Chances are, you’re familiar with Jillian Harris, the reality television alum (The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, Love It or List It Vancouver), social media influencer (1.5 million followers on Instagram) and Canadian entrepreneur who co-founded The Jilly Box, a popular quarterly subscription box service. But you might not know about the McGill graduate who has been playing an instrumental role in the evolution of The Jilly Box.
“The company has been run successfully by Jill, a very busy content creator and entrepreneur, and her agent Tyler Evans; I joined to help bring clarity and focus as well as a growth strategy for our e-commerce marketplace,” says Julia Freeman, BCom’07, CEO of The Jilly Box.
Launched in 2019, The Jilly Box curates food, home décor, fashion and beauty products sourced from small, socially responsible companies, most of them owned by women or individuals from historically marginalized communities.
Each quarter, The Jilly Box assembles one themed box and announces a sale date. Boxes are snapped up quickly – valued at $400, they’re sold for $199 – and delivered to mostly female customers. The company donates two dollars from every box to charity.
“We’ve launched 26 boxes since 2019 and they’ve all sold out within 24 hours,” says Freeman.
“The fall edition sold 20,000 boxes, supporting 10 small businesses by getting their products into Canadians’ hands.”
The Jilly Box crew sources unique, cruelty-free and mostly Canadian-made products, notes Freeman.
“Everything has been tested and curated by Jillian or by our team, and our goal is to have at least 75 per cent of our products be Canadian-owned, 75 per cent women-owned, 25 per cent made in Canada and 25 per cent from equity-deserving groups – BIPOC- or LGBTQ-owned, or entrepreneurs with disabilities. And we want at least 25 per cent of our assortment to have a sustainability pillar,” she explains.
“When I heard about their mission to support small, women-led Canadian businesses and provide a platform for visibility, I thought it was the most incredible fit.”
Julia Freeman, BCom’07, CEO of The Jilly Box
In addition to the regular subscribers, The Jilly Box has hundreds of thousands of “Insiders” – people who sign up for The Jilly Box newsletter and online community – who get a chance each season to make a one-time Jilly Box purchase. Freeman recently helped introduce an e-commerce marketplace – they call it ‘the antidote to Amazon’ – for customers wanting to purchase Jilly Box items.
“We see a huge growth opportunity here because not everyone can get on the subscriber list for the seasonal boxes,” explains Freeman.
“The intention is to create a halo effect: We curate and buy these goods wholesale, sell it to our audience and profile the small businesses online, putting cash in our partners’ pockets. We also provide a discount on their website after the box ships, so people are driven to their site.”
The Jilly Box suppliers reap the rewards of tapping into Harris’ huge social media following.
“Recently, we co-designed a duvet cover and Euro shams with Tuck, a bedding brand, that sold out thousands of units in one day. We brought it back, sold out again in a week and we’re restocking it again,” says Freeman.
“Having a co-designed product on our Jilly Box Market has lifted our partnership, and Jill has profiled them within her Instagram content. They attribute their entire western audience to The Jilly Box plus Jill sharing how much she loves the product.”
Before arriving at The Jilly Box, Freeman had already established herself as an innovator in the e-commerce realm. During her stint as Best Buy Canada’s online site manager for e-commerce, she expanded the company’s online offerings “beyond consumer electronics and into baby products and furniture. I led that expansion in that first e-commerce marketplace establishment before Amazon.ca was in Canada.” She moved on to senior marketing and e-commerce roles at Hootsuite, Aritzia and MEC.
While on maternity leave in 2024 with her third child, Freeman co-owned a small e-commerce business, Droplet Home Goods, a home and lifestyle brand owned and operated by women. “I got very involved with a circle of small women-led businesses, and I kept thinking, ‘How can I use my 15 years of experience in e-commerce for big brands to help propel these small brands forward?’,” Freeman recalls.
The opportunity to join The Jilly Box fell into Freeman’s lap through a cold call from an executive recruiter.
“When I heard about their mission to support small, women-led Canadian businesses and provide a platform for visibility, I thought it was the most incredible fit,” she says.
A Toronto native, Freeman says she chose McGill for both academic and lifestyle reasons.
“I wanted to go into business, and I loved Montreal and the McGill campus so much. That, plus the ability to do a double concentration in entrepreneurship and leadership gave me the necessary tools to be successful in business versus choosing a specific major,” she says.
“Consumer Behaviour was one of my stand-out courses, and I loved studying macroeconomic trends, entrepreneurship and how people tap into psychology and consumer behaviour.”
Freeman met her husband, Essi Yeganegi, BCom’07, in a second-year accounting class, and moved to his hometown of Vancouver soon after graduating.
Unlike many entrepreneurs and businesspeople, Freeman’s advice to students runs counter to ‘dreaming big’.
“I feel like I can’t dream big; I’m very practical,” she admits.
“I once received a piece of advice at McGill that’s stayed with me: your first job isn’t about landing the perfect role – it’s about opening a door. It’s where you learn how to collaborate, observe people who are thriving, and start shaping the kind of career you want. The real turning point often comes in your second or third jobs, when you’re closer to the path you truly want to pursue.”
