In 2020, the world caught on fire. Someone decided that Earth needed some shaking up so a multitude of things arrived to snatch our edges and eyebrows off. It was a collectively rough year for most of us, and while I spent most of that year buried under my blankets trying not to totally lose my shit, I was also angry and frustrated about what to do about it. It felt like racism was melting my face off in a new and different kind of way, and I wasn’t sure how to ground or anchor myself to something. Anything. Everything was up in the air, nothing felt secure, and racist white people had my blood boiling. Knowing I wasn’t alone in these feelings, I thought long and hard about what I could offer to the world - what I could give, do for, or say to Black people - that could ease the suffering we all felt. We were under attack (yet again) and I wanted to offer something that white people couldn’t take away from Us.
I’d been experimenting with candlemaking for awhile already, just as a response to my own need for relief from a super stressful job I worked from home each day. I needed something that smelled good and gave calming energy throughout the day, but buying candles was EXPENSIVE because I would burn them all day long. I was burning through candles left and right, replacing them every 4 or 5 days. 😵💫🤯😩 Nah. NOPE. We not doin’ that. It just made more sense to make them myself. The added bonus of it being therapeutic and cathartic was a delightful surprise. I never intended to start a candle business, I just wanted people - including myself - to feel better than they were feeling. I wondered if making someone a candle could help them cope better during a time when everything felt difficult, disconnected, and sad.
Turns out, it could. 🥳
I made a few and hand delivered them to a few friends. While blending and pouring them, I spoke all kinds of intentions, prayers, and anointing over them, pouring all my own love, belief, and emotions into my words. I’d only ever intended these candles for MY people, the ones close to me, and the joy and healing I wanted for them lol. But before I could make it back home, my friend had already posted about the candles on her Facebook page; I’d forgotten to tell her ‘don’t tell anyone about this, it’s just for you 🤫’. The pandemonium and foolishness that greeted me when I arrived home that day is, even now, still indescribable. The cat was tossed straight outta the bag and people were tagging me left and right asking for a website link to buy their own candles. 🤯
The demand seemed SO HIGH, I wasn’t even sure it was real. Were these people serious?? All of this for a candle?! Just to test the theory and see if people would really put their money where their mouths were, I made a few candle batches, threw up a VERY rough draft website, and posted on my FB page that they were available for purchase. I swear on everything I didn’t expect anyone to buy anything, I really thought people were just talking shit. I sold out of all of them that first day. Every single candle I’d made was bought and paid for. Black AF and Black Girl Magic sold out within the first 3 hours.
Heart palpitations. Because WHAT? WHAT JUST HAPPENED!?!?😳🤭😧😵💫
The rest is small business history, really. LOL! I struggled to keep candles in stock. As soon as I could make them and post them on the site, they were sold out. I was still working full time but living in my parents’ attic so my time and space was NOT set up for this kind of explosive product demand. I couldn’t believe it. I moved out and into a much larger home about an hour away, a place with a dedicated candle studio space, lots of natural sunlight, and a very nice closet.
Juggling candlemaking with full time work, an active social life, and a busy travel schedule became a bit of a nightmare and, eventually, I had to pull some of it back. One thing about starting and successfully running a business that alot of people don’t give voice to is how many iterations of it you could potentially have to go through until you find what works. I had to stop and start this thing a million times. A MILLION! The trial and error of putting it all together so that folks could still get the scents they’d come to love amidst a super unpredictable and uncertain supply chain crisis was…crushing, to say the least.
It’s taken lots of work and pushing past a shit ton of discouragement and fear around inflation and alot of other unsexy emotions I won’t speak of here, but I’m now in yet another iteration of this candle business. This time, taking my time to discover how to make it work for me, not just customer demand. It’s gotta be right for both of us.
When you purchase anything from this site, be it candles, body care, hand sanitizers, wax melts, WHATEVER…know that there was a great deal of intention and good energy incorporated into the making of it, and that I would never serve you anything I wouldn’t buy for myself. I stand behind every product I make, even the imperfect ones. Even the scents or products that don’t sell very well. I try very hard to describe all the notes and scents accurately so you’re not surprised when your orders arrive. If you ever feel I’ve gotten a description VERY wrong, PLEASE email me and let me know.
I don’t know all of your names so I can’t say them all. But this is still my love offering to all of you, straight from my heart to your home. You DO matter, even if it’s just me who thinks so. Give yourself space to be full and whole to carry all that Black People have to carry. Wrap yourself in something luxuriously soft and light a candle that smells delicious.
See you soon. 💋