We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Adebessi Charles Wong a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Adebessi, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.

I remember growing up as a young girl hearing the statement “No Risk No Reward” and not fully knowing what it meant in business until I became an entrepreneur. I have grown to embrace this statement through my life’s experiences as a breast cancer survivor, an entrepreneur, wife, mom and a professional.

In May of 2017 I was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer, in my quest to destress and find relaxation from all the complications and anxiety of cancer and everything that came with it I stumbled on a fascinating hobby “Making candles.” This hobby allowed me to share personal experiences with others and tell my life’s story. What I had discovered is instead of finding a little relaxation, I had found a way to relax for hours at a time through the art of a “Lighted Candle and intoxicating fragrances.” I had stumbled on a way to bring relaxation to many others. Through sending care packages to other survivors to enhance wellness and by bringing Pure joy and Big Energy through my amazing scents to help families and friends to unwind; Through this process of caring for and sharing these amazing fragrances, my hobby had now turned into a passion.

Now the risk; making the decision in 2020, during the pandemic to turn my hobby into a business. Amidst the journey of endless medication and many of the struggles I still faced from cancer, juggling life as a wife, mom of four kids and a 9-5 career. This decision brought a platter of uncertainty. The decision to invest and how much in the midst of the pandemic, the time that the company would take from my family life to build a successful brand and the anxiety that comes with doing something new and being uncertain of the level of challenges you would face building the brand were all moving around in my head. However, one thing remained clear to me as I moved forward with building my brand “No Risk No Rewards.”

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 am proud that a portion of my brand sales, I have decided to donate back to the breast cancer community to raise awareness and provide support. I am most proud that at a very difficult time in my life battling cancer, I was able to start a business that would service others and bring relaxation and wellness into their lives. I am proud because, while I knew that it would bring daily challenges for me it was more important that I provide solutions for others to relax and reduce stress in their lives.

While I had never thought of myself as an artist and I spent most of my professional life in the Budget and Finance arena; I am happy to have discovering this awesome craft of candle making. As I explored this art it was both fascinating and exciting to learn how fragrances are the biggest trigger for memories. Stories from customers telling us that our “Tropical Hurricane Candle” which is a blend of pineapple, mango, coconut milk, strawberry, guava and lime transported them to a Caribbean vacation or the way our best seller “Jasmine Black Sea” helps them to relax and makes them feel they are in luxury spa is the heart of what I do.

What sets my brand apart is pulling scents from my Caribbean background and creating an experience that transports customers to a place of luxury. For quality we focus on premium ingredients like soy wax and crackling wooden wicks, ensuring that the customer’s experience is, rich, zenful and luxurious throughout the life of our products.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Owning a business will be a lesson in patience and flexibility, two areas that have become my biggest friends on this path to success. As the brand continued to grow and expand, I found that it was also necessary to rebrand and continue to increase the image and visibility of the brand. This process was and still is tricky because there are so many moving parts. Unexpected hick ups were a big factor and everything I thought would be a quick decision like packing selection, photo decision and website updates took six months more than anticipated, challenging my patience and ability to be flexible.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

One of the best compliments for my brand is the returning customers. I believe a combination of showing up with consistency and quality are two areas that are helping the brand to grow. The diverse selection of quality products allows the customers to have the same luxurious experience every time with any of our candles of products they purchase. The consistency of service and quality ingredients used in every product is also key to our customers’ returning.

Contact Info:

• Website: diamondmelts.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/diamondmeltsluxurycandles/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/diamondmeltsluxurycandles
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@diamondmeltsllc?lang=en