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

Kia , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

Similarly to Rome, Coop To Candle was not built in a day. When I began my journey, I had two main goals in mind: create quality beautiful candles and provide people with comforting ambiance. Candles were something that provided me creative freedom while simultaneously being able to enter the homes of people across the world, one fragrance at a time. Soon, I found myself with the desire of wanting more. While candles are great, I wanted to ensure there were alternative options for people who wanted flameless options, so I added wax melts and room sprays to my fragrance collections as well.

Fast forward nearly a year into business, I discovered dessert candles – hyper realistic candles that mimicked real sweet treats and desserts. I was so enthralled, especially as someone who thoroughly enjoys baking and cooking. Through plenty of testing, research, trial and error, dessert candles soon became the primary focus of my fragrance endeavors and in 2024 I officially added them for purchase to my website. Although I loved the concept of dessert candles, something was missing. I needed to ensure that Coop to Candle (CTC), was set apart from the hundreds of other candle and home essential businesses. This is when I concocted the perfect pairing – offering freshly baked sweet treats to partner alongside my delectable dessert candles, thus a candle and bakery bar. The concept was amazing, but I wasn’t sure how feasible it would be, however, I was determined to make my vision become a reality.

As of 2025, I officially added homemade bakery items to my business and launched CTC – Candle and Bakery Bar. It’s been so fulfilling seeing my business blossom the way it has and I was thrilled to offer another piece of myself to the community I have built. Coop To Candle was founded on the importance of feeling peace and warmth in your home, whatever and where that may be. Now my customers can experience the ultimate level of comfort through a myriad of senses. Just imagine coming home after a cumbersome day to then light a candle that smells like fresh sugar cookies while enjoying one too!

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.

Today, now more than ever, many of us are stressed. We are tired, overworked, mentally drained and attempting to find happiness in the smallest of ways. When I built CTC, I wanted to create a business that would literally be able to pour into people. Candles and desserts are staple comfort mechanisms. CTC – Candle and Bakery Bar offers hand-poured candles and other home essentials along with fresh baked treats that are bound to take your senses for a joy ride. I am proud to say that all products are handmade by me and I am involved in every step in the process from beginning to end. All fragrances are hand-picked and tested for quality and scent throw, while all baked goods are made with high quality ingredients and recipes are constantly reviewed for flavor, texture, and consistency. Whether it be a pillowy soft piece of lemon pound cake that reminds you of your granny’s or a candle that triggers a core memory from childhood, CTC is here to make sure that people are comfortable and self-care isn’t on the backburner.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

In 2021, nearly 6 months into business, I stopped being consistent and my focus slowly shifted away from my business goals. I was so mentally and physically exhausted from work that I had no energy for myself once the work day was over. After spending 8-9 hours working for a company each day (who could careless about my personal well being and long-term goals), I was too drained to focus on much else. I thought about dismantling my business so many times because I convinced myself that I could not be a real entrepreneur and succeed in ways that were only fairytales in my head. I wasn’t developing any new products, I wasn’t posting on socials, and I wasn’t even talking about CTC.

Soon after, I stumbled upon dessert candles from one of the candle Facebook groups I joined. I fell in love with candles all over again and I was super excited to make my own. After doing extensive research on piping wax and creating wax embeds, two years later, I dropped my first two dessert candles – Pretty Girls Love Cookies (PGLC) and Strawberry Dreamin, both of which became popular rather quickly with my customers.

Present day, it’s hard for me to believe that the same business I wanted to give up on, is the same one that allows me to pour into my passions everyday. I love what I do and I’m good at it. God sometimes has a funny way of leading us to where we need to be, but not even our own self-sabotage can keep us away from what God has destined for us to have.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

‘Not right now’, is not equivalent to ‘not at all’. Oftentimes we confine ourselves and hinder our progress because we fail to realize that just because things don’t happen exactly when we want, doesn’t mean they won’t happen ever. I struggled with this for a long time and had to shift myself away from negative thinking and “all or nothing” mentality. I was disqualifying myself from a race(s) that I hadn’t even started. Historically, I have always been a planner and strategic person and like many other young adults, I set life milestones and generated deadlines for myself. It’s not that these achievements were unattainable, however, I didn’t always take into consideration that there are many other factors in life that could obstruct me from having a direct path to reaching my goals. Although I still have instances where there is a lapse in mindset, I’ve taken many efforts to ensure I’m giving myself grace while leaving space to make mistakes and learn from them without being too hard on myself.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.cooptocandle.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cooptocandle/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cooptocandle
• Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@cooptocandle

Image Credits

Images courtesy of CTC – Candle and Bakery Bar