Empowering a Creative First-Time Entrepreneur

“I’m super grateful I went through EJF. I’m happy this was the company I started my business with.”
CIARA 

For years, Ciara had worked at a variety of customer support phone jobs. She didn’t mind it because she was good on the phone and was receiving needed benefits for her family. Still, she felt unfulfilled. “I felt helplessness,” she says. “I wanted more out of life and knew I wouldn’t get it there.”

Ciara had been thinking about starting a business, and when COVID hit, it put things in perspective for her. “It made me ask myself, why am I living the life of dreaming about making a business when I could just go into it?”

And so she decided to go into it.

Her first challenge was figuring out exactly what she wanted to do. Ciara had always been involved in acting and the performing arts and had won poetry competitions in high school and college. Was there a way for her to make that into more than just a hobby?

She had also just decided to try making candles. “I was a candle advocate before I started making them. I bought them all the time, any time of the year,” she says. “And I was very picky about what I bought and if it was good enough.”

She bought a kit in January 2021 and soon discovered that making candles is more complicated than it looks. “You have to pour at a certain temperature, add color at a certain temperature, you can’t let them sit too long,” she says. “I fell in love with the process and how meticulous you have to be. Once I got it down, I could almost make candles in my sleep.”

As she thought more about starting a business, she realized that everything she really enjoyed doing involved trying to help people feel better. “I realized that there are so many people out here that light candles and try to relax,” she says. “Or they read a book to relax.” So she decided that her business could do more than sell products—it could sell self-care.

“I wanted people to realize that they have to put themselves first more. As people, we are like robots. Sometimes we keep going, and we don’t know how to stop,” she says. “I realized that I wanted to sell the idea of taking a moment, doing some self-care, lighting a candle, reading a poetry book, and just staying grounded in yourself.”

And so the idea for her new business was born: an online enterprise that would sell her candles, poetry, and artwork as well as a variety of other items, including mugs and clothing, all to promote self-care.

Her next big challenge was to secure a small business loan. She applied to EJF and one other lender. The difference was immediately apparent. “At the other company, I felt like I was being pushed to make a decision quickly,” she says. “I just felt more comfortable talking to EJF. I also felt like I was gaining knowledge talking with them. I felt more protected going through the process with EJF.”

EJF not only gave Ciara a loan with a low-interest rate but also structured the loan so that she wouldn’t have to make any principal payments for the first several months. This enabled Ciara to focus on making her candles and launching her website, Ciara’s Creative Corner, without having to worry about the payments.

Ciara still has a part-time retail job that helps her pay for food, rent, and other expenses. However, as her business has continued to grow, she has been able to keep up with her loan payments without any problem.

And she is determined to keep moving forward. She sells her candles—her top-selling product—at craft fairs, farmers markets, pop-up stores, and on her website. She designs all the candles, creates all the scents herself, and always tries to make candles that people have never seen or smelled before. Among her bestsellers is Treat Yo Self, a spa-inspired candle that combines the soothing scents of lavender, peppermint, and eucalyptus. Another is Freshly Cut Lawn, which Ciara says appeals to both men and women.

This might never have happened if Ciara hadn’t decided to pursue her dream and if EJF hadn’t been there to help her get started. “The thing is, sometimes we’ll sit and wait until we’re ready. But sometimes we’ll be waiting so long that we just never feel ready,” she says. “If I would’ve talked to my 14-year-old self and said, ‘Hey, you’re gonna start a business,’ she would have thought I was crazy. I never saw myself entering business, but I’m so glad I did.”