Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Wandee Rivas. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Wandee, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.
One of the biggest risks I ever took in my life was becoming a first-time mom and running a business at the same time. In 2020, I was expecting my first child. As a first-time parent, I wondered how I would balance being a mother and an entrepreneur—especially during such an unstable period in our country’s history. My employer gave me six weeks to decide what choice I wanted to make: to go back to work full time or stay home with my daughter? I made the choice to quit my full-time job and decided that I wanted to focus on raising my daughter while also being able to provide for our family. Since then, I haven’t looked back!
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 started making candles as a challenge and as a way to be creative. I had recently moved into my first apartment, and keeping running into the same problems with the candles I was burning: they weren’t providing any scent to the room. At the same time, I was struggling with anxiety at work. I felt unfulfilled with what I was doing, and didn’t want to spend the rest of my life doing the same thing everyday if it wasn’t bringing me joy. The anxiety I was going through led me to candle making. Bought a candle making kit online and started making my candles in my kitchen—I was so excited when I made my first candle that I decided to gift them to family & friends. Everyone loved them, and all I could think about was “what if the candle doesn’t burn how it’s supposed to?” or “what if it doesn’t smell like anything?” This question motivated me to make more candles, get feedback from friends and family, but also pushed me further by asking myself: “what if there are no constraints? What more could we possibly do with candles? How can we improve the scent throw? What if it contained no harmful toxins?
Once I dove into the world of candle making, I quickly discovered that most mass-produced candles contain harmful toxins. I found out that most candles were made with paraffin wax—a byproduct of petroleum. I was shocked at this information, and immediately knew that I didn’t want to have any of those candles in my home.
That led me to create Bethel & Co. A clean and sustainable candle company with a mission to create a clean burning candle while eliminating waste by using eco friendly & recyclable packaging. We love sharing tips on how to properly burn your candles so that you get the most out of our candles. With a burn time of 55+ hours our candles are made with a natural coconut soy wax that burns slower than your regular wax, cotton & wooden wicks.
How’d you think through whether to sell directly on your own site or through a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc.
When I first started it was much easier to start on a Etsy to get more eyes on our brand. As the months went by I quickly saw the expenses rising. Using a platform like Etsy is great but like everything there where a few cons that led me to create our website. Here are some of the Pros & Cons that we encounter using a platform
• Listing fees for every product
• Low profit margins
• A lot of promotional work is needed to be successful
• Only limiting yourself to Users on these platforms
• you can’t build an email list to build your your brand
Pros
• Web traffic is already there
• Provides great SEO, you can check how people are finding your shop
• easy to use & no coding or design is needed
As I weighed out the Pros & Cons I made the choice to create my own website. I was able to express myself and my brand through my website- while also building an email list. I taught myself the structure of a good website and everything I needed to be legitimate business.
Do you have any stories of times when you almost missed payroll or any other near death experiences for your business?
I remember being 2 months postpartum and had to fulfill my first ever pallet order of 1,000 candles. I had made close to 100 candles that I set on a shelf & they all shattered. The shelf wasn’t strong enough or hold those candles and it fell to the ground. I was devastated, tired and overwhelmed. I had to repurchase supplies but now I had to work twice as fast. I broke down because the deadline was approaching and I wasn’t near finished. Luckily my family stepped in. My mom would come every day to take care of my daughter, my husband would hell me label & package after he got home from work & on days off. My cousin would also help with pouring, labeling & with social media. It was a blessing to have them help me get this order done on time.
Contact Info:
- Website: Www.bethelnco.com
- Instagram: Instagram.com/bethelnco
- Facebook: Facebook.com/bethelnco