Pauline Bresnahan has enjoyed crafting and painting for most of her adult life. The owner of Pauline’s Gifts in Gloucester, Massachusetts, exhibited at craft fairs around New England before realizing her dream of opening up the gift shop in 1999.
“25 years later, I am still enjoying the experience,” she says. “It’s been a wonderful journey.I can’t believe it’s been 25 years since we renovated the building now known as Pauline's Gifts. I’m so thankful for the support of my family and the community. It’s a tremendous feeling of satisfaction to see so many loyal customers return year after year and to have generations of customers share their experiences with me.”
Being part of her community has always been important to Bresnahan, a sixth-generation Gloucester native. During her career, she says she is proud to have had the opportunity to serve and help with the promotion of her hometown. Designing the logo for the City of Gloucester Veterans Services office is one of her proudest contributions.
More recently, she worked with Chemart /Beacon Design and developed The Gloucester, Massachusetts, Lobster Trap tree ornament. The actual lobster trap tree in Gloucester was constructed entirely by volunteers. Pauline was able to sell over 400 ornaments and donate $1,000 for the trap tree lights and materials the volunteers needed to complete the trap tree. She says she is looking forward to designing more Gloucester-themed items for the shop.
Bresnahan has an anniversary event planned for early June that will offer a 25% discount, refreshments and entertainment. She’ll also invite local creators to display their crafts and meet customers.
“I’m thankful to be able to create and own a business in the city I love. It is a dream come true,” she says. “Finding ways to support not only my community, but also the causes that are so important to me is a tremendous reward for all the effort. When I opened 25 years ago that was not something I had thought about. I know now that as a woman small business owner it is what I needed to do — giving back to the community that has supported me.”
Bresnahan has been organizing a women-to-women donation drive at Pauline’s Gifts for the last seven years and has collected more than 1,000 pounds of goods. She holds the drive in May for Mother’s Day and again during Labor Day to collect items in time for the holidays. Bresnahan has also spearheaded a flag donation program for several years, collecting donations for the 175 flags that are displayed on the Boulevard in Gloucester by the Fisherman’s Memorial Monument and also sewing names on the grommets in honor of people.
Bresnahan was honored by Seaside Retailer in 2022 with a Starfish Award in recognition of the work she does in the community.
She was also a panelist at the 2023 Coastal Connections Conference organized by Seaside Retailer. During the session, titled Creating Coastal Connections, among the topics she discussed was a partnership she forged with two other women to create the Women-Owned Businesses on the Essex Coastal Scenic Byway group to collaborate with other women-owned businesses along the local byway.
After all this time in business Bresnahan still has plenty to share with her community. “I have worked to inspire women to follow their dream, create what they enjoy and hopefully share some positive ideas. I think after 25 years I still have some great advice and creative ideas.”
