We were lucky to catch up with Chelsea Mendivil Hill recently and have shared our conversation below.
Chelsea, appreciate you joining us today. What sort of legacy are you hoping to build. What do you think people will say about you after you are gone, what do you hope to be remembered for?
I feel it is important to share with you my mission statement before I get into what I hope my legacy will be. My goal is to keep Modern Love Candle Co. a small, in-house production that consistently leads with good intentions for the environment and care for others. Whether that’s always choosing quality non-toxic ingredients, donating a percentage of proceeds throughout the year, or even building a sustainable candle vessel recycle program; I always have the greater good in mind. We strive to think ethically and responsibly with each decision that is made, and are always willing to improve upon past mistakes.
Ever since I was young I have always wanted to create something that makes people feel something. I am a creative person by nature, and a known great gift giver; so when I started playing around with candles I originally gave them away as gifts for friends and family. They loved them so much I thought, why not try and make this into a business?
All of our fragrances and names of scents stem from a memory or specific moment that makes me personally feel something. I hope that with my scents, I can evoke a multitude of emotions and even spark a long lost memory in my customers. The joy is in the making of the art and then seeing others gain something out of it as well! Community and inclusivity are super important to the ethos of our company, and not only are we fostering that with our customers, but we are collaborative with other makers. Recently me and two of my best friends started a joint non-profit venture hosting artisan pop-ups and micro markets, with a project affectionally called the Lemonade Stand Collective. Our mission is to build community in a fun, friendly and inclusive format to collectively boost each others presence in the Portland Metro Area.
I’m not sure what people will say when I am gone…maybe that I brought joy into their homes with my products, or maybe that I lead my business with kindness first, or maybe that I have built something bigger than me by inspiring other fellow creative individuals like myself. I do know that I am genuinely proud of the person and business owner I have become. My dream is that one day when my daughter is older, she’ll see her mom working hard at something she lovingly created, and that she will be inspired to continue the legacy in her own way.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
Modern Love Candle Co. is a woman owned fragrance and candle small business that offers unique, signature blends styled with a vintage eclectic PNW vibe.
My journey with candle making started at a very young age; my grandfather was the owner of Yaley Candle Enterprises, and as kids we would receive candle making kits and visit his warehouse with my mom every year. I didn’t think anything of it at the time but eventually around 25 years old I decided to try my hand at candle making again. At first it was just for fun, a creative outlet for me, but eventually over time I couldn’t stop thinking of it as a little business. I unfortunately didn’t have the time or drive to keep it going while also working, and put that dream on pause…
A couple years went by and I made some big life changes, I got married and moved from the Bay Area to Portland Oregon. I was feeling lost and unhappy in my 9-5 job, and at the end of 2021 after a personal family loss, I had the idea of making a remembrance candle. I found my supplies and in that moment I felt a sense of purpose, this was the initial spark I needed to start making candles and find my creativity again.
I came up with “Modern Love” from the great musical icon, David Bowie. He was one of my moms favorite artists and I am now one of his biggest fans. My mom passed away when I was 9, but I am forever grateful for her unconditional love and the introduction to my passion of candle making. One of my most adored scents is in honor of her influence on me, our beloved “Mama Mia” candle.
My candles are made with 100% soy wax, clean non-toxic fragrances and natural wood crackling wicks. I am proud to offer a sustainable candle recycle program, a seasonal subscription club, quarterly themed collections, and one-of-a-kind ceramic collabs with Molly.Wat Ceramics. I have recently added non-toxic linen/room sprays and soy wax melts into the shop; plus a new product coming very soon, reusable reed diffusers!
Modern Love Candle Co. is not only a small business, it’s a personal journey that embodies scent memories that are shared and connected with customers, family, friends and other makers; something you just can’t find at any big box store.
Have you ever had to pivot?
I believe there is one great quality a business owner has to possess to be successful, and that is the art of knowing when to pivot. In my 4 years of running a small business I have broached various challenges that made me feel insecurity in myself, and ultimately second guess my product. For me, owning a business is a personal passion, one that can be affected by outside opinions and expectations. There is a lot of pressure placed to follow trends, big box store holiday timelines, and keeping up with social media’s ever changing algorithm. I noticed that when I started to falter in my business was when I was making decisions that weren’t fitting my brand or my goals.
