#GimmieLove: The Story Behind Gimmie

For over 20 years, our Founder James or as we know him “Jimmy” has been happily married to his lovely wife Liz —butttt when it came to gift-giving, he just could never seem to get it right. Birthdays, anniversaries, holidays… every special occasion turned into the same cycle of forgetting, scrambling, and disappointing. 

Meanwhile, Liz, on the other hand, is the kind of person who could make anyone feel special with her gifts—thoughtful, personal, and always on point. So, you can imagine the frustration she felt when, year after year, Jimmy’s gifts failed to hit the mark.

Now to Jimmy’s credit, it truly wasn’t that he didn’t care, he did. He just wasn’t wired for it: you know, Love Languages and all. 

Eventually, the missed moments and lackluster gifts started to add up. He could see it in Liz’s eyes, and that’s when he knew: something had to change. 

Thus, Jimmy began searching for an app that could help him become a better gifter taking away his frustrations and his wife’s disappointment. At first, he was saddened by the inadequate solutions he found to his problem, but then he became inspired; and just like that, the idea for Gimmie was born! 

An app that wouldn’t just spit out random gift ideas but would actually understand the people you love, remind you when it mattered most, and recommend unique personal gift choices.

Family Business

Jimmy, being a Boomer and all, knew he couldn’t do it alone. So, he reached out to his nephew, Austin—a tech-savvy 30-year-old who had spent years in the California tech scene. Jimmy had one simple plea:

“I don’t know how or if it’s possible. All I know is I don’t want to keep feeling like a jerk.”

(His literal words)

Austin listened, laughed a bit, and said, “It’s a real problem and you’re not the only one with it, but sadly this is beyond my ability right now as the tech is simply not there…yet.” 

So, they waited.

Good Things Come To Those Who Wait

As the proverb goes, “Good things come to those who wait.” —and after 3 longgg COVID years, the AI boom finally began. Having been an early trainer of AI with IBM Watson back in 2015, Austin knew this was the technological breakthrough they had been waiting for. 

So, in the winter of 2023, they reopened the conversation and began working on what would soon be called Gimmie, (an ode to Jimmy’s name and to their cute granddaughter “My-My” who would often say “gim-me” instead of “give me” when she wanted something). 

Nearly two years later and after countless hours and many revisions, Gimmie officially launched in early 2025!

What began as Jimmy’s personal solution to stop screwing up gift-giving turned into something much bigger—a tool for anyone who’s ever struggled to find the right gift at the right time.

Because, let’s be real—life gets busy. We all have good intentions, but it’s easy to let important dates slip by and as the years pass it can become even more challenging to think of creative gift ideas. Gimmie was built to change that, to help make gifting easy in a way that fits into our busy lives.

The Gimmie Ethos

Gimmie isn’t simply about consumerism or grand gestures. It’s about being thoughtful, paying attention, and showing up for the people who matter. Whether it’s a birthday, an anniversary, or a “just because” moment, Gimmie helps take the pressure off and makes sure no one you love is left feeling forgotten.

The Gimmie Hope Initiative

Gimmie is also on a mission to help offset the carbon footprint and the amount of paper used for these wonderful gifts; this is why we started the Gimmie Hope Initiative. With this initiative we plan to plant 1 Million trees by 2030, that’s right 1 million trees! Find out how you can help us with this initiative by checking out our full blog post on the Gimmie Hope Initiative. 

Now you know our story, we’d love to hear from you. Share your gifting experiences with us or  Instagram or TikTok at @gimmie.ai or by tagging #GimmieLove.

Sincerely,

Austin Queen & James “Jimmy” Cowen Jr. 

Founders

Gimmie AI, LLC

“Gifting Made Easy”

#GimmieBetter #GiftingMadeEasy #GimmieAI #GimmieLove #GiveMore #GiveLove #TheGiftofGiving