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

Brittany, appreciate you joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

In the midst of the pandemic, I decided to resign from my job. I was a healthcare worker who had recently relocated to NY and being a healthcare worker at that time was overwhelming. With constant covid updates on the news, mandated social distancing and the feeling of everyone being on edge—I decided to focus on creating a brand that promoted health, wellness and relaxation with products that were “sassy”. Then Unwind with Sass was born. I am naturally a sassy person and I wanted my brand to exemplify that. Unwind with Sass mission is to promote health, wellness and relaxation with our hand-poured candles and handmade soaps. Our candles are 100% soy wax candles and our soaps are made with essential oils. I remember being excited and nervous at the same time while testing candle waxes and learning about different ways I can make soap. I knew adding the sass to my products would make them unique. There are a lot of candle lovers out there and I wanted candles that had funny, memorable names—not just named after ingredients like lavender and other common names on candles. The soaps that I create were all designed to solve a problem. One of my most popular soaps is the Sneaky Link Yoni soap, made to balance PH and prevent the occurrence of yeast infections/BV. I was excited because I feel after working a traditional 9 to 5, I was able to create something that could display my personality. Work started feeling robotic to me and I wanted an opportunity to be professional while also adding sass.

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

My name is Brittany Jeatter and I am 26 years old. I graduated from Elon University in 2017 with a BA degree in Psychology. If someone would’ve told me a few years ago that I’d be the owner of a successful candle and soap business, I would’ve laughed in their face LOL. The idea of making candles and soaps came to me out of the blue in the beginning of my unemployment stint. I simply was in my bed one day and looked around the room to identify a common household product that brought me joy. I scanned my room and my eyes landed on my bath and body works candle which was half burned. A light bulb went off and I thought, I could totally learn how to make candles. I got on Youtube with a pen and paper and did a lot of research. When confident, I ordered supplies from different sites mentioned at youtube university lol and did my own tests. There was a lot of product waste but in general, I received a lot of brutally honest feedback from family and friends who had the lucky job of testing my candles and soaps. One of my best selling soaps – the oatmeal body bar – came about because my best friends daughter has bad eczema and I wanted to make a soap gentle enough for her to use daily. All of my candles have “moods” with stories or memories that trigger for me and my customers. For example, customers asked for a woodsy candle so I added the Morning Wood candle. It is a best seller, and I always tell potential customers that it reminds me of a walk in the park after it rains. That is a memory a lot of people can resignate with, therefore the candle sets the mood for that. I have a floetry candle which contains peppermint, eucalyptus, etc. Some people say that eucalyptus helps for headaches and stress which is what a lot of my customers say when they purchase.

I am proud of the fact that I have been in business for almost 2 years. January 18th, 2023 makes 2 years. I have accomplished so much, from modifying packaging to look more modern, doing out of state markets and getting orders all around the country. I am proud of the hard work and effort I put into my brand while also working a full time job. My goal for 2023 is to branch out into corporate wellness events by leading wellness candle and soap making classes and also moving more into bulk orders/being in a big retail store like target or marshals. Maybe even opening my own brick and mortar.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

When I first started making candles, a lot of people kept telling me that they could not smell my candles. It was breaking my heart honestly but I’d never say that out loud lol. I couldn’t figure out what I was doing wrong, but I kept testing because it was December 2020 and I had planned on launching my business in January 2021. I had everything together, it is just that certain candles did not give off a good hot throw (strong scent when lit). I went to a local candle store in PA to ask the workers there a few questions and also smell fragrances in person. After explaining my problem to one of the the clerks, she asked me if I was weighing out my fragrances or measuring them out. I was simply using a measuring cup instead of using weighted oz. That is why people could not smell my candles, I was using the wrong percent of fragrance oil lol. I made a new batch of candles and received better feedback from my testing committee. Also I learned the longer I let candles cure, the stronger they are so I increased my curing time before selling a candle.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I have business cards that I hand out everywhere and I literally mean everywhere! Also, I do a lot of markets and in person selling at pop up shops and when I speak to potential customers, I always mention following me on Instagram and Facebook even if they do not make a purchase. I have a mailing list that I gather emails and phone numbers with on my site and in person at my markets. I do marketing campaigns which require social media following to stay up to date. The biggest thing I have done marketing wise was a Telfar bag giveaway. I live in Brooklyn and Telfar bags are the “bushwich birkin.” Literally everyone wants one so I purchased one and did a giveaway raffle. Raffle tickets were $20 and as long as I got 10 people to enter I covered the costs of the bag and free candle and soap bundle for the winner. I did promotional videos on Instagram recorded with my phone and promoted it on Insta and Facebook. I ran a few ads on social media as well and that Brought in a lot of engagement.

Contact Info:

• Website: unwindwithsass.com
• Instagram: @unwindwithsass
• Facebook: @unwind with sass

Image Credits
I have all customer permission to use photos