The holiday gifting season is almost here, and Millie Tadewaldt can’t wait.

“I’m always excited,” the founder of Brilliant (asi/146116) said on a recent Promo Insiders podcast episode. “Q4 is our industry’s Super Bowl. … We plan around it all year.”

Year-to-year sales are up at Brilliant, helped along by a surge of enthusiasm for gifting after a slow 2023. “We sense optimism,” Tadewaldt says. “People are feeling good.”

While supply chain disruption looms – namely, a possible East and Gulf Coast port strike in the U.S. – Tadewaldt says her team is prepared.

“We’ve been doing this for a number of years, so we’ve seen supply chain chaos,” she says. “It’s an ongoing roller coaster. I don’t see this year being different from any other year. … We try to plan ahead. The longer the time line and the sooner you get your customer’s order figured out, the more likely there will be no issues, or you’ll have time to source an alternative.”

Trending this year, says Tadewaldt, are campaigns that combine branded products with in-person experiences, gift bundles with treats and hard goods, offsite cold-weather events and “quiet branding” – products with subtle imprints, particularly retail items.

Brilliant has just received a private equity investment from Boston-based New Heritage Capital, which focuses on growth-oriented, founder-owned companies.