Today we’d like to introduce you to Venu Raghavan and Jackie Burke.
Venu and Jackie, please share your story with us.
Jackie’s mom was always a candle queen when she was growing up and she definitely caught this trait. Jackie jokes there were times growing up when it would look like a seance was taking place. When Jackie and I first moved in together, Jackie went out and bought a candle (Jo Malone) and although I thought the scent was great, I was in utter shock with the price tag. We had a few of these expensive candles around and one night Jackie told me to not light the “good” candles – to leave them for a special occasion.
Creating an incredible “homey” atmosphere with candles but not bankrupting ourselves with $100 candles is how Wicksly came about. We wanted to be able to burn the “good” candle and not feel guilty about it. Hence the slogan “Life’s too short to not burn the good candle”. With that in mind, we put ourselves to task to create the best quality candle at a low price that made it affordable to have something luxurious delivered monthly but at the same time encouraged you to use it!
During our time researching, we also learned that not all candles are equal. It became clear that so many candles smell so great because manufacturers use an oil by-product for their wax. When you burn them you are creating oil by-product fumes in your home and that did not sit well with us. We decided that there was no need to be unhealthy to enjoy something hence the decision to use soy an all-natural, non-toxic wax. When you burn Wicksly you don’t have to worry about creating polluting fumes in your home. We have also been told by asthma sufferers this is huge!
As well as using the highest quality ingredients in our candles we also worked with an incredible designer for our logo and packaging. We wanted Wicksly to be trendy, chic, understated luxury to enjoy and burn for at 40 hours a month.
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?
We wanted to make sure our candle ingredients were of the highest quality so we spent MONTHS researching different suppliers. We had no idea just how much work went into creating a fantastic candle. For optimum burn quality, even the container you use is of the utmost importance.
Frankly, some of our containers just didn’t make the cut. When it came to getting the right balance for the scent we wanted to make sure it compared to other expensive brands but also not overpower any room. This took numerous trials at different percentage levels of ingredients to nail! It was well worth all the time and effort as I can safely say we have a high-quality product that stands with any $100 candle on the market.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Wicksly – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
We are a small “to be” (July 21t!) husband and wife team who work directly with a small American supplier every month to curate a seasonally appropriate candle. We customize and match scents that make your home feel extra cozy while also not worrying about having to save something for only good or special occasions. We really feel that life is just too short to not enjoy nice things. Every day should have a little luxury in it.
We are most proud of our product!! There is nothing on the market that compares to the quality that goes into Wicksly. We also love our logo designed by a friend. Everything about Wicksly is personal even the handwritten note that comes along with the hand packages candle. You could say a whole lot of love goes into Wicksly each and every month. Our major difference is our price point! No candle on the market competes. As much as we loved $100 candles we love burning Wicksly every night even more.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
We are not even a year old so we have huge plans for Wicksly in the future. Top of mind along with continued growth is a website and packaging redesign. We want to make Wicksly even more exciting from your first time ordering to delivery every month.
Pricing:
- $15
Contact Info:
- Website: www.wicksly.com
- Email: hello@wicksly.com
- Instagram: @wickslycandle
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WickslyCandle
Image Credit:
Lauren Moore, Kristiena Sartorelli, Maire Devlin
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