We were lucky to catch up with Mackenzie Ofordire recently and have shared our conversation below.
Mackenzie, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s start with the decision of whether to donate a percentage of sales to an organization or cause – we’d love to hear the backstory of how you thought through this.
Yes, at the end of each year we donate a percentage of our company profits to organizations that support maternal health. Our company’s mission is to bring awareness to maternal health issues and donate a percentage of the profits to organizations that support these causes. We look at the organizations mission and customer base they serve and if it aligns to maternal health and make a decision to support. In the past we have donated to organizations such as March of Dimes and the Star Legacy Foundation.
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 an artisan candle company that creates all-natural soy candles with phthalate-free premium fragrance oils. Our hand-poured candles provide warm and comforting scents and are made in small batches to ensure quality. They are also vegan, cruelty-free, non-toxic, and contain no lead, plastics, parabens, or phthalates. Our company’s mission is to bring awareness to maternal health issues and donate a percentage of our profits to organizations that support these causes.
What sets my company, the Samantha Rose Candle Company apart from other candle companies is that we are a mission based company with a focus on bringing awareness to maternal health issues. We also find maternal health organizations to donate a percentage of our yearly profits too to continue to help advance the cause. My company is still a small business and we have an online presence through our website and social media and also do in person events such as farmers markets, street fairs, bazaars, etc. It’s definitely not easy being a small business as many people aren’t comfortable discussing maternal health issues or even aware of all the challenges that women and their families face. We also have competition from other local candle companies or well known candle companies such as Bath and Body Works.
Any fun sales or marketing stories?
One of the reasons I enjoy being a vendor at farmers markets and festivals is that I get to conduct consumer research and get feedback directly from customers. One day, while at a vendor event a woman approached my booth and she smelled my candles and while she gave me compliments saying they smelled good, she also said some of my candles smelled too sweet and that I should diversify my scents. This woman said she usually goes for more masculine and clean smelling scented candles and she suggested I make some. I took what she said into consideration and began experimenting with masculine and sultry scents and ended up creating the Midnight and Somebody’s Son candles which have been some of my top selling candles! I am glad I listened to her and I realized that I should be open to other suggestions on creating different types of scents.
What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?
The best new source of clients for me are vendor shows, festivals, etc. where I am an in person vendor and get to meet and speak with people who come to my booth/table. I am able to share the story of the company, discuss the different candle scents and answer any questions they may have. I also give them my business contact information and ask them to follow the company on social media. Another good source of new clients for me comes via word of mouth where someone may purchase the candle in person or burn it in their homes and one of their friends comes over and smells it and then decides to make a purchase.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.samantharosecandlecompany.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samantharosecandlecompany/?hl=en
Image Credits
Olivia Kristin photography