We were lucky to catch up with Aarynn Marshall recently and have shared our conversation below.

Aarynn, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?

JUST GO FOR IT! I had procrastinated for YEARS, making the most outrageous excuses for why I had not or just could not start my business. One day shortly after I gave birth to my 3rd child I realized that I NEEDED to get out of my comfort zone and just go for it. I had friends and family encouraging me and honestly I was scared. Scared of failing. Scared of what people might think. Then, I remembered: I HAVE THE TALENT, I HAVE THE KNOWLEDGE, & I HAVE THE PASSION. My first business that I started in 2018 was Heavenscent By Aarynn where I curate all natural candles & bath and body products. My initial idea was to create products that were safe for the home and safe for my children as I’d been searching for cremes to treat my children’s eczema that DID NOT include harmful steroids and candles that did not give me migraines. I’d been researching and trying out different formulas for 2 years at that time and had been using my products in my home and with friends and family, but had never placed them for sale. I woke up one morning and decided that I wanted to start my business. That’s when things got crazy.

Once I made the decision to jump head first into entrepreneurship, my life changed. All of a sudden, I was completely and utterly immersed in my business. From reaching out to designers for my initial logo, to finding the right website host and testing out different vendors for my containers everything seemed to be happening SO FAST and ALL AT ONCE. I gave up probably every single day of my first week that I decided to start my business. The next days and weeks were spent perfecting my packaging, calculating my shipping costs, and of course choosing a LAUNCH DATE. I was SO EXCITED and the feedback that I was receiving from promoting my new business on social media was overwhelming. On Sunday November 18, 2018 I officially launched my website and WE WERE OFF! I sold out my first week(I also launched during Black Friday sales) and have been on this journey ever since.

Every day isn’t a great business day, but if you’re passionate about what you do you’ll continue to do it. Even when it gets hard. Since launching Heavenscent By Aarynn, I have since founded my nonprofit organization Heavenscent Helps where our mission is to help people of color gain readily, affordable access to therapy and mental health treatment/support. I also now work with small businesses and assist them with not only launching their business, but also researching and finding grants, writing business plans, and basically walk them through every step of starting their successful businesses. To date, I am so happy to say I have assisted over 45 small business take their business from an Idea to Execution and I believe that my experiences early on when I started my business has helped me flourish in building and maintaining a respectable Business Consulting firm thus far. I ALWAYS tell my clients that in order to move from that idea phase, you have to be willing to remain a student at all times. My favorite part of anything that I do is research and that’s because the knowledge you gain from researching when it comes to your business will make the transition to executing your idea and maintaining a successful business will be on of the most important aspects of how you separate your business from the others in your niche.

Aarynn, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Aarynn Denise and I am a serial entrepreneur & mom of 3. I currently own 4 businesses and founded a local nonprofit organization in Raleigh, NC. The first business I started is Heavenscent By Aarynn, where I curate 100% natural candles and bath & body products. With HSBA I provide safe and effective solutions to common issues that most people face on a daily basis: such as migraines and skin eczema. My drive and eagerness to ALWAYS want to know more about not only how I can improve my products, but also how I can connect with my customers and clients is what will forever set me and my brands apart from others.

I currently mainly operate as a Business Consultant & Coach to small business owners and assist them with with launching and maintaining a successful business. I recently released an e-book on Amazon that offers current or anticipating business owners with the basics they need to start their business( Build Like A Boss: Business Basics 101). This Fall I will host a full day Business Masterclass that will teach entrepreneurs EVERYTHING they need( what I WISH I knew) about launching, branding, funding, & more!

There is nothing that I’ll ever be more proud of than my role as a mother to my 3 children, because they are truly AMAZING individuals with spectacular personalities and incredible minds. Speaking professionally, I am most proud of launching and running my nonprofit organization Heavenscent Helps, because we aim to bring mental health treatment, awareness, and therapy to communities who do not know it exists or is available to them. My passion stems from me growing up in these same communities as a child and being that child who needed someone to talk to and did not know where to look. From the people we get to help to the courage that it took for me to start this organization are some of my greatest accomplishments.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

The initial funding to start my business back in 2018 was done by me working a traditional 9-5 and using paycheck to fund the costs of starting my business. Once I began to get sales on a consistent basis, I started researching local grants & business loans that may be available to me as a small, minority business owner. Once I realized that I had access to so much funding as a small business, I really became fasicanted with the amount of resources that we have as small business owners and entreprenuers that we just don’t know about. So now, I make it my mission for my clients to know 1. They have the access to this funding 2. They know WHERE to go get it and HOW to make sure they qualify for these programs.

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

Being transparent has without a doubt helped me build and maintain my reputation within my market and my community. The good days, the bad days, and the in between I am very transparent with my clients, colleagues, and customers when it comes to my business and I have found that it is what has helped me stand out from other entrepreneurs in my market.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.heavenscentbyaarynn.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/heavenscentbyaarynn
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/Heavenscentbyaarynn
• Other: Facebook Group for business owners: www.facebook.com/buildlikeaboss Build Like A Boss: Business Basics 101 eBook: https://read.amazon.com/kp/embed?asin=B0B8BQR7SX&preview=newtab&linkCode=kpe&ref_=cm_sw_r_kb_dp_B269SD7PFVP3TZ777D2J&tag=aarynndenise-20