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

Phala, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea

Taking a dream to reality in the business world requires a vision and detailed planning. It was clear to us that the “who, what, where, and how questions” are essential to laying out the plan.
The dream is not enough without hard work and dedication the to the time and effort needed to reach the reality.
Seventh Avenue Apothecary was born around the kitchen table when Phala and Jessica and others were brainstorming ways to create income doing something we loved. We committed to each other and ourselves that failure was not an option!
After discussing different possibilities, we all very quickly turned our attention to the idea of making a great candle that was high quality and clean burning. We began researching about the candle industry. Soy candles had recently become popular in stores, however they were costly.
We set goals for our company with the first concern being how to make a soy candle that was high quality and affordable. We had the answer to “what and where” and needed to spend many hours learning “how”. Every aspect of a new business was important and had to be implemented.
We had the opportunity to use a large family owned commercial building (with about 6,000 square feet} that allowed us to upscale easily.
Details included the business issues such as naming the business, type of licenses, where to purchase supplies, and how would they be sold to the public. When the first 50 were made, we had to figure out how to box them,
One big challenge early on was when someone contacted us and wanted candles shipped! The containers are glass and that took special boxes. We had to have shipping boxes made by a box manufacturer that was specific to fit our product. A decision had to be made as to how many candles would be in a “case of candles” based on what we needed the weight of the box to be.
Details are extremely important as a company expands and volume of sales increase. For example, we have to continually fine tune the manufacturing process and formulas to match the vessels and scent oils used for making candles.
Another consideration in all businesses is financing and bookkeeping. We knew we want to grow the company and planned accordingly by putting programs and processes in place that could accommodate expansion. That especially includes proper documentation of sales and aspects such as sales taxes.
As the company grew, new issues on how to properly deal with employees, payroll and company policies became a challenge. We created an employee handbook of procedures and guidelines.
It was also important to use a professional payroll company that manages our payroll needs as we add employees and grow.
Flexibility is key!

Phala, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Seventh Avenue Apothecary manufactures several types of home fragrance products. Our signature 14 oz glass candle was the first product we produces and each year we have been able to add new scents and other products. We now offer a wonderful scented room spray, wax warmer chips, and aroma oils. All our products are artisan made and designed to allow for scent layering in your home because customers can match scents in each item.
We focus on quality production as each candle is hand poured. We also have the ability to customize all our products with private label logos.

We take pride in our products and strive to give great customer service. We also are fortunate to have great dedicated employees. Our policies allow them to make their family needs a priority and show how we value each person.

It is also our privilege to be involved in the community with several organizations such as A Kids Place, Stano Foundation, GEMS, local school fundraising, and others.

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

We have built a positive reputation within our market by staying true to our customers by providing a quality product for a reasonable price.

There have been challenges obtaining our supplies and increased cost. We only made small price increases over the 10 years since we began our business.

Great customer service is very important to us.
We work hard to address all issues that come up with a positive outcome for our customers
We are 4th and 5th generation Tampa entrepreneurs with serious work ethics.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

It is very important to make your team of workers feel valued.
Caring for each person as needs arise and listening to employee suggestions will help develop loyalty.

Make the workplace as comfortable as possible taking in consideration simple issues as placing a stress mat on a hard concrete floor or adjusting the temperature in the work space.

Have monthly birthday celebrations or buy them lunch!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.seventhavenuecandles.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seventhavenueapothecary/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SeventhAvenueApothecary
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/seventh-avenue-apothecary/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9n3e-MQIn3VQ5KOdrNIuDw
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@seventhavenueapothecary https://www.pinterest.com/seventhavenuecandles/