several of their like meat rubs. vegetables seasonings. And so it's literally a taste of, you know, the restaurant. They don't sell it. Right.

But they packaged it up for me to put in the box as a taste of Luxburg. That's super cool. And so I've done that with a lot of different places. Gillies packages up their pancake mix. Oh, wow. Bolos has done their scone mix. And so these are things not available in store, but available exclusively through the Bergbox. And so that's been a real fun.

creative and fun for me, but also financially, you know, beneficial for them. I mean, and talk about that, again, that connection theme, like people that live across the country that went to school here, you know, whether it's last year, however long those businesses have been open, you know, they're like, oh, I can use this. I remember that. That was great. And order it. That's so awesome.

And again, think of, talk about seasonal, but people like, hey, we got to get our burr box to get ready for like tailgate season, you know, for. for the Sandman Spice and all that kind of stuff, which is awesome. Yeah, yeah. It was fun. This past football season, the University Club hired me to create boxes to put in all the sweets. And so we had like signature things for them in those boxes, which Sandman Spice was one of

them. So that was really cool. It'd be neat to get somehow reaction, you know, like, be like, hey, can I have someone just like watch you, you know, or something to, and get. that feedback or that's probably part of the loop right is how do you how do you get a feedback loop on your products when they're going out that's been a hard thing i'll tell you what's what's interesting is so you know aunt jane orders a box through the website to send to her niece who was a graduate right so the niece gets the box wasn't expecting the box but gets the box is a nice gift right

she thanks aunt jane but it never gets back to me as like like the loop never closes right to really get feedback i put in a card in every box actually somewhere with a QR code for a Google for a Google review. Oh, cool. I've gotten a handful, but, you know, it's hard to get the feedback and to get the reviews. Right. Especially when the recipient isn't necessarily buying the gift. Right.

It's always kind of through someone that's sent it to them. Yeah. Is just to talk about your contact is, is Google review the best way for someone that's had a Bergbox to get a review. Can they, you mentioned, you know, someone DM in you on like Instagram or something like that. Can they send it that way? And if so, of course, what's your Instagram handle and, you know, let folks know that.

But what is the best way to close that communication loop with you? Anything. I mean, email you whatever. Yeah. Whatever works. Gotcha. I just try to put the QR code in for convenience. I think it's pretty easy.

Is it at the bird box, B-U-R-G-B-R-G-G-R-G. G-B-O-X on Instagram. Yeah, it's the underscore Berg-U-Sk Gotcha. It's separated. And then we're on Facebook. The Bergbox. Yeah.

And then website. Website. Thebergbox. Gotcha. Yeah. Cool. Just want to make sure the contact you in this. We're talking about closing loads.

So if you've gotten a burg box, send a review. Go to Google reviews. Go wherever you can. The other thing I want to talk about, too, that we talk about. And you mentioned faith, and that's the seventh pillar and the stability equation thing I read about. So, and to me, faith being what you think, right? I grew up going to Catholic church and then no church and then knew this and, you know,

the whole, probably a lot of roller coaster like other people have. And a lot of what I have found helpful is focusing on other people, helps you deal with your own stuff or not focus on your own stuff, even though, you know, not to ignore it. And, you know, we talked about like the giving mindset, right? So all the stuff you're doing is giving gifts through other people to other people. You know, which sometimes is, or not sometimes all the times, it's probably a lot of work and getting everything together and making it look good. What benefits have you found for yourself from this giving mindset from doing not just the business stuff, but just the act of giving regularly? Sure.

What's very gratifying. It's, you know, sort of selfishly. Like, I love it. I love knowing that someone's going to be surprised when they open it or excited or just know that they're loved and valued. you know, one thing that I started doing is I pray over every box before it goes out. Nice. That's just my way of being like, I hope whoever received this is blessed, you know, in some way. And so that's just a small way, I think, for me to infuse, you know, just a blessing.

Good stuff. That's awesome. That's amazing. So we're talking about connecting. Is there other ways, other messages you want to send about how folks can get to the burgbox, what it's all about, something we haven't covered? I'm going to ask some questions about the New River Valley, but want to make sure that we, you know, talk about this and you.

I've had people reach out saying, how can I get in the burg box? And I guess I'm always open to new vendors. Yeah. So, I mean, I have this standard, like the standard products are usually coffee, honey, soap, candles, and there's tons of vendors in the New River Valley.

And so I will rotate through and sort of highlight and showcase different vendors of all those products. We've done multiple coffee companies. We've done multiple everything. So chocolates, different, like I said,

baking mixes, we've done scones, we've done cookies, we've done brownies, muffins from all different bakeries. Is there a, well, two questions. Is there a most popular item that people have asked for that you've, you know, sold the most in the boxes? And then what's the most unique item you would say?

