Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Ashley Bryant. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Ashley, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

In all honesty it was two things; boredom & the desire to create something with my hands.

I went to school for graphic design and so a lot of our classes we had to make things; whether that was invitations, packaging design, costumes – there were so many art projects that we had to make. After college I started designing handbags, totes, wristlets and eventually making candles randomly for a market that I used to sell my bags at to which I never sold any. But my mom loved them and burned them lol

I had then moved from the east coast to Arizona and continued the 9-5 typical job path, no more markets or making bags. The pandemic hit and we were all inside. And I’m a bigggg candle girlie. I like to set a mood, I like all the smell goods from food to perfume to candles. I would always burn random candles around my house, but I had noticed that I was getting headaches. It didn’t make sense because I was eating, drinking water, taking care of myself. One day I had a migraine, I had another brands candle on and I decided to blow it out – for whatever reason – and my migraine went away. I then did a deep dive into candles in general. I found that there are a lot of toxic ingredients inside of them. So – I began to research how to make my own candles. I thought, maybe I can really make my own and create a niche here in AZ that are clean and nontoxic.

January 2022 I launched SZND GOODS. Pronounced ‘Seasoned Goods’. This candle company started as a desire to solve the probably of everyday products containing harmful ingredients in them and to fuel my creative itch/outlet. SZND GOODS started with 5 candle scents and has expanded to over 20 different scents and 5 collections.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

As someone who was editor of the yearbook in highschool, always making handmade gifts for my friends birthdays, tiedying team shirts, etc. I have always had that eye for creativity, even when I didn’t think it was going to be my path. My mom always said that I was going to be in art, so when I decided I wanted to change my major after my freshman year in college to Graphic Design she totally got her “I told you so” moment.

I had my dream job out of college, working for a packaging company that did work with Sephora. I saw my designs in shelves in Sephora and it was such a surreal moment. So basically anything I’ve done after that has been ‘gravy’ or ‘the sprinkles on top’, as I like to say. I started in Graphic Design but soon realized that the money and the potential of design was online so I transitioned into UX/UI Design, working on websites. It became much more of a challenge to me to get into a users head on why they would click certain buttons or how to make things more user friendly or more visually appealing. It was yet another creative outlet for me.

I think my design background and my love for interior design, fashion design and anything aesthetic has helped me curate my candle line that I have today. One of the complements I most get at any market that I do is that people love my branding and the look and feel of everything. I think as a creative/designer you really can pull from so many things in life as long as you have the eye for it or you can see the bigger picture.

As someone who is now a full-time entrepreneur, UX/UI designer, lash tech, UGC creator, Travel Agent – I want people to know that you can make it in this world by not going the traditional route. I was working in Corporate America and doing the traditional 9-5, but recently have moved on from that. Sometimes the universe or God (whatever you believe in) pulls you away from things that aren’t meant for you. I think if you continue to have that intuitive feeling of ‘I should be doing something else’, or if you feel pulled towards something – you should give it a chance and go all in. You can always go back to a 9-5, but what if it all works out? That thing that changed your trajectory could change your life, forever. In the best way.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Participating in Markets and reaching out to other small businesses to hold my products in their locations has been the turning point for me. I did a few markets in Fall of 2024, got a wholesale client, put my products in a few locations around the Phoenix area and that’s when I knew I had to keep going.

Any time I had wanted to shut the business down, which I thought of doing many times, something good would always happen like I’d get a crazy sale, or someone would want a wholesale order, or someone would want me to come sell my candles somewhere.

I’ve been growing the SZND GOODS Instagram account steadily now and we’re getting so close to 10k. Obviously a social media presence is crucial to any businesses success. The glow up from when I started making videos to now has been exponential. Sometimes I look at my grid and i’m like in awe of what I’ve created.

The more markets that I’ve been to and the more exposure my brand has had the more opportunities that I have been blessed with. I am doing the things that not a lot of people want to do. I go to markets by myself almost every weekend. I’ll show up to events alone and pass out samples of my candles to get my brand out there. I’ll walk through parking lots and put cards in peoples windshields. I’ll reach out to influencers hoping they respond to accepted gifted products and they say yes 90% of the time.

You can’t want to get to a certain point in your life and not put yourself out there to get it. The more you do the “crazy outlandish, things” that people don’t wanna do, the further you’ll go. I promise you. The worst thing that can happen is someone says ‘No.’ Okay? They’re not your people, on to the next. There’s billions of people on this earth and you’re worried about one ‘No’? Stop it right now.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I got let go from my corporate job as a UX/UI Designer and that’s the main reason why I’ve gone all in as an entrepreneur.

Not only an entrepreneur with my candle business but I am also a Lash Tech – I do eyelash extensions. I’ve been building some clientele to do that on the side. I am a UGC creator and have worked with brands like Clean Skin Club, Ryze, Boomba, Humanscale, MeUndies and others. Since I’m a UX/UI Designer I’ve been doing freelance work for other small businesses and standing up their websites. I also manage a theme page that is monetized and sees about 5M views a month.

It’s to hard be at a stable 9-5 job, but then also feel so unfulfilled at the same time. It was so weird how the universe made this happen too because the week before I was let go I was on the phone with a coworker and I was like I just got this thing, and this thing, and this for my candles and then this other thing happened. And I said to her “What is happening right now? Am I just supposed to be doing the candles?” The next week I think it was, I was let go. It was almost like the universe was giving me all these signs and I wasn’t listening and then the universe was like “I’ll handle it for you then.”

Honestly I was sad. I was because I never expected to be put in such an awful position. There was no winning the arguing back and forth at the company so I just took the L. It sucked. I let myself cry and sulk for a day. The next day – I was going balls to the wall 100 mph on my candle brand. There’s no excuse. There’s so many ways to make money online and I’m gonna find a way even if I’m doing multiple things at a time.

Here I am now, just had my first $1k in sales day and it’s only up from here. The universe isn’t on an abundance limit. So I take every opportunity that I ask for and make the most of it because you could be one decision away from changing your whole life.

Contact Info:

• Website: szndgoods.com
• Instagram: @ash.bryant.xo / @sznd_goods

Image Credits
Holli Horton Photography, Andrea Michelle Photography, Sydne Griffith, Nichole Vieau