We were lucky to catch up with Marjie Sanderson recently and have shared our conversation below.
Marjie , thank you so much for taking the time to share your lessons learned with us and we’re sure your wisdom will help many. So, one question that comes up often and that we’re hoping you can shed some light on is keeping creativity alive over long stretches – how do you keep your creativity alive?
Above all, I have always been an artist and creative person. Everything I do extends from that. Creativity and making new things from scratch have always been a part of who I am. In the past, I have sold my original paintings, worked on public murals, written and recorded songs, and taught visual and graphic art in many settings, as I still do today. This creative nature is essential to my current business, Tennessee Candle Company. My business was born out of the necessity and desire to create original hand-made products that come from our farm to sell at our winery tasting room and vineyard. We started building in 2012 and opened in 2014. I wanted people to be able to purchase a product personally made right here at our farm. I have always loved candles and bath products. The curiosity, exploration, research, and trial-and-error took me two years before I made my first product, because much of that time we were also designing and building our winery. I researched the “how to” create them, and “what” I wanted my products to look like. I do the same planning even now that my business is coming up on its 10-year anniversary. I think about designs for hours, and days, on-and-off, and even in the middle of the night sometimes. My love of color, fragrances, themes, and the ability to make people feel delight when they see my creations, keeps my joy and creativity alive. It is such a creative process to make something from scratch, especially candles and soaps, and I truly enjoy it. I love working with my hands, and I LOVE bringing happiness to others through my products, knowing that I made them by hand. I also like not “being the product”, like many actors, singers, musicians find themselves as. I don’t really create the products so that people give me praise personally, but really so that they can find joy in the actual creation. I very much like creating behind the scenes and then letting my products be in the spotlight instead of me.
Our farm, vineyard and gardens bring great inspiration and creative ideas too. Many times I will walk out to my garden or potted plants to find inspiration from my flowers or herbs, whether it is their colors, shapes or scents. Art and nature are big inspirations for staying creative and for ingredient choices.
Being in community with other crafters also helps to keep my creativity alive. I follow other craft candle and soap makers on social media pages, and find great community among them in online groups. I find joy and inspiration in their creations and celebrate them too. There are also many candle and soap projects on YouTube that are great inspiration and fun to watch.
Lastly, the fact that I still teach high school visual art full time helps me to always stay in the creative realm when it comes to my candles and soaps. I get inspiration or ideas from some of my art lessons, or from the materials or mediums we are using, such as colors, textures, themes, and even my students’ suggestions.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I am a candle and soap maker, and started my small business Tennessee Candle Company in 2014 in my kitchen. We are coming up on our TEN YEAR ANNIVERSARY this coming October, and it is SO exciting! We are planning some exciting 10-year Anniversary specials and limited edition Anniversary products! We are also planning a website re-design then as well, so keep your eyes peeled as we approach October 2024!
As my business grew through the years, my husband and I renovated a 1-car shed/garage into a small “candle cottage”, where I now hand-pour all of our products. We got our kitchen back! We are known as Sanderson Family Farm & Vineyard, located in Kenton, Tennessee in the beautiful northwest part of the state. The farm is 100-acres of natural beauty, and some of the natural and organic ingredients on our farm make their way into the products, such as rose hips from our 200 rose bushes. When I started my business, I was an artist, gardener, and art teacher. I have always been a lover of candles, fragrances and baths. I hand-craft candles, soaps, and other bath and body products that I love to use too.
The original idea for my business came In 2012, when my husband Bill and I were planning to build our winery. We finished building and opened our winery, White Squirrel Winery, in 2014. It is named after the albino white squirrels found in Kenton. I had hopes of making as many personalized products as possible, that came from the land people were visiting, and to sell in our tasting room gift shop. I wanted visitors to take a piece of the farm, and love of it, home with them. After researching the candle and soap-making process and ingredients for several years, I finally, in 2014, produced my first candles and have not slowed down since. I have added artisan cold process soaps, wax tart melts, and other bath and body products.
Each candle is hand-poured in small batches, using the maximum fragrance appropriate for my wax and fragrances, and cold process soaps are hand-crafted with attention to detail and creativity. I use skin-loving oils, clays, botanicals, colorants and additives, and I choose organic when available.
Today, our products find their way to many retail locations as well as our website, www.TennesseeCandleCompany.com. You can find our products at the farm’s winery tasting room at White Squirrel Winery in Kenton, TN, Discovery Park of America in Union City, TN, and in various boutiques and stores across Tennessee to Gatlinburg.
As I always say, “It is our hope that you love our products as much as we love creating them, and that you take a little piece of the beauty and love of Northwest Tennessee home with you!”
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
The three things that I feel were most impactful in my journey were; 1) Taking that first leap to create my first products 2) Learning from others and finding community among other creative makers, and 3) Accommodating for growth and evolution, and defining what success is for you.
1) Taking those first steps:
I almost cannot believe I am coming up on my 10 year anniversary for my business this coming October. In hindsight, creating first products with trials-and-error is something that I still remember like it was yesterday. I still remember the impact and first feeling of when I poured my first candle and made my first batch of soap. It was scary, exhilarating, and exciting! It is scary sometimes taking the first step, but you just have to put your foot in the water and then just dive in. When I view my very first products and compare to what I know and create now, there is a huge difference and a higher level of quality now. It took years to get here though. Even so, I still actually have some candles and soaps from the very first batches I created. Even though I have refined my overall “look” and products since then, those earlier products hold sentimental value and stand as a symbol of how far I’ve come in my learning and creativity.
