We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Katy Zales a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Katy thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

In 2016 I pivoted my business, Shoppe 815, to be solely a candle company. My reason for this shift was that I wanted to help people connect their everyday adventures with scent associations, otherwise referred to by Shoppe 815 as your Scents of Adventure. So when you light your Shoppe 815 candles, it will remind you of your favorite life adventures. Shortly after this pivot, I suffered a traumatic brain injury, making my mission and purpose even stronger. When you experience a life-threatening accident, you discover how valuable time is. Through this experience, I realized that scent association provides more than I was ever aware of when I started creating candles.

My traumatic brain injury didn’t just provide me with an optimistic life lesson. It took me several years to appreciate the value my candles provide and a relentless resilience to not close Shoppe 815 when I was trenching through murky waters at my lowest lows. One thing that helped me get through these hardtimes was saying to myself, “Kate, never let your flame burn out.” This statement reminded me that as long as there was a spark, a desire, or an ounce of passion, I needed to continue kindling that flame. I want to make the world brighter and help others never let their flames burn out.

Katy, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

As a designer, I tend to have ideas in my head of products that I would like. I assume they exist on the market and sometimes I’m greeted with the reality that they are nonexistent.

That was the case when I purchased a new home and searched for candles to decorate it. I couldn’t find anything that fit mine and my husbands aesthetic. Since I dabbled in candle making when I was a child, I decided to bring my candle vision to life. Through this, I became aware that other people might also be searching for candles like this, and I could provide a solution.

For the past 10 years I’ve produced hand-poured soy candles with a gender neutral aesthetic and scent. After my accident I’ve struggled both in my business and my personal life. My light dimmed, but I’m proud of my resilience and not letting my light get extinguished. Through this experience, it has become my mission to help others live bright lives and never let their flames burn out. I put a lot of effort and emotion into connecting with my customers. I hope that in 10 more years Shoppe 815 will still be around and helping to make the world a brighter place.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

As a business owner I believe the key to success is to continue educating yourself. I’m a sucker for biographies, marketing, finance, and personal development books. I also love a good class or educational youtube video. Two resources that changed the game for me are Michael Gerber’s book The E Myth, and Marie Forleo’s course B-School. The E Myth is a wonderful resource for startups. Michael explains the often overlooked distinction between working on your business and working in your business. Marie Forleo’s program, B-School, is well designed, organized, and shares an abundance of helpful resources to create and grow a business you love and identify with. I repeat this course every year and continue to gain wisdom from it.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Don’t you continuously pivot in business and life? I’ve been joking that Shoppe 815 is like a cat with 9 lives. It’s currently on its 4th life or pivot. Shoppe 815 started as a retail shop for women’s fashion and home goods. This quickly pivoted to a men’s and women’s apparel and home goods retail space for risk takers. As the company grew, I thought it was a good idea to focus all of my efforts on my best selling product, candles. I’m currently brainstorming the next era of Shoppe 815 and ways to evolve and bring more value to my consumers.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.shoppe815.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shoppe815
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/shoppe815

Image Credits
Ben Zales, Kat Kingston