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

Alright, Shavaun thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

At Spoken Flames, we’re on a mission to create mindful sensory experiences that connect *you* with all parts of you—starting with a Spoken Flames sensory candle.

Why? Because we all know what it’s like to get caught up with the fast pace of work, news, and life. Sometimes, to the point where we lose sight of ourselves: how we feel and what we desire.

That’s what happened to me in 2016 when my entrepreneurial endeavors as a digital creative took their toll on my wellness.

Client demands, deadlines, and the self-imposed pressure to outperform the previous year (chronic overachiever here) made life more chaotic.

When (work) life got crazy, I lit candles. But the candles I found smelled nice, but nothing more. And the packaging on most candles worked hard to promote a brand logo or scent name boldly plastered on the front. Something about this felt self-serving, passive, and impersonal.

So, I started Spoken Flames to meet an unmet need, reimagining candles as a more sensory, inspiring, and personal experience.

At a time when the world is screaming for your attention, Spoken Flames exists to help you unplug from the world and tune into yourself.

We exist to help encourage a mindful reconnection with yourself through your senses.

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 Founder, Coach & Creative Director that’s helped fuel ad campaigns & award-winning work for agencies and startups in New York City and directly with brands across the Middle East, North America, and Asia. Now, I consolidate my global-client experience to serve bootstrapped founders in developing their brands while also building along with them as the Founder of Spoken Flames—the sensory candle brand that’s earned recognition for its innovative approach to self-care.

Since high school, I’ve been drawn to art and storytelling. I wrote for our school newspaper and designed its layout and that of the yearbook. I thought Journalism would be my path until a college fair counselor advised otherwise, and I went on to study Advertising. I learned story-telling in the context of business objectives and creative problem-solving, which has served in all facets of my career in Advertising, Design, and Entrepreneurship.

My career path has not been linear, and I typically pursue what piques my curiosity. Which I later learned to be my strength. Having the time and space to be introspective, question whether the work I was doing was fulfilling, and be open to evolving if it did not feel so, has not only influenced how my career has transformed but has been helpful to express to others who may be feeling stuck or unfulfilled in their job or careers. This is the impetus for Spoken Flames: making that time to tune into self. And it’s why I love working with fellow entrepreneurs and founders. I share their enthusiasm when hearing an idea they conceived while helping them transform it into a tangible product or service.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

‘Who Not How’ by Dan Sullivan is a book that helped transform my thinking around setting and achieving personal and professional goals. As bootstrapped founders, we get used to being so resourceful—doing the most with less or simply doing it ourselves. It can become a bottleneck. ‘Who Not How’ highlighted the importance of engaging and investing in others to enable our success and sometimes even fast-track it. For any idea you may have, there is a ‘who’ that can achieve it. You can be limitless when thinking in a ‘who, not how’ mindset.

Any advice for managing a team?

Transparency and communication are key. Whenever I implement or propose a new process or system within my business, I explain the changes to my team in the context of the end goal: the ‘why.’ When everyone clearly understands the bigger picture, any forthcoming changes or requests are welcomed (versus met with confusion or resistance). It empowers the team because they know their work is part of a larger vision. And it demonstrates my trust in my team to share the vision.    

Contact Info:

• Website: https://shavaun.com https://spokenflames.com
• Instagram: @shavaun @spokenflames
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shavaunchristian/
• Twitter: @shavaun @spokenflames

Image Credits
Spoken Flames