“L CT SN SB $” — that’s the product key 21-year-old Zoe Johnson wants customers to notice when browsing her beautiful new Branford shop, Gracious Gifts and Home.

The letters are sprinkled throughout the shop and represent whether each unique line or item has been made by a local artisan (L), a Connecticut business (CT), a special needs artisan (SN), a small business (SB), and/or one that includes a portion of proceeds donated to charity ($). In fact, Zoe’s aromatherapy line in her shop, “Zen by Zoe,” fits all five categories.

The gracious host with the beautiful smile lives with social anxiety that could have curbed many of her ambitions in life but has, instead, opened the door to an exceptional opportunity to develop a career and a fantastic local business while also helping others in need.

Growing up in Branford, Zoe attended a combination of special education and mainstream classes at Branford Public Schools (BPS), even developing her aromatherapy line while at Branford High School (BHS).

“I started Zen by Zoe for my senior capstone in high school. The reason I chose it is because I like scents, and I like cooking, too. So, making these things made me happy and I thought it would help other people,” says Zoe.

The line includes scents ranging from those calming to energizing. Calming linen sprays are great for spritzing a pillowcase to help you sleep, says Zoe, while opening a small, roller-topped vial to explain, “this one is the Anxiety Blend.”

The mix of bergamot, lemon, and lavender essential oils can be applied to the wrists and behind the ears.

“I used this and it works!” she adds. “But my anxiety didn’t get any worse because I know what causes my anxiety and what I can do to control it.”

Zoe taught herself the art of aromatherapy by studying a book on blending essential oils. The BHS Class of 2019 graduate honed her retail skills through the BPS student transition program, which helps students entering the world after their school years to develop life skills and job experiences. Zoe’s experiences included two years in retail at Florals by Kait of Branford; she also worked at TJ Maxx.

“I like retail,” Zoe says.

At the conclusion of the program, supported by her parents, Elaine and Stuart Johnson, Zoe began determining what her next steps in life would be. Within her level of academic work, Zoe had been a high achiever in school, earning high honors at BHS. So, she considered college.

Following one of her passions, Zoe dipped a toe into a rigorous online animation class as a litmus test, but found the stress created by the studies to be dampening her enthusiasm for something she loved to do. At the same time, she was also considering entering the job market. For Zoe, the decision-making process was compounded by the additional stress it was creating.

“My husband and I were concerned,” says Elaine Johnson. “She had so much anxiety about getting a job and trying to determine what she wanted to do.”

Adding to the mix, along came the start of the COVID-19 shut down. But the required pandemic pause actually created somewhat of a silver lining, as it gave Zoe and her parents more time to determine what she might like to do.

With her love of shopping, experience working in retail and her decidedly creative side, “...I had suggested to her, ‘How about a gift shop?’ And she really liked that idea,” Johnson says. “It was our decision to make sure that she has the skills that she needs and potentially have a successful store so that she could be self-sustaining without necessarily having to rely on a different type of job.”

The idea was a good fit, and the plan became even more exciting as it was worked out. The Johnsons would use some of the funds they’d saved for college as seed money. While the plan to fill the shop was always to find inventory that would support local artists and small businesses, inspiration truly struck when the family began thinking about other ways to help.

As a result, Gracious Gifts and Home not only offers unique gifts and home goods connected to area artisans, but also reaches out to gather works by those termed as “exceptional artists” living with special needs. In addition, the shop plans to donate a portion of profits to local organizations supporting young adults with autism, intellectual disability, or neurodiversity.

“We want to give back to some of the programs that Zoe participated in,” says Elaine. “Because we still have all the connections with the teachers and educators that Zoe was with, we have the ability to understand what the needs in Branford might be.”

In the coming months, they hope to be able to also give back by offering BPS transitioning students opportunities to help out at the shop, and gain some of those same work skills and life skills that helped Zoe when she was in the program.

While the shop’s artisans can select any non-profit they’d like to have a portion of their proceeds benefit; several of them ask that the proceeds benefit the Branford programs Zoe seeks to support, from a North Branford hand-sewing specialist providing 100 percent of proceeds from sales of any BHS school-color scrunchies to a photographer’s line of Branford greeting cards.

A Gracious Beginning

With decades of business and marketing experience, Johnson has helped lay the groundwork to get the business going and provides continuing support while Zoe is at work behind the counter, as proprietor of the shop.

“She is the face of the store,” says Johnson. “She’s behind the counter, seven days a week.”

“I like it, but sometimes I get nervous,” says Zoe of her front-and-center role.

She says she’s glad to have friends in town who she can meet up with to decompress after work. Current shop hours are Monday to Wednesday from 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., Thursday from 10:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

What also makes the job a bit easier for Zoe is that the Johnsons took into consideration the importance of finding a location for a shop where Zoe would feel at home and comfortable in her daily work. They looked at some limited available space in downtown Branford. On the same day, they checked out the windowed, wood-floored and wide-open commercial space on offer in the first floor of an historic house at 116 Montowese Street, just a few blocks away from the town green and Main Street.

“When I walked in, I immediately was like, ‘This is the one!’” says Zoe, adding that, as a new driver who gets a bit anxious when it comes to parallel parking, she also appreciates the store’s large parking lot at back, in addition to the street parking out front.

The shop officially opened with a ribbon cutting in October. Foot traffic has been growing and interest is building, especially as more people begin to find Gracious Gifts and Home on Facebook and Instagram (@graciousgiftsct) and peruse the shop’s inventory offerings. The store’s social media sites also help promote the shop’s current range of artisans and small businesses.

Zoe and her mom work to keep reasonable price points while offering quality, unique items and giving customers a chance to support others in the community as well as great causes. It’s also simply a great place to find (to name but a few): original artwork, local pottery, jewelry, candles, hand-knit and crocheted items, baby gifts, spice rubs and dips, gourmet hot sauces, gifts for men, kitchenware, home décor and many one-of-a-kind finds, like a personalized “Branford” throw blanket covered in red type of all sizes spelling Branford-centric details.

Zoe’s love of baking has brought the shop the addition of a bakery case featuring candies and baked goods, including, among its many delights, a line of small-batch cookies made locally by a Branford mom-and-daughter team.

“It’s just another example of a small business helping another small business in town,” says Johnson.

Gracious Gifts and Home is located at 116 Montowese Street, Branford. For more information, visit graciousgiftsandhome.com, email graciousgiftsandhome@gmail.com, call 203-208-1356, or find @graciousgiftsct on Facebook or Instagram.