Today we’d like to introduce you to LaShaunta Curry.
Hi LaShaunta, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
To give a little background on myself, I come from a middle-class family where I was raised by my dad who is a retired correctional officer from the state of California at San Quentin, I have one younger brother who is like my best friend. My mom, whom I love dearly, is with me in Orlando and helping me raise my two boys, and I am grateful for that. My story starts back in the year 2016; I was living in Augusta Ga in desperate need of a change in my life. I tried moving back to CA but soon realize that was not a good move for me, so I had to go back to Augusta there; I regrouped my thoughts and decided on Florida. At this time, I had never been to Florida and had no family or friends here. I began putting in job applications and ended up landing a job at the Cocoa Beach Airforce base as a pharmacy technician contractor. I worked there for about 2 weeks, and they let me go due to not being able to get my clearance cleared due to a misdemeanor that was about 10 years old at that time. The same day they let me go, I got a call from Orlando for an interview at the CVS center for a certified pharmacy tech position. I interviewed, got the job, and been there ever since. Since I knew no one in Florida, I ended up finding a room to rent on Craigslist in Cocoa, which is about an hour away from Orlando, but after working a rigorous amount of overtime, I was able to get an apartment in Orlando in 3 months. Fast forward to 2017, I am then 32, and I ended up getting pregnant; I was not happy about that. I felt that it was not a good time because my job was going good and I haven’t even been there a whole year yet; anyone who knows me knows that for a long time, I did not want to have kids because I did not want the responsibility and it just seemed to me that everyone that had kids was unhappy. I accepted the fact and decided to be pregnant and embrace it. About 6 months later, my water broke due to a rupture of membranes. I delivered the baby, and she died an hour later. I was so hurt, and I shut down from everyone. While on leave from work, I decided to find something to do to occupy my thoughts that would bring some light to my darkness, and what can do that better than a candle, right? I always loved candles and used them often. I bought books from Amazon and watch YouTube videos to gather fundamental knowledge on how to get started. It took me about 2 years of testing candles before I found my compliment. Making candles is more than making wax smell good, everything has to complement each other for it to work. The jar, the wax, the wick used, and fragrance oil must work together to get a nice burning and good-smelling candle. Today I have a small business named Lovely Aromas LLC I also make wax melts and car freshener sprays.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
My road was a little bumpy, but anything worth having, you have to work for and invest in. I have dumped a lot of money on just testing and practicing. There would be days where I would have my whole house smoked out, burning different candles at the same time. I also give out candles to get feedback from others. Pricing is always a struggle. You want to price fair to your customers and to yourself. With inflation and shipping charges constantly increasing, I recently had to change my shipping from 8 to 10 dollars, and my candles are 15 dollars. As stated before it took about 2 years for me to feel comfortable that I had a good product that I would start selling them. My challenge right now is social media. Sometimes I feel like I have an old soul when it comes to social media, but I know that in today’s time, it is necessary and vital. I also had a challenge of just being sociable because for the most part, I am private, but I learned that in order to succeed, I have to open up and be more personable. Not too much though.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a Certified Pharmacy Technician. I graduated from the program in 2012 at Augusta Tech. I am currently in school at Strayer for Business Administration and will graduate next year with an undergrad degree. I am most proud of my perseverance and due diligence to actually finish school. Since the loss of my baby girl, I have had 2 more baby boys, and they keep me inspired and motivated to do better than the best. I am a hard worker and willing to make necessary sacrifices. I am responsible and accountable in all aspects of my candle business and at my job.
What are your plans for the future?
In the future, I hope to make my business full-time and open a storefront where people can actually come and smell my products before buying. I also want to do Youtube videos and conduct candle-making classes. Right now though, I have to continue to try and build my social media audience and make more posts. It has been a few times where I had to put a pause on my business to adhere to class assignments, work schedules, and never-ending appointments.
Pricing:
- $15.00 for 8 oz. candle
- $10.00 for 2 packs of melts
- $10.00 for shipping
- No shipping charge if picked up
Contact Info:
- Website: lovely-aromas.com
- Instagram: lovelyaromasisamood
- Facebook: Lovely Aromas Candles
