She Turned Her Pandemic Hobby Into a Full-Time Business. Now Her Heritage-Inspired Candles Are Sold in Retailers Like Nordstrom and Barnes & Noble.

Melissa Gallardo, CEO and founding father of Bonita Fierce Candles, was solely eight months into her first full-time job when the pandemic hit in 2020. She discovered herself questioning her career choices.

“I shortly realized that I used to be too formidable and impatient to maneuver up the company ladder, and began eager about aspect hustles,” she says. She discovered herself discovering a brand new passion throughout the pandemic — candle making. As she dove into this new passion, Gallardo additionally started to query what the concept of a house meant to her.

“Your complete candle business smells like pumpkin spice, lavender lemonade and crisp apple. The business is not progressing or evolving, however most significantly, candle inclusion would not exist. And I’m on a mission to alter that,” says Gallardo. “I noticed Latinos do not have scents and fragrances that precisely characterize them within the dwelling perfume business. I wished to create candles that commemorate, honor and authentically characterize area of interest Latino American experiences.”

She determined to stop her full-time position and go all in on leveraging her new hobby into constructing a enterprise.

Right now, Bonita Fierce is disrupting the house perfume business. The enterprise grew 275% between 2022 and 2023. “In 2024, we’re at an 80% month-over-month progress charge and we’ve not even reached peak season but,” says Gallardo. The candles, that includes common scents like Abuela’s Bakery, Spanish Moss and Coquito, could be present in retailers like Barnes & Noble, Nordstrom, City Outfitters and extra.

As Gallardo continues to construct her enterprise devoted to creating premium dwelling fragrances impressed by Latin heritage, this is the recommendation she presents to different founders.

Associated: How to Turn Your Hobby Into a Successful Business

1. Embrace wholesome debt

“As ladies of shade, many people have been taught to run away from credit card debt,” says Gallardo. “If you cannot afford it, you should not do it. Do not contact the bank card. And I wished to consider the methods during which I might finance the enterprise in another way.”

When Gallardo had a big Barnes & Noble buy order are available in, she knew it will be a recreation changer for the corporate — a chance to proceed to scale into key retailers. “Two-thirds of all candles bought are in massive retailers; I knew we might achieve retailers after our Nordstrom launch. And among the greatest enterprise recommendation I obtained was to arrange and perceive seasonality. We now have our largest months in Q3 and This autumn and wish capital for stock in Q2.”

Gallardo received a bank card with 0% APR for the primary 12 months in January. She practically maxed out by June as we started funding the Barnes & Noble buy order. By embracing healthy debt, Gallardo says she was capable of scale her enterprise and repair clients.

“Since I knew we might receives a commission inside our 0% APR interval, it was a no brainer to leverage the bank card. And, I instantly paid off the invoice once we did receives a commission. My hope is that extra founders do not draw back and embrace wholesome debt.”

2. Put money into authorized recommendation from the beginning

“I want I had invested in authorized recommendation sooner. First-time founders can underestimate how a lot it’s essential perceive the authorized implications with the intention to function, make smarter choices and finally scale,” says Gallardo. “You want contracts and to be legally protected always.”

Gallardo encourages founders to put money into authorized recommendation from the very begin: the right way to begin an LLC, buying logos, insurance coverage, copyrights and extra; together with having a enterprise lawyer look over your web site. She cautions founders to not minimize corners, and notice that what they’re creating is a part of their very own mental property.

“As I’m constructing Bonita Fierce, I need to ensure that we’re legally protected on all fronts. I’ve seen different founder buddies have to barter or settle concerning ADA compliance, logos on product names, copyrights on paintings, and so on. When you do not put money into authorized recommendation from the beginning, you might find yourself paying for it 10x sooner or later. You by no means know what might come your method,” she says.

Associated: She Launched Her Black-Owned Beauty Brand with $1,500 in Her Pockets — Now Her Products Are on Sephora’s Shelves.

3. Bear in mind the ability you must shatter stereotypes

“Rising up, my mother and father tried to guard me from racism in our group. And on the similar time, I began to really feel disconnected from my tradition,” says Gallardo. “As a non-Spanish talking brown Latina, I struggled to search out my place locally and in conversations, the place I did not see myself mirrored.”

Gallardo needs candles to do extra than simply gentle up rooms and fill them with superb fragrances. As a founder, she is aware of she has the accountability and energy to shatter stereotypes and create a group for individuals who have felt excluded or left behind. She reminds us that “there’s an enormous spectrum of Latindad with over 63+ million Latinos dwelling within the U.S. from the current immigrants to assimilated, multi-generational Latinos.”

“As I construct Bonita Fierce, I’m filling the gaps I’ve been feeling for a lot of my life. A easy candle does have the ability to attach us and eventually really feel like we’ve got discovered group and belong.”