A project manager for an oil & gas company burns the midnight oil and makes eco-conscious candles for profit *and* charity.
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This is an unofficial transcript meant for reference. Accuracy is not guaranteed.
Greetings, hello and welcome, or should I
second morning, good afternoon or good evening. Deepening our
you are in when you're listening wherever it is
welcome to side also school uncritical about it. I've gotta
for you about someone who learned to sell candles has a social good
on it in which she is making money and also doing good with it long time
You may know that. I believe you can do about those things and on the side of a book,
I've been telling a story, that's very popular at this.
Of Mark Gascons in South Carolina Mark has created this candle brand called meeting in market, which
leave, is based on a famous intersection areas, hometown weed
let us before, but the short version is that one day he's
vacation, I think it's in Austin Texas walks into an expensive
store and sees a candle for sale for eighty dollars and, of course, he thinks that rejection
eighty dollars for a candle- and he also thinks like
good side us their word.
Can I sell those I want so expensive,
and was to sell Marcos home and why
It is in videos on Youtube learns to make candles
watching videos on the internet and creates a little brand. Like I said, it's been a popular story on.
I would mention it in several of my talks from city to city. While today we have it.
Front story of someone selling candles. It seems that candles are agreed
physical product, at least for some people, and in this episode will
how this person ties it into supporting various charities and fun, racers
because the societal school is not only a charity project. She makes money too. So it's just
have a good thing all around. That's why
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Today, story comes from Nicole nickels and more Oklahoma. My day, she's upset.
Manager at an oil and gas brokerage, but in her spirit,
she's burning the midnight oil running her social, good, handcrafted candle company lux alone. It start
when one of Nicole's cosmos was working on raising money for an AIDS orphanage in South Africa. They realize appeal.
More generally more likely to give when they get something in return. It's not a bad thing, it's just human nature, some other time,
think of something they could offer for donations, Nicole Remit
that she knew how to make candles
candles were also something that they could easily make an book. It seem like
about everybody liked them so Nicole
supplies from a variety of vendors and began testing. It isn't easy, but
to get started in just like our friend who learned
candles by watching Youtube, but to get it right requires a delicate balancing act with lots of different variables. Mccall tested out
candle options from the comfort of her own dining room and part of her kitchen. After a lot of trial and error and hot wax, she felt that she finally had a batch of candles. She was comfortable selling
these were a hundred per cent soy wax candles with cotton, Braided wicks
fragrances that were infused with natural, essential oils perfect for the eco conscious they did a fundraiser
the orphanage in sold out of fifty candles earning six hundred dollars. She
that she was able to make a difference in this way and sought
fun, razors and charity events that she could share her light with, for example, to
A star wars day made a fourth be with you Nicole part
the popular freelance artist to create a candle box at called made a flame, be with you that box at cost. Fifty dollars
included in art, print and eight hours,
light Sabre candle called come to the dark side and for six
light sabert sober candle, tens, they don't it
five dollars of every box at they sought to make a wish foundation. Has a lot of kids like STAR wars,
their surprise. They sought out faster than you could say. These are not the droids you're looking for China to everyone gets that reference
these days and cause expanded or offerings to include candles that are not affiliated with any particular organization, but she remained
the look out for more fun, razors and causes to partner with LUX Aluminum
The internet ranks in twenty sixteen when she launched a retail shop using shop if and created a kid,
Subscription Box, using crate joy, where they now have a hundred and fifteen monthly subscribers. Of course, I will link up cry
join shop, a fine all that stuff in the show. Now it's for you call, Subscription box came about completely by accident after
putting some new candle sense implants blends her sister mention that one of them reminded her of the Disneyland ride the pirates of the Caribbean. The sisters had spent
a lot of time. It doesnt kindest children, they figure. This would be something
Others will be interested in two so that a couple of
stayed written down a bunch of Disney sense. They loved and call started, creating the
alone brings in twenty five hundred dollars a month, but there are
significant costs
about nine hundred hours of that is for shipping postage and supplies
about nine hundred and fifty dollars, so as mental
Profit on their subscription boxes, the real profit comes from wholesome
orders and individual candle sales for wholesale orders net about thirty five hundred dollars, ecologists
her prices and is getting into the busy holiday season or she hopes to make another two thousand dollars in pure profit cheese
upgrading the website, improving the product, packaging and thinking of ways to level out the current experience for customers
so what's her advice per year, while she suggests tried a perfect one product and then slowly expand
she decided to offer all the sense that her vendors and suppliers do she'd have well over a thousand to choose from
guess what it's a bad idea to try to sell a thousand different items at once. In her case,
We recommend, starting with ten cents and expanding from there as a quick
don't I might actually recommend fewer than that. Maybe something we're like three to five. She
so suggest starting small with the resources that you already have.
Recital school principle. To this day,
Nicole uses her front entryway as a shipping station and her spare bedroom as an office holding inventory reprocess it making.
This is pretty basic. She melt a large batch of wax thirty five pound melter
is it into small batches adds fragrance and enforce that into the containers. Of course, they're still ought.
Work that goes into all of that, the pouring the adding
grants in curing is all based on certain temperatures being met. If you mess it up, you dont have
a candle and colleagues for a great sent and a good finish on a topic candles
now listen upside hustlers, we
her how she such herself, apart when candles or sold pretty much everywhere and guess what she said
you said she tries really hard to not worry about whether companies are doing because she'd go crazy. If she did, she focuses her brow
lux alarm on being the best it can
while still donating many of her profits to charity and supporting many causes. Looking to the few
Nicole is hoping to gradually expand her range, while cell
More candles and supporting more causes- and you know I think I think her future- looks pretty bright
all right. Thank you. No call for sharing that story with us. I'm wanna keep hammering in certain messages. Candles are the ultimate
trade market?
are everywhere yet for some reason people keep buying them. So there's probably room for me,
to keep making them in her case that sir
worse theme is really find and, of course, it
so great ass, she is able to support, charities and fun razors with the project. So I love what she's doing
It just goes to show if you're, too,
to figure out what your site also is. Maybe there's a pretty obvious answer:
If you been trying for a while and your stocking, you like. What's my idea, maybe
looking to heart, maybe relation
just look within yourself and ask hey what
What is it that already not do? What do I know about?
What scale do I have? What our people,
asking me for and in due course case nobody
asking her to make candles, but she encountered this problem of trying to increase your friends on raising efforts.
Realising that they could probably more successful if they had some kind of incentive. Ever I don't. It went along with that and then she thought hard work,
be wait. I know how to make candles. Let's try that doesn't mean that this
crush, always gonna be successful,
But once again, another principle that I like to emphasise is the cost of failure. What you say, the cost of it not working out are pretty low like weeds.
This whole story and after the first few sentences
the candle selling it was
actually nobody about the candles, then maybe
would have been out a small amount of money for those supplies, but then they could have moved on.
Try something else they would have known whether of work unless they tried it, which in this case, of course, she
Look. What you did
courage meant for you today from afar. Wherever you are in the world. Inspiration is good, but inspiration combined with action is so much better.
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Transcript generated on 2020-08-06.