EPISODE 72 - From Side Hustle to Successful Business with Caylen of Canvas Candle Company
Looking to scale your side hustle? Caylen has been there - and she’s spilling her story.
LISTEN TO THE EPISODE HERE:
In this episode, have a really awesome Guest, Caylen, the Founder of Canvas Candle Company- an amazing Brand specializing in clean-burning soy candles!
Caylen is actually one of our Mastermind members and she has been a part of our Mastermind for a couple of years now, it's been so inspiring and incredible to see her journey unfold.
We discuss topics like burnout, collaboration, growing and scaling a business and the challenges that come along with that, and what it’s been like growing her team, she also shares tips for new business owners what they should focus on, and what part building connections and community has meant to her business!
Caylen and the start of Canvas Candle Co
Caylen shares how she was working in marketing in the golf industry, needed a creative outlet, and started pouring candles in her kitchen. As she cultivated her hobby, she saw a hole in the market that she could fill and decided that she was going to pursue this, she wanted to make a product that:
was aesthetically pleasing and
at an affordable price point for anybody.
The transition to being a full time entrepreneur was messy, as it incorporated A LOT of hustling - Caylen found herself working on the weekends, working after work, and burning the candle at both ends. She found herself asking “Do I do what fills my soul, and possibly not have financial stability or stay at my corporate job?”
Caylen never intended for candle making to be her full-time business, but, after she was laid off from her corporate job, her partner encouraged her to pursue it, and she did! She started with low confidence as she moved into it full time, but the Business Babes Mastermind was something that gave her the confidence and accountability to keep going.
Hustling served her well to grow her business, but was not sustainable in the long run, as she burned out badly after one year. This caused her to reassess her systems of operation as she scaled her business.
Challenges of Burnout
Caylen admits that, even though she experienced fierce burnout, she would not change a thing about the year prior to her burnout. Working the 50+ markets gave her the opportunity to create relationships that sustained the company and helped them make it through the pandemic.
If Caylen had not experienced burnout, she would not have scaled her business sustainably.
Caylen encourages female entrepreneurs to prioritize self-care and know your limits. Go for walks, start your days differently, go to therapy, etc.
She also encourages women to set boundaries like - Be clear and strict with yourself on your working hours. As an entrepreneur, you have the power and ability to control your hours. Don’t work a 10-hour day if you only have a 5-hour day capacity, because that will deplete you and you will not be efficient in your work.
Collaborations
Caylen shares how lonely and overwhelming solo entrepreneurship can be, and how she started a lot of relationships simply by reaching out to others organically in a DM. She shares how she found it important to align and connect with brands that align with her own.
BE vulnerable if you are looking to connect and collaborate with others - make the ask! Reach out to those you want to work with. Everyone experiences rejection, but being afraid of it will hold you back.
Be careful with the comparison game on social media - brands and connections are built over time, and they are showing their highlight reel!
Growing & Scaling
Caylen share how important it is to:
Visualize what you want!
She focused on branding, company culture, how her product makes consumers feel, and built next steps from those visualizations.
Celebrate wins!
This is so important to do every day, as it drives you forward!
Some of Caylen’s big wins:
Moving into a warehouse for with offices and space for production & shipping and getting a showroom
Getting into the Jilly Box
Made it through the pandemic
Built an amazing team
She also shares some of the Challenges of Scaling:
Growing a team - Caylen is not a micromanager, rather the opposite! She had to learn how to communicate with her team clearly.
Learning how to work on pieces of the business that bring her the most joy and where she is most needed.
Caylen’s Advice:
Look at your business in different seasons.
When you first start out, you want to get firm in your foundations - your branding, your messaging, your core connections, community and collaborations.
The next season is finding what works for you and your business, and after you have that nailed down, you’re going to be in a scaling season.
Scaling is HARD, but approach is with excitement, or it will be overwhelming to always be learning something new.
Get a solid understanding of cash flow.
It will serve your business and future really well. Caylen started Canvas with $500 and has never put anything else in it other than what the business has generated.
Connect with Caylen:
Instagram: @canvascandleco
Our Top Business Resources to Support Female Entrepreneurs:
Free Masterclass “How to Scale a Profitable Business without working around the clock”
Action Takers Club: Our Signature Business Course + Community to Support you in Scaling a Profitable Business
Ready to Take Your Business to the Next Level in an Intimate Group of other Successful Entrepreneurs? Learn about our Mastermind
One on One Business Coaching and Strategy Consulting with Danielle Wiebe
TRanscript
[00:00:00] Danielle: Welcome back to the podcast. I am so excited that you're here and I cannot wait for you to tune into the episode we have for you today. We have an incredible guest, Caylen, who is the founder of canvas candle company, which is an amazing brand that I absolutely love. They specialize in clean burning soy candles and, you guys, they are so gorgeous and they smell so good.
