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

Hi Brit, thanks for joining us today. Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.

In 2019, after 11 years in a relationship with my then husband, I decided to get on a plane headed to my home town to spend a week with my parents. It was a one way ticket because I thought my husband would come out to spend Labor Day with my family. I had been so miserable for years and if I’m honest, he was too, I realized on the plane that I didn’t have to go back. Not to him, not to Austin, Texas, not to the unhappy life I had settled into.

In the weeks to follow I would lose everything. I lived out of a carry on suitcase in my parent’s guest room and waited for my car to be shipped to Reno. For everything I thought I had lost, I had gained so much more.

In the years to follow, the people and the place that I had instinctually gone home to would help pick me back up. A community that would rally around me when I launched my company, Haven and Flux. My home, my family, my peace, and my pride. I would go on to take more risks, bigger ones – like starting a company and then a podcast.

I now realize that sometimes the things that feel like the biggest risks are only catalysts for a greater life. Risks set you on a path of growth and open you up to new opportunities. Risks give you perspective. They build character. They turn you into the person you are meant to be.

That risk lead me to my business where I get to give a platform to Mental Health. It lead me to better relationships and stronger relationships with my family. It allowed me to be by my Mother’s side while she lost her parents. It allowed me to start a podcast, Britt on Blast, where we put everything and anything on blast. It gave me back my independence. It gave me back my strength and it reminded me that nothing is worth settling for.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I own Haven and Flux candles for mental health. We specialize in creating non-toxic candles that help improve your mental health and the mental health of someone in need.

Through my family’s experience with severe mental illness, I realized a few things – there’s not a lot of help, very little hope, and a lot more people suffer than many of us ever realized. I wanted to bring awareness, hope, and action to something that is often misunderstood.

Each candle has a specific intention to help inspire a full and intentional life. We believe that scent and sound are powerful, so each candle has a Spotify playlist pairing and a Pinterest pep talk board that can be found with the QR code on the base of the candle jar.

In addition, for every candle sold, $1 is donated to Mental Health America. We chose Mental Health America because through our experience, we’ve found that if mental health had been a priority before it was a critical condition – lives could be saved, symptoms could be managed, and homelessness could be avoided. We love that they focus on finding a solution for the root of a problem through their B4STAGE4 philosophy. We want to encourage that with our candles.

I”m most proud of our ability to talk about mental health in a way that isn’t diagnostic, dismissing, or daunting. We pride ourselves on listening to our customers and our community and learning that a lot of us suffer from varying degrees of the same hardships. Haven and Flux is all about making our customers feel seen and providing tools to help them help themselves. Growth, love, and comfort are inside jobs in most cases and we want to help our customers find that.

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

I had to learn that I was in fact very capable, no matter what anyone else said about me. That I had all of the skills and the experience that would help me, at the very least, start Haven and Flux. I had made the candles as a hobby and people I shared them with loved them. I knew how to sell from 15+ years of sales experience. I had managed large sales teams. I had an eye for design and I knew how to market products from observing others. Everything else that I needed to learn, I would learn along the way. What I didn’t know I would ask for help on and what I did know I would press forward with.

As a business owner, you can doubt everything else but yourself. It may feel like you’re being arrogant or selfish. However, if you have a dream to make something, especially something that you know will make the lives of other’s better, you owe it to yourself and your customers to have faith in yourself.

I let others tell me for a really long time who I was and what I was capable of and that was a mistake. No one knows what you are truly capable of except you. Plenty of people face adversity and plenty of people have the grit to get through it. Feeling sorry for yourself or letting other’s opinions paralyze you is only a disservice to you. I’ve realized along the way that the only way out is through and you can only get through anything one step at a time.

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

Haven and Flux started out by being a really great candle. It was supposed to be a hobby for me to release some stress and it ended up getting picked up by some local social media accounts.

When I realized it had legs and we could really generate some revenue, I rebranded and made Haven and Flux candles for mental health. I knew that if I was going to make any money, I wanted to use our candles to talk about and donate to mental health services. Which I had learned through experiences with my baby brother we lack a lot of services that could help him build a better life for himself.

From there, it was all word of mouth that built our reputation. Great products, a mission that is so near and dear to my heart, and a community that was willing to take a chance on me. Reno shared their candles being unboxed, they shared my mission, and from there it reached all the way across the country.

Contact Info:

• Website: havenandflux.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/havenandflux
• Facebook: facebook.com/havenandflux
• Other: pinterest.com/havenandflux

Image Credits
1st Image: Katherine Krakowski-Macy 
Jerry and Sarah Abasto – The Abasto Co.