Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to PAOLA VARGAS. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, PAOLA thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?

I got the opportunity, because from one day to the next I was left without a job (something that today I am very grateful for and it was the best thing that could happen to me) Thanks to that job I learned everything I know now, and at a very difficult time to my life, I had two options, either look for a new job where I would give my best to make others make money, or have enough confidence in myself to create my project. I chose the second one, and although it has been a long and hard road, I feel proud and blessed to have been able to carry it out.
The easy part is that I already knew the business, the market, and where to find suppliers, I learned everything I needed to know to start my own business. Now the difficult thing was, how to try to differentiate myself from the rest. It is a market that is very saturated and in which I think it is really difficult not to enter the business, if not to stay in it. So luckily with the help of my sister (putting our ideas together) we were able to create Pink Flamingo Candle. There was not a lot of money to invest, so I had to do everything myself, from the creation of the corporate image, label design, website, products… So that has helped me to make things a little easier. .

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

It all starts with two sisters Paola and Maureen who share among other things the passion for creativity in all its forms, for creating experiences, situations and things that make our environment and day to day a more beautiful place to be and share … Hence the idea of ​​creating Pink Flamingo Candle “love your memories” was born … Since we needed to translate that feeling and concern into something tangible that we could share with the rest of the world …

We know how important our senses are and that is why we have created a series of quality products with the best ingredients so that we can experience a complete feeling of well-being and happiness.
This project would not exist without the blessing of having each other, since even in every little detail we have both participated in the creation of each product and that separately we would never have achieved this result of which we are very proud.
It has been a process from which we have learned a lot, and we know that we still have a lot to learn.
We sincerely hope that you like and enjoy each product, as we have made it with great love and enthusiasm.

Our main product is soy candles, in which we have focused on creating something different, blending our own fragrances, making beautiful designs with the labels, so that after using the tins they can be part of the decoration, and that the packaging was original and fun, which I think is something we have achieved and of which we feel very proud.
We also have body butter, sugar scrub, soaps, bath bombs, all handmade with natural products.
We are proud of the image we have built, and how our product is.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

There are many people who create great products, but in our case I think we have managed to create something a little different from the rest (with what already exists) so that and excellent customer service (since I attend many farmers markets and shows) It has made my customers happy, and therefore they recommend me to friends and family.

How’d you think through whether to sell directly on your own site or through a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc.

I get a large % of my sales from farmers markets, since getting online sales is really complicated, but I also have my shop on Etsy (which I try not to promote too much, because the fees they charge seem outrageous to me), so I focused on my second sales channel being my website, and that is where I get part of my sales from. So in my opinion, the best thing to start with if your investment budget is limited, is to go to the farmers market, you learn a lot from that and create customers, but if you want to grow at some point you have to invest in ADS on social networks, to reach a wider audience and have more opportunities to get sales.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.pinkflamingocandle.com
• Instagram: @pinkflamingocandle
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Pinkflamingocandle/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/FlamingoCandle
• Other: https://www.pinterest.com/pinkflamingocandlebb