We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Angela Bodnar. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Angela below.

Angela, appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?

Anacua House (my business) is my risk. In 2018, after experiencing some growing vision problems, I was diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP)- a degenerative retinal disease that results in blindness. RP has destroyed my night vision and basically all of my peripheral vision, leaving only my central vision intact (and in excellent shape- the vision I have left is 20/25 acuity!). I can no longer drive a car, and navigating dimly lit spaces is difficult.
My RP diagnoses was, understandably, life-changing. I now had to think of my future differently. Expecting to be blind in one or two decades, I could no longer assume retirement at age 65. I enjoyed traveling to far-reaching locales such as Kashgar, China, when I was younger, and it seems like my bohemian days were coming to an end. Having children and being a present mother became more important to me; as I looked for ways to stay connected with the world, experiencing it anew through a child’s eyes provided that comfort Looking now at the wind-down of my professional career, I often asked myself: “Does this matter to me?”
You see- I absolutely live for discovering people making cool things: designers, artisans, people who know how to create: create something useful, and create something beautiful. I spend my time reading about interior design, following photographers and artists on instagram, and seeking our new and interesting products from small businesses to stock my own home.
In real life, I worked in the finance department of a very large corporation. My job was decent & well-paid, and I was on permanent work-from-home status. The easy path would have been to continue working (though I’d likely never be promoted), spending my salary on beautiful things & saving for the future, and collected disability when I could no longer work. Take the loss & retire early.
Then I had a second kid.
The nature of my work required me to at times miss dinner with my kids; some parts of the year, I’d be up working until midnight on urgent projects. Taking care of the children when they were home sick from daycare was a big source of stress for me & my husband. We decided I’d have to quit to be more available to them.
This entire time, I kept thinking, “Why aren’t I working with things I love? Why aren’t I bringing more beauty into the world? How will my children see their disabled, stay-at-home mom?” This was my chance.
With a critical need for flexibility and facing the end of my traditional working career, I decided to make life infinitely harder for myself by launching my own business, Anacua House.
Anacua House is an online home decor boutique for the intentional home. You’ll find objects from artisan collectives, independent designers, and family-run businesses; products that were loved at every point in their cycle, from idea to creation, to your home. Sourcing & curation take center-stage: Anacua House has wooden home accessories from a group of carpenters in Guatemala who use their business to promote environmental sustainability and community development; we have blankets from the Mineola Knitting Company, knitted from high quality yarns in Long Island, NY in a bid to revive textile manufacturing in the area. Anacua House scented candles and diffusers are made from natural fragrances in Massachusetts by women resettled in the US as refugees, helping them earn a living wage and gain skills for the US job market. Anacua House is a place for not mass-made, throwaway items; I hope that any item purchased at Anacua House is something loved & enjoyed in the home for years to come.
Many nights, I go back to work on Anacua House after I put the kids to bed- but I’ve never had to miss dinner or a doctor appointment. I’m overjoyed to be able run my own business focusing on things I love. Hopefully this all works out.
Either way, I can tell my children, when faced with my own life-altering, disabling condition, I took a chance on something meaningful and great.

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 back background and context?

I covered the origin of Anacua House & why I started it on the previous tab, but here’s a few more details: I started my career as a travel writer based in Beijing China. After that, I moved into advertising, helping US clients advertise overseas. Then, I earned my MBA from Carnegie Mellon University. After that, I joined the finance department at AT&T, where I worked until summer 2022. I have a daughter, (Yara) born 2020, and a son (Lewis), born 2022.

Anacua House is an homage to storied homes that serve as the backdrop to generations of lives, traditions, and family treasures, yet never feels antique. Firmly rooted in the here and now, the home bustling with friends and memories in the making, surrounded by objects that reflect the family’s way of life. Heirlooms come alive alongside modern artisan materials at holiday gatherings, late-night snack chats at the kitchen table, and Saturday morning coffee on the porch. Life happens here like nowhere else.

Meaningful luxury for the intentional, intimate home, our products are created with love by artisans, independent design studios, and family-run factories. They’re made in the USA and around the world in workshops dedicated to preserving heritage crafts. They’re made with the highest-level of quality to join your family for life.

Do you sell on your site, or do you use a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc?

I launched Anacua House as its own ecommerce site, with hopes that I might have a physical location one day. Having my own site really gives me the most control over my brand and mission, but I’ve also had to start from scratch with traffic and audience. There’s a steep learning curve trying to build up customers.

I also sell Anacua House home scents and candles on Amazon. Most of the brands I work with don’t want to be on Amazon, which I completely understand and respect. But the traffic and visibility gained through Amazon is undeniable. So, I decided to put just the Anacua House branded items: (taper candles, scented candles, and diffusers) on Amazon, both as a way to gain sales independently of the main Anacua House site and as a marketing strategy to raise awareness of the Anacua House brand more generally. It’s been a positive experience for sales & getting the brand noticed, but of course, competition on Amazon is fierce- it’s almost an extra full time job just trying to optimize that store in addition to my main website.  

Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?

Anacua House scented candles & diffusers are made in the USA by a company that employees women resettled in the US as refugees, paying them a living way and helping them gain job skills for the US job market. This company also sells direct to consumer and produces candles for several other companies. I’ve been a fan for years. When I was creating a plan for Anacua House, I knew it would be helpful to have some branded products, and immediately thought of them & the connection I felt to their mission of helping women restart their lives.

At the time, I had a non-functional website, and was months away from any sales. I sent an email fully expecting to be ignored. To my surprise, one of the co-owners scheduled a call with me. An initial conversation revealed there was no way I could make their minimum order, but we got along well during the conversation & she decided to lower the MOQ for me to do a first run. We started developing scents the next week.

The next few months were my “drinking from a firehose” moment- I’ve never developed a product before. For two weeks, I went everywhere with a tote bag full of test scents asking people to smell them. We created a well-rounded program of six scents- a fruity, woodsy, floral, citrus/clean, sweet, and spicy. I choose the style of jars, named the scents, worked with a friend to design the label, look, and feel, sourced packaging, and worked on branding. Then- in a true “Texas” moment, I had to wait an extra five weeks after the candles were manufactured to have them shipped to Texas because it was too hot for candles to be transported. I’m so proud of this product.

We’ve expanded into diffusers & a special edition winter candle. In the future, I hope to have more choices for jars and diffuser bottles, and more special edition candles.

One thing I’ve learned is that, while my manufacturer works fast, everything else can longer than expected, especially sourcing things that need to come from far away like diffuser bottles. Leave plenty of time for the sourcing process.

Contact Info:

• Website: anacuahouse.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anacuahouse/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/anacuahouseshop
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelajbodnar/

Image Credits
Headshot & picture of me & my son: Joe Fang Photography