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

Chasen, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

When I started Bad Apple Candle Company I was working as a Patient Care Technician at our local hospital. I originally started it as a hobby in 2020 just for something fun to do, which very quickly turned into friends and family buying my candles, to me turning it into a part time side-hustle. Hardly a year later I discovered I was pregnant with my daughter and being that I was a high risk pregnancy, I had to leave the hospital but candlemaking allowed me the opportunity to still make some money on the side. Now four years later it is my full time job and I would not trade it for absolutely anything.

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

We are a small candle company that ensures all of our candles are paraffin and Pthalate free. Alot of major box store candles actually contain a very large handful of carcinogens and overall bad things for you and we make it a point to have absolutely none of that in our products. We also hand dip incense, and make our own soap! Fun fact- all of the components in our products are bought from other small businesses and local farms right here in the United States!

Have you ever had to pivot?

Thinking of a time I had to pivot, one of the first craft shows I did I was set up kind of across from another man who was selling the same products from me at a show in Pittsburgh called Horror Realm and to be honest, I was a little intimidated. His products were BEAUTIFUL and mine were very clear I was a beginner. Towards the end of the show he came over to my table and was poking around at my product and all I remember was being like “oh man this guy’s gonna rip me apart” and he looks at me and goes “have you been doing this long?” And I say no, so he tells me to give it three years and I’ll know if I’m going to do this for the rest of my life or not. Then he proceeds to tell me where I’m slacking, what I need to do differently, better resources for what I was trying to do and better supplies and all of that information was such a turning point for Bad Apple that I can honestly say I don’t know that I would still have a standing company without that man’s encouragement and advice. I think about that man everytime there’s a bump in the road or any kind of challenge.

Alright – let’s talk about marketing or sales – do you have any fun stories about a risk you’ve taken or something else exciting on the sales and marketing side?

My favorite sales story is actually again in reference to Horror Realm, it is a meet and greet event that hosts multiple popular faces in Horror and I had the honor of selling a candle to both Ginger Lynn (The Devils Rejects) and gifting one to Felissa Rose (Sleepaway Camp) They were both SO sweet and a pleasure to talk to.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.etsy.com/shop/BadAppleCandleCo
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bad.apple.candles?igsh=bmFiMDluMGthMmd4
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61554165161955&mibextid=ZbWKwL