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

Hi Tenisha, thanks for joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

It was back in 2016 when I came up with the idea for Fair Winds Candle. My husband and I were at someone’s house, and they were a collector of candles from a brand that does them for different cities. I said aloud to the people we were with, “Why isn’t there a Navy version of this?” As we all wondered why it didn’t exist, I thought to myself that I could do this if I only knew how to start. Luckily, I had made candles before, but nothing at the scale of being able to sell them. I had a fine arts career at this time, but whenever I had a spare moment I’d workshop ideas for Fair Winds. As I developed different scents, came up with the branding, and fleshed out the bones of things I’d show others and get their feedback. As they got more excited about it, I did too! I knew it was a good idea, but starting a business in a market that’s as saturated as the candle market is was scary!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I’m a Navy veteran and military spouse who served in the Navy for 6 years. My husband served for 20. I got into this business because I wanted to put a positive outlook on military life. I couldn’t think of a better way to do it than through our sense of smell. Through my business Fair Winds Candle, I make candles and home fragrance products that are inspired by my time in the military. The custom blended scents are inspired by places I’ve lived, traveled to, or memories I’ve made along the way.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

In-person sales is my bread and butter. So whenever I’m on the lookout for new clients, it’s while I’m at a market or craft show. First impressions are super important, so I make sure that my brand is presented in the best way it can relevant to the market that I’m in. My branding is very effective at attracting my target market, so being visible and approachable to them and providing them the best possible service I can usually gets me a long-term customer.

Have you ever had to pivot?

My whole adult life has been a series of pivots, as it is part of the culture of being in the military. Between mine and my husband’s military time, we moved 10 times. Each time, I had to stop whatever I was doing career wise and either restart it when we moved or do somethign completely new. A few times I started new businesses, but the last few moves of our military career I moved the business with me until the pandemic when I fully started Fair Winds. Through all of these pivots, I’ve learned that everything I’ve done in the past has led up to this point. There are things I learned when I worked as an event planner and from when I worked as an esthetician that shape what I do in Fair Winds Candle to this day. While they may have been incovenient in the moment, I’m happy with where my life and business are now, and they wouldn’t be where they are if it wasn’t for these life pivots.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.fairwindscandle.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fairwindscandle
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fairwindscandle

Image Credits

All photos are by Marisa Glazer Creative