We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sylvia Bolivar. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sylvia below.

Alright, Sylvia thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Do you think folks should manage their own social media or hire a professional? What do you do?

I’m a master juggler. I have a marketing background, and naturally, I manage to create Sassy Ritual candles, take photos and videos, and build and manage the website. Social media is a part of the whole marketing plan. I have outsourced website photos and stock photos to a local photographer, but creating new products makes it hard to maintain. I have realized that the social media piece is probably something I could also outsource this coming year.

Sylvia, 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?

When Sassy Rituals creator and founder Sylvia Bolivar switched to clean beauty three years ago, the results blew her away. She also became increasingly aware of questionable ingredients in common household items.⁣ ⁣
As she searched for non-toxic replacements, the need for a clean home fragrance became clear, and she began experimenting with her Madre in her kitchen during quarantine. Their approach to candle-making centered on ingredient transparency and clean-burning fragrances. The resulting candle line has now expanded to additional home fragrances and luxury goods.
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All Sassy Rituals luxury candles are made with biodegradable soybeans + coconut wax and premium phthalate-free fragrance oils to create a clean-burning experience. They’re poured into glass, metal, or concrete vessels that can be reused. Cotton, paper, wooden wicks, and bamboo and metal lids round out the design, which is beautiful in its simplicity.⁣

Sassy Rituals can be found online at SassyRituals.com or around local markets in South Florida.

Can you talk to us about manufacturing? How’d you figure it all out? We’d love to hear the story.

I started making candles in my kitchen using a double boiler method on the stove. It would easily take an hour to melt enough wax to pour 2-3 8-ounce candles. I have now graduated to wax melting pots – which are literally electric frying pots or electric kettles with a spigot. I set up a candle studio in the garage that has most of my pouring supplies. I’ve become very creative with storing other items, such as fragrance oils and wax, inside the house. I added a 30 lb wax melter to fulfill the private label orders with ease for bulk wax melting. All candles are hand poured and mixed. I also create all of the fragrance blends and exercise lots of trial and error.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

Sassy Rituals is my side hustle and creative outlet. I still have a consulting business and full-time job to help fund the material for my candlemaking.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.sassyrituals.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sassyrituals/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sassyrituals
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sylviabolivar/

Image Credits
Photo credit: Maris Lifestyle Photo Studio, Chelsea Erwin Burns