Today we’d like to introduce you to Minah Lee.
Minah, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Now I can say I am so lucky that my hobby became my career. But in fact, I never pursued being an entrepreneur. I am originally from Seoul, South Korea and worked as a Chemical and Pharmaceutical patent examiner in the Korean Government. Whenever I had free time, I loved to join workshops of painting, jewelry making, etc. and candle making workshop was one of them. I was so fascinated by blending fragrances and making soy wax candles because of how candles are made, burnt and works, everything was about chemistry that I studied and worked.
Also being “a perfumer” was one of my dreams when I was in university. So I started making candles as a hobby after I learned a basic skill from the workshop. One day, I saw videos of buttercream flowers on cakes on Youtube and found related videos of flowers on soy candles by chance. I was even more fascinated by the flower candles, so I started learning and practicing how to do it.
In 2016, my husband and I moved to Houston for his work, and I restarted to make candles for friends, and it became so popular with friends. My husband and friends told me to start a candle business. I could not see myself as an entrepreneur when I first heard that, but I started to think if these people love my candles, there would be more people out there who will love my candles. So I officially launched LH Candle Studio in 2018.
Has it been a smooth road?
Being an entrepreneur was not that easy as I expected. Since I started my business, I have faced many challenges like long working hours, budget and connections, etc. One of the challenges we had was weather in Houston. After spending a year to design the candles and optimize a process, my husband and I started to sell them in the flea markets.
We were so excited that people love our candles more than we expected. However, not much later we had to stop selling candles in the flea markets because summer started in Houston. Usually, candles can recover their shape once they are hardened, but my candles have decorations with colors, so they can be damaged and cannot be sold once they melt down.
Fortunately, we could overcome and move one step forward with help from other vendors and customers. They shared with us what they had learned from their experiences and helped us to reach out to the indoor markets and the local shops so we could meet lovely local shop owners and feature our candles in the local shops.
We know that running a small business comes with plenty of challenges as we had, and that’s part of what makes it such an exciting journey. And we learned one of the keys when we face challenges along this journey is to learn and grow from those who have been through it before.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
LH CANDLE STUDIO was founded in 2018, and it is a small batch candle studio based in Uptown Houston. I wanted to make a brand name simple and represent myself and candles. LH comes from my last and first initials of my name “Lee, MinaH” (the last name comes first in Korea). Also, LH, as it is, implies “Lifestyle in Houston” as our candles designed to improve your lifestyle.
Our candles are hand-poured in small batches using only quality ingredients, so they are made with American grown 100% soy wax and scented with carefully selected and blended vegan-friendly and phthalate free fragrances. Also, the wicks are all cotton and void of lead and zinc. I started with eight blended fragrances when I started, and I keep experimenting on a new blend of fragrances and type of candles.
Now, I have 16 different home fragrances including candles, wax melts, and air fresheners at this moment. LH CANDLE STUDIO aims to magnify the beauty of candle and embody the candles people can truly enjoy with your eyes and nose. Each candle, wax melts, and air freshener are a work of art that is individually decorated so people also can see the fragrances.
Therefore, we are getting known for designed candles for special gifts and home decors.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
I think anywhere can be a good place for a business if you believe in yourself, have a passion about what you are doing and keep working hard. I started out my business having this in my mind.
Of course, a big city is always a help and a big advantage for entrepreneurs. Houston is a big city, and a lot of events and markets are going on every weekend. I can see that Houstonians love to support local makers and artists and there are many groups that help for entrepreneurs especially women entrepreneurs to achieve growth and development, both business and personal, by sharing our experiences and conducting workshops and seminars.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://lhcandlestudio.com/
- Email: support@lhcandlestudio.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lhcandlestudio/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lhcandlestudio/
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