[00:00:23] And you guys are actually in, for a huge treat today because we have an incredible discount code for you. So you're gonna have to listen to the episode, caylen shares a discount code for 20% off her candles. So if you have been thinking about getting a gift for someone, or you've been looking to invest in some candles for yourself, this is an incredible way that you can do that at an amazing discount for our podcast listeners. So we're so excited to offer that.
[00:00:46] And Caylen is actually also one of our mastermind members. She's been a part of our mastermind for a couple of years now, and it's just been so inspiring and incredible to see her journey unfold from making [00:01:00] candles in her kitchen for friends and family to now owning this incredibly successful company, having her own warehouse and office space with a team that she absolutely loves working with.
[00:01:12] So in this episode, Caylen not only shares her story of how she has scaled her business. But we also discuss topics like burnout, collaborations, growing and scaling, the challenges that come along with growing a business, what it's been like to grow her team and what kind of growth she's had to do personally in order to do so. She also shares tips for new business owners and what they should focus on when they're just getting started, and what being a part of an incredible community and what connections and community have meant to her and her business.
[00:01:45] So I can't wait for you to tune into this episode, but before we get started, I wanted you to know some really exciting news. We are officially opening up the applications for our mastermind. If you are ready and you're at the point [00:02:00] of your business where you're ready to scale, you wanna scale to that next level, but you wanna do it with accountability. With deep connections, with other incredible, inspiring women. And you wanna surround yourself with other entrepreneurs who have been there and done that, who you can strategize with, brainstorm with, and scale your business alongside of.
[00:02:19] Feel free to apply for our mastermind. You can go to business babes, collective.com/ mastermind, get your application in. If we feel like you'll be a good fit, I'm gonna book a call with you and get to know you more, get to know all about your business and what your goals are for the next few months. and see if there's a way that we can support you and see if the mastermind might be the next step for you.
[00:02:42] And if not, I will share with you what I think your next steps are. So either way, it's gonna be such a productive conversation. I cannot wait to connect with you. I absolutely love having conversations and connecting with this community and with people who are ready to take their [00:03:00] businesses to the next level.
[00:03:01] So I can't wait to meet you. Get your application in. Again, that's business babes collective.com/mastermind. If you're not sure if it's a fit for you, just apply anyways, we will let you know what those next steps can look like for you. And it's a great way for you to get more involved in our community. So with that all being said, I cannot wait for you to dive in to this episode. Make sure you pop your earbuds in, get yourself a cup of coffee, and let's go ahead and get started.
[00:03:32] Welcome to the business babes collective podcast. I'm your host, Danielle Wiebe. In this podcast, you'll learn tangible business tips and strategies on how to grow successfully and sustainably. We'll also interview seasoned entrepreneurs, so you can listen in on their stories and see behind the scenes of what it took to grow and scale their businesses. Let's dive in as we discuss the wild, exciting, crazy, challenging rollercoaster ride of entrepreneurship.[00:04:00]
[00:04:02] Welcome Caylen to the business babes collective podcast today. I am so excited to have you on.
[00:04:08] Caylen: Thanks so much, Danielle. I'm really excited to be here. Uh, having been like a member of the mastermind, I have loved watching you grow every single step of the way.
[00:04:18] Danielle: Aw, you're so sweet. I'm so excited to just get, well, me personally, get to know you more, even though I feel like I've know a lot about you, but I feel like in these conversations, I always find out new fun things. So I'm so excited about that. And I'm really excited for our community to get to know you more because you are such an incredible business woman and you've just been able to accomplish so much in your business. So I can't wait to dive into that. So why don't we just start by you sharing a little bit more about yourself, who you are, your business, so that for people who haven't met, you can get to know a little bit more about Caylen.
[00:04:50] Caylen: Yeah, absolutely. Well, I'm Caylen. I'm the founder and owner of canvas candle company. We've been around since 2016, so six and a half years now, [00:05:00] which is crazy to me that time has gone by this fast. My background is in marketing and sales. I worked in the shopping center industry for a really long time in retail marketing, and then moved over to the leasing side, which I didn't love.
