Today we’d like to introduce you to TaJara Riley.
Hi TaJara, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
The craziest thing is, the idea wasn’t mine. The idea was brought to me by another individual in 2020. We were considering doing it together, but I began to notice that I was pursuing it more so than the other person. I purchased supplies, tested out various products, and began to fall in love with it as a whole. Once I noticed that I was pushing more to make candles and learn, I decided to do it on my own. I had many moments where I wavered, but a friend of mine gave me great advice of his that led me to want to continue to make candles. So I continued on and loved it immensely! The creative process is what pulled me in. I think I can attribute this all to being diagnosed with moderate to severe depression and needing an outlet, a distraction, something that I loved to comfort me. Every second, minute, and hour of the day was spent doing research. Even while I was at work I was listening to YouTube videos, searching online, looking at other candle makers, etc. Every day I watched Stanley Handcrafted videos to learn more and more. He’s extremely knowledgeable and always willing to share. I also joined his Facebook group. This all went into my testing phases.
I need to back up a little. While learning, I spoke with my therapist every week. It sounds crazy to have to mention to the world that I actually have a therapist that I have to speak with every week lol but it is true. She is extremely insightful and she pushed for me to continue because she noticed a change in me overall and stated I seemed lighter, more grounded, and happier.
Then over the course of a few months, I began looking for suppliers with specific products that I needed because I wanted to ensure I had exactly what I wanted for my candles and my family and friends who loved them. After finally finding what I wanted, I decided to launch after a year. To be quite frank, after having so many friends continue to ask me for candles, someone said to start it as a business seriously. That’s when I said okay time to file the LLC and get the ball rolling for real this time. This took me a full year until I actually made it happen in September 2021. I had a lot of issues between May 2021 and September 2021 because my application kept getting rejected, b or I finally got it right and received my LLC certificate and was excited! Now I knew it was time to get serious. I had the supplies, I am the manpower, and I know how to perfect my craft. So I went straight into making it happen. It was no walk in the park. Between testing different wicks, fragrance loads, waxes, jars, and lids, I was exhausted. I also had to create my own labels and that was even worse. Actually no, the worst was having to build a website. I had to study my website and learn why looked good and what did not. That took the longest because it required my full attention (no distractions whatsoever). Then my website launched, and I had so many orders from family and friends for Christmas that I ran out of supplies and had to start making products all over again. Talk about a headache, but I pushed through and persevered. Now I have a candle business. It’s still hard while working and in school, but I’m still pushing and trying to keep going!
Now let me state this, I am doing all of this while being a Master’s candidate at Howard University, working a full-time job, help family back home, managing friendships, and most of all trying to balance my mental health and make sure this business is conducive to what I am trying to do with my health, heart, and mind. I also encountered many health issues where there were moments I was in the hospital and my mom didn’t know and was furious when she found out. Starting and managing a business from top to bottom, on your own, is not easy when you have no help and not as much support as you would think you would have. It sucked to realize that my friends back home were not really as supportive, but my out-of-state friends (some of whom I had just met) were exceedingly supportive).
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has not been smooth. I mentioned a lot before, but the hardest part is staying motivated and pushing to excel no matter what even in the face of adversity. I encountered having to stop because I had surgery on my head which was extremely painful to where I couldn’t move too much. I also encountered having to balance school, work, and a business. I had to fight for my mental health and encourage myself when I had no one else to support me.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
My business is dedicated to making candles that trigger a happy memory.
What sets me apart would be that I can create a scent simply by someone giving me an idea, scent notes, or a memory that have and all that the memory entitles.
I am most proud of simply starting. It wasn’t easy, but I made it happen all while battling mental health, pursuing my master’s, working full time, and trying to be there for my family and friends.
My readers can know that you won’t encounter someone more than myself who wants to forever be involved hands-on. I want to talk to you guys, I want to know your thoughts, your critiques, what you would like to see changed, etc. I am always open to positive feedback and constructive criticism. I’m even open to all criticism since I know not everyone is able to do so constructively lol.
Here’s a backstory:
I am TaJara Riley and I am a student and full-time worker. Most of how I got started is the same as mentioned before. An idea was brought to me and I executed and was putting in a lot of hard work and soon realized that I was the only one putting in a lot of time, effort, and finances so I decided to continue with what I started on my own. I make candles and I have 3 different collections; signature, spring, and luxury. What sets my business apart is the communication and products I provide. I am really big on customer service and communication. I’ve had a customer bring a scent they would love to have to me and I executed it with no problem! I love creating scents that people love, but cannot find. That’s my niche and market. Providing scents people would love when they mention it to me. It’s all in the customization.
I am extremely proud of how far I’ve come in the face of adversity with school, work, business, family, and friendships. My business continues to do well outside of the social media spectrum and I love that for me! I’m not big on social media and consistency with posting, but I make sure all orders to date are on time and perfect. If anything happens in transit, I take it upon myself to correct it.
My entire business is centered around my mental health and how it has health me. A beautiful scent can trigger a thousands memories that is why I tell everyone that “Nothing triggers a happy memory like a scent attached to that time”. My favorite quote!
I make sure all clients know and understand that there is a direct line of communication to me. They do not have to go through anyone. I provide an active and monitored email address and phone number for them to use if they encounter any issues related to communication, shipping, products, etc. if any issues/problems are brought to my attention, I make sure the client knows that I have their best interest at heart and that we will work to find a solution that they are satisfied with and that the company is also happy with.
What illustrates my resilience would be my drive. I have continued to work and push through even while dealing with multiple health issues, undergoing surgeries, and having to put the wellness of my body first. I recently underwent surgery the beginning of February which was done on my head. I won’t get into the details, but undergoing this surgery left me in a constant state of pain that I could not physically go to work nor work much at home, the meds provided did not work, and I wasn’t able to be as mobile. I knew I would be down for a while, but it almost “took me out of the game” as most would say. But I pushed myself to push the pain out of my mind and get to work and that’s all I could do. It was not easy and many times I had to sit down because I felt lightheaded or the pain was too unbearable, but I still persevered. Another situation came about where I literally had to not fulfill orders because I had to go to the emergency room to find out that I needed to take time off from work and sit still and take pain meds to allow my body to fully heal. Sitting around not being able to do anything and having to apologize to customers was the worst because it was what I loved doing, but it felt as if took many attacks on my body were happening which affected my business. But while sitting around I found another way to help my business. I worked on rebranding, content, found a graphic designer, and made it all still work overall.
If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
Growing up, I was a quiet and timid child. I was non-confrontational and hated drama. I actually was more into my books and hanging with friends on weekends watching movies. I wasn’t the popular kid, but I was cool. I minded my business and always made sure my grades were amazing no matter what. I played volleyball, and softball, and was in the band. Band was my heart. I loved volleyball, but my passion left went I relocated from Texas and moved back home. Other than that, I was kind of your typical average nerd lol.
Pricing:
- – Signature Collection $15
- – Spring Collection $10
- – Luxury Collection $28
Contact Info:
- Website: www.luxandlitaromas.com
- Instagram: @luxandlitaromas
- Facebook: @luxandlitaromas
Image Credits
Hannah Mulik
