We recently connected with Veronica Mentor and have shared our conversation below.

Veronica, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?

After weeks of finding a way to streamline the candle-making process so that even a child could do it, I was ready to host my first class. I practiced every single day for weeks to make sure I could teach a class without looking at measurements or reading my notes. I honestly had the logo before I had any solid business plans because I knew this was going to be special. I first began researching businesses like mine in the area (if any) and what made mine different. How were those businesses attracting customers and what did their audience look like?

Since this was a service and not a product like my candles that I would just ship, I had to have the intricate questions answered upfront. I knew this was going to be a mobile service. I had to think about how far in the DFW area I was willing to go to host a candle-making class. Since all products to the workshop had to be purchased upfront, what policies would I have in place if a client decided to cancel the day of? I wondered, “How are people going to trust me to enter their homes and host an event and how will I ensure my own safety?” When I started hosting public events, I had to know how I was going to ensure a certain number of guests were in attendance to meet my business goals.

Eventually, I was so caught up in the details, that I was afraid to start. I had no team in place at the time, but I just had to do it and everything followed.

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

My name is Veronica Mentor and I am an Experience curator. Throughout my life, I have found myself exploring several creative avenues like poetry, music, etc and now, I have built a business that provides mobile candle-making experiences for groups and private parties called The CandleLIT Experience. I have solved the problem for couples of not knowing how to add a creative element to their relationships through my date nights. Likewise, I have shown even the most ordinary person that they in fact do have a level of creativity. My next step is to build a candle bar where guests can experience in-house candle-making workshops while keeping the mobile service for private parties.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

What has helped me build my reputation the most is hosting events that the public community can attend. The CandleLIT Experience started out with me hosting private candle-making date nights, where guests would book me in advance. My future guests didn’t know they needed to book me because I hadn’t yet made my presence in the community. I began reaching out to several groups and organizations in Dallas and asked if they would be interested in collaborating in a candle-making workshop with their own guests. Growing in the community is something I am always working on, but it has helped me build my reputation the most.

If you have multiple revenue streams in your business, would you mind opening up about what those streams are and how they fit together?

What started as solely a product-based business selling candles turned into the Candlelit Experience. Today, guests are able to enjoy a candle-making workshop and if they’d like to continue the fun at home, they can purchase at home candle-making kits.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://thecandlelitexperience.as.me/schedule.php
• Instagram: @CandlelitExperience

Image Credits
D’s Reflective Moments and Chelsea Pinacate