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

Steve, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?

When people ask how Lustoic started, I always smile because the truth is, it began with a birthday candle.

For my wife and co-founder Öykü’s birthday, I signed us up for a candle-making class. I thought it would be something fun we could do together. Instead, it sparked the idea for an entire brand. That afternoon we realized two things: making a candle that truly performs is harder than it looks, and most luxury candles out there were either beautiful but full of questionable ingredients, or clean but lacking in complexity.

The very next week, Öykü and I sat down and sketched out what our version of that could be. She took the lead on formulation, testing blends, adjusting ratios, and studying how wicks and vessels worked together. I focused on shaping the brand, what it should stand for, how it should sound, and the experience we wanted our customers to have.

Our kitchen quickly turned into a lab. We tested hundreds of variations, most of which ended up in the reject pile, but each one brought us closer to the perfect burn: a clean flame, a balanced scent, and a throw that filled a room without overwhelming it.

When it came time to launch, every detail had been refined. For us, those first candles, diffusers, and room sprays were more than products. They were proof that clean and luxury could really coexist.

Looking back, it’s hard to believe a single birthday gift could grow into a brand. But at its heart, the story is simple. We saw a gap in the market, we worked relentlessly to close it, and we built Lustoic to give others the same elevated, calming experience we wanted for our own home.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

We’re Steve and Öykü, the founders of Lustoic, a clean luxury home fragrance brand rooted in our belief that a happy life is built on simple moments and a calm home atmosphere. I bring a background in marketing and branding, with a passion for typography and design that shapes how people experience our products, while Öykü is drawn to scent and formulation, crafting complex fragrances and using her sales experience to focus on what truly makes customers happy. Together, we handcraft candles, reed diffusers, and room sprays that merge clean, sustainable ingredients with timeless design, creating scents that not only elevate spaces but also reflect the stoic-inspired philosophy and intentional living at the heart of our brand.

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

Several voices have shaped how we lead and grow Lustoic. The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday taught us to focus on what we can control, to approach challenges with calm and purpose, and to bring honesty and clarity into each decision. E-commerce entrepreneur Davie Fogarty’s YouTube channel reminded us that entrepreneurship is rarely perfect, and that the real lessons come from testing, failing, and refining until something works. AppSumo founder Noah Kagan’s Million Dollar Weekend pushed us to stop overthinking and take action quickly, validating ideas with real customers instead of getting stuck in planning. We also look to Sara Blakely, who turned Spanx into a global brand starting with one idea and $5,000, showing us the power of persistence, creativity, and believing in your vision even when others do not. Jesse Itzler’s perspective, shaped by his experiences as an ultra-endurance athlete and entrepreneur, continues to remind us to embrace discomfort and view challenges as fuel for growth. Together these influences have reminded us that resilience, bold action, and creative problem-solving allow us to bring calm and intentional living into people’s homes through our brand.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

For years, I had been collecting coins in milk jars and shoe boxes, a quiet habit of saving that we never thought much about. One day, Öykü, looked at the growing pile and said what we were both thinking: it was about time to do something with those coins. After talking it through, we realized there was no better investment than putting them toward the business we wanted to build together.

We packed everything up, dragged a wheelie suitcase full of coins to the bank, and turned years of loose change into the seed capital for Lustoic. That cash became our first investment in supplies, from wax and wicks to vessels and fragrance oils. This was definitely not a traditional funding path, but it worked. 

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.lustoic.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lustoic
• Other: Email: [email protected]