I would say to others, do not stop evolving and learning. Those first steps you take, products you make, risks you take, will be the ones you remember fondly. Even if you made mistakes. You will not get anywhere, learn or improve on anything if you do not take those first risks and steps. Be bold and just do it. Use those first “steps” to help you go higher to the next steps and beyond. You will learn with each step, but not if you do not take that first one. You might just find yourself 10 years later reflecting back, and going, “WOW! Look at how far I’ve come!”
The second bit of advice I would give others is to not get intimidated by others doing the same thing you are doing, or feel that there is not enough room for you too. Do not quit, either, if you feel you are not the “BEST” in your field. Use that as an inspiration to learn and go higher with your craft, creativity or ideas. Learn from others, develop your “voice” through your creativity and products, and believe in yourself. Also, when possible, seek community with others on the same journey. It is fun to share your experience and journey alongside others and to seek advice from or share your highs and lows with them. Do not isolate yourself off from others thinking everyone else is competition. Just as painters enjoy looking at other artists’ paintings or musicians love others’ music, as a candle and soap maker, I love to celebrate and see other makers’ creations. That is what makes life fun and helps you to keep being inspired. Some of the nicest comments about my products have come from other candle and soap makers, and it is a good feeling when I can do the same for others. When you are encouraged by others in your field, it is welcoming. There are always people willing to help or give advice, so reach out when possible or necessary.
The third area of knowledge that I have found helpful and impactful on my journey has been the ability to accommodate for growth and evolution, and to define what success is to ME. I started making candles in my kitchen to sell at our winery. The next year, I redesigned my labels, added a new additional line of candles, and then later added soaps, followed by other bath and body products. I eventually reached out to businesses and started selling wholesale to them. I was outgrowing my kitchen, so my husband repurposed a 1-car (full of junk) back yard garage into what I currently call my “Candle Cottage”. We got our kitchen back. The extra space in my new building helped, and the equipment my husband either built me (wooden soap slicers and molds), or recommended to me (large candle wax vats & soap oil warmers), helped me to become more efficient in making larger product batches to accommodate the added customers. Finally, the biggest evolution so far has been creating my website, www.TennesseeCandleCompany.com. It was six years after first starting to make candles and soaps. It was when Covid first happened in spring 2020. The school I taught Art at was closed for the remainder of the year. I still taught my students on-line from home, but used that additional “home time” to build my website through Shopify. I spent weeks taking photos of my products, and weeks on my sofa building the site. I was SO excited to announce on my social media pages that my first website was finally launched. It has changed my business dramatically and it is still a thrill when I get an online order, especially when the products are going all over the country. Evolving is important. My next website is something that I am planning to re-design and launch for my 10 year anniversary this coming October. So, I am still evolving and still get excited about it. I hope that those just starting out remember to accommodate for growth and evolution too, and that will be at each individual’s or business’ pace.
Also, Make room for unexpected changes. During Covid, several of my wholesale stores went out of business, and through the years some businesses changed their products out. I had to evolve and add other businesses to replace previous accounts. Be prepared for the unexpected. Having a website helps to not have all your eggs in one basket and gives you more control of your business.
Be sure to also define what success is to YOU, and not by other people’s definition or standards. A success to you might be to have your products in a few stores and to always be the one creating them. Success to someone else might be to have a huge assembly line with many workers making your products. YOU are the one that gets to decide. What might be a goal for one person or business might not be a shared goal of yours. Find your niche in your industry and among other crafters, and express your unique voice through your creativity and products. You might be forced to evolve sometimes, but you can also grow at your own pace depending on how you envision your business. Even those definitions of success of yours may evolve or change over time. Welcome those changes.
What’s been one of your main areas of growth this year?
I would say that my biggest growth or improvement within the past 12 months is that I made a huge leap of faith and purchased a trailer-load of factory-direct custom candle jars and lids to evolve my candle line, as well as to bring the cost down on my products. It might be scary to make such a big purchase if it’s your first time, but again, you have to accommodate for growth and sometimes take that leap of faith, knowing that it is bettering your business. Like-wise, I have started to purchase my fragrance and essential oils in bulk sizes. My custom jars and lids arrive very soon, so I am already planning the new labelling of them. Making such a big purchase and investment is probably the biggest area of growth in the past 12 months, and I am excited to see the end product. Again though, when thinking back to those very first batches of candles and soaps 10 years ago, I have to smile at the road travelled between then and now. Feeling excited, back then, to pour my very first candles, and now, 10 years later, feeling excited at making my first factory-direct purchases of custom candles jars, lids and fragrances. I suppose, according to my own standards, I can say I feel I am living, “the good life”, doing what I enjoy, and thankfully in a country that allows for me to do just that.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.tennesseecandlecompany.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tennesseecandlecompany
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tennesseecandlecompany
Image Credits
Personal photos of Marjie pouring candles or soap: Photo Credit: Bill Sanderson
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