Today we’d like to introduce you to Dierdre Barnes
Hi Dierdre, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My story begins with me looking out of an office window thinking there has to be more than this. I always wanted to have my own business but did not know what it would be. I ended up getting fired from my corporate job and that’s where the adventure began. I started working at Shipt by delivering groceries and personal training to bring income. During this time I began working on myself, journaling, listening to podcasts, reading more, walking, and finding out what I love. I had a friend tell me about candle making and in Dec 2019 I felt crafty, I bought my first candle kit. I got the DELUXE kit so everything came with it. Watching the soy wax melt, waiting for the right temperature to add the fragrance oil in, stirring it until it dissolves in the wax, getting the tin jars ready to pour in the wax, then coming back to a candle in which I gifted to my friends felt so good. It was very therapeutic. Of course my friends, being amazing, said I should start selling candles. After that I dove in, watched youtube videos, got into Facebook groups and created within 6 months the candles that you now see today F.L.Y. Girl Candles.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
There have definitely been some obstacles along the way. In the beginning I had a hard time getting the “hot throw” to perform correctly with all my candles I poured. I had to go back to testing. Another obstacle was finding where I could sell my candles around the city. I had a system to follow when looking at Facebook events and asking other vendor friends about other shows they knew about. Another struggle was believing in my product and its worth. I started selling candles for $15 in which I heard a lot that I was not charging enough for the product I had created. After number crunching, believing in my product and seeing my candles were being sold at $22, Currently in 2024 the price is $24.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about FLY Girl Candles?
Here at FLY Girl Candles, the FLY stands for First Love Yourself. We are all about self love and self care. We make luxury hand poured soy wax candles, wick trimmers, rechargeable lighters and luxury candle trays. We offer wholesale, consignment, white labeling, mini candles, candle making classes and in home, fundraising opportunities and small projects to where you love a certain scent we will make a minimum of 4 of those candles for you. What sets us apart is the self love and feeling apart of the FLY Girl Connection. The feeling of seeing our brand in local shops, at your friends house or you just received one as a gift makes you smile and feel happy at the same time. What we are most proud of is watching the brand grow. How it started in my kitchen, to walking into a local shop and see FLY Girl candles.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
I would it call it a dream with consistency and determination. Somehow being in the right places at the right time, aka perfect timing has been a play in my life/business. From the beginning my goal was to get my business out there as much as possible and be consistent about it. From that, you start meeting people and then those people at the right time created amazing opportunities I never saw. It’s been a blessing that I am so grateful for.
Pricing:
- Candles $24
- Wick Trimmers $12
- Rechargeable Lighters $14
- Luxury Trays $48
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.flygirlcandles.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flygirlcandles/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/flygirlcandles
Image Credits
BlackSoilKy
Malyah Spencer