[00:05:13] And somehow I found my way into the golf industry, which for me was a very fun experience, but also inside the box. And I was looking for a way to be more creative in my life. And that's where candle making came in. It was literally just a hobby. I started in my kitchen, making things for friends and family.
[00:05:32] I went to a couple craft fairs and I really saw a gap in the market. Within the market that I was, or the markets that I was going to, there was really high quality products, but they didn't really look great aesthetically. So for me, I'm a very big aesthetics person. The spaces that I am in really influenced me.
[00:05:53] So I wanted to create a beautiful product that was really high quality. And also at the same time, a reasonable price point for [00:06:00] everyone. And as I kind of like developed the brand, we kind of gained such an amazing community that has followed us along our journey in the last six and a half years. So, yeah, but aside from business, I am also a two time dog mom. I have a 13 year old Boston Terrier and a four month old lab crossed who is absolutely crazy right now, but we're getting through it and yeah, that's a little bit about me and the business.
[00:06:25] Danielle: I love it. I love it. And it's so great. I love hearing kind of the backstory of how people start their businesses, cuz often it's you see something missing in the market and then you can kind of come in and fill that need.
[00:06:38] And I think that's such a cool way, beautiful way to start a business. And I love that you started candle making as something like a hobby that you did on the side. And so what did that transition look like from, obviously, being in that kind of corporate setting and having a full-time job that's stable and consistent and everything. And then you're doing this [00:07:00] candle making on the side. What did that journey look like to make it and, and transition into now running your business? Full-time.
[00:07:09] Caylen: I wanna say that it was very messy and I burned out a bunch of times because I, when I'm passionate about something, I don't really have a, a stop button. So, at the time, I was just finding my job to be very inside the box. Working in the golf industry, I was working with men that were middle aged and they didn't really care like what the new website looked like, what font I was using on newsletters that were going out and it was really soul crushing for me. So I poured that creativity into canvas and yeah, it just kind of grew from there.
[00:07:43] Danielle: How long was that transition period where you were doing both at the same time and what were some of the challenges that came with trying to balance both at the same time? Cause I know that's kind of a hard, tricky situation to be in, to like jump into your business full time if you're not exactly sure what that's [00:08:00] gonna look like.
[00:08:00] Caylen: For sure. Yeah. Basically this was never, like this business was never my intention to do it full time. As I started to grow the business and fell more and more in love with it, then it did become my intention to eventually leave my full-time job and do this full-time.
[00:08:15] So what that kind of looked like? It was a lot of working on the weekends, a lot of working eight hours a day, and then like going home and working on canvas for like four hours a night kind of thing. It was just honestly, a lot of hustling. I feel like during the time when I first started, there was like the whole like hustle culture that was really being pushed onto everyone, women specifically.
[00:08:36] And I totally fell into that, which served me well to grow the business. In the first year I did, I think it was like over 50 markets, um, on the weekends.
[00:08:46] Danielle: Wow.
[00:08:46] Caylen: While, while I was working full time, also at the same time I was doing all the production myself, like everything I did myself in, in the first year. The downside of that was I burned out very, very badly at the end [00:09:00] of that first year. And I kind of had to regroup and reassess what my life was gonna look like going forward. If I wanted to continue doing the business, if I wanted to continue working full time. And at that point, I don't think I, I realized that I did wanna do this full time because I was that passionate about it. I was of a mindset that was very scared to leave the stability of getting a paycheck every two weeks.
[00:09:24] So it was really this internal struggle. Do I do what fills my soul and take the chance to not have potentially not have that financial stability? Or do I stay where it's comfortable and, you know, I just kinda half assed do what I'm passionate about? So when I did leave, I think, I feel like the universe kind of made the decision for me in 2018, right before a busy season was supposed to start, I actually got laid off of my job and the decision was made for me.
[00:09:53] And at the time my boyfriend at the time were still together. He's now my fiance, but at the time, he was like, [00:10:00] I was freaking out. I was like, what am I gonna do? I don't have a job. I was really panicking. And he, he was like, well, why wouldn't you do canvas full-time? Like, ever since I met you, this is all you've been talking about. You love it so much. You wanna go, you wanna see where, where this can go. Why is the thought of doing this full-time not even in your brain? And I came up with all the excuses of why I couldn't do it full time.
[00:10:22] And he, like, he called me on my BS and he was like, you don't have an office? We'll set up an office in, in my house for you. Like, you know, you don't have a space to pour your candles? Let's go figure it out. So it was really great. The transition after that was really Rocky. And just to plug the business babes mastermind, I feel like I, going into this full time, had very low confidence and I didn't think that I could do it even though I had been doing it for three years at that point, or I guess like two, two years at that point?
