We were lucky to catch up with Kathy Oda recently and have shared our conversation below.

Kathy, appreciate you joining us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

Learning how to properly make candles definitely had more of a learning curve than most people think it does. I knew I wanted soy wax because it tends to burn cleaner. Once I settled on the type of wax, I had to determine what type of fragrance I was going to use. I dabbled with pure essential oils and fragrance oils and settled on non-toxic fragrances that I boost with essential oils to be the best combination for me. And then there was the wicking. There is a whole science behind choosing the correct wick for a candle! Which means a LOT of experimenting and test burns. So, I spent a lot of time testing before ever selling my first candle!

I probably could have expedited the process by watching the numerous You Tube videos or joining FB groups about making candles but chose not to do that. I found a couple of trusted resources and then proceeded to do my own research. Patience and persistence are what helped me move forward and build a viable business around candles!

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 create all natural soy wax candles and use non-toxic fragrances. So they burn cleanly, smell good and should not give you headaches! Like many others, I started my candle business in 2020 at a time when so much was shut down, including the juried art shows where I sold my glass art. I needed to make money but it had to be something that I was passionate about and was also consumable.

I noticed that a lot of candles that my sister burned gave me headaches and that a lot of scents seemed synthetic and didn’t smell like anything found in real life. I started researching what makes a candle that I wanted to be around. I settled on soy candles because they tend to burn cleaner. I was able to source a soy wax with no additives and found a fragrance maker that tests the fragrances that smell good and aren’t putting any bad stuff out in the air. But what would my concept be and what would set my candles apart from the plethora of other candle makers?
1. I wanted my candles to be as pure as possible. Additive free soy wax and non-toxic fragrances filled that checkbox!
2. I wanted the names to represent what they smelled like. I hate guessing what a scent is and cutesy isn’t my style. Purely, Inc. was born! Purely Apple, Purely Lavender, etc.

Since I started my candle business, I’ve seen several candle businesses come and go. This isn’t as easy as it looks. Once you have your product, then you need to market it. So what is my marketing strategy? Slow and thoughtful growth is my mantra. My candles are placed in local shops where I can monitor inventory, easily ask for reorders and fill the orders. I participate in local markets where I sell to locals and tourists so my candles end up across the country which results in follow-up online orders. I’ve reached the point where I will need to hire someone in the next few months in order to keep up with demand.

I like what I’m doing and enjoy helping people make their home and offices smell good!

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

The year was 2020. I had planned to spend the year selling my glass at juried art shows around the country and the shows were cancelled due to covid which left me with no income. Although I started online teaching and did some limited workshops at the local art league, I needed to pay the bills. I started thinking about doing something that would be consumable and thought either a home baking company or creating candles might be in my wheelhouse. I thought of all of the reasons why candles might be a viable option and they won out since I wanted to come up with something that smelled better than what my sister burned in the house and wouldn’t give me headaches. And so I did. And a local store that sold my glass started selling my candles and they sold well there. And there were repeat customers. And then I found a local farmers market and started selling there and found out that selling them was not a fluke! People liked them and bought over and over again. And I found that I liked creating the candles as much as I liked selling them and they were paying the bills! Last year, the candles outsold my glass 2 to 1!

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

How to be a No Limit person by Wayne Dyer The Spanx Story by Sara Blakely
Fail until you Don’t by Bobby Bones

Contact Info:

• Website: purely-inc.com
• Instagram: @purelyinc
• Facebook: @purelyinc
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathy-oda-6986621/