34 | AUGUST 24 • 2023
I
n the late 1970s, Metro
Detroit native Pamela
Cohen and her husband,
Donald Cohen, left Michigan
for Arizona to finish their
schooling. With no family in
the area, Pamela struggled
with sending meaningful gifts
via mail.
She began by taking the
usual route — sending a
check with a card — but soon
realized her gifts didn’t have
the personal touch of giving a
thoughtful gift in person.
“I just didn’t think the
words were enough,” recalls
Cohen, now owner of Basket
of Smiles.
Tapping into her creative
side, she began sending
money trees and boxes that
open up to spring out money.
For 17 years, Cohen followed
this gift-giving pattern with a
twist before returning to live
in Farmington Hills.
Family and friends quickly
realized Cohen, now 68, had
a talent for creating unusual
gifts. In the 1990s, they
encouraged her to make gift
baskets for anniversaries,
parties and more.
Cohen, who worked as a
catastrophic medical claims
injury adjuster, found relief in
this hobby, which served as
an escape from what was an
often difficult and emotional
job.
“I found a lot of joy in it,”
explains Cohen, who was long
affiliated with Congregation
Shaarey Zedek. “It was a big
stress reliever.”
CREATING SMILES ONE
BASKET AT A TIME
Following her recent
retirement, Cohen decided to
take her passion to the next
level.
As a lifelong creative who
studied journalism and
created Halloween costumes
for her daughter, Emily
Cohen, opening a creative
business felt like a natural
transition.
Pamela Cohen
knew she wanted
to share her gift
baskets with the
world. So, in
January of this year,
she launched Basket
of Smiles, a one-stop
shop for custom gift
baskets that span
everything from
themed to holiday to
welcome baskets.
No two baskets are exactly
alike. Depending on the
customer’s needs, Cohen will
create a one-of-a-kind gift
basket that has everything
they need for their special
occasion.
Cohen built up the business
on Etsy and eventually
transitioned to her own
website, which was designed
by her daughter. There,
customers can place orders for
just about any celebration, the
latest of which includes a gift
basket for Rosh Hashanah.
“You can never get really
good Jewish holiday baskets
out there,” Cohen says. “I love
the Jewish holidays, and I
think there’s a need for [Rosh
Hashanah] baskets.”
In the Rosh Hashanah
basket, which costs $94.95,
customers can find a range
of apple and honey-
themed goods,
including Amish
apple butter, honey
tea and honey
candies.
Orders for the
Rosh Hashanah
basket can be placed
through Aug. 31 for
on-time delivery.
MORE THAN JUST
WORDS
While Cohen calls her
business primarily a “word-of-
mouth” business, traction is
quickly picking up. She ships
Custom Gift Baskets
for Rosh Hashanah
OUR COMMUNITY
Basket of Smiles creates one-of-a-kind gift baskets
for all occasions.
ASHLEY ZLATOPOLSKY CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Pamela Cohen