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

Alright, Jordan thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?

This business started as a hobby inside my one bedroom college apartment. I’ve always loved candles and decided to try making my own in 2019. I chose beeswax and only used essential oils at first because of the health benefits. At the time, I didn’t know much about quality control so the oils I started using were definitely not the best but they sure did smell good! I hate throwing away glass jars once I use them so I started making these candles in the re-used jars. I made them in any and every type of glass jar, which is not a good idea. Eventually I learned that there’s different hardiness to glass and only certain ones are candle safe. For example, I had previously made a candle in an old pickle jar but those are not heat safe so it ended up breaking on me. After making some candles for myself, my friends and family started wanting to buy them from me. I didn’t think about turning this craft into a business at first but after getting feedback from my friends I decided to try selling online in October of 2019. Creating my business name was the most difficult thing. I wanted something that was catchy and also went with what I could paint so I could add a unique touch to my candles that no one else has. Cloudy Candles came to mind and it was perfect! Candles quite literally bring a brightness to your day and clouds symbolize when your day definitely needs some extra light. I started out painting the lids to the candles with a tiny cloud design and thus Cloudy Candle Co was on it’s way to being a business! I picked up inspiration for how to sell a product online through looking/connecting with other creators and spending a lot of time on google.
First thing I did was make an instagram account. I had then started to look into online stores like etsy and depop and tried selling on those. Eventually, neither of those sites brought in many sales when compared to my instagram page so I shut them down and focused on my instagram page. After a few rebrands I started painting the jars with clouds on them in April of 2020. People seemed to really love the look of my products and I quickly built a community that was filled with helpful artists and supportive followers! I did this by connecting with other artists, collaborating and interacting with my followers. Through these connections, I was able to understand how to brand myself better and make better quality candles. I was also gifted a workbook that was beyond helpful in my branding journey: Mind Your Business. I highly recommend getting this book if you’re wanting to build/grow your own business.

Jordan , 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?

Hi! My name is Jordan and I’m the owner of Cloudy Candle Company. I’m a 24 year old artist living in Indiana.

I have found that life never happens how we plan it. I went into college in 2016 wanting to become a legal mediator and ended up graduating in 2020 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. Then, after losing both of my internships at an autism center and juvenile rehabilitation center due to COVID, I decided to take my candle making hobby to the next level.

Since I was a child, I have always loved creating. I used to take sketching classes in my neighbors basement and paint pottery with my grandma in elementary school. I didn’t do many creative things during highschool but in college, I picked up the paintbrush and started creating again. I started using art as a way to express and be present with myself in 2017. I decided to branch out a bit creatively and start learning how to make candles in 2019. Since then I have been able to combine my love for painting with my love for candles!

Cloudy candles are intentionally made to help clear cloudy minds. Mental health is something I always advocate for and love learning about, thus my psychology degree. It has been proven that creating a new smell in your environment raises your dopamine and seratonin levels creating euphoric/happy feelings. Beeswax emits the brightest light, next to the sun, so one of my candles can quite literally bring a brightness to your day on any type of day. Being able to create products that also revolve around mental health is such a blessing.

CloudyCandleCo is in 30 states and has sold over 600 products!

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Candlemaking is an art, science and mathematical process. I really didn’t understand all that went into it when I first started in 2o19. I’m still learning 3 years later how to keep improving my products/business. It’s really a never ending learning cycle. I grew quickly on social media, going viral for some of my candles. The tik tok videos would really only go a bit viral when they got hate comments though. The first time this happened, I was sad but I was able to navigate through it with grace. The comments were only about the design of the candle and I felt proud of what I had accomplished. The second time it happened, I got a little more than just hate comments. This time I was getting hateful emails and DMs too. People were not only attacking every inch of my business, brand and products but also my looks and personal life. Another small business had even proceeded to make 10ish videos about my business and brand, spreading false information: making the hate that much worse. It was a lot to handle and I didn’t handle it that well. I ended up deleting all social media for a month and took a break for my mental health. The spark that helped guide my business had disappeared. I felt like a failure and a fraud. After a month of a break, I re-downloaded only some social media apps and tried to get back in the groove of things. It was definitely hard to present myself as a confident business owner when I had nothing but doubt in my mind. The passion and purpose behind my business kept my head above the water though. I knew that I had a plan for this business and I wasn’t going down that easy.
Months later, I’m still struggling with severe imposter syndrome but it has gotten easier to post online without the fear of receiving hate. This incident really tested my resilience. It was the lowest low I’ve experienced as a business owner so far. I learned a lot from it and it even made me grow a thicker skin when it comes to online presence.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

I started this business as a hobby. I would spend the very little money I made from my part-time job to buy the bare minimum supplies needed. I started by making candles on my stove top and creating a double boiler to melt the wax. I would pour the wax into glass jars that I already had laying around, costing me nothing! At the beginning, I didn’t need much capital to create. I was only making them for myself, friends and family. When I started selling online, it was during the COVID lockdown when the government was giving out stimulus checks. I used this money to upgrade the equipment I was using. I bought a hot plate, heat gun and more advanced tools. If it wasn’t for the stimulus checks and pandemic, I wouldn’t have been able to build my business as fast as I had. I started getting more online orders and eventually upgrading from buying 2 pounds of beeswax to 10. I only ever want to invest an amount that is around the same that I am making from my business. 3 years later, I have upgraded to buying 50+ pounds of beeswax as well as using a wax melter. Slow growth is still growth. I think a lot of people get caught up in wanting to already be a successful, big business from the start and feel discouraged that they can’t afford to buy all the best equipment. It doesn’t take a lot of money to start something, especially if you’re new to the craft and still learning.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://cloudycandleco.bigcartel.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cloudycandleco/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CLOUDYCANDLECO
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/CloudyCandleCo