Founder
Barbara Gaines Kenyon
Barbara Gaines Kenyon is the owner of Happy Event Company and Happy City Box. She has a Master’s degree from Auburn University in event management as well as two decades of envisioning, designing, creating, and executing events. By tapping into the body’s four key happiness drivers—dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphins—she has crafted joy-inducing events from Birmingham to London.
When the event industry ground to a halt due to the pandemic, Barbara quickly pivoted and developed a new happiness delivery system—the Happy City Box. Each box is filled with items from local retailers and makers; these items specifically connect with those four emotional drivers, allowing Barbara to deliver happiness to a whole new crowd.
Whether customizing boxes or designing events, Barbara’s mission and business goals are simple: She believes in excellent standards of service and strives to exceed her clients’ expectations by creating moments that bring people happiness.
kind words
“We LOVED our experience with Happy City Box. Shipt was once a small business - we love supporting local businesses in the Birmingham area, which is one of the reasons we chose to work with Happy City Box! After meeting Barbara and seeing her passion, we were sold! The collaborative process was so fun for us! Initially, we estimated 500 of our employees would sign up to receive a Happy City Box. We didn’t expect nearly 1,000 would sign up! Despite this considerable change, Barbara and her team went above and beyond to make sure that all of our employees received their boxes in a timely manner! Everyone absolutely LOVED their boxes! Thank you so so much to all of the small businesses that had a hand in curating our “Taste of Birmingham” boxes.
We genuinely appreciate you!
-The Shipt HQ Family
Birmingham, Alabama”
“There is no better way to show your appreciation for your new or existing teammates, vendors, or clients than to send them the Happy City Box. Within each Happy City Box is a cornucopia of hand-selected, local products that tell the unique stories of our local businesses and their exclusive products. These stories within a story highlight the many exciting “happenings” of our community. Our new hires really enjoyed learning about their new hometown and the various business that call Birmingham home! It was a great way to make a great impression. What a great experience!
Thank you so much!
-R. Steinbeck
Atlanta, Georgia”
“Happy City Boxes are some much fun! I gifted a box to my sister as a birthday present and she was so, well, HAPPY! Every item in the box was a unique and quality item. My sister felt so special. What a cool idea for a gift- I can’t wait to send more to friends, family, and even for myself.
Highly recommend!
-H. Bonar,
San Diego, California
”
“Love, love, love my Happy City box! I am so impressed by the variety of fun and lovely items inside—from gift cards to local stores to handcrafted items from Alabama makers to thoughtful additions like flower seeds and pretty notecards (plus postage ... also thoughtful!).
What a great way to spread some cheer right now and help support local small businesses.
- S. Swagler
Birmingham, Alabama”
