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

Samantha, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

After living a life of abusive relationships, toxic habits and a cancer diagnosis, I realized these things don’t have to be normal and I began to heal myself through prayer, therapy and discovering what self-care really means. Now I do my best to live a life of calm, love, good health, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually and now I want to help others do the same. My mission is to impact the lives of women in a way that will uplift, heal and inspire. You cannot control the outside world, but you can take control of yourself through your thoughts and habits. It all starts at home and making your home your safe space.

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?

I’m a single mother of seven ages 8 to 24. I’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit. One of my main goals as a mother was to be able to be home with my kids to watch them grow up instead of missing major life moments but still care for them financially. I started out as a clothing designer, but my manufacturer shut down prior to the pandemic. Not only that but I was going through a divorce and recovering from surgery after being diagnosed with cancer.

I didn’t want to let my business go completely and I knew I had to figure something out. I always knew I wanted to do more than clothes and be able to turn my website into a boutique that offers a variety of items for women that would be centered around selfcare.

For as long as I can remember Friday nights were sacred to me. I ended every Friday with a bottle of wine, or champagne depending on how the week treated me. I would make myself a nice dinner, either put on a movie or find an art project to occupy myself with. No matter what I decided to do I always lit a candle. There was always a candle that literally fit every feeling I have ever felt. This became my selfcare practice.

After the cancer I really took note of what I was putting in my body and bringing into my home. That included the candles I was buying. I started looking at the candle labels and was blown away by not only how many ingredients were in the candles but there were so many I couldn’t even pronounce. That’s when I decided to make my own candles. Now we’ve expanded and added room/linen sprays, skin care products, beautiful coffee mugs and we have journals coming soon.

We carry the necessities women and men need to create their own self-care experience. Your well-being is important to us that’s why our products are made in small batches to make sure each item is of the best quality. Our scented products are phthalate free as well as free from carcinogens, reproductive toxins and other potentially hazardous chemicals often found in home fragrances.

I know there are a lot of other candle companies out there. The market has become very saturated, but I believe in what I’m doing and hope to make a difference in other’s lives. By showing everyone it’s important to slow down and take time for yourself. You can’t pour from an empty cup.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

When most new business owners are starting out, we’re told to research other companies and see what they’re doing that works and implement it into your brand. I’ve been told this many times by many business owners and in school. This can work but I have learned it can be detrimental to your mental state and that trickles down to your business. If you’re just starting out and begin to look at established businesses in your industry you can start to feel like you’ll never get there. You can start to look down on yourself and thinking “Why don’t I have that many followers”? Or “I don’t have the money to market my products the way they are”. Before you know it you’ve mentally ruined your business before you even got it off the ground. I’ve learned to write down every single idea I get even if it’s crazy. From there I choose what I want to start with. Execute it the best I can and see if it works. If it does great! If not, I go to something else on the list. This helps me stand out more.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

The pivot has become one of my favorite terms in business. When people asked me what I was going to do without the clothing line I told everyone “I’ve just got to pivot”. I was still Lady Minor. I still wanted to cater to women. I just had to find a way to do that but with a product that I didn’t absolutely have to rely solely on someone else to produce for me. As long as there are no issues with my suppliers and I can get everything I need, production is all on me. So if something doesn’t get made, it’s because of me.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://ladyminor.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ladyminorboutique/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ladyminor
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samanthaminor/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDxZmdopv2bpEwh23Nu9CyQ