The most popular box, I would say, is the game day box. That seems to be the most popular. Right. And then a close second would be the holiday box. And I try to have a locally made ornament every year from a local artisan. This year they were beautiful. ceramic state of Virginia. And we've had woodworkers do them in the past. That's nice. Most unique product. I'd have to probably say the Sandman's face. That's one of the cool ones

that is created. Especially how it came to be right. I was going to say. Yeah. So for folks that are going to be, we have a while before we see this new era of Virginia Tech football, right, that's going to happen. I know. What is in the game day box or is it a variety just to give folks or talk through like a preview of that one since it's a very popular item and get ahead of the curb before people start stocking up for their tailgates and such or gifting sure um well i have photos on the website but um and it's currently sold out because i haven't restocked the product yet um it sold out last season and uh kind of reconfiguring it a little bit but it's popcorn heathwood kettle corn

Withleys Peanuts. Another thing is I try to, if I can't find a local product, I try to reach out to alumni from Virginia Tech. So like Whitley's Peanuts, they are featured in Castle and Lane. Oh, nice. But they're an alumni business of Virginia Tech. All connected back. That's great. Yeah, so it's all kind of connected.

A local artist rendering of Lane Stadium, so a Madden Frink. Oh, nice. A silicone game day cup, which is great for tailgates. It's like indestructible. You can run it over with your car. Oh, cool. And it won't be destroyed. Keychain beads, party beads.

Orange and orange. Keychain is, it's called a goki. It's a little hokey foot. That's a bottle opener. Oh, nice. Sandman Spice is in there. That's in there. I feel like there's one more thing.

You're going to have to check the website. That's cool. Yeah. Check it out. Yeah. Go to the burg box, B-U-R-G-B-O-X. com.

Is there the ability for folks to get a custom box? Like, hey, I'd like a gift box for someone. I loved my time at tech and then say, can I have these things or do you have these things? Or is there like a la carte? You know what I mean? So funny,

you should say that. So all along, I've been, like I've created the boxes and had those for sale. And then people all the time are like, can you, can I get this and this and this, like, build your own box. Right. And so this past summer, I switched web platforms. I created this build your own box feature.

Oh, cool. Or not. Is it harder to manage, harder to manage? Tons to manage all the inventory. Keep that, you know, going. And then every box is custom. Right. But I also was finding people weren't really using it.

Oh. What has been worked better is to have a box. and then have them be able to add on to the box. Gotcha. So to choose, oh, actually, I want to add this bracelet, these earrings, and this soap. Right. And put it in this box, you know, that already exists. Yeah.

So I actually just eliminated the build your own box. Oh, gotcha. I do have like a marketplace area where you can just buy individual products. Right. Oh, cool. So you could, you know, those just ship individually. Oh, if that speaks to our humanity, of wanting choice and then going well it's just easier if I get it like pretty you know what I mean like

if it's already together people want to be told what to buy right like that is one lesson I've learned in retail sure the less decisions that you that they have to make is better it's more appealing if it's like hey I like all this stuff let's just have like you were saying some earrings as well or something yeah yes it's true it gets overwhelming they get overwhelmed because I've had I had people test it I had people try it and they're like it works fine I'm just like I don't even know what to do you know or like what to choose there's so much and so like when you give too much choice it actually backfires that makes sense um and so and like i said it was a mess but not really a mess just a lot to keep totally different logistical administrative thing yeah yeah and then an order

comes in and you're it just takes so much more time because you're you know right every single one is custom different system too i imagine like if you have i'm just using a random number like five set boxes for different things and you're like your bins can be set up so it's like get this get this get this right whereas it's you're like i got to go over here and then i got to go over there so you know logistical layout and planning all that's kind of stuff but so it's interesting so choose a box add stuff to it if you get something when you get something that's pretty awesome so to have some questions about the new river valley okay uh so to let folks whether they're from here or not we'll hear opinions you know what do they think do they agree they're not who

knows. So the first one is what keeps you around here? What keeps you grounded in this area? This place is really special. We've, like I said, we lived in Northern Virginia. I grew up in Maryland. There is just something peaceful about being here. The open space, the fresh air. Like, it's a small town, but you've got the big university. And you do have a lot of culture, surprisingly. Right. And so it's a beautiful balance. Like you can kind of, you know, use it when you want. Go to town or go back out. Yeah. For sure. And because the kids are getting older and stuff, we have really gotten outside a lot more. And we do hike as a family. Often, the kids play sports and all that. Right.

It's a great community. Right. People are friendly. People are nice. For sure. it is different than a lot of other places. There's a vibrancy here. There's a loyalty. People love it, you know, and they're passionate about it, not just the university, but the place, the town. Right. Or the region, I guess, is more so.

Like, we love going to Floyd, you know, on a Friday night. Recently we did Buffalo Mountain. Oh, nice. And then we got dinner at Dogtown Pizza, you know. Oh, cool. Just kind of spent the day there, and it was wonderful. It's all doable on the day. Pretty easy.

Yeah. Totally. Yeah. Yeah. And we, we went to recently, which was great. And so there is a lot to do here.

It's kind of like these hidden gems. Like you kind of have to know it, you know, to, to know. Because I think at first place, people are like, that's a little podont town.

