About Jenny & Julie

Jenny Seed Reis

Jenny Seed Reis

Founder

Julie Belladonna

Julie Belladonna

Founder

Our Story

Jenny Seed Reis founded Better Than The Gift after a neighbor noticed her creative doodles paired with quirky messages and encouraged her to produce her first line of wrapping paper. With paper in hand, Jenny attended a few craft fairs, received overwhelmingly positive feedback and she was on her way. A couple of years later, Jenny partnered with her college friend Julie Belladonna who brought her executive functioning skills to Jenny's creative chaos.

Our first line of wrapping paper launched in 2024 and one year later we expanded into greeting cards, stickers, and gift bags. Jenny started with wrapping paper because she is terrible at giving gifts. Her sisters would complain every year about her gifts, and finally—after decades (!) she realized this wasn't a me problem. It was a them problem. Their expectations weren't properly set. So, she did what any reasonable person would do: She set them herself. After Jenny designed our Lower Your Expectations wrapping paper sheets, she designed This is Not a Book. There are a few of these floating out there in the world but there is something that makes Jenny's version especially unique. She was inspired by René Magritte's The Treachery of Images (which you can see below.) His quote: "Everything we see hides another thing; we always wish to see what is hidden by what we see." And, to this point, no matter how you wrap it, we all know it's a book.

What we realized quickly is that our wrapping paper isn't just packaging—it's communication. It sets a tone. It tells a story before the gift is even opened. And it works! My sisters stopped focusing on their gifts and started focusing on the wrapping paper…just like I planned. And EVERYONE pauses to read the fine print on our paper, which prolongs the gift-giving experience and creates more enduring connections.

All of our designs come from lived experience. And it turns out that when life gets hard, the truth gets louder. Between the two of us we have experienced children with genetic disorders, epilepsy, parents with Alzheimer's, tackled breast cancer and juggled anxiety, ADHD, cross-country moves and many of the same life challenges as you. We know we are not alone in life's tough challenges. Our experiences change how we see the world—and how we communicate. One of our cards looks like a simple smiley face. But when you look closer, it says, "You don't have to smile." We want it to be ok to feel.

Our Mission

We believe gifts can do better. They can spark conversation, strengthen relationships, and—true to our motto—Do Good. Because when the card and wrapping paper say it all… the gift almost doesn't matter.

Our wrapping paper is 100% compostable, and all our stationery products are produced with recycled inputs. We donate a portion of our profits to causes near to our hearts including the special needs community, cancer research and Alzheimer's disease.

In lieu of complete sentences and proper punctuation, here are some fun facts about us:

JENNY

  1. I live in Massachusetts with my husband, 2 sons, 1 cat, 6 hens, and 1 rooster named Sofia. We used to have 7 hens but one died. She is now on our bookshelf in a nice urn
  2. I'm still waiting to become a child prodigy
  3. I have ADHD
  4. I think sunrises are depressing and sunsets are beautiful. I come from a long line of night owls and I'm pretty sure my ancestors were an elite group of night watchmen that patrolled the streets of medieval London
  5. I care/worry about the environment and research Grolar (aka Pizzly) Bears on really warm winter days
  6. When leaving a voicemail, I will hit the * button at least 4 times in order to delete and rerecord and if the * button doesn't work then I press # and/or 1 frantically until I just hang up
  7. I like to take naps when I have important things to do
  8. I like to ski and I used to ski race
  9. I believe in equality and science
  10. I celebrate neurodiversity
  11. The last thing I ate was a spoonful of Nutella
  12. I make balloon animals and want to make miming cool again
  13. Julie and I met in college
  14. Julie is AWESOME

JULIE

  1. I live in New York City with my husband and 3 children
  2. We have no pets, but our children would really like a dog
  3. Despite living in a very polluted city, I try to stay healthy through diet and exercise
  4. I recently left a long career on Wall Street
  5. I turned off my LinkedIn notifications and will probably never turn them back on.
  6. I like to organize closets
  7. I worry when I am not busy
  8. I believe in the power of positive thinking
  9. I believe problems should be faced head-on
  10. A quick, afternoon nap can do wonders for my disposition
  11. We have a peace corner in our living room that hosts a giant stuffed panda
  12. I love trees, climbing mountains and looking out on the world
  13. I love Jenny's wrapping paper designs
  14. Jenny is AWESOME

Contact us at info@betterthanthegift.com