Today we’d like to introduce you to Jennifer White.
Jennifer, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
My best friend in my college hometown opened up his own store that carried handmade goods. He really wanted to carry candles in his store, but had a difficult time finding someone. He reached out to me because he knows I like to (attempt to) be crafty and asked if I would try my hand at it. I had absolutely no experience in candle-making, but I dove in and fell in love! I loved that I could curate these candles exactly how I wanted them, with scents that didn’t give you headaches and ingredients that were vegan, natural and USA grown. During this time, I was working full time at my marketing job, while making candles in my free time for my friend’s store. After a few years, he decided to go in a different direction and close his shop. I had a loyal following by this time, and it kept me going to continue doing this side business that I loved. After the birth of my first daughter, I decided to leave my marketing job and focus on my new role as a mom and also on The Love Struck Co. However, I didn’t realize how demanding my pint-sized new boss was going to be. I ended up having to shelf The Love Struck Co. for 18 months. I finally got back to it last year. I was so worried that everyone had forgotten about me, and maybe I shouldn’t even bring my little shop back. But I was welcomed with the most amazing support and sold out within a few days! It definitely fueled me and made me feel confident that I needed to keep going and not second-guess myself.
I’ve since expanded into room sprays and also ceramic coasters. It’s been rewarding getting to grow and introduce things that I love in my own home and having others be just as receptive and excited about it.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I think for any entrepreneur you struggle with balancing everything. Being a stay-at-home-mom with no family nearby makes owning your own business (and honestly everything!) really challenging. I’m normally returning emails and text messages around midnight. I try to do most of my work on the weekends, but also make time for my family and being present for them, so there are still a lot of late nights. With the recent addition of another sweet baby girl to our family, balancing is going to be even trickier, but I’m determined to keep The Love Struck Co. going.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with The Love Struck Co. – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
The Love Struck Co. creates handmade home good lovelies. We carry small batch, hand poured soy candles and room sprays and also up-cycled ceramic coasters. I’m really proud of the ingredients that we use in our products. None of our candles or room sprays have phthalates, additives or dyes. We use soy wax made here in the USA. And our wicks are 100% cotton and do not contain any lead. Our ceramic coasters are made from recycled floor tiles. We also encourage our customers to repurpose their glass containers, and we follow that same mindset while we create by trying to have minimal waste and using recycled packaging materials when we can.
We try not to take ourselves too seriously (Unicorn Farts forever!) and just want to bring a little happy into people’s home. One of our best sellers is the Boyfriend soy candle. It smells like a boyfriend. The good kind. The kind with a job. I love creating the scents, but just as much, I enjoy coming up with the names and the descriptions. I hope that people walk into a room and love what they are smelling, and then see the names and want to know where they can get one (or three!). Our products are the perfect gift for anyone and also to have out on your coffee table.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
I’m always brainstorming new candle and spray scents. It takes a while before I’m able to roll it out to the public, because I want it to be perfect. I have a few seasonal and year-round scents that I am tinkering with right now. I also have been exploring water color painting and hope to start creating ceramic coasters with one-of-a-kind water color prints. My big down the road (well long, far away road) dream, would be to have my own brick-and-mortar store, where I can share The Love Struck Co. home goods and also the works of my fellow local maker friends that I’ve made along the way. I would love to help support all the talented folks we have here in Dallas!
Pricing:
- 9oz Soy Candle – $18
- 4oz Room Spray – $12
- Set of 4 Ceramic Coasters – $24
Contact Info:
- Website: www.thelovestruckco.com
- Email: shop@thelovestruckco.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelovestruckco/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thelovestruckco
Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
