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

Brynlee and Degan , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What do you think Corporate America gets wrong in your industry? Any stories or anecdotes that illustrate why this matters?

At Samantha Cade Collection, we think what Corporate America gets wrong in our industry is quantity over quality. Big chain stores sell candles and bath products sometimes at a fraction of what small businesses and artisans do and in most cases, they are inferior products with a lower quality wax and/or fragrance oil. Because we are a teen entrepreneur business that wanted to be taken seriously, we thought it was important to not only do as much research as possible to create a quality product, but make sure that the ingredients that went into those products were high quality as well. Our wax is a blend of soy wax, vegetable wax and food-grade paraffin and we seek to only use fragrance oils that have been formulated be phthalate-free and adhere to IFRA standards for safety and purity.

To illustrate why these things matter, we did a burn test with a well-known box store brand candle. We found a candle jar that was the same size and shape as the ones we carry. We burned them side by side for several hours and made some interesting discoveries. The box store candle had a melt pool (the clear wax that has fully melted) that was at least half an inch deep. In the same amount of time, our candle had just finished melting across the top. What this means is that the box-store candle used a very large wick that creates more heat. Once the candle reaches full melt pool, the large wick starts to actually heat the jar, melting the wax even faster, which significantly reduces the burn life of your candle. A good rule of thumb for testing your candle is to give it one hour per inch of jar width, so a standard, straight-sided jar with a 2.5-3″ opening should take 2.5 to 3 hours to burn all the way across.

The other noticeable difference was the carbon buildup on the wick. Some carbon buildup, often referred to as a “mushroom”, can be common in smaller amounts, but a large build-up can be dangerous. If the candle forms a large mushroom while burning, or your wick is not trimmed before each burn and the carbon build-up removed, the mushroom can fall into the wax and potentially re-ignite creating a fire hazard.

We have found that these issues and others including tunneling, poor scent throw and the wick being centered improperly have become quite common in the commercial candle industry. These candles are quite affordable but, in most cases, lack the attention to detail and quality that you can find in a hand-poured, small-batch candle.

Brynlee and Degan , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

We specialize in producing high-quality, hand-poured soy blend candles, soaps, bath salts, incense, and unique gifts. Our company was started by a 15-year-old named Brynlee Sullivan who was looking for a way to make money to save for her first car. After months of trial and error, testing multiple brands of wicks, wax, and fragrance oils, we had a collection of candles we were really proud of. Shortly after we launched, the pandemic hit and we focused our energy on creating an online store with free local delivery. This allowed us to not only connect with our community but was crucial for helping get driving hours in as Brynlee learned to drive. We soon added foaming bath salts and knew we also wanted to carry soaps and other bath products as well. The ingredients weren’t safe for us to use on our own so we partnered with other artisans to find products we could offer, allowing our customers to support not one, but TWO different artisans at the same time. In 2021, Brynlee was able to purchase her first car, which was such a huge accomplishment and as she prepared for college, her younger brother, Degan turned 15 and started helping to save for his first car as well!

At Samantha Cade Collection, we are so proud to be a brand that not only creates quality products but encourages creativity, authenticity, and entrepreneurial spirit. In a market of mass-produced items, we specialize in small batch, handmade candles, bath salts and gifts that support a great cause.

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

We have a blend of products that we have made by hand as well as some that we work with other vendors to provide for our customers. We started with our candles in amber glass jars, hand-poured in our home office. When the pandemic hit, there was an instant glass shortage and it was very difficult to find our glasses. We had to take a very quick pivot to metal tins, and while they were much easier to access, it meant a whole new process of wick testing to make sure we had the perfect, clean-burning combination. Our foaming bath salts and incense are made by hand in our home office as well. When we first decided we wanted to expand our website, we looked into making soap. Soap requires the use of lye, which we didn’t think was safe for us to use on our own, and it also has a very long cure time, so that was the first product we searched for. We want to make sure we chose a company that produces it by hand, using clean ingredients. For our bath bombs we looked into wholesale artisan markets. We loved this as an option because we could learn more about each vendor’s background in order to find a company that aligned with our values. When it comes to manufacturing products, our own or outsourcing them, we’ve found that research is the most important and most helpful thing. We’ve sourced locally and overseas and this is what has saved us from disaster!

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Have you ever had to pivot?

We’ve had to pivot a few times in the 4 years since we started. Our first (and largest) pivot was when Covid began and the glass shortage happened. We were in an absolute panic because wick/vessel testing can be brutal and can take a really long time to get right. Our first try at getting the right jar was purchasing from a local vendor, but the issue was that they were only selling jars by the PALLET. So, our panic continued and we purchased over 1500 pieces of a vessel we had not even tested to see if it would work with our current candle formula. We bought an entirely different set of wicks to try but we just couldn’t get it right fast enough. Pivot AGAIN- to tins and testing all over again. We finally got a product that we were proud of and now even though we can use our amber glass jars again, we still keep the tins in our collection for a few of our specialty lines.

Our most recent pivot is trying to adjust to the current economy. People are buying less because they just have less expendable income across the board. We have found that even our in-person vendor events are struggling for consistent sales. We are in the process of trying to revamp our website with proper SEO optimization, work on new/different social media content, and find a new direction from what has worked in the past. Our biggest lesson has been to keep learning and roll with the punches

Contact Info:

• Website: www.samanthacadecollection.com
• Instagram: .http://instagram.com/samantha_cade_collection
• Facebook: http://facebook.com/samanthacadecollection