We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jill Patton a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Jill, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Being a business owner can be really hard sometimes. It’s rewarding, but most business owners we’ve spoken sometimes think about what it would have been like to have had a regular job instead. Have you ever wondered that yourself? Maybe you can talk to us about a time when you felt this way?

I love being a business owner! The fantasies of having other jobs are always fleeting because at the end of the day, I love what I do.

I started Luna Tigre Candles as a side hustle at a time in my life when my career path was super unclear. I had graduated from college and worked in a law firm, at a Fortune 50 company and had also helped run another small business. Candlemaking was cathartic and allowed me to use some creativity beyond my jobs that were paying the bills.

For several years, Luna Tigre remained a side hustle as I worked 40+ hours a week for a burgeoning tech/consumer packaged goods start-up. I worked all week for them and spent my weekends making candles long into the night or hawking my goods at art markets. I almost wished for the candle business to slow down as our sales in Austin continued to grow.

In August of 2016, I said a very abrupt goodbye to the start-up. Initially I intended to find another job and keep chugging along, but the holiday season of 2016 was extremely profitable for the business. It was just what I needed to take the leap into doing the candles full time.

In a number of months, Luna Tigre went from having 5 retailers to over 30!

Sometimes when we have a stack of orders waiting and I have a million things to do (plus looking after our toddler full-time!), I think about having a regular ol’ 9-5. But I’ve been there and done that and much prefer running a business.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Inspired by the local crafter community in Austin, Texas, Luna Tigre founder Jill Patton began studying candlemaking during her free time. After plenty of false starts and failed attempts, she began gifting her candles to friends and family. The rave reviews she received eventually led her to found Luna Tigre alongside her husband Dan in 2014.

Luna Tigre candles are crafted from 100% soy wax, high quality fragrance oils and cotton papercore wicks. And, after your candle has been used, the glass container can be repurposed. We strive to make the smallest ecological footprint possible while enhancing your living space with our specialty fragrances.

From rich amber fragrances to fresh, green scents and woodsy aromas and back again, we’ve got a candle for everyone in our two distinct candle lines featuring over 40 different scents.

Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?

We handcraft every candle, so at its core Luna Tigre is a manufacturing business. I had a bit of experience working for a packaged goods company before, but to get started with making candles I had to do a ton of research. I read every blog and book about candlemaking, watched dozens of YouTube videos and visited many different candle supply websites. Because candles are flammable, testing for safety is critical. As such, we tested and formulated candles for months before we took anything to market.

The biggest lesson we’ve learned is to have backup suppliers whenever possible. If one is out of your containers or wax, it’s important to have another source or you could be without product for weeks! That’s something we absolutely could not risk, and luckily we’ve been able to solve sourcing issues as they arise. We were really grateful to have our secondary suppliers during COVID-19 as the shipping and manufacturing delays were greatly affecting the candle industry.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

Our retail partnerships are absolutely integral to our business growth and allow us to reach so many people in Austin! If you shop at one of the independent grocery stores in town, or at Whole Foods, you’re likely to run into our candles. Selling to retailers in bulk is the best way for us to get as many candles out in the world as possible.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.lunatigre.com/
• Instagram: instgram.com/lunatigreco