We were lucky to catch up with Taneidra Buie recently and have shared our conversation below.

Taneidra, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s talk about keeping costs under control when growing. How have you managed to keep costs from getting out of control?

My focus is on the quality of the products rather than the aesthetics of the products. Therefore, to reduce costs as the company grows, I used minimalist, low-cost containers and packaging that still fit the aesthetic of the brand. I also try to reduce costs by producing my own labels rather than having a manufacturer produce them for me. Most high-end fragrance oils that are pre-blended are relatively expensive, especially for a new business with limited funding. To achieve similar scents while keeping costs under control, I use my background in material science to blend my own custom scents with low-end fragrance oils.

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 background and context?

To cope with the challenges of transitioning into a new career during the uncertainty of the COVID pandemic, I decided to combine my love of science with my love of crafts. What started off as an at-home experiment to make my own candles would later develop into a full-fledged home fragrance small business named Enkindled Moods. I decided to name the company Enkindled Moods because enkindle means to inspire- often an emotion- and that is what I intend for my products to do for my customers. Enkindled Moods currently offers candles, wax tarts, room and linen spray, carpet deodorizer, and a host of candle accessories. My background in material science enabled me to create formulations that yield high-performing fragrant products, and that is what keeps my customers coming back. Not only are my products highly-fragrant, but they are affordable. Based on market research, the same quality of fragrant products from my competitors retails at two to three- times the cost of my products. This means that customers can receive quality products at a fraction of the cost when they shop with me!

Furthermore, Enkindled Moods not only wants to inspire the moods of our customers, but the brand was also created to inspire Black and Brown youth to pursue a career in science or engineering. Being the fourth Black student to graduate from my Ph.D. program since its formation in 2002, and being the only Black engineer in my department at my former and current job, I have become hyperaware of the lack of representation in the fields of science and engineering. I set out on a mission to increase the representation of Black and Brown graduate students when I was in school. Now that I have graduated, I want to shift my efforts to focus on increasing representation in the industry. I believe one way that we can increase representation in science and engineering is to target grade-level students, as these students are at a critical point in life when they start to decide what they want as a career. To help facilitate this engagement, Enkindled Moods plans to donate resources to community organizations that provide engaging learning opportunities to young Black and Brown students. Although Enkindled Moods was recently launched, I am confident that there will be many supporters of this mission and will help it to become a reality.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

A challenge I am currently facing is a lack of business funding. As many small businesses know, you have to build business credit before you can secure funding from lenders. So for now, I am diverging a decent amount of my personal funds to my business. Unfortunately, this limits what products the company can offer upfront and requires that I am very strategic with how I invest the company’s resources at this stage. That being said, I am extremely blessed to have a career that allows me to be able to support my business without taking away from my personal financial security. I am also extremely blessed to have a strong support system that is willing to donate funding as needed.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

Selling products primarily via e-commerce has proven to be very challenging when it comes to growing my customers. To grow my customers, I have had to become more proactive on all social media platforms to land my target audience. This involves connecting and building relationships with potential customers. It also requires that I become a content creator so that I make content that is relevant and lures my target audience. But the most successful strategy to grow my customer base has been in-person marketing at local events. This allows potential customers to not only get to know the brand and smell the products but also allows them an opportunity to connect with me and learn my story.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.enkindledmoods.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/enkindledmoods

Image Credits
James De’Rouen