08/28/2026
Before we get into fall…you should probably know how we got here : a very unofficial origin story of Rhodes669
Hi. I’m Lauren. 👋
I’m from Florida, and in 2022 I decided to start a candle business.
No master plan.
No idea what I was doing.
Just an idea I really wanted to see become real.
My first-ever event was Southern Girl Mart.
I was nervous.
I had a table.
I had candles.
And I had absolutely no idea what I was doing.
But I met other small business owners that day who made this whole thing feel a little less terrifying. SouthernGirlMart
One of those connections led me to Nadia's Boutique, the first store to carry my candles.
Which, at the time, felt like a really big deal.
Because it was.
This brand has had… several personalities.
We went from neutral + soft
→ to colorful
→ to bold
→ to “okay, wait… THIS feels like us.”
Finding your brand when you’ve never built one before is expensive. But it was also necessary. I found that the more the brand “fit”, the more confident I felt leading it.
I’ve learned that creating the product is only part of building a brand.
The website.
The labels.
The photography.
The packaging.
The colors.
The words.
The feeling.
Branding is basically 80% of the job, right? 😂
I’ve gotten into stores.
I’ve watched stores close.
I’ve had really good markets.
I’ve had painfully quiet ones.
I’ve had moments where I felt like
“Holy s**t. I’m actually doing this.”
And moments where I wondered
“Why am I doing this?”
Both can exist at the same time.
Markets have included beautiful days, freezing rain, questionable wind, being absolutely underdressed.
There was even an event that turned into a full-blown weather disaster. Because apparently “small business owner” also means part-time meteorologist. BUT I’ve shared a heater or two with some of my neighbors that have turned out to be a few of my closest friends now.
Somewhere along the way, candles turned into… this.
A perfume bar for a church event.
Which meant hauling fragrance oils, bottles, labels, supplies, and approximately 47 other things I apparently needed 😂
I’ve gotten to create some