[00:10:56] And coming into the mastermind, I remember talking to you Danielle [00:11:00] and doing sort of like a intro call with you, and it just made me feel really safe. And the girls in that community built me up when I was feeling down and really helped me stay motivated in times where I was feeling low and didn't think that I could do it. And here we are three and a half years later, I've been doing, I've been fully self-employed for three and a half years, and that's wild to me because I never thought in my life that that would be something that I would even consider doing. So it's pretty cool to be here.
[00:11:28] Danielle: So, so awesome, caylen. And I just, I love, I, I find it so interesting too, when you talk to entrepreneurs and, you know, you've been able to accomplish so much in your business and, you know, your business has seen some really exciting, you know, strides in the last couple of years, which we can get into, but, you know, from the outside looking in, I think it's so easy to just assume that you've always been someone who wanted to run their business full time and who felt confident to do it and felt equipped, and, you know, you [00:12:00] had this vision of like what you wanted to create. And a lot of times entrepreneurship isn't really that it's kind of like we fall into it. We don't really know what's going on.
[00:12:09] We're sort of in the dark. We're like figuring it out along the way. I guess one of the questions that I have for you as you're talking and kind of like that transition phase, is there anything that you feel like, you know, now that you wish you would've known in those years, just like burning out and everything. Is there anything that either you wish you could tell yourself now or anything that you would've potentially done differently?
[00:12:30] Caylen: To be honest, I, as crazy as this sounds, I would not do a single thing differently because, number one, I think doing those 50 markets in that first year, I met the most amazing customers and I was able to have face to face with them.
[00:12:45] And I single handedly believe that it's the reason that my business is still here today. And the I single handedly believe that it's the reason that we were able to survive the pandemic, is just creating those relationships. And also I think that if I didn't burn out so badly, [00:13:00] I wouldn't have learned how to shift and, and actually be a healthy business owner with a healthy mindset, healthier mindset, because let's face it, I'm not perfect. And I still sometimes fall into the trap of burnout and hustle culture and all of that stuff. But you know, it's a, it's a work in progress, but if I didn't have those lessons, I think that I would probably be in a much worse place now with a different mindset.
[00:13:26] Danielle: So interesting how sometimes we need to like, experience it. To be able to like learn from it and
[00:13:33] Caylen: A hundred percent.
[00:13:34] Danielle: Cause I can totally relate to that. Having those times where you just burn out so bad. And then I think a big thing for me is like knowing the signs and knowing like, okay, I'm heading into this, like I'm, I'm not sleeping well, I. I'm feeling irritable. I don't feel inspired anymore. Like all of those kind of signs.
[00:13:53] So what advice would you give to someone who's, who's kind of trying to avoid that and wants, like, what are some of the things that [00:14:00] you've implemented now where maybe you didn't allow yourself to in the first few years of your business, but now like you've implemented to keep yourself somewhat like, I know you said it's not perfect and it's never going to be, but so that you can keep yourself like a healthy person, but then also totally run a thriving business. Cause I think sometimes we think we have to choose one or the other.
[00:14:22] Caylen: Totally, honestly, I think the biggest thing would be, I think just women in general, people in general, but more specifically women because we tend to be caretakers and we tend to put ourselves last. I think that having a mindset of putting yourself first in terms of self care, investing in yourself is a huge number. One thing that I would recommend if it's working, going to talk to a counselor to deal with figuring out why you have anxiety, like those kinds of things, it's really focusing on on self care first.
[00:14:53] And like you said, Danielle, it's honestly knowing yourself and recognizing the signs of when you might be slipping [00:15:00] into burnout or catching yourself right before you go down that slippery slope. I think that's probably one of the biggest things because, there's so much power in knowing when you're on that edge, because you can catch yourself and you can take moments out to be like, no, no really set strict boundaries with yourself to invest in yourself and take moments out, go for walks, start your days differently.
[00:15:23] Just really, I know when I'm stressed out and I've got sort of like that anxiety and burnout starts to creep in, I get monkey brain where it's like, I have very cyclical thinking like thinking the same thing over and over and over, and it just drains my energy. And that for me is like a massive warning sign when I need to take a break and just kind of step back and be like, okay, regroup. Let's refocus.
