Our Story
Welcome to your new Corporate Gifting partner. We’ve been waiting for you…
Brightlane founder Brooke English and her wildly creative and talented team bring to the table nearly two decades of experience in the retail, fulfillment, and corporate gifting industries when curating gifts for clients. Throughout these years we’ve learned that what we really specialize in, is connection. From smaller gifting moments to large scale events for thousands of employees, our mission is to ensure every recipient feels acknowledged and valued. We also want to make you, the gift-giver, feel good about what you’re giving. The feeling of nailing the perfect gift at scale is what we specialize in.
So, how did we get here? We invite you to join us down memory lane…
Our Journey
2007
Our journey begins in June 2007 with Brooke’s first enterprise, The Sock Drawer, a brick-and-mortar novelty sock store in downtown San Luis Obispo, California. This bright and colorful shop was full of intentionally curated socks, and it became an instant hit with Central Coast locals and visitors alike.
2011
The retail shop inspired a website which grew into one of the world’s largest selections of novelty socks. Brooke realizes what made sockdrawer.com so special: “We replicated that human connection online.” We chose thoughtful and high quality vendors, packaged with our colorful presentation and white glove service, and began shipping orders worldwide. We grew a huge customer base and quickly learned our fans were often shopping for others.
Then Brooke connected the dots. It wasn’t about the socks; it was our joyful customers’ desire to say “I see you and appreciate you” with a colorful and unique gift, tied up with amazing packaging.
2014
Brooke’s connections also brought her to a multi-million dollar company who put her in charge of their corporate gifting program. They wanted it to be memorable and she and the team delivered! We perfected white glove service for mass deliveries, complete with tight deadlines and international shipping.
2018
The fulfillment side of our business officially kicks-off and there’s no looking back. Brooke partnered with local promotional companies managing fulfillment for their top-level clients and have shipped items around the world for them. Our 6,000 square foot warehouse was made for this kind of action!
2021
We were eager to expand the fulfillment side of our business and partner with more distribution companies as well other corporate gifting platforms to offer our products through their marketplaces. As we like to say, a busy warehouse (with a disco ball) is a happy one.
2022
Fast forward to March 2022, when The Sock Drawer transformed into Goodly, and expanded our gift offerings to include goodies like stationery and snacks, must-have home goods and, most importantly, wow-worthy gift boxes. With all our experience in the gift-giving world, this step has been natural and a thrilling new endeavor!
2023
Now $15M later, welcome Brightlane, our exclusive corporate gifting brand where delivering gifts for 50 or 5,000 boils down to the same process: we connect with you and lean on our experience to curate the perfect gift for your employee teams, clients, potential new customers, even Board Members. Then we manage the heck out of the details to deliver your gifts to doorsteps or corporate offices, on time, every time.
You can trust us to treat your order like one of our own. To bring bright, colorful and useful items to your customers and clients, all with a “Bright Glove” (that’s a step above white glove) treatment to let your recipients know they’re special.
Let us take care of you in the Brightlane!