We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Tyra Dizon-clark. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Tyra below.

Alright, Tyra thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?

Virago means a strong, brave or warlike woman: a woman who demonstrates exemplary and heroic qualities. I chose the word virago because I’m surrounded by so many women in my life who really honor the word. From my mom, to my wife, my grandmothers, my aunts, my cousins and my friends- they are all amazing women who inspire me to be a woman who strong, brave and live as her true self.

Tyra, 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?

I’ve always associated candles with stability and safety, especially during times in my life when things weren’t. My parents both struggled with addiction, but my mom had a local candlemaker in her hometown of St. Clair, MO that she would buy dozens at a time from, and we always had candles burning. After getting married in 2019, my wife, Darline, and I moved to Dallas, TX. I was born and raised in St. Louis, MO and was having a hard time adjusting to a new city without our family or friends. I was struggling with my mental health, being homesick and adjusting to life in an extremely toxic office environment. Darline could see that I was having a hard time and she wanted to save money on the amount of candles I would walk out of Target with so she bought me a candlemaking kit online. From that first pour, I fell in love with the process- from melting the wax to mixing it all together and then finally seeing the finished product. Candles turned into a symbol of safety to a creative outlet that became therapeutic for me and a way to work through my anxiety and depression. We both got laid off right before COVID hit and lockdowns started going into effect all over the country, and decided to move back to St. Louis in March of 2020. Although I was planning to get my small candle business going prior to our out-of-state move, being stuck at home with no income motivated me and allowed me to give it my all! In April 2020, I opened up my little candle biz and never looked back. I wanted to create products that would give others the same sense of safety and stability that candles have given me, and also encouraging others to live as their most authentic self. Living authentically is something I’ve had to learn but I believe that becoming a small business owner had encouraged me to do that even more. My candles, wax melts, and reed diffusers set me apart from others because not only do I hand pour everything in small batches, I make every single product with the intention of taking time for yourself, which is something most people forget to do throughout the ups and downs of life.

We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.

My business was full-time from the jump- I had just been laid off and lockdowns had gone into effect all over the country. I had originally planned to go back to school and find a part time job but the ‘two weeks’ turned into a lot longer than that in 2o20. I started treating my business as a full time job, and with everyone staying at home and the movement to support small businesses it quickly reflected that. I was pouring, labeling and sending candles all over the country so often and now I have a set schedule and put my all into my business.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

I think the most effective strategy for growing my clientele is word of mouth. Word of mouth is such an important part of reaching other people, and it means so much to me and my brand when people sharing my social media posts, gift my products, or tell their friends and family about this little booth they saw at the farmers market. I think word of mouth and social proof really go hand in hand- social proof is definitely a big strategy talked about in the e-commerce world but I think it means so much more when someone you know tells you themselves about a product or a brand.

Contact Info:

• Website: viragocandlestudio.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/viragocandlestudio/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/viragocandlestudio/

Image Credits
Elise Dunn Photography instagram: instagram.com/elise_usesacamera website: elisedunnphotography.com