[00:15:44] And then also something else I think too is to really be clear and strict with yourself on the hours that you work. A great thing about being an entrepreneur is that you can literally work like any time that you want within like, the days, you know, you can take [00:16:00] days off, you can work longer days, shorter days, whatever you want.
[00:16:02] But I think that as long as you're not, the hours that you are working are very efficient. If you only have energy for that day to do five hours of efficient work, but you force yourself to do 10, what you're doing is you're really just depleting yourself for that additional five hours that you're not really being efficient in the work that you're doing. So I think being aware of that and just noticing, that is, there's so much power in that as well.
[00:16:28] Danielle: Yeah. I, so I, that's such a good point because I remember like, when I first started full time doing my business and just being like, okay, I can like work my business whenever and as many hours as I want. And it was just, I was so excited about that.
[00:16:45] But then what you realize is that yeah, you can work like a 12 hour day, but really, like you said, like you're. Gonna actually be productive all 12 hours of that day. And what I realize now, especially, you know, after having Rosie, and [00:17:00] having such a small amount of time to actually work is, I'm so much more productive in the time that I do work, because I know I need to get that stuff done.
[00:17:08] So you're so much more efficient. So it's, I love that you mentioned that because I think it's so key for so many people is, recognize what are you working on? What are you doing? Are you going to post on social media? But then hours go by and , you're just in some random scroll, you know, it's important to actually figure out what are you actually working on?
[00:17:29] Are you being productive? Are you working on the things that actually make a difference for you and your business? So thank you for bringing that up, cuz I think that's such a huge thing for all of us as entrepreneurs. So another thing that I wanna ask you is about collaborations and connecting with other business owners.
[00:17:46] You've done a lot of collaborations with canvas, whether it be other product based businesses or service based entrepreneurs, influencers, that type of things. Can you kind of share, first of all, what made you want to [00:18:00] connect and work with other creators or other entrepreneurs? And then also, where does someone start if they're like, oh, I would love to do a collaboration or I would love to work with someone else, but they don't really know kind of where to start. What would you suggest for them?
[00:18:13] Caylen: Well, for me, like one of my hugest passions in business, and one of the things that I'm the most grateful for is that we have this incredible community of other small business owners. I was gonna say women led business owners, but there's also a bunch of male owned, incredible business, businesses in the lower mainland, more specifically, I'm gonna talk about. But for me it was really just like, there is a lot of loneliness in entrepreneurship.
[00:18:39] When you're first starting out, you don't have a team, you don't have a lot of support and it's really hard to find people within your life that can relate to what you're going through as an entrepreneur if they also don't have entre entrepreneurial background. So for me, a lot of my collaborations started out most often on like Instagram DM conversations where I'm reaching [00:19:00] out and talking to like another brand and just being like, Hey, I'm going through this, can you relate? Or like vice versa.
[00:19:05] So generally they have started off in really like organic conversations. And I also have reached out to a bunch of brands that I really respect the way that they run their business or the quality of their product or their mission, that kind of thing. I just really seek out brands that I feel aligns with us. Like, for us, self care is a huge thing within our brand because candles can help you create space to recognize yourself, make your space more comfortable for you to be in, have celebrations with other people, like if you're entertaining. So I really try to align with other brands that sort of like have that same culture.
[00:19:40] And I would say honestly, People are just starting out with collaborations, be vulnerable. It is so scary. Like, rejection is scary, especially when you're an entrepreneur and every single thing that you do when you first start out, feels like it's all or nothing.
[00:19:54] When you first start out, you put so well, I did anyways, put so much pressure on myself and it felt [00:20:00] like every little tiny thing that I did, if I did it wrong, if I failed, that was it. My business is over and done. And I look back now and I'm like, that was ridiculous and that was such an awful expectation to put onto myself in so much pressure. That's just not realistic for any factor in life, but I, I would just say like, Take your shot, reach out to people who you are scared to reach out to. Like if you don't feel a little bit nervous doing something, then it's probably not worth your while. And you're not challenging yourself enough. I feel like that's a quote from you, Danielle like you said that to me a few times.
[00:20:33] Danielle: Well, it's so, but it's so funny because I, I think it's so true as far as entrepreneurship, like we just feel like, and also what we see, so when we are following people on social media or wherever we're following them, or we're on their email list, we see these things and we see the collaborations happening.
[00:20:52] And we just assume that that just happened super organically or that someone just asked this one person and they [00:21:00] said, yes, and it all happened. But often, a lot of the times as collaborations, not only is it something where like me, you don't know, like maybe that person has been connecting with them for years, and then finally this like collaboration is happening and they've been like building that connection, building that relationship over time.
