We were lucky to catch up with Haley Sanchez recently and have shared our conversation below.
Haley , 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?
I’m constantly drawing ideas from things around me. Whether it’s things I’ve seen or read or watched- there are brilliant ideas waiting to be tapped into. I love thinking of new, fun ideas to bring to the farmers market that’ll get the entire family excited.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
Ever since I was a little girl, scents and memories were always very important to me. I can remember what my first grade teacher’s perfume smelled like or what it smelled like when I entered the city pool during the summer. My husband and I started making candles 9 1/2 years ago for our daughter’s 2nd birthday party as a party favor. Our goal for that party was to create an ocean or beach vibe to jive with her “Under the sea” birthday party. And there it was- a memory was created that would have a specific scent created for it. My entire goal going forward was to create scents that people could place with certain trips, or certain places that they visited, or various times in their lives. Yes, these are all my take on the specific scents but I’d venture to say that most of them really do work (and quite well). I’m a California girl through and through so when I was trying to establish my business and my niche, California cities seemed like the way to go. Huntington Beach was my first scent and it has never changed in all of the years that I’ve been pouring candles and I’m confident I nailed it- Huntington Beach is a creamy toasted coconut and smells just like surf wax. My customers and friends are able to associate the Surf City with the scent of creamy coconut. And how cool is that?! It’s so fun to chat with customers about what they think each city will smell like or to hear them confirm that I’ve chosen the perfect scent for a specific city that’s special to them. My Napa candle smells like dark berries and wine…Laguna Beach smells like a bonfire…Los Angeles smells like a coffee shop…San Francisco smells like flowers after the rain. This has been so much fun and so rewarding to see my creativity come to fruition.
Just like any industry, there are shifts and that just means that I need to keep the creativity alive in order to grow with the new trends and new needs. I’ve begun offering small classes/candle parties at my studio for 4-12 people at a time where people are able to come and pour a candle from start to finish with instruction from me. It’s a great way to connect with my community in a different way and offering a fun class is something that men, women and children alike can escape for an hour and a half, have some snacks and drinks and hang with friends while learning how to pour a custom candle. And, it’s great for me as a business owner because I’m able to share my own knowledge while also sharing my successes as a female business owner in a small community in Orange County.
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?
1. Patience! It takes so much “just keep going” while you’re building a business. Early on, I often found myself comparing myself to others with how quickly my business was growing or how many Instagram followers I had. And really, those things don’t matter as much as I thought early on. These are great markers throughout the journey but NOT the most important thing. Being customer/community facing is way more important. Remaining patient and knowing that if I kept doing exactly what I was in order to grow, the business would come and the customers would come. And they did! 2. Fearless- now, I wouldn’t say I’m fearless but I’m certainly working on it and it always top of mind. When I stopped being scared about what would happen or what people would think, I was able to come up with the best ideas for my business. Being fearful stops my creativity from flowing and so I assume it’s like that for others. I stopped caring that things may fail and focused more on “but what if it’s exactly what your business needs to propel itself?”
3. Comparison is the thief of joy- I know that now, there are other people making candles that are named after cities. It used to bother me so much but really, there’s room for all of us. If my take on Huntington Beach is creamy coconut, someone else’s may be ocean air and that’s okay. It can be discouraging knowing I’ve worked as hard as I have on my own to see others progressing faster but really, what does that even mean? When I think about where I am now, versus 5 years ago, I have exactly what I asked for- a supportive community, loyal customers who keep coming back, wholesale accounts throughout California who are carrying my candles and successful weekends at the farmers market. It’s all I’ve wanted and I have it, even at a slower pace.
Okay, so before we go, is there anyone you’d like to shoutout for the role they’ve played in helping you develop the essential skills or overcome challenges along the way?
My husband, Eric, is the one who initially learned how to make candles for our daughter’s birthday. Because he has a regular Monday through Friday job, I needed him to teach me, and therefore the roles were reversed. I started making the candles, but I was always able to rely on him for graphic design and website design and all of the creative aspects of Instagram post and email blasts. He has been my biggest supporter in making sure that I am not scared about new and exciting things.
He surprised me and nominated me for a segment on Kiis FM with Ryan Seacrest, where he features a hometown hustler. I never would’ve done this myself, but my husband did it and they chose me and I was on the radio. It was a huge success for my business, and something that I was so scared of ever doing for me but I was reminded that putting myself out there had huge benefits. He did it for me because he believes in me, and he has never stopped, knowing that if I keep going, I will have everything that I want with this business.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.neswwaxco.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/neswwaxco/
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/neswwaxco
