Growing up I had so many different ideas of what I wanted to do for a career when I grew up. I like so many different things, just one didn’t stick with me. I just knew whatever I did decide on I knew I wanted to own it..To be my own boss! Right after graduating high school, at 19 I became pregnant with my oldest son. I was so young and didn’t know how I would be able to balance working full-time, raising my son and trying to figure out…well me. Fast forward 4 years I became pregnant with my second child, my baby girl. At that point in my life I still didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life. I was going through so much in my life at this point. 5 years later, I was raising my children alone and working any jobs I could to keep food on the table. My sons father and I started to grow an amazing friendship and were able to raise our son in a good co-parenting relationship. He would even help me babysit my daughter while he had our son. Things were really starting to look up! Then the day came and our whole world was turned upside down again but this time, it was unrepairable. My sons father, my closest friend passed away. The following years was a blur. Everyone was in so much pain, we were just going through the motions of life. 8 years this went on. Did we have some amazing, fun times? Definitely. Were we still numb? Absolutely. We were living pay check to pay check most of the time not even close to the paycheck. But, I was doing everything I could to make sure my then 3 children were happy, and healthy! Now I will bring you to the beginning of 2020. I no longer had a job, it was peak covid time and my job was deemed “non-essential”. The way I have been able to provide for my children for 7 years was gone! I had more time on my hands then I ever had in all of my adulthood. I thought to myself, “Are you really going to just sit around and wait for your job to open back up or are you going to pull yourself together and take this opportunity to find you? What you are suppose to do in this
The universe works in crazy ways!
life?” At that moment, I walked myself and my children up to our spare bedroom and said “guy’s we are going to completely clear out this room. I have to figure something out.” We had everything out of there in one day! They went to bed and I went into the spare room, sat down in the middle of the floor with a notepad and a pen. I started writing out things that I enjoyed. Which being a single mom of 3 children and doing it completely alone…..what did I enjoy?! Anything that popped in my head, I wrote it down. Something HAD to fit, something HAD to work. The next months I was in that room failing at multiple different business ideas. I had no idea what I was going to do, I just knew I had to do something and to throw myself into it. One night, I gave myself a mental break, went downstairs, lit a candle and sat down on the couch. My arms crossed, pounding headache, and just purely frustrated with myself and well to be honest..OVER IT! I knew I was suppose to be doing something so much bigger then what I had been doing, I just couldn’t figure out what. No matter what I was doing, nothing was “sitting” right with me. I sat on my couch for awhile just staring at the candle flame bouncing around waiting for an idea to pop in my head. Nothing. I got up and blew out the candle and said I’m just going to bed maybe I will DREAM of something good. I woke up, walked through my living room and glanced at the candle remembering the night before and laughing at how frustrated I was. I went to the kitchen and starting making breakfast and it hit me. THE CANDLE!!! I finished breakfast and pulled out my computer and started studying. I came to realize there is so much to making candles. From making them non-toxic, SAFE, long lasting, highly fragrant, certain percentages, temperatures and oh my gosh MATH..I hate math! But something about the math & chemistry behind making candles completely fascinated me. I did a couple months of constant research and started ordering the items I needed to get started.
Then I made my very first candle. I fell in love with the whole process from making custom scents and not being hindered with my creativity! I was free! I found it! My passion, something I loved, and boy did it feel right! My dream job…My Dream Field! Anyone that I knew that loved candles got a candle that I made to try and give me some feedback. I was so nervous from what they would think. I researched and tested for so long, I just wanted everyone to love them so I knew it wasn’t just in my head. It seemed like an eternity but they started to get back to me. “Amber, this is the best candle i’ve ever had!” “You better keep doing this, you’re really on to something!” “You’ve got my business as long as your making these!” When I tell you the amount of joy I got hearing that it would be putting it mildly! It became a huge love of mine and now people were seeing it too! That’s when I really dove head first with full faith I was on the right path. I learned how to market my products, run a business and really tapping into my creativity! Quickly, in 4 months I started outgrowing my spare room and it started taking over my living room, dining room, and my kitchen. It was EVERYWHERE! I then decided if I was going to do this I am going to go full force. I started looking for a store front! I was quickly realizing the rent for storefronts was going to be out of my budget. I knew I wanted to do this but I couldn’t go broke trying to keep and open a store especially then. I stopped looking just chalking it up to “well, it’s just not the time” and I was heartbroken, but I was ok. I would just continue to do what I was already doing…It was a safer way to do it anyway. Two weeks go by and I was at lunch with my daughter and youngest son and my phone started getting notifications like crazy! I looked at my phone and people were sending my pictures of a store front that was coming up for rent in the absolute perfect spot. The universe said hold my cup! I quickly paid for lunch and drove directly to the shop that was currently occupied by the shop that I was getting the notifications for. My very first
question I asked was “How much is the rent?” My eyes started watering, IT WAS IN MY BUDGET! I got the landlords number and immediately got a hold of her while sitting in my car out front of the shop. I told her my business, my story, EVERYTHING! I swear I must have been talking a mile a minute trying to hurry up and get everything out before anyone else could get a hold of this storefront! Thinking about it now, she must have thought I was crazy. I got off the phone and did one of those right out of the movie silent head down, clapping, then let out the loudest YES!!! Although I wasn’t told yes or no but I felt it was going to be mine. I was on cloud 9 and didn’t even have an answer yet! I just needed someone to hear me. I knew if someone gave me a chance and I felt like she really heard me. A couple days later….she called me and asked if I would like to sign the lease, the shop was mine! I hung up the phone and dropped to my knees (Second time in my life) and yelled “I DID IT!!! IT’S MINE! From the complete hell I had endured for 10 years (that’s a story for another time) It’s my turn and boy was I going to do it! I had to wait 1 month before moving. The old owner was going out the back door and I was coming in the front with some amazing friends unloading everything from their trucks into the shop. Together, we were able to get my shop set up and ready in 3 days! What a crazy time looking back on it now. I stayed at my shop for a year and a couple months. I absolutely loved my little shop. I learned so much there. A lot of highs and a lot of lows…but it was mine and I was doing it! One day while I was in the backroom of my shop trying to make a bunch of candles I realized I am in the same situation I was in at my house in the small spare bedroom. I was out of room. I could hardly move back there. About a week goes by of me getting frustrated from feeling claustrophobic and very hindered on my creativity. I pulled into my shop for work. I see a neighboring shop what looked like they were moving some stuff out of their shop. That shop was also owned by my landlord. That shop was in the same building but MUCH bigger than mine. I sent my landlord a nosey text asking if they were moving out. She replied “yes, we were actually getting ready to message you to see if you were
interested in moving into a bigger shop?” I just stared at my phone re-reading the text over and over with my hand over my mouth. No way this is real, there’s no way fate is throwing something right in my face again. I asked to do a walk through and to talk numbers. IT WAS IN MY BUDGET AGAIN! “I’ll take it!!” I told her. I have now been at my new shop for two and a half months now and my creativity, freedom, pride, and goals are through the roof! My business is growing bigger than it ever has now. Everything does happen for a reason and always at the right time!