We were lucky to catch up with Christopher Coker recently and have shared our conversation below.
Christopher , we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?
My upbringing is the major contributor to my resilience. Coming from an immigrant family, growing up in the states was not easy from a cultural perspective, and from a linguistic one. As a child I watched my parents get turned down constantly for job opportunities due to their accents. That experience taught me that quitting was not an option, weight was complaining about circumstance. I continue to use thaat never give up attitude in my adult life as well.
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?
We are a luxury Soy wax candles brand that wanted to bring something different to the market place. One of the things I believe that allows the brand to stand out is our packaging. I wanted to create a product that would be eye catching and also offer a reusable option, because typically once candles are used completely they are discarded So, giving customers and opportunity to have a reusable product. Scentsby Cokes will be apart of two summer festivals this year which we are extremely excited about which are Water lantern festival and Auburn festival. Growth wise, our goal is to continue to locally get brand recognition and then work towards store placement.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Networking , Creativity, and Vision were the three characteristics that played a key role with the successful launch of scentsbycokes. I would advice any new entrepreneur to define the vision: by asking What problem they are planning to solve? What is your long-term goal?.Conduct Market Research: this helps to prevent entrepreneurs from diving head first fully into a business idea. Then lastly to create a Solid Business Plan:which is helpful because it outlines your objectives, strategies, financial projections, and marketing plans.
How can folks who want to work with you connect?
Ideally we would love to collaborate with someone in the home-goods market or even in the space of modeling. As a new business we are at the fun phase were we are creating and building upon new ideas with any constrains. So, if your creative and can see yourself working with us connect with us on IG:Scentsbycokes
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.scentsbycokes.com/shop/
- Instagram: instagram.com/scentsbycokes
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Scentsbycokes/
Image Credits
Ms.West
