Welcome to our Products We Love series, where we feature one of our favorite product vendors. All of our products are chosen for their uniqueness and quality. Many of them are from small businesses with a passion for what they do and a genuine belief in the product they create. Some of our products are well recognized brands and some are up and coming. They are all products we would absolutely give to our own family and friends. So you can trust that all of the products in our gift baskets are superior quality!

When we started Thoughtful Presence, our core premise was to make gift giving simple, yet meaningful. The idea was to create beautiful gift baskets with gifts that you would choose yourself, while we take away the legwork. While searching for a variety of gifts that fit that premise, we discovered Tristan Publishing. All of the books from Tristan Publishing are designed to be meaningful, inspirational, and artistically beautiful. And what could make a better gift than that!!

We started by choosing a book about Love for our wedding gift basket and a book about the comforts of home for a housewarming gift basket, and eventually we added new favorite books outside of the gift basket realm to simply sell as gift books. Two of our most popular gift books are The Next Place in the sympathy gifts category, and Peef and his Best Friend, which comes with a full size plush Peef bear for kids.

I recently interviewed Sheila Waldman about Tristan Publishing and their books with a message:

How long have you been in business?

We founded TRISTAN Publishing in 2002, making this our 15^th year anniversary! Shortly after founding TRISTAN we had the opportunity to purchase Waldman House Press, which has been part of Brett’s family since 1978, for almost 40 years now. Most recently we added Studio J, by Jodi Hills, as part of our company offerings and earlier this year we launched our “have a little faith” line.

How did your business get started?

Books have been in the Waldman bloodline, starting with Brett’s dad, Ned and Brett’s uncle Norton, going all the way back to 1962. Given Brett’s shared passion for the written word, it was a natural fit for him to start his own publishing house. Sheila joined the company in 2008 after leaving corporate America. We have continued to evolve the business over the years, always focusing on books, and now other products too, that inspire, uplift and give hope.

Why are you passionate about your product?

The messages we share with the world are meant to encourage others in their walk. We don’t think there can be anything better! Being able to help someone look at the world or a situation in a new and hope filled way is our goal.

What are your customers saying about you/your products?

We hear time and time again how our books speak to the heart of readers in a profound way. It’s not unusual for a few “sweet tears” to be shed when reading one of our books or picking up one of our cards. Our goal is to create high quality products that stand the test of time, making each one of them a treasure to be shared over the years and from one generation to the next. As an example, this year marks the 20^th anniversary of one of our most embraced books, The Next Place, by Warren Hanson. We have sold over 714,000 copies of that title and continue to receive feedback from readers across the world about how special that book has been to them during one of life’s most challenging times of loss.

Thank you Sheila for sharing your story with us. We are excited to see your new product expansion and look forward to adding more of your hope filled products to our collection.