It's a country. Look at those cows over there. Yeah. Exactly. For sure. But you have to just dig a little deeper. And there's, there's a lot here.

And there's, there's quality people. There are quality people, yeah. that are doing things. Right. And I think that does have to do with the CRC here. And so they're very aware of like bringing industry here,

bringing technology and Virginia Tech being on the cutting edge of lots of things. Like there's just a vibrancy. Yeah. And it is a good balance of, you know, the corporate research center, CRC, we're at Blacksburg Technology Council, like all those groups and the technology that's here or even started here that's now like billion dollar companies. And people would be like, from where? you know, you know, wouldn't know. And fortunately, though, all the land's not bought up, you know,

so there is some space to your point. And, and yeah, we were the same in, you know, COVID and we were just like, well, let's go hike. And so we just made a list and we just started going. And it's all, you know, doable, it's drivable. Of course, you can see where dirty dancing was filmed at the lodge, which is an amazing place. But talking about there's, there's so much. So if someone said, hey, I have a free afternoon. Where should I go in the New River Valley? What would be the place? she would send them. Oh, I would say go to the farmer's market. That's an experience.

That is. Saturday morning. Right. Get some good food there. Fuel up. And then do a hike. I mean, we do. What's your favorite hike?

Bald knob for sunsets. Oh, yeah. Dragon's Tooth. My husband and boys did that recently. Oh, cool. We live real close to Pandapis Pond. And so we do that a lot. Good place to go around.

And there's a lot of hikes, like sort of hidden heights. Back in the woods. There are. You don't just have to do the pond. Right. But even just campus. Right. I mean, we will take our dog and just walk around campus.

It's amazing. It is. And they are making a big effort to connect all the walking paths. That would be awesome. And so that's, that was part of the transportation hub, like making that new building along Perry Street. Connecting all that. So the intention is to connect the entire campus by walking path.

So you could do like one big loop all around. That is awesome. But just I love how town flows into campus. Right. It's just sort of a seamless. Sitting at like Marooner just looking right down. Yeah. Yeah.

It's amazing. Places you'll hear from probably other people too. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It was awesome. So fuel up at the market and get outside. Get outside.

Yeah. Which is just general in this area. And be ready for some hills. mountains. Yes. The only, the flattest hikes I've seen is probably Pandapis, and then everywhere else you go,

you're like, you're climbing rock steps or going on the trailer, which is good. Yeah. It's the whole point. What surprised you about this area when you first got here? We may touch on a little earlier, but where were you like,

oh, I knew you were here from school. So maybe probably then, I know it's changed. So like, you know, my wife, Wendy, I wish I know you know, and that's for everybody else,

is she was in school here, graduated a while ago. And then we came back maybe once or twice. And then, of course, back way after now in 2019 when we moved here and totally different-looking, you know, area. But whether it was when you first got here for school or when you came back, what were you like, oh, my, this is different, better, something like that. What was the biggest surprise to you? I know that this is probably charged in many ways. But I think Blacksburg does a really good job of keeping the core downtown small, like the same.

small like the 16 squares they have preserved that even though everything else looks very different and grown up and you know it's it's they just tore down the rose florist that right the other debate online right now right it's all over everything Blacksburg yeah um so I think the town or the town is doing a good job preserving the downtown we just need keeping its feel and keep getting them to stay here you know Costco and Trader Joe's come on I actually sent a message to Trader Joe's a few years ago yeah this would be a great opportunity you know

can you imagine but I will say that I think it works so well because there is town and university the university really helps the town absolutely with the CRC I guess I was I didn't that was not here when I was in school

right and so that is exciting to see the investment. Right. And just the cutting edge. Like there's big stuff happening in the middle of the field. Absolutely. I mean, really. Leading autonomous, autonomous vehicles and drones and new technology and 3D.

Yeah. It is amazing because driving by you would on 460, you'd be like, what's that? Yeah. So the sense of like, oh, gosh, we're leaving the city. We're leaving culture, we're leaving, you know, all this stuff to go down to this tiny little town. I mean, people thought we were crazy. I bet. But we came down here and we're like, actually, it's like this little hidden gem, you know, and you get a great quality of life.

Absolutely. But you still have, like, there's stuff going on. You can still see performances at the Center for the Arts. Right, yeah. Now that it changed names. Yeah. Yeah. Small town, plenty to do.

It is less, we'll say, than like in Northern Virginia. near a big city or something like that, but it fits because we also have beautiful mountains and, of course, national championship football team next year. So it's going to be awesome. So, yeah, come to the New River Valley, fuel up, get outside. But first go to the Bergbox website and get whatever box you want, add some stuff to it. Remind us how we can connect with you, all the platforms that you're on. Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and then the website. We'll put that in the show notes, of course. People process. progress.com. I've been Kevin Pennell. This is Jennifer Prevet with the Bergbox. I hope these

lessons and this discussion was helpful to everybody as well. Again, keep that giving mindset in all the things you do and give somebody a Bergbox. Thank you, everybody. Thanks.