We recently connected with Matt & Julie Hina and have shared our conversation below.

Matt & Julie, appreciate you joining us today. Along with taking care of clients, taking care of our team is one of the most important things we can do as leaders. Looking back on your journey, did you have a boss that was really great? Maybe you can tell us about that boss and what made them a wonderful person to work for?

Absolutely, I had that experience with a Battalion Commander while I was a Captain in the United States Army and I would add he was all three for me… an amazing boss, mentor, and leader. To give you some insight into his philosophy and thought process, he was a Green Beret and thrived in unconventionality and would think in multiple parallels all at once. He gave you a lot of ground to be creative and have initiative. He didn’t tell you what to think, he taught you how to think. I was always fascinated with how cool, calm, and collected he seemed when faced with problems, yet he always had a way of maintaining control of the situation no matter how bad they seemed. I’ll never forget some of his unique ways of providing mentorship and coaching because they were truly different. To give you one example, he texted me one night and told me we were going to have a quarterly counseling session the next day and that I needed to bring a couple of boxes of .45 ammo with me to work. We went to a handgun range and shot with pistols all afternoon together, and meanwhile we just talked… but it was different than anything I’d seen before or since then. His method of mentorship was very sage or guide like. He would ask questions to see where you were and what you thought, ask deeper questions to make you think from different angles, and really helped you develop internally but he left you in the driver seat during the process. I’m not sure I can ever give him true justice in words, but I just know he was something great and special. He was someone that you always did your best for, not because of fear or intimidation, but because you truly appreciated his presence and impact in your life. He has left an everlasting impression in my life and his examples are something I’ve always incorporated into my own style and creation of an organization.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

We are a family operated business that handcrafts clean, natural candles and soaps with sustainability in mind. In a broader sense, we are aspiring homesteaders and have enjoyed utilizing our time and land to not only be self-sufficient but also share with others. We are just nearing our first full year in business, and it’s been remarkable to look back and see how far we’ve come in that little time, see all the great strides we’ve made, and people we’ve crossed paths with. For the past year, we have been very farmer and pop-up market centric which I think has been an absolutely great way of interfacing with customers and learning what people enjoy and don’t. In the last few months, we’ve began transitioning a bit to increase our market presence and scalability. We launched our own website. We’ve recently entered our 5th retail location and look forward to more in the upcoming months. We’ve also began working with other businesses to white and private label candles for them, which turn out to be amazingly fun projects that stretch our abilities and help us learn new things. One recent development and passion project for us, we have partnered with Ecologi to help plant trees around the world, fund renewable energy projects, and reduce our carbon emissions. We’ve also created the space for our customers to be a part of that as well, each time one of our products is purchased we donate to Ecologi to plant a tree, making climate action apart of every transaction. Seeing others get excited about the impact and watching our tree counter increase has been both fun and gratifying.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Love, Family, Nature, & Well-being. Those are the important pillars of our operations at Three Oaks Candle Co. By keeping all those things at the forefront of everything we do in our business, we are able to craft products we know will be enjoyed for their purity and essence. We are family centric and want to provide the highest quality products that nurture the senses using clean ingredients across all our handmade goods and something we love to use in our own home as well. We have extensively tested our products to ensure we are delivering a premium product that cultivates wellness and tranquility for you and your home.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

Farmer Markets and Pop-Up Markets have been the best source of new clients and partnerships for us so far. Without a brick-and-mortar store front, being present at these events has allowed us to engage with our customers face to face in ways we wouldn’t be able to otherwise. We’ve found these experiences are beneficial in unexpected ways, even on rainy days when there was low foot traffic, we continue to build networks and find opportunities, some even resulted in expansions into retail locations in the Upstate of South Carolina. We’ve made deep connections with fellow vendors and have become a part of a growing community. In addition to all of that, we’ve met an incredibly supportive customer base that boosts our enthusiasm to drive our business to the next level and continue providing exclusive products with the highest quality in mind.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.threeoakscandle.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/threeoakscandle
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/threeoakscandle