Today we’d like to introduce you to Karla Cummings
Hi Karla, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I am an educator by day and a candle maker by night. I have always loved doing art and have learned techniques in different creative mediums like acyclic painting, warm glass art (fused glass), reclaiming old furniture, and making candles. I also love reading, so a few years ago, I merged my love of art and reading, which led me to making our book-inspired candles with themes and scents related to classic books.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Starting a small business is never easy, especially when it is a side hustle, as I have a full-time job, a husband, and two kids involved in activities. So for me, it is always a balancing act of work/life balance. Also, when one person starts a business selling a product, you are in charge of buying raw materials, budgeting, marketing, social media, advertising, pricing, shipping, and the list goes on and on.So given that and not having a business degree, there are many “figuring it out as you go” moments along the way.
Also, like any other business, there are moments that you reevaluate parts of the business to help make it better: something didn’t sell as well as you thought, a new idea comes to me, how fast do I want the business to grow, how fast can we grow, how do we make our business stronger, etc. always is something that is at the forefront of my mind.
I used to sell our candles at art, maker, and craft shows, and it is amazing the value of getting to know other makers like you that you can bounce ideas off of and know what you are experiencing. That has been very encouraging and useful along the way.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
We currently make and sell 100% soy candles with phthalate-free scents that produce a long, clean burn. We make all of our candles in small batches in our studio in west central Minnesota. We also try and reuse packaging materials when we can to reduce waste.
We started selling our candles with our book-inspired candle line. Our book-inspired candles were recently mentioned in a New York Times article entitled “Millennial, Book and Candle” about setting the mood for reading with candles.
Because we were born and raised in Minnesota, we decided to make a Minnesota-themed line of candles to pay homage to our beautiful state! These have been selling great in shops across Minnesota, and like our book candles, we try to match a scent to our creative names.
One of our small business goals a few years ago was to sell a candle to all 50 states, which we did, and we did a little happy dance when we met the goal! We currently sell our candles on Etsy at www.lostbirch.etsy.com and wholesale to small businesses across the country. Even though we have sold thousands of candles, we still get excited when each new order come in.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
I am working on some ideas to expand our candle lines into other creative markets. I hope to continue to build our brand and spend some more time on advertising. With the supply chain changing costs of raw materials drastically over the last couple of years, it is also a balancing act on if we want to jump into some other mediums/items to go along with selling our candles. I have a lot of ideas but am focused on trying to do one idea at a time and do it well.
Contact Info:
- Email: lostbirch@gmail.com
- Website: www.lostbirch.etsy.com
- Instagram: lostbirchmn
- Other: www.lostbirch.com