[00:21:19] Caylen: 100%.
[00:21:21] Danielle: Yeah. I've experienced this. So much with our events or with different things where we've wanted to work with someone or wanted to have a speaker or whatever that was. And we've, we've gotten nos, we've gotten not right nows. We've gotten complete people, ghosting us, everyone has rejection. And I think it's important to recognize that no matter what, in business you're gonna have rejection.
[00:21:44] And I think if you can just realize that early on and just realize that the more that you put yourself out there, like you're saying Caylen and you know, the scarier actions that you're gonna take, the more you're gonna get rejected, but then the more yeses you're gonna have as [00:22:00] well, cause
[00:22:01] Caylen: 100%, 100%. And like you meet a really good point on Instagram, a lot of the times it's people's highlight reels. Like you're only seeing things that people want you to see, which is 99% of the time, success. And there's so much failure that goes behind every single success and every single time that you fail, there's vulerability in that and it just makes you stronger. And it just makes rejection, in this case, feel a little less painful each time. Right?
[00:22:30] So I don't know. I have a really hard time being on social media because you fall into the comparison game and, I've gotten a lot better with it, but I know when, when I first started out, I, I would look at what other brands were doing, not just within the candle space, but like just other brands in general and be like, oh man, like I could never do that.
[00:22:50] And it's kind of just like, But I am doing it in my own way, within my own brand. And there's other people that are probably looking at me, being like, oh, I can't do [00:23:00] that. But realistically, on the other side, I'm looking at someone else saying the exact same thing. Yeah. So it's really this trickle down effect.
[00:23:05] But what we all individually are doing is the same thing to get to the results that we want. Right? So, so really, it doesn't matter if someone, for example, like collaborates with a brand or an influencer that you wanna do, like you'll get there eventually just don't give.
[00:23:20] Danielle: Mm-hmm . Yeah. I love that. And I, I love kind of switching the perspective and definitely, I mean, we're, we're all human, so this is, there's no shame in it because we we've all experienced it. We've all compared ourselves. We've all gotten down on ourselves for certain things. And I think if we can just realize that our journey is our journey and there's specific things that we're gonna get to do that other people aren't and vice versa and that's totally okay.
[00:23:44] And I've, I feel like I've had this conversation quite a bit lately, especially is figuring out, like, what is your version of what success looks like to you? Yes. Right? Because your version of success is gonna maybe look different than other people's. Maybe you wanna [00:24:00] have this massive, huge team and, and then someone else it's like, I just, you know, I just wanna be a, solo entrepreneur. I just wanna do my own thing by myself or have contractors maybe, but everyone has a different version of like what success looks like to them.
[00:24:15] Caylen: For sure.
[00:24:16] Danielle: Some people it's traveling, some people it's flexibility, some people it's making lots of money. like, I don't know. Everyone's different. I think it's so good to just recognize that looking at other people and just comparing your journey is, is kind of pointless because then you are missing out on like the good that's happening in your own business and your own life.
[00:24:35] Caylen: Yes. Exactly. Yeah. And celebrating the wins. Like every win, like the smallest, tiniest little wins is so important and it's how you stay excited about your business and it's how you stay in love with it. Right.
[00:24:47] Danielle: Mm-hmm yeah. So let's talk a little bit about some wins that you've had. So tell us a little bit about, because the journey of doing candles in your home. You know, doing it for friends and family, then [00:25:00] growing this business, like, what has that looked like? And now you're in a different, you're not at home doing cameras in your kitchen anymore. So tell us, like, what does that journey look like to where you have gone today and what are some of the wins that you've been able to experience along the way?
[00:25:14] Caylen: Yeah, for sure. Oh my gosh. I feel like I'm such a win celebrator that it's hard to like really break it down into different wins, but I don't know. Like, I honestly feel like everything about my journey with canvas has just been one of those things that was meant to happen for me and I'm really big on visualization, and I feel like a lot of the times, like I'll put a lot of energy into visualizing where I want the brand to be. More specifically like what I want our company culture to feel like and what I want our customers to experience when using our product and, and that kind of thing.
[00:25:49] And I, I wanna say that that has helped me a lot in achieving some of the things that, that we have achieved. When I left, when I moved on from being in my [00:26:00] kitchen, pouring the candles, I rented a room that was like not even 200 square feet from the kindest man in the world. His name is Chris. He owns west coast flying trapeez. It was literally a room in a circus school and
[00:26:14] Danielle: I love it. I love that.
