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

Hi Tabitha, thanks for joining us today. Do you take vacations? Why or why not?

It’s interesting because working as a designer in the entertainment industry for so long, I hardly took vacations anymore. It was hard to get off early (on time) even! Hah. But I did get laid off earlier this year and have been fortunate enough to take 9 trips this year. Two were international and the rest within the US. It’s been great and forced me to kinda bask in my free time for a change.

That being said, I took some much needed time to myself to recharge and get those creative juices restored and replenished. Currently I’m back to creating and feeling super optimistic about what’s next.

It can be hard to get away or even afford that at times, but even if it’s camping out by a river for a weekend, getting out of your routine really does wonders for your body, your mind and your direction.

Tabitha, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

It all started during Covid. The world was quiet and I’m a busy body, so I had many ideas in my mind. It stemmed from me changing up my skincare routine and my eczema flare ups. They were rampant during Covid, I guess due to the stress and uncertainty of that time, and I was having to seek out more natural solutions.

I had supported other soap makers at that time but I ended getting the idea of making my own products. I had this catalogue of skincare and plant medicine knowledge already, I have a ton of allergies 😂, so I decided to get to work. I sat at my kitchen table and wrote out 12 recipes for my first Facial Cleansing Bars.

I started with that and upon releasing those items and launching my site, those 12 batches os soaps sold out in 2 weeks. I was pretty shocked because I wasn’t sure what would come of it and I thought, if anything I’ll just keep the damn eczema soaps, but yeah, I had to get back to work!! Haha

At that point I began adding more products to the line. I had been infusing more oils with herbs for medicinal purposes and started to create balms, lotion bars, scrubs and my super popular Healing Salve.

It really was my eczema that brought me here but a few months after all this my grandma told me she saw one of my Instagram Reels and asked me how I even knew to make all this, but especially the salve. I told her I had done more research, combined my herbal knowledge and created recipes for that, but also I just had this intuitive knowing of what and how to do it. So yeah I guess it was really my eczema and intuition that got me here!

That’s when I started to involve more of my spiritual side and it took a while to figure out how exactly to blend this and make it look as natural as it comes to me and I feel this is accomplished now. I like to call myself the Glitter Witch because I’m here to heal and also make things look pretty. I think that’s my purpose 🧚🏼‍♀️

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

So I would say my “following” is still not insanely large but I do have several extremely loyal customers!

I started out with under 200 followers when I launched my site and it’s obviously grown since then, but I’ve had to take so many steps and change how I viewed social media to make it work for Velvet Rainbow.

I remember my first “hate” message I got. LOL. It was from someone that didn’t even follow me, some troll. But that pretty much told me “there was no way I could make these soaps because they were too pretty. I had no proof or videos to show I created them so I must’ve been buying it from somewhere else and reselling it.” It was bizarre and I honestly hadn’t even thought of recording myself. The idea was a little cringe to me to be honest, but it was after that that I started to record my process and now I don’t think anything is cringe. I literally record everything!!

I think that’s also one of the most important things I learned, RECORD IT ALL!! Record the process, the shopping for products, the unpacking boxes, the late nights of work, the early mornings sipping coffee packing orders, the vending, the interactions with customers. All of it.

People want to see you, they want to relate and they want to connect. Recording your process, recording yourself and just saying f*ck it and putting it all out there, that’s where the magic is. Your people will find you and they will support. It will hardly ever be your friends and families, but it will be the random stranger that related to your video. So just start posting & make it cute 🎀

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

In 2023 I had also gotten laid off right at the beginning of the year so I really put my all into Velvet Rainbow.

I had had several vending ventures and opportunities but I didn’t always take it due to my very demanding full-time job. I had no excuse anymore though and I began vending multiple times a month and even multiple times a week. It was a little crazy to be totally honest, but your girl had bills to pay and the rent was due. I was working overtime.

Vending was great because when you vend a market with other small business you connect with people who are doing what you’re doing. There’s a sense of community and alliance and you can learn from one another. They also become new customers and supporters of you and your brand which is great. Then there’s the people who come to the market. They are obviously there to
Shop or support in some way. I always encouraged people who couldn’t buy to take a card and follow the Instagram/ TikTok and when they wanted to buy they could go on my website and shop.

This was big for me. Getting out there, talking about my brand, myself, my products, this was the best way to meet new people and get new customers.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.shopvelvetrainbow.com
• Instagram: @velvet.rainbow.shop
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tabitha-candelaria-30649b41?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app
• Twitter: @disqo_lemonade
• Other: TIKTOK -@shopvelvetrainbow
  @velvet_rainbow_vintage

Image Credits

I took all my photos :)