For example, when I first started my candle business I was trying to achieve a simple popular aesthetic without changing much around for the ease of label production, and brand recognition. When 2020 was booming with small business owners, I felt like my candles were getting lost in the sea of competing products. A revelation occurred to me during this time, I was making these decisions from a business perspective and not a creative one. I myself love and crave diversity in my products, I can never just stick to one vibe or look in my own personal life, so why am I trying to box myself in? That’s when I really found my groove and I realized I’m not like other candle shops, you never know what to expect next from us and I love that.
Over the years I have made multiple pivotal changes to my small business that has made it for the better. Firstly I rebranded my logo, labels and overall vibe of my company to fit a retro eclectic aesthetic that could be morphed into any season, theme or design. Secondly, I decided to do quarterly seasonal collections that aligned with my ideal customer. Thirdly I decided to add an exclusive subscription club into the mix for our dedicated fans and candle loving enthusiasts. And I wont say lastly, because I know we will keep evolving and growing Modern Love Candle Co., but we added more fun products in the catalog like our room sprays, ceramic collab pieces, wax melts and soon to be reed diffusers.
For anyone out there doubting themselves on what they’ve built; I thought I would never expand our product line beyond candles, and here I am adding another new product to our site. I too was reluctant to do in person markets and events, but here I am doing at least 6 this year, plus started my own artisan pop-up market with my small biz besties! I even told myself that I’ll most likely never see my candles in a store, and we’re now in shops! I look where I am now 4 years later and realize that with saying yes to more opportunities, it has given me the privilege of pivoting when something isn’t serving me or my business.
What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?
When I originally started Modern Love Candle Co. I fully expected it to be just a side passion project that I could work on the weekends when I needed to exercise my creative brain. That definitely isn’t what happened. After about 6 months of figuring out the business, my work flow and landing my first collaboration, I soon realized I was spending almost 30 hours a week on the “side” passion project in addition to my 9-5 day job. I was quite literally obsessed with Modern Love Candle Co., I’d have middle of the night bursts of energy and ideas just flowing out my head ready to be made into reality. Executing a fully created concept from start to finish that came out of my brain was honestly the best, most satisfying feeling I have experienced in any job I’ve ever had; but I wasn’t really making much money from it…yet.
After 2 full years of the running the business I really started to understand the direction I wanted to take it and was ramping up with more and more customers. Around this time I had a new day job, and it allowed me to pull back to only 30 hour weeks doing real estate so I could spend even more time on Modern Love. The growth of the small business had been a steady slower pace but was picking up to a point I was able to pay some bills with it. With my busy work life came another big life change, I was pregnant! In preparation of having my baby girl I knew I wanted to lower my hours a bit more once I returned from maternity leave, so I could focus on my family and continue to foster the candle business. As with many things in life we cant control, I lost my job not even 3 months after my return to work. Needless to say I was shocked and devasted that I didn’t have the security of a consistent paycheck every couple weeks.
This really was the catapult that made me reevaluate my wants out of life and think about what was truly possible for my future. Even though I was given no choice in the decision of leaving my day job, I was given the opportunity to find my purpose in the candle business and nurture it just like I do for my daughter. It took a few months to get my footing, and I wont lie to you and say that I have it all figured out. I definitely have my days where I think going back to a 9-5 would be easier, especially when I have slow months where I have to work really hard to make enough for groceries even. All that said, I wouldn’t trade being my own boss for any other job in the world. Getting to be the creative mind and decision maker, the pride of getting to tell my daughter I made this with my own two hands, nothing beats it. I finally feel in a good spot with my full time passion project turned career, and I wouldn’t change my journey one bit. Owning your own business is like a really fun roller coaster of ups and downs, with struggles there is also immense joy, and I don’t want to get off the ride!
When I really take a step back, I realize how this little business is so much bigger than me…it’s not only a family business, or my way to connect with like-minded individuals, it’s the daily ritual for our customers to light that candle in their home and feel comforted in a Modern Love way.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://modernlovecandleco.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/modernlovecandleco
Image Credits
City + Pine Photo, Ava Trevor