[00:26:15] Caylen: I was there for two years, two and a half years, maybe three. We left there in August of 2020. We moved into our, I was gonna say new space, our Coquitlam space in September 2020, right in the middle of a pandemic. I was so scared because I went from paying $300 a month in rent for a room to having 1400 square feet paying $2,000 in rent a month during a pandemic.
[00:26:42] It was the scariest thing that I've ever done. I remember, my sister works in real estate and I called her, I was bawling and I was just like, I can't do this. Like, I don't know what to do. She's like, you already know it's gonna work out. Do you need me to tell you that it's gonna work out? Or what do you need here? Do you just need to cry? I was like, I don't know. I'm scared.
[00:26:59] So that was a huge [00:27:00] win for us. Moving into a studio space where we had a warehouse. We could have like a shipping area. I could have my own office. Everything was all in one space. I wasn't driving between my home office, the studio, where we did the pouring and then a storage locker where we did all of our shipping.
[00:27:14] So everything was in one space. That was a massive win for me. And then, in 2021, we had the opportunity to be in the winter Jilly box, which was another huge opportunity. A girlfriend of mine, Sierra from Virtual studio actually connected me with them, and that's how that kind of happened and, and worked out for us.
[00:27:34] So shout out Sierra, thank you so much for that connection, but that was wild. That was the largest order that we have ever poured to date. It was 15,000 candles. It took our team, I should rephrase. So, our team was me and one other person, Heather, who was working part-time when we got Jilly box, we went from a team of Heather and I to [00:28:00] a team of seven people to produce that. It took us, from start to finish, three months.
[00:28:04] And then a lot of those team members that joined us just stayed on for the holiday season. So that was a pretty big win for us being in jelly box, getting into 15,000 homes, having that exposure. And yeah, to be honest, it still feels surreal to me that that was an opportunity that we got to have. And I don't, it's months later now, like it's six months later. And I don't think I've fully grasped the fact that that happened because it was such a whirlwind like that in itself was such a massive win for our company. But at the same time, we were dealing with so much supply chain issues and everything like that.
[00:28:39] So I think another massive win that I actually, as I'm saying, this have realized that I haven't celebrated yet, is that we made it through the pandemic.
[00:28:48] Danielle: Yes.
[00:28:49] Caylen: And we had some growth during the pandemic, which is so insane. Yeah. Wow.
[00:28:54] Danielle: Yeah. It's so huge.
[00:28:56] Caylen: Yeah, it's so crazy. And to be honest, like [00:29:00] one of my biggest wins is the team that I have right now. We've got Adrian, who's our marketing manager who is literally an angel on earth. We've got Heather, who's our operations manager who is so on it, so organized. She's basically everything I'm not on the operation side. So that's really good. She keeps us like driving forward. She keeps me me on track, which is awesome.
[00:29:22] And then we've got Brooklyn, Angela and Juliana who work in production and they're literally like the dream team. They're so fast, so efficient, everything that they do is to the highest level that they can do it. And I'm so proud of them for the customer service that they provide our customers and the way that they deal and the grace that they bring to dealing with like tough and difficult situations that arise in any business. For me, that is like a massive win that I get to come to work every day and work with a team. That's just so awesome.
[00:29:54] Danielle: That's so amazing. Caylen. And, okay. So tell us how that has felt [00:30:00] to give up some control of your business as you started to like grow and scale your team. And it's so cool to hear all those different steps, cuz I'm like, yeah, you were in the Mastermind talking about these things that happened. And it's so cool for you to now be kind of like on that other side of that crazy thing, you also forgot to mention your new space.
[00:30:18] Caylen: Oh, yeah. Oh my gosh. That's such a huge win!
[00:30:20] Danielle: Before we move on,
[00:30:22] Caylen: honestly, it's been so like, go, go, go that I, I honestly don't think I've even had time to sit down and be like, wow, we've done a lot in the last six months of, of this company. Yeah. So in. January of this year, 2022, we got possession of our new studio space. So we actually have warehouse space, which is amazing. So we can store all of our glass. We've got proper area to do shipping and production. We have actual offices in our last space. It was myself, Adrian and Heather sharing a 10 by 10 office, a hundred square feet. There was three of us working out of there and wow. It feels [00:31:00] so good to have my own office and like the girls have their own office. And then also we have a showroom now, too, which is so exciting. We are open limited hours, but it's open to the public. People can come shop with us.
