We recently connected with Amanda Peña and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Amanda , you’ve got such an interesting story, but before we jump into that, let’s first talk about a topic near and dear to us – generosity. We think success, happiness and wellbeing depends on authentic generosity and empathy and so we’d love to hear about how you become such a generous person – where do you think your generosity comes from?
My generosity comes from the want, and need to see a solution!
Shelters in the South Carolina area are at full capacity, families want to resolve the problem AT home rather than have to REhome their animal. With an influx of animals being sent back, there is no guarantee there will a happy place on the other side for that. I want to mitigate the problem families have to face about sending their furry friend back to where they came from.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
We are a woman owned and completely operated small batch candle business. Our expertise lays in realistic sculptural food and plant candles. Our audience delights in viewing our candles and markets, and we always get the question: “Oh my gosh are those real?”. People are always astounded at the fact all of our creations are wax candles .
Our goal is to raise funds for equipment needed for canine fear and aggression cases all around South Carolina. With our funds, we’re able to provide FREE harnesses, safety gear, and home boundary equipment. We also provide consultations and remote training for those dealing with said fear or aggression cases.
Helping animals to adjust keeps families from wanting to take them to a shelter, keeping shelters from becoming overpopulated with animals that just need a little love and help!
True to our brand, we are releasing a special candle line that captures the spirit, essence, and history of different dog breed groupings this year! So definitely give us a follow to stay updated.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
I would definitely say having a theatre degree helped our business out a lot. Being personable and extroverted are keys to having an engaging business. Growing up, I was very creative and it allowed me to hone skills to make candles like the ones you see here!
One piece of advice I would give newer entrepreneurs is to really take your time to test your market and product! Everything in this day and age costs, a lot of money, so being able to really stand behind even small decisions is really important to make a bottom line.
At first, you’ll find yourself throwing so much money into staples. Things like marketing, posters social media are crucial but eventually, you do you wanna start to see some profit.
By the end of the first year if you aren’t making ends meet, then you know that something in your business model needs to change. Whether it’s the audience or the product itself.
Markets have been a really great way for me to test product an audience in real time. When someone walks into our booth, I can tell right away based on their exclamations and their comments, whether or not that is going to be a sale, and that information is very important moving forward into online sales where you lose that face-to-face interaction.
How can folks who want to work with you connect?
We are ALWAYS looking for collaborators!
Particularly the best help would be models, and visual artists for product illustration. We are also always looking for eco-friendly and sustainably sourced vendors that supply wax, jars, or packaging!
We are always looking to get into newer markets in South Carolina, so collaborating with any market, organizers, breweries, and other businesses.
We’re exploring new avenues of working to be featured in boutiques, so any small business owners and boutiques would be great to collaborate with!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pup.country.thrift/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pup.country.thrift/
- Other: https://linktr.ee/pupcountrythrift
Image Credits
Candle Photography by Kylie Cummings Model and Animal Photography by Emilia Drago
