Photo: Jillian Harris, Jilly Box founder © Courtesy of CNW Group/Retail Council of Canada
By Holly Cambruzzi
When Jillian Harris was named Retail Council of Canada’s Independent Retail Ambassador of the Year this spring, the recognition was more than a career milestone. It was also a reflection of what many Canadians have come to value more deeply in recent years: businesses that build community and use their success to lift others.
That is the story at the heart of The Jilly Box.
A Brand Built on More Than Buzz
What began as a quarterly subscription box featuring lifestyle, beauty, home, and wellness products has grown into something much bigger: a launchpad for small brands and a business model rooted in generosity. Based in the Okanagan, The Jilly Box has become a prominent example of independent retail growth in Canada. More than that, it has built a following around the idea that shopping can also reflect a wider set of values.
At the centre of that success is Jillian Harris, TV personality, entrepreneur, designer, and co-founder of The Jilly Box. Over the years, she has built a loyal following through design, storytelling, and an approachable sense of style, but what is most notable is how deliberately she has used that reach. Rather than turning attention into just another lifestyle brand, she has helped shape a company with a clear community focus from the outset.
Creating Space for Canadian Small Business
For many small brands, getting in front of the right customers remains one of the biggest challenges in retail. Through its seasonal boxes and year-round marketplace, The Jilly Box gives those businesses visibility, credibility, and direct access to an engaged customer base. Many of the brands featured are Canadian-owned, and the company has made a point of highlighting women-owned, BIPOC-owned, 2SLGBTQIA+-owned, and other historically underrepresented businesses. In its 2025 impact reporting, The Jilly Box said 77 per cent of the brands it worked with were women-owned, while 29 per cent of the products included in the box or sold as add-ons were made in Canada.
At a time when independent entrepreneurs are navigating one of the most challenging market environments in recent memory, she has used her platform and her business to actively open doors for them. That kind of leadership is exactly what [Retail Council of Canada’s Independent Retail Ambassador of the Year] was created to recognize.
Giving Back as Part of the Model
But supporting small businesses is only one part of the company’s wider impact. As of 2025, The Jilly Box committed $40,000 from each seasonal box to charitable causes, with total giving last year reaching nearly $200,000 through those contributions and other initiatives. Those donations supported organizations including the Central Okanagan Food Bank, the Kelowna Women’s Shelter, Mamas for Mamas, BC Cancer, and the Indian Residential School Survivors Society. The team also logged more than 109 volunteer hours and awarded a scholarship to support a BIPOC student at Okanagan College.
The company has also tried to align its operations with those same values. The company is B Corp-certified, pays a living wage in its region, and has worked to reduce packaging waste, including transitioning to a box that uses significantly less material than before. These are not flashy decisions, but they are meaningful ones, and they speak to the values at the core of The Jilly Box.
That is part of what makes this award feel so fitting. In honouring Harris, the Retail Council of Canada is recognizing a founder who has built commercial success while creating real opportunities for small brands and meaningful support for community causes. For British Columbia, The Jilly Box is a homegrown example of what purposeful growth can look like in practice.
About the Award
The Independent Retail Ambassador of the Year Award is presented by the Retail Council of Canada as part of its annual Excellence in Retailing Awards. It honours an independent retailer whose vision, business leadership, and community impact stand out on the national stage. Retail Council of Canada is the country’s leading retail association, representing businesses of all sizes across communities nationwide.
