We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Nadege Edman a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Nadege, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?
It’s quite a funny story as to how Abode was created. I was just looking to save some money, but it turned into something greater than what I had in mind. Christmas is my absolute favorite holiday and I ALWAYS go over board with getting gifts for friends and families. I made a budget for myself and I thought, there seems to be one more thing I think they absolutely need to have. I thought about what would make a good gift and my first thought was: candles. I researched the bare minimum on how to make candles and gathered together candle-making ingredients. What started as a small Christmas gift turned into a business plan. I was receiving tips from friends and family on what they loved and how to make my candles better.
In the Winter of 2019, I decided to make things official by launching Abode. The name Abode was inspired by a song that I felt fit perfectly for the vision of my brand. Abode is a place of residence; a house or home. To us, home is more than the place you go to sleep and eat it is a time and space where you feel safe and warm. Playing an intense game of cards with your friends, driving around with the windows down on a summer night, or baking cookies with your loved ones can bring about those feelings. This is the belief and heart behind Abode. We want our candles to take part in the memories being created in rooms, offices, and homes to be specific.
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?
My name is Nadege Edman and I am the owner of Abode Candle Co. I recently got married a little over a year ago to the love of my life and he is my biggest supporter. I love everything plants, second hand, and vintage. Im a little bit of an adrenaline junkie even though I am terrified of heights. My current goal is to take life one day at a time, savoring the good in every moment.
Over the 4 years of Abode’s growth it has undergone a couple transformations. At the start, we were using glass jars and offered 5 permanent scents. Nowadays we produce handmade concrete soy wax candles. We wanted to create an affordable luxury candle that not only smells amazing, but can also add to the aesthetic of any space. The name of our first collection, Hearthstone, was inspired by the very definition of the word. Hearthstone is a flat stone forming a hearth, or part of a hearth, and a hearth is the area in front of a fireplace. The fire place is typically the center and symbolically the heart of a home which is what we wanted this line to convey. Our Hearthstone Collection showcases “Pumpkin Thatch”, “Saffron Lodge”, “Evergreen Cabin”, and “Amber Chateaux”. To keep up with the Hearthstone theme, all the candles in this line are inspired by housing archetypes: thatch, lodge, cabin, and chateaux. Our scents consist of a custom blend of fragrances to set us apart from your every day candle. Our scent notes and descriptions are written to reflect memories that could be created while enjoying our candles.
What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?
In 2023 there are many different avenues to grow your clientele. What has helped us is participating in local festivals, markets, and pop-up venues. There are a range of people with an even greater spectrum of taste that attend these events which gives us a big pool of customers to connect with. The exposure we have came from building good, business relationships with venues near and far. Even those that do not purchase from us, gave us the opportunity to share our craft. We believe that this investment will bring further interest to the greater candle community.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
I feel like the expectation of potential small business owners to have all the gadgets and gismos right away had to be unlearned for Abode to grow. I had definitely bitten off more than I could chew when I followed that mindset. I still have a lot of left over items that have been with Abode since the start because I over-compensated towards minor issues. Instead of thinking through the vision, brand theme, and execution of Abode, I was focused on unnecessary items that I did not need at the time. You do not need the latest and greatest to have a successful business. Map out your products, define your vision, and expand as needed.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.abodecandleco.com
- Instagram: @abodecandleco
- Other: tik tok @abodecandle.co
Image Credits
Aldain Edman- Model Bianca Eldridge-Model Josh Eldridge- Model Light Kamasse- Photographer Nadege Edman- Creative Director