We were lucky to catch up with Debbie Blinder recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Debbie, thanks for joining us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

I moved from FL to TN over 12 years ago, but has been visiting the area for over 20 years. I would come camp, hike, white water raft and more, I fell in love with the nature and the mountains. I would visit the Sewanee/Monteagle area, eat at local restaurants and always stop at Hallelujah Pottery on the way out and talk to owner Shawnee Gibson who became a friend. I would leave the area so sad as I wished I could stay forever.

Back in FL, after going through 2 hurricanes, our family really just wanted to move and the surprise road opened to TN as a friend out of the blue offered us to come see her home in TN and see if we would like to rent. So I jumped on the go for it train and we sold our house and most contents in it, packed up a UHaul, said goodbye to very dear friends and family and took off for the area I loved so much.

Having to get work I taught some dance and also was a waitress at the Blue Chair in Sewanee TN. As I discovered more about the area, my favorite thing was visiting farmers markets and shop handcrafted items. I loved the homemade breads, jams, fresh veggies, fruits…it was an abundance and so inspiring. Between the nature and the markets I was moved to have fun and make something for the family. First, it was a failed attempt at bread making, however after a few tries this got better. Then one day I woke up with my usual cough and went to out bathroom and noticed the black soot on our white wall from a glade candle I burned. I burned a lot of candles like this and coughed a lot. I had an ah hah moment and decided to have fun making my own candle and could I make it a bit healthier? I began to research and put some things together and made my first soy candle, Sunny Day, Lemon Verbena. It burned clean and smelled so good. I used little mason jars and put around our house. I found a love for candle making because it feels like chemistry to me which I liked in school and the sacred side of me loves the energy candles bring to a home atmosphere. It brings a joyous light. Also, as I used my little candles my coughing subsided and soot on walls when they burned.

As I made candles some friends said they smelled wonderful and people began asking for them. Then where I worked, they offered to sell a few in the restaurant. I began to think of what I would name this candle. I sat down with my husband (who is a graphic designer) and I talked of what I felt it should be called. I remembered all the magic of life, how we wound up in TN, how things come around in our lives and Full Circle name was born. Logo was made, representing the mountains and a girl in a prayer pose for gratitude to move to a place she loved so much.

Full Circle took off and some other local stores asked for them. Then my dream came true to join those farmers and handmade sellers and I attended my first craft fair in Sewanee TN, joining other artists. I was so honored and excited. Then I found out about the Chattanooga Market. Boy, would that be amazing to be in that. I applied and it was a year wait. I didn’t give up as my passion grew for this journey. Finally we made it into the Holiday Market and I found out once we got accepted into that I was now a part of the Chattanooga Market family. I remember packing up car and hauling it all to Chattanooga 10 years ago. Sitting out in rain, heat, wind..you name it selling the candles. I learned the most important thing was to not give up and keep going. Some days I made hardly anything. You have to pay higher fee for a certain amount of time to see if you really want to keep going. In my second year I only had one more higher fee left. I joined a Peach product contest for Peach Festival. The prize was a free booth fee. My peach candle was a winner in the top 3 peach products and my last fee I didn’t have to pay!! I then made it inside the Pavilion finally and today we now have a permit spot! Also, because of being a part of the Chattanooga Market my confidence grew and we made it into more stores and proud when we made it into Whole Foods Market. We recently branched out to South Carolina Whole Foods!

But this isn’t only about candles. It is driven by passion and stories and people I love on this full circle journey. One of the most amazing stories is how I came to the home of Hallelujah Pottery, the store I visited over 20 years ago before living here as I mentioned above.

Owner, Shawnee Gibson, found out that I was trying to make my candles out of my apartment. We still talked and she asked to move into a space she had to help me out and have more room. I moved in within a week. It was so kind of her. In my time there Shawnee’s cancer got worse and she passed away over 4 years ago. When she passed we vowed to help keep Hallelujah Pottery flourish as it had been there for near 50 years. I am not a potter, but I wanted to find a way to keep it a pottery store, adding candles and handmade gifts and we have. I have found local potters who have helped me immensely to keep the pottery part of store strong, We are so grateful for our potters. I will never change the name of Hallelujah Pottery so we say we are located in the home of Hallelujah Pottery. The store is flourishing still today.

On a personal side, I have a passion for the environment, community, the sacred and Full Circle drives me to create events and classes at our store. Being a past dancer and dance teacher, I am always wanting to create. Both business gives me the opportunity to follow my dreams to give back to community, offering arts n craft classes for kids and adults, teaching children entrepreneurial skills, and having clubs, such as our newly formed Garden Club. We have craft fairs in front of store and the kids in our classes learn to sell what they made and give back half to something we believe in such as local food banks, native plant space in our town, and supporting an Elephant Sanctuary outside of Nashville. We also have a little free food pantry that sits out front where people in need can get some food and give back when they can.

The story of Full Circle is deep. It is bigger then a little candle. It runs because I am so inspired by people in my life, my love for nature, teaching, creating, animals, care for the environment, artists, farmers, and so much more.I feel at peace in all we are doing. It brings so much joy to many.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I think I answered this in first part so can take from that too:

I got into making candles with a combination of situations…I am an earth lover and found out that candles I was burining were not earth friendly and also bad for my health. I wanted to be able to have a healthier candle for my family to enjoy. I also love the area we live in where many make their own healthy products and it was inspiring to me. The candles are dye free, eco wicks, clean scents infused with essential oils, and renewable soy wax (sometimes coconut wax we play with too) Nothing to make the candle causes animal harm as well which is important to me. It must not be tested on animals.

This continues with any products we make. For example, sugar scrubs have organic coconut and vitamin e oil, soaps are sulfate free, etc…I want to make good things for our customers. We also share organic household products in our classes for kids so they learn to make healthier items. Some creations right out of their kitchens! This goes for adult classes as well.

I am proud to do the research and hear from so many customers how the candles smell good, people with allergies can burn them, and how it brings a nice energy and peace to so many.

Can you talk to us about manufacturing? How’d you figure it all out? We’d love to hear the story.

I learned to make candles from videos and reading. I am all self taught, trial and error. It was like chemistry class and not as easy as it may seem. I found scents that were absent of carcinogens, not tested on animals and some were infused with essential oils. there are cheap fragrances out there and I wanted to work to make a healthier candle to burn.

I work mostly with soy but I also learned to make beeswax candles. Also dabbling in coconut waxes. Anything which is renewable. As I keep creating I have learned to make soap, sugar scrubs, bath salts, and more. All are now sold at our table and at the store. In camps when we make things and I like it I make it a part of Full Circle. Our wonderful natural bug spray came out of camp. It worked so well parents wanted more.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I had a bookstore in Florida where i lived and I went big fast. The community events flourished but as Amazon grew bookstore suffered and sad to say I had to close down. I want others to know that these “failures” as growing pains and teaches us many things. I knew to take smaller steps, know when to take a bigger leap, and if it is going well, keep on, even in some bad days. Find that tenacity and surround yourself with supportive honest people. Also, protect a product with a trademark..one of the hardest lessons I learned. Protect what you created.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.fullcirclecandles.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fullcirclecandles/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/debfullcircle333