Meet Murphey Hatcher

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Murphey Hatcher a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Murphey, first a big thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and insights with us today. I’m sure many of our readers will benefit from your wisdom, and one of the areas where we think your insight might be most helpful is related to imposter syndrome. Imposter syndrome is holding so many people back from reaching their true and highest potential and so we’d love to hear about your journey and how you overcame imposter syndrome.

I slowly started to change my vocabulary. I went from “I’m making candles” to “I’m working”. I started to set work life boundaries.
I kept working. Eventually the imposter syndrome was drowned out by experience.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I started Novel Wicks because I wanted a way out of teaching. I tried making blankets, sewing, etc. Candles is what ended up working out. I thankfully had already been migrating to Bookstagram (the bookish corner of Instagram) for about a year leading up to the start of my business venture. I decided to make book inspired candles and combined my two hobbies to make it into what is now my full time job.
This job did not come about just from hard work. Yes it took a lot of that, but it truly grew from prayers prayed on the living room couch. I remember needing wax for a launch. The fedex driver missed me even though I was home. I was devastated because missing that shipment meant my launch would be delayed. My dad and I got into our cars and went to look for the driver. I went a few wrongs ways and thought I was lost. Low and behold, the driver was there. He was shocked. I was in my leopard nightgown and slippers. He asked, “How did you find me?” I replied with, “I prayed I’d find you”. He was left speechless and handed me my wax shipment. This is just one of the MANY ways the Lord has provided for my small business.
I also work with amazing reps who are willing to share my candles with their followings in exchange for a special code and free candles monthly. If it weren’t for my reps, I would not be as successful.
The bookish community is a beautiful one. We all enjoy escaping the day to day problems by reading a book and lighting a woodwick candle.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

1. Always reflect on your work and be willing to change according to reviews and constructive feedback.
2. Lean on other people’s knowledge and don’t reinvent the wheel. Make the wheel unique to your needs.
3. Stay true to your brand and beliefs. Don’t focus on the ‘competition’. There is room for all creators.

One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?

I am always looking to collaborate with others. I usually work well with authors. I love supporting authors in any way possible, from sharing their posts, to creating a unique candle, or reading their new work.
I also love working with influencers to promote my product.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://novelwicks.com
• Instagram: novelwicks