A Gift for Good Ideas

Jacqueline FITZGIBBON Moss’80 2022 Allison Roach Alum Award

BY MEGAN EASTON’13

When Jacqueline Moss has a vision or new idea, she runs with it, because she believes in it. After her own extended hospital experience, she was moved to create a new company addressing a crucial component of improving patient well-being.

Moss’s hospital experience quickly exposed her to the challenges of standard-issue hospital gowns. She realized hospital gowns were too often the wrong size, overused and too exposing. They also lacked comfort, style and functionality, further adding to the existing difficulty of being in a hospital. “It’s a crappy time—no one wants to be in the hospital,” she says.

She knew there had to be a superior solution that would cheer people up and make them feel better.

Enter Giftgowns.

Founded in 2016, Giftgowns is a medical clothing company specializing in custom cotton hospital gowns with metal snaps to close the opening in the back and the shoulders. The gowns maintain the functional features of a standard-issue gown, while giving patients comfort and some of their personality back.

Giftgowns quickly became a popular gift, and her business has been recognized by many publications and channels, including Forbes, O, The Oprah Magazine, GQ and People.

“I have created these stylized gowns that not only have the right design features for your hospital stay, but are comfortable and fun,” Moss says. People just need more reasons to smile when they are in the hospital and Moss was hopeful these gowns could help.

Moss is no stranger to finding new opportunities. After graduating from Branksome in 1980, she received her honours BA from Queen’s University and her LLB from Western Law School. She then completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School in 2011 and attended the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto in 2016. Moss then became a lawyer who transitioned to a successful career at CIBC, where she led human resources, legal and corporate development functions. “I think opportunities find you and you find opportunities,” she says. “I kept being given the opportunities and I grabbed them.”

In 2018, Moss was named by the Women’s Executive Network as one of Canada’s most powerful women in the “Top 100 Entrepreneur” category, after previously being twice named to the “Top 100 Executive” category (becoming only the second person to receive the award in both categories).

There is no doubt that Giftgowns marks just the beginning of Moss’s entrepreneurial journey. She is already working with Seneca College at York University to create an anti-microbial spray called eSential for hard and soft surfaces.

“The advice I would give anyone is go for it. Get as many experiences, go as broad as you can, be as curious as you can be,” she emphasizes. “Work hard and try hard with your life, you only get one.” It is thoughts and messages like these that make Moss continually inspiring to those around her. “I am so excited to see what you do next,” notes nominator and former employee of Giftgowns Rebecca Waxman. Indeed, whether it be through eSential or something else, there is no doubt Moss will continue to make an impact on people’s lives. R