We recently connected with Tyler Spooner and have shared our conversation below.
Tyler, appreciate you joining us today. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?
Miles Welby is a play on the phrase “might as well be.” My good friend Joe would make names out of common phrases when we were in high school. Miles Welby was one that always stuck with me. Over a decade later, when I was deciding to start a candle business, it immediately came to mind as a great way to describe scents.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I began candle making at the suggestion of a former partner. I was intrigued by the accessibility, and the opportunity to utilize my creativity. My previous artistic pursuits were challenging, due to the highly subjective nature of pricing, but the large size of the candle market was easier for me to navigate. I have a degree in Business Management and Marketing and a deep love for the arts. Miles Welby allows me to bring those two disciplines together and create a brand I’m truly passionate about.
Today, we specialize in crafting high-quality soy candles, available in an array of sizes. Our brand is playful with the “Miles Welby” pun, making scent selection enjoyable for our customers and for us! We use 100% soy wax, natural wicks, and non-toxic, phthalate-free fragrance oils, but to us, the play on words makes our brand memorable and intriguing.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
I believed that if you want something done right, you must do it yourself. In the early days of my candle-making business, I handled every aspect myself—from crafting the candles to marketing, packaging, and customer service. I was convinced that doing everything personally was the only way to ensure the highest quality and consistency for the brand.
As the business started to grow, I found myself overwhelmed with the increasing workload. I was working 40 hrs per week at my day job, and another 6-8 hours each night growing the business. I was struggling to keep up and felt things slipping at my job, business, and home.
Realizing I couldn’t sustain this approach, I began delegating. Initially, I was hesitant, fearing that others wouldn’t meet my standards. However, I took the time to train my team thoroughly and communicate my vision and expectations clearly. The results were transformative. Not only did delegation allow me to focus on the creative aspects of my business that I love, but my team also brought fresh ideas and efficiencies to the table. This experience taught me that trusting and empowering others can lead to better outcomes than trying to do everything on my own. It reinforced the importance of collaboration and showed me that a strong team is essential for growth and success.
We’d love to hear your thoughts about selling platforms like Amazon/Etsy vs selling on your own site.
We choose to sell our products via our own website to cultivate direct customer relationships and better manage of our brand. We value the ability to oversee the customer’s full experience unlike selling on other marketplaces. The large, existing customer base with the likes of Amazon and Etsy is appealing but it’s important to us to build own our community. This approach comes with its share of challenges like generating web traffic, handling fulfillment, and building trust, but in our opinion, worth the effort. We like to be hands on from start to finish as much as we can, even offering free delivery to our local community.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Mileswelby.com
- Instagram: @mileswelby
- Facebook: https://Facebook.com/mileswelbyacandleco
