Hey all!
I have gotten together with another fabulous shop owner to learn a little more
about them & their shop! This time I have for you
an All natural hand poured soy candle shop! ... want to learn more & get in on a SALE?
Keep reading!
Q- Tell us a little about You & Alki Candle Co?
My name is Taylor, I am a wife and mother of one (soon to be two!) little crazy humans! I started Alki Candle Co as a way to bring in some extra money to help my husband out while being a stay at home mom, my husband was actually the one to come up with the creative idea of starting a candle company and the rest is history! Now we both work on the candles and sell from home and attend local crafts fairs and see it as more of a passion than a job!
Q- What is your regular Starbucks order?
Without a doubt an Iced Coconut Milk White Mocha, hold the whip! For some reason it never matters what time of the year it is, I love iced coffee! Maybe because it’s more of a rare delicacy at my house since I’m far too lazy to have patience for coffee to cool after brewing.
Q- Is this business something you really planned for or did it fall into your lap?
We took months planning out our business strategies before opening, however the idea of creating candles was completely spontaneous and neither my husband nor I knew even remotely how to make them! The journey to finding our perfect wax, and perfect wick was quite the doozy. However, we are glad we took the time to find the perfect combos in order to create a candle that burns crisp!
Without a doubt an Iced Coconut Milk White Mocha, hold the whip! For some reason it never matters what time of the year it is, I love iced coffee! Maybe because it’s more of a rare delicacy at my house since I’m far too lazy to have patience for coffee to cool after brewing.
Q- Is this business something you really planned for or did it fall into your lap?
We took months planning out our business strategies before opening, however the idea of creating candles was completely spontaneous and neither my husband nor I knew even remotely how to make them! The journey to finding our perfect wax, and perfect wick was quite the doozy. However, we are glad we took the time to find the perfect combos in order to create a candle that burns crisp!
Q- Tell me a little bit about your inspiration for Alki Candle Co
Truly, my son drove my inspiration. I am his mother over everything and still 90% of my day involves me chasing his toddler butt around, but I wanted something else to do in, something to show my kids that we work hard for what we have, all while being able to save up some extra spending money to start on our extra long bucket list and travel as a family.
Q- What has been your best/most validating moment with the business so far?
I think that our very first day open was the best day of business for us! To see how many people besides our family alone supported us and believed in what we were all about was so special to us. People truly loved our products and as the reviews started flowing in we were able to gain a sense of pride in our little candles!
Q- If you were a fruit what would you be? and why?
Strawberry. This is also a terrible time to ask me this question as I am pregnant and have 2 boxes of strawberries a day. I wish I had a better reason behind my answer but it is simply because I am currently obsessed with them and cannot get them off my mind!
Q- What are 3 other small businesses that you support?
I love supporting small business; in our journey we have found so much support in those around us! Some of our favorites are Shop Mountain Made for amazing antler jewelry, Wool & Wood Co. for wall tapestries and Sea Grape Soaps for their amazing essential oil products!
Q- What are 3 of your guilty pleasure tv shows?
TV shows? What are those? My son has taken over the tv so we rarely have it on to avoid too much screen time but I certainly am not afraid to hid in the bathroom and sneak episodes of Ellen in! I have no shame.
Q- What are 2 things you have learned from opening a small business?
Business takes time. It takes time to build a base of customers, and it takes a lot of care and being personal to those customers to make them come and purchase again! The more personal you can be with each buyer the more they will feel that you truly care about them and their purchases. There are good months and bad months and being able to make it through both is critical!
I love supporting small business; in our journey we have found so much support in those around us! Some of our favorites are Shop Mountain Made for amazing antler jewelry, Wool & Wood Co. for wall tapestries and Sea Grape Soaps for their amazing essential oil products!
Q- What are 3 of your guilty pleasure tv shows?
TV shows? What are those? My son has taken over the tv so we rarely have it on to avoid too much screen time but I certainly am not afraid to hid in the bathroom and sneak episodes of Ellen in! I have no shame.
Q- What are 2 things you have learned from opening a small business?
Business takes time. It takes time to build a base of customers, and it takes a lot of care and being personal to those customers to make them come and purchase again! The more personal you can be with each buyer the more they will feel that you truly care about them and their purchases. There are good months and bad months and being able to make it through both is critical!
Q- How are you getting the word out about Alki Candle Co?
Our main outlet of advertisement is through social media such as Instagram and Facebook, as well as paying for promoted listings through etsy and google. Getting our product out there in front of people is how we bring buyers in! We have also recently started attending local markets in the Pacific North West to build a solid local customer base!
Our main outlet of advertisement is through social media such as Instagram and Facebook, as well as paying for promoted listings through etsy and google. Getting our product out there in front of people is how we bring buyers in! We have also recently started attending local markets in the Pacific North West to build a solid local customer base!
Q- What is a typical day for Alki Candle Co?
Now that we are a ready to ship store our days consist mainly of counting stock, if we look like supply is diminishing on one scent or another we will set up a small pour while our son is sleeping. Weekends are devoted to preparing for our Monday shipments, and the mailman comes directly to our home to pick up orders every Monday!
Q- How do you come up with your products?
The process of creating new scents is a tough one, especially because everyone has different tastes. It has been so helpful to have my husband around because we both like very different scents, I know I can’t simply supply my on favorites because I wouldn’t be touching on everyone’s favorites and there for having a wide variety of scents is key. I am very picky on the scents we put into our shop so before it hits the shelves each potential scent goes through strenuous testing!
Q- Crunchy or Creamy peanut butter?
Crunchy. There is no contest.
Q- What is your best selling product?
It is a tie between our Fire Roasted Mallow and Blackberry Sage Candles!
They both sell equally as well and are two entirely different scents.
Q- What are your goals for Alki Candle Co over the next year? Any exciting things in the works?
Over the next year we will be adding a member to our family so for now our goal is to maintain, grow and stay stable with all of the big life changes that are coming our way. Being able to add another baby, focus on our first son and keep business as respectable as before will be a challenge but I can say that I am excited to see what we have in store for us!
TONIGHT at 6 pm Pacific Standard Time
We have saved up all our "OOPS Candles" for this one big oops event!
An OOPS Candle is a candle that curated a minor sink hole during the drying process,
making it not quite "pretty" enough to sell at full retail price.
However, these soy candles burn just as flawlessly!
All OOPS Candles are 30% off retail price
and the sale will only be available in select scents while supplies last.
not all will be available in an OOPS Candle,
we will be offering 10% off regular candles as well
using code "JUSTBECAUSE"
TO SHOP CLICK the Logo below
An OOPS Candle is a candle that curated a minor sink hole during the drying process,
making it not quite "pretty" enough to sell at full retail price.
However, these soy candles burn just as flawlessly!
All OOPS Candles are 30% off retail price
and the sale will only be available in select scents while supplies last.
not all will be available in an OOPS Candle,
we will be offering 10% off regular candles as well
using code "JUSTBECAUSE"
TO SHOP CLICK the Logo below