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

Tyrone , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

Fragrance has always been a passion of mine, and to be fair, I didn’t know that until I had the ability to start creating it. My father always had a closet full of colognes and we would wear them as we grew up and try different ones with different combinations and so “smelling good” became a part of the way we presented ourselves to the world. Later in life, when I started touring as a musician in the Sam Hunt band, we came across a lot of less than ideal greenrooms and basements. They just smelled like they had been used thousands of times lol. So I took it upon myself to start changing the fragrance in those places by buying candles. I started off with the cheaper versions and essentially started to get more and more picky with the fragrances as I burned hundreds of them. Eventually I came to the point of the very expensive candles and that became hard to keep up with. I came across a friend of mine that had a family member that made candles and I was super intrigued by it but still didn’t pursue it. The next Christmas, my brother gifted me with a home candle making kit ,and admittedly I went off script trying to find mistaken genius, and my first candle was absolutely terrible. I’m entirely too competitive with myself to let that stand and so I made a bunch more. Eventually I started buying my own materials and really learning the process and before I knew it, people were asking for them. I figured this was a worthwhile endeavor when I zoomed out and thought that if the people around me like what I do, then I can certainly convince other people of the same. I love making candles and felt this would work because it is a product that is continuous. What I mean by that is, when you burn it down or run out, you get another one. There is a continuous business and a market for this.

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

THE BEGINNING (2018-2019) GOLDEN CANDLE CO. Originally all candles were hand painted, cured, and hand poured by Tyrone himself. After having an unexpectedly very busy season of filling orders, the realization was quickly made that fragrance is not only profitable but scalable. That being the case, the current business model was not sustainable, and rebrand and expansion were necessary.
27.9 (pronounced Twenty-Seven-Nine) is a luxury brand founded in 2018 in Nashville, TN by Tyrone Carreker. The ambition of 27.9 is to be the “suit and tie” of fragrance. Our mission, In conjunction with the highest quality materials, is to create fragrances that exude exclusivity, visually mimic high fashion, and transform the olfactory sense into a complete experience. Every scent is inspired and selected by emotional response. “What does this feel like?” as opposed to “ What does this smell like?”. Every candle is hand poured, wicked, and labeled in Nashville, TN by a team of meticulous artisans. We also provide an eco-friendly, clean burn with our coconut wax blend and led-free cotton wicks. Through our precise attention to detail and creativity, we strive to not only build trust, but a bond with our consumer base. Quality over everything. 27.9 was born from a need to stand out as a brand, and to continue expanding the company’s repertoire beyond candles. 27.9 comes from Proverbs 27:9, “Oil and perfume make the heart glad…” Our goal is to help our clients curate a custom fragrance that accentuates and enhances their brand. Product design is a collaborative effort. We bring our expertise while staying true to the client’s brand and accommodating their specific goals.
We are a business that believes in quality and hard work, and know that this is the catalyst of our success and growth.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

My most effective strategy for growing clientele has been creating the absolute best product possible. That seems like common sense but I feel that when most people have to look that in the face, it scares them because they are afraid of losing the time/work they already put in. We’ve rebranded 3 times so far and if I’m being honest we have internally rebranded 6 times, but those other changes never went to the public. In my eyes, a mediocre product can work and get a business going, but in reality, it wont last. A great product can carry your company much much farther, so it’s important to spend time refining and getting it right.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I had to change my perspective on failure, or what I considered failure. When there is maximum effort involved, I actually don’t believe in failure. Failure is success and it’s all in the process of learning and refining. When something doesn’t work or fit, I succeeded in learning how not to proceed on the next attempt and I build from that.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.279fragrance.com
• Instagram: 279fragrance
• Facebook: 279fragrance
• Linkedin: N/A
• Twitter: N/A
• Youtube: N/A
• Yelp: N/A
• Other: N/A

Image Credits
Daniel Alvarado – @dlshots