NG Story
Hello, I am Jo. Thank you for visiting my website and in particular this page as hopefully, you wanted to know where we have been, how we got here today and where we hope to go.
I started making candles back in 2009, when my boyfriend, now husband, was working most weekends, I got fed up of waiting for him to finish and I wanted to do something productive with my spare time. At first, I thought making knickers was the way forward for me - everyone needs knickers right!? But soon realised that this wasn't what got me excited.
I can't recall what it was I was doing, or my thought process, but the idea of making candles was born. I would spend a blooming fortune on very expensive candles - I would have one in every room, and I would constantly buy them for gifts. I LOVED candles - so really it was a no-brainer - it just took me a while to get there!
So I researched and researched and researched some more, I wont lie, it was a looooong (sometimes boring) process. Testing, testing, testing! In all, I think it took me a year, if not more. I did give some to friends and family and they, thankfully, kindly gave me feedback that was invaluable.
I attended my first craft market at Berkhamsted Town Hall and I was blown away with the response, so I attended more, and like all markets and events (as I have learned along the way), some were good and some were not so good. But each event I did, I learned from and improved things and had bigger and greater ideas. I was one of the first crafters to use soy wax and I am still really proud of this fact, especially considering how many soy wax candle companies there are about now. My mission back then was and still is, to produce a beautiful candle using as much local suppliers (this has moved to UK suppliers) as possible, that is affordable but still profitable for me, environmentally friendly as it can be and that is actually a decent candle. It still baffles me how many large candle companies are out there that don't have the best performing candle! Anyhow, I won't go into that....
I then got a new job in London and it took over for a few years, I wasn't completely giving up on candles, but I didn't attend as many events or markets and living life got in the way, but the passion never died.
And when I had my first born back in 2016, I knew it was now or never to put all my spare time (what planet was I on to think I would have a newborn and spare time!!!) into the business. So I did! And I loved it and I still do. Now as baby number 2 grows bigger every day, I grow my candle business bigger too. All those ideas I had during night feeds or long strolls in the park are now coming to fruitition. I am constantly looking at new waxes to work with, new scents, new trends in the industry and the world as a whole.
I love this small but perfectly formed little business that I have created, I love I can work it around my family life and I am so blooming excited to see how far I can take it. I want to be as big as a small-batch-candle-making-company can be!
I would love it if you would join me on my journey.
Jo xx