Meet Kristy Miller the owner and creator of The Scented Market. Kristy is a mom of three boys, a wife to a loving husband, and owner of two English Bulldogs named Dozer & Gucci.
Where does Kristy Miller’s story begin? It all started when Kristy had had a love of candles for years and literally woke up out of bed one morning and decided to turn her love into her work. After much discussion in her household she decided to move forward with The Scented Market.
Kristy Miller runs this business with hard work and pride, hand pouring each candle and tying each piece of twine with love.
Tell us about The Scented Market, what makes it so unique?
The Scented Market prides itself on the quality and style of our candles (Not to mention the rest of the line). Offered in over 45 scents, we truly do have a candle for anyone or anything. Our candles are made to suit ANY home and style! We make custom candles for events, business’, conferences, weddings – pretty much anything you can think of!
What motivated you to start your company?
I have owned a business since the age of 19 years old. Eventually I got married and started popping out babies. At this time my 1st business was running so smoothly that I actually started The Scented Market because I was looking for a new challenge. Something to inspire me and take up some of my time. Something that fuelled my passion. Then one night – are you ready for this? I had a dream. I woke up from a night’s sleep with the name “The Scented Market” already picked out.
Why did you want to start The Scented Market?
I’ve always cared about my health and what was in my home. After having kids, I started to care even more – I remember candles burning in my house and black soot sticking to my walls and ceiling. I thought to myself, what are we breathing in? I then set out to make candles that were chemical free, a cleaner, healthier option for my family and my home!
What are you most proud of as an entrepreneur?
I am most proud of the quality of my product. I spent months ruining candles, countless hours of my time and money making candles just to throw them in the trash – until that one day when I found the perfect recipe. I am proud of every single candle that leaves my store, because I know I’m sending people home with something they’ll love!
How does the company prevent counterfeiting?
As a small business, it’s extremely important to keep our suppliers and recipes confidential. I’ve been through it all, from customers straight up emailing me asking for the recipe to breaking in to my garbage bins with headlamps to find bottle with supplier labels on them. How do I prevent it? How can I? I am extremely careful with who I hire, I have NDA’s and Non-Competes all over the place. But that still doesn’t stop people from finding new ways to intrude, what helps me sleep at night is the fact that the recipes are mine, and only mine.
Who are your ideal customers and why?
Candles and bath & body products is definitely a female dominated industry! My customers are over 85% women!
What are the company’s plans in the next 5 years?
The Scented Market is growing faster than I could have ever imagined, I could have never have predicted where I/ this business is today. What’s to come in the next 5 years? I’m sure anything I have planned in my head will be completely changed in the years to come, all I can tell you is I want to make The Scented Market available all across the globe, breaking into the United States while opening as many stores as we can!
How has the business grown to be where it is now? What has contributed to your success?
When I started this business, I spent several hours a day curating content for The Scented Markets social media. I was so dedicated to building an online presence for the business and it absolutely contributes to the The Scented Market’s success.Engaging with customers on a daily basis and giving them as close to as in person connection as I possibly can!
What type of products are your best sellers to your customers?
At the end of the day, candles are the bread & butter of this company! We hand pour 100% natural soy wax candles with oil fragrance that is free of parabens and phthalates. It is what started this business, and although we have developed some amazing collections over the years, candles have held that #1 spot!
Which styles and scents are you really excited about for fall and winter 2021 are there any future plans you can share with us?
We are launching Holiday Gift Sets on November 1st and they are SO good, we designed one for everyone and I am so excited to share them with you! Not to mention a brand new scent or two..
What challenges do you face in your work?
The competition! There are some amazing brands out there. I love to support candle makers and creators who are passionate about their products (we actually carry some local candle creators in store). But I also have to constantly look 10 steps ahead while also looking back to see who’s trying to re-create what I’ve done. It’s a challenge to create new paths and channels for the business that continue to represent the brand and it’s image.
If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be?
To look at your numbers, they will tell you exactly what you need to know if you look close enough. Then make sure you have people around you who are smarter than you – and if you’re the smartest one in the room, find a new room. Dream big, and make you dream happen – but don’t forget the importance of connection and relationships while doing so!
What sacrifices have you had to make during life?
Oh my gosh. The last 3 years of my life (20 if you count my 1st business too). Myself and my family has had to make major sacrifice to make this business happen. It was a HUGE family decision when talking about this possibility. For the last 3 years, I’ve missed weddings, family events, parties/ gatherings, my kids school performances, every single weekend of the last 3 years has been at a trade show or going over the books in my basement. But that dedication and sacrifice got the business to where it is today, to the point where I can afford to hire a team to help me and allow myself to take a *slight* amount of time off. An entrepreneurs brain will never shut off at 5pm, there has not been one day in the last 3 years where I haven’t been working on my business. But it’s so worth it to me! What can I say, I love it!
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