True Crime Inspired Candles - Weird Wax
Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in candle-making but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Jade Woods, Co-Founder of Weird Wax Co., located in Denver, CO, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
My twin sister and I converted a creative outlet into a business that gives back. At Weird Wax Co, we use our beloved candles as tools to amplify the voices of cold case true crime victims. We are committed to focusing on the cases that need the most attention, especially those of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, including LGBTQ+ and non-binary individuals, by sharing their stories and asking our community to light a candle and spark a conversation. We donate 10% of sales to various organizations that support the victims we talk about.
Our candles are stunning pieces to add to anyone’s home and range in delightful scents. We offer cleaning burning crackling wooden wick candles, lovingly made with coconut apricot wax in luxurious glass vessels. The vessels are designed to be reused or repurposed after burning the candle. We use high-quality ingredients that are vegan and non-toxic. We are expanding our collection to include molds (like our rainbow candle) and wax melts.
Our customers are a lovely audience that enjoys candles and true crime. They are caring, open-minded, fascinated with crime, and interested in social justice issues, sustainability, and self-care.
Tell us about yourself
We are a twin sister duo named Jade and Jazmin, operating in Colorado. We started making candles as a creative hobby while listening to true crime podcasts. We gave away more than 100 candles and had a lot of fun gifting them to people we care about. The feedback was excellent and encouraged us to take this further. We show up every day because we care about sharing these stories and love to create.
Growing up, we watched crime shows with our family, and often the tragic stories stayed with us. I went on to college, studied Criminology and Law, and recently left a successful paralegal career to take a chance on this. Jazmin studied medicine and is a cannabis scientist and educator. Together we’ve built a business guided by the creativity that allows us to give back to our community and share our creations.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
For me, leaving a career so preciously built to make candles and take a chance on myself.
For Jazmin, it’s teaching over 30,000 students about cannabis all over the globe.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
It’s extremely difficult to balance time while also learning a lot about general business as you go. It’s easy to spend hours in the candle studio making something beautiful in good company versus preparing financial documents.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Do your homework.
- Stay consistent.
- Believe in yourself and your business.
Is there anything else you'd like to share?
We’d like to share details about a murder victim, Sarayah Jade Redmond of Sacramento, CA. She was just 19 when she was fatally shot while watching a movie at a friend’s house in 2020. Sarayah had goals of attending beauty school and becoming a cosmetologist. Her murder remains unsolved, and her killer(s) are among the public.
Another young girl, Lashaya Stine, disappeared in the middle of the night without her belongings. She has been missing since 2016 from Aurora, CO, and may be a victim of human trafficking. She did very well academically and was an honors student, actively building her future with a job and internship. There have been sightings of her in neighboring states in past years, but her case remains unsolved.
Please read their full stories on our blog https://weirdwaxco.com/blogs/tcct. In addition to our website weirdwaxco.com, you can find us on Tiktok and Instagram @WeirdWaxCo.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://weirdwaxco.com/
Facebook: https://bit.ly/3yh5Weg
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/weirdwaxco/
LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/3Idu1Hd
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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