We were lucky to catch up with Jessi O’Donnell recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jessi, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.

Taking risks has seemed to be a theme for me over the last few years and it continues to change my life for the better.

Four years ago I was a bartender/server at Bluewater Grill in Newport Beach. I was working 3-5 nights a week with no other plan in sight, until the day I found out that I was pregnant with my first son and everything changed. I immediately knew I had to figure out a way to make money from home instead of having to pick up extra shifts or work just to pay someone else to watch my baby. I started researching ways to make money from home when I came across candle making – where I also found a gap in the marketplace (a lack of clean-burning candles). I then decided that I was going to take a risk (a leap of faith – I like to call it) and start my own business, which is where Shine Candle Co. was created.

I started to get shifts covered at my restaurant job to do more in person events because it was the busy holiday season, when one of my managers came to me telling me that I couldn’t keep getting my shifts covered, or only work a day or two a week, or they would have to take me off the schedule. At this point I was making about the same amount of money with my business, that I was making working for them, so when I was given the ultimatum, less than two years into starting my business, I took another leap of faith (risk) and decided to be taken off the schedule, so I could pursue my business.

The following month, November 2022, was one of the best months in sales that I’ve had to this day, and I took that as confirmation from God that I was doing the right thing, and I haven’t looked back since.

Since then my products have been sent to editors at O Magazine, The New York Times, and Reader’s Digest. They have been sold in 15 different local stores. I have created custom fragrances and done tons of collaborations with smaller local businesses, as well as with big businesses like Evolus and Gunther Werks. My greatest accomplishment though, is achieving my goal of being able to raise my (now) two boys while doing it all. All because I decided to take a leap of faith.

Fast forward two years and I was presented with another opportunity to take another leap of faith. I came across this powerhouse of a woman that I really looked up to on Instagram. I watched her for awhile before I started to realize that she was who I wanted to be and she was doing what I had wanted to do: living in her full God given potential, helping other women, and honoring God. I had this idea to give other moms a roadmap for starting a business, but this was a whole new field for me and I didn’t know where to start or what to do, so I decided to take a risk and invest $20,000 (of money I had been saving since college) into a program for her to be my mentor. I had NEVER spent this amount of money on anything other than my car, but I KNEW, if I did this, she would help take me where I wanted to go and help me to step into who I was made to be a lot faster than I could on my own, and man was I right.

I have gained a whole new mindset, a whole new outlook on life, a whole new network of incredible likeminded women, and have written an entire course for women that are looking to start product based businesses (Jessi Shine Method – JSM, coming soon!).

Taking leaps of faith has continually changed my life for the good. The only way I have been able to do it time and time again is believing that I CAN, and believing that God always has my back in every circumstance. Knowing that He gives me these dreams and these ideas so that I can share them with the world, and that if I didn’t, it would be a disservice to Him, to myself, to my family, and to the world. With everything that has come from my faithfulness, I know first hand HE TOO IS FAITHFUL.

With all that being said, THE RISKS ARE WORTH REWARD.

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?

We are a luxury candle company that handcrafts all-natural coconut wax blend candles while offering exclusive clean-burning fragrances and a beautiful and timeless minimalist design. Our mission is to offer a beautiful and enjoyable product that ensures the wellness of our customers by using the highest quality clean-burning ingredients. When I found out I was pregnant with my son in 2020 it was the perfect opportunity to take a leap of faith and invest in my own business which was the initial inspiration spark. I began Shine Candle Co. to inform about the dangers of other candle companies while providing cleaner and safer alternatives to their harmful products. I also wanted to provide a source of light to the world not only through candles, but through who we are as a proud Christian company as well. Matthew 5:16 stays at the core of who we are and what we hope to inspire in others. “Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in Heaven.”

I think what sets us apart is our quality and attention to detail, as well as our own exclusive fragrances that you can’t find anywhere else. Our luxurious wax is a vegan blend of natural coconut and apricot oils while our eco-friendly wicks are made from FSC Certified Wood. Our candles are also clean-burning, meaning they are free of toxins, phthalates, parabens, carcinogens and mutagens making them extremely safe to burn in your home, around your family, in your businesses, or wherever else you’d enjoy. While other businesses may sacrifice quality ingredients to save them time or money, we vow to offer the safest and best-quality ingredients because quality is more important to us than quantity and we like to keep our customers in mind first.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

I think becoming an authority in my industry and being very transparent in my product ingredients. In the beginning I researched and learned everything there is to know about candles, the making process, the ingredients, how my product compares to competitors, etc. When people come talk to me, or come to me with questions they have about candles, ingredients, or the industry, I have an authentic answer for them which makes them feel safe and like they can trust me, because they can.

Building genuine connections is also something that I focus on and I think has helped. I would say most of my followers are people that I have personally encountered and had a connection with, which is something that I really love and am proud of. Building a community of people that love and trust what you are putting out in the world is so amazing and I am so grateful for everyone that I meet.

Gratitude goes a long way. Even when people don’t buy from you, if they are following or giving you a shoutout in real life or online, that is huge.

Stay genuine, be open and honest, and value people.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

When I had decided I was going to start a business we were right around the beginning of COVID. It was July of 2020 when I had first starting buying materials to start candle making.

We were getting a ton of money from COVID and instead of just blowing it on stuff that didn’t really matter or that I didn’t really need, I began investing it into my own business and buying the very minimum that I needed to in order to get the business going.

As I started making small batches of 6-12 candles, I would sell them and then use the money I made to reinvest and buy more supplies that I needed. My other job was paying for everything I needed already, so all of the money coming in from this new venture was going back into the business.

From July-November I had invested $2100 and my first month selling Shine candles at events I made it all back plus profit. I was determined to make this business profitable, so I stayed really focused on reinvesting and it really paid off.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.shinecandleco.com
• Instagram: @shinecandlecompany , @theworldofjessi
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shineluxrycandlecompany

Image Credits

IG: @chanellewhitacre