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

Brittany, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Day to day the world can seem like a tough place, but there’s also so much kindness in the world and we think talking about that kindness helps spread it and make the world a nicer, kinder place. Can you share a story of a time when someone did something really kind for you?

I’ve had many people in my life that have done many kind things, but the one that sticks out the most and really helped put me on this path was a couple years after my mom died. I was working with a client (I work in home with special needs children providing therapy) and I was talking about losing my mom and finding it hard to find joy again. And the clients mom asked me if I had any hobbies and I said no. She then asked me “If you could do anything, or make anything, what would you choose?” And candles was the first thing out of my mouth. A few weeks later she handed me a gift basket full of candle making supplies like wax, fragrance oils, wicks, pouring pitchers – she thought of everything! It was so kind and thoughtful and it woke this flame within me that helped steer me to where I am now. Now I make some of the most beautiful candles that I am so incredibly proud of and she is the reason why I was able to allow myself to discover joy and creativity again.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I started exploring spirituality once my mom had passed away. While immersed in that world, I started practicing tarot and psychic readings and realized that it was something I had been craving and something I was good at! I began to grow more spiritually and wanted to express myself creatively and with a friends help, I began making candles. I started small on Facebook and Instagram and sold mostly to friends and family. It then took me a good 6 months to get brave enough to create an Etsy, and then I started getting a few sales here and there from people I didn’t know. Once that started and I started to expand a bit creatively, my friend suggested I attend vendor events and sell my candles there. And from there I have slowly gained a beautiful community of people that feel seen, heard, and held when they are with A Girl and Her Ghosts. I offer tarot readings, channeled readings, and reiki healing sessions, in addition to making reiki candles.

All of my products are created to bring in a specific energy and many of my candles are named after people I know and love and embodies (or at least tries to) their essence. Once I was attuned to reiki I began utilizing my reiki within the candle making process and I have noticed that those energies and desires come through even stronger and really speak to the customers who buy them.

As a business and as a human, I have continued to evolve and I am really excited to see where else it leads me and the people it leads me to.

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

I definitely feel like one of those people who knows tragedy all too well. I had a very traumatic childhood and that snowballed into a similar life throughout my teens and early 20’s. I lost my mom to a drug overdose when I was 25 years old and spent a good 5 years focusing on grieving and healing. I got to a place in my life where I was comfortable being the girl with the dead mom and was focusing on getting married and building my career as a behavior analyst. We came home from our honeymoon and then two weeks after I found out I was pregnant, my dad died. It was the most devastating thing to go through while pregnant and it really took so much strength to not fall apart. A few months after my dad died, my husbands brother died and that shook our entire family because he was so young and full of potential. The grief alone from those two heavy losses was enough to send anyone mad but still, I pushed through because I had so much faith that death was not the end that many of us believe it is. Faith alone is what keeps me here today. Death follows me now and although it always hurts, the ones I love always send their signs, reminding me that my faith is not in vain.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

Funding my business is all done through whatever is leftover from my other financial responsibilities. I have a day job and work with special needs children and I ended up working overtime during the pandemic so I had some extra cash. I spent a couple hundred dollars on supplies and spent my free time consuming as much candle information as I could stand. After a few practice runs I found my method and took to the ground running. I do still utilize my money from my day job to help fund A Girl and Her Ghosts and I know many small business owners that have to do the same. Many of the small businesses you see are people who work full time and believe so deeply in their creations that they spend whatever free time and money they have on feeding that creative part of themselves. It’s something that should be acknowledged and appreciated more often. I know that when I make a candle or an altar kit for my shop, there is always a part of me within it and that is not something that can not be found everywhere. It keeps the heart in it, most importantly.

Contact Info:

• Website: AGirlandHerGhosts.com
• Instagram: AGirlandHerGhosts
• Facebook: A Girl and Her Ghosts
• Tiktok – AGirlandHerGhosts

Image Credits
Photo credit for the first photo was taken by _bloodwolfmoon on IG