I never set out to make smaller things for sale, or to open an Etsy shop. I've been making custom home furniture since 1994, and that's all I thought I'd ever do. (My furniture website is marklovefurniture.com, if you'd like to check it out.)

But in July of 2013 I came up with a birthday gift idea for a friend who lives in London. We'd been talking one day about how addicted our kids are to their phones, how screens are destroying much of our family time, and we wondered aloud what we could do about it.

That night I came up with a strange idea for a little box that holds phones, keeps them out of sight for a little while. Not just a box though, a box with a message. Simple, short, meaningful. And maybe a little funny. I wanted to make one for my friend, for her birthday.

I asked my friend Michael, who owns a CNC machine, to make it. The carving on the lettering would need more precision than I was able to do by hand. He worked for way too long on it and handed it over to me the next day with a growl. I was thankful. I owed him one.

That night I sanded and finished it and, just for fun, posted a picture of it on Facebook. I went to bed. The next morning, the picture had gone banana viral, all over the world. I had people from all over the US, the UK, Denmark, Germany, and even Australia messaging me wondering if I could make them one.

I went back to Michael and told him we just might have a product here we can sell. One that will not only make us a little money, but more importantly, make a big difference in peoples' lives. His growl became a smile, and the Be Present Box immediately went into production.

Since then we have sold over 1,200 boxes to the farthest reaches of the globe, been featured on CBS This Morning, Fox News in Washington DC, and cnn.com three times. Our boxes are now in the hands of some very famous celebrities (whose identities are not my business to disclose here), which is such a thrill. My son especially was thrilled when a very famous quarterback with multiple Super Bowl rings placed an order for himself and his kids. And so was I :)

Creating the Be Present Box has been one of the biggest joys of my life, knowing that it's making a difference for families and businesses all around the world. And it all began with a conversation.

Anyway, I initially opened my Etsy shop as a vehicle to sell and ship Be Present Boxes, as I was just too busy making them to think through the commercial side of things. But since then I've added a few more items, which, perhaps by coincidence, also started out as gifts for loved ones.

If you're still reading, fantastic! Thanks very much for stopping by, please let me know if you have any questions or thoughts at all. I always love hearing from people who take an interest in what I do!