[00:31:11] It's open to our retailers and then it's also gonna be a flex space. Which just is something that we're hoping to roll out this summer, but we're gonna be hosting some candle making classes and really be ramping up like the custom side of our business as well in allowing us to work more with like brides, events, corporate, that kind of thing with doing more branded candles for other companies.
[00:31:34] Danielle: Ah, that's so exciting. Yeah. I love it. Oh my goodness. So many wins and I love, love, love hearing all of those. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So jumping back in to, as you've kind of grown and, and scaled over this past few years, like giving up that control and sort of stepping into more of a CEO role of the business, what have been some of the hard parts about that, the great parts about that? How have you had to grow [00:32:00] as a leader or as an entrepreneur in order to be able to like, let those people actually run with their roles and not have to control every little piece of it?
[00:32:09] Caylen: Oh my gosh. This has been such a difficult piece for me. Not, okay, honestly, not the control piece. I feel like I am, I don't deal well with micromanagement like myself personally. So I knew going into this, I never wanted to be a micromanager to the point where I almost am too hands off. And sometimes I've realized that I just like assume people should know what I mean, or I don't wanna feel like a burden to them while I'm like hovering or anything like that.
[00:32:39] So I feel like the issue for me has actually been lack of communication and lack of direction, which is crazy to me because it's not until you start training someone that you actually realize how much information is in your brain that you just know. But when you go to communicate that to someone else or like teach someone exactly what you mean, you're just like, [00:33:00] oh my gosh, I just casually know how to do this, but I've realized that because I know how to do it, I need to communicate and teach other people how to do it.
[00:33:08] So for me, that's been like the largest challenge that I've had so far is my communication. It's like over communicating instead of under communicating and assuming that people know what I mean.
[00:33:19] Danielle: yeah. Um, I can still relate to that, Caylen, because I feel like I'm the same way. Like I just assume like, oh yeah, this person will know what to do. Or like, they'll just, they'll just know to do this. Even though I have not told them to do that. Like, you know, just things like that. It's like, oh, they could just read my mind. It's like, no.
[00:33:37] Caylen: Yeah. And then like when there's miscommunications that happen, I'm just, I'll get frustrated. But not with them. It's like, I'll get frustrated with myself because I'm like that happened because I didn't communicate clearly enough.
[00:33:48] Danielle: Right. Totally.
[00:33:48] Caylen: And then, and then I'll just be like, oh, like, why do I do this? You know? But yeah, so that, for me, that has honestly been the, the largest challenge. It's been really different with different roles. Like for [00:34:00] example, when Heather came on board, she started just as a production assistant and then eventually she moved up into being, she's now our operations manager. And for me, I wanna say that probably has been like the biggest, the hardest role in the company to let go of for me, because I started off doing that.
[00:34:18] And like, now Heather's the point where if we've got custom orders, she can pour fragrances and blend fragrances and create custom fragrances for people. And I can be totally hands off on that. And sometimes it's, it's a weird mental thing for me, because on one hand it makes me feel a little bit disconnected, but at the same time, it gives me the freedom to work on the pieces of the business that bring me the most joy and where I'm, where my time is best spent currently where the business is right now.
[00:34:46] So that piece has been a little tricky. . But when we brought Adrian, on who's our marketing manager, I literally was like, take everything. I don't want any of it here. I know, I know, you know what you're doing. Just like take it all. I let's just touch base on [00:35:00] high level stuff. And she pretty much, she came in literally the, she started the week that we were shipping Jilly box and I was like, Hey, here's your little tiny desk that was in our 10 by 10 office where that you're sharing with two other people.
[00:35:14] And I can't really talk to you this week because we're shipping out the largest order that we've ever done. So here's the link to the Dropbox. Here's our logos. I'll talk to you in a week.
[00:35:24] Danielle: that's awesome. Awesome.
[00:35:25] Caylen: And I like gave her the heads up when she came in. I was like, Hey, um, I don't want you to think that we are like this big company and you're gonna come in and you're gonna have your own office. I'm like, we all wear Lulu lemons to work. We all wear runners. Yeah. Do not dress up. I didn't know Adrian well enough at the time to know, to tell her not to dress up. She just dresses up every day and wears like bright lipstick. And like, that's just who she's as a person. So I remember she came to work the first day and she was like wearing heels and like, she's got like a cute casual business suit.
[00:35:53] And I was like, oh, wait until I take her upstairs. And she sees her 10 by 10 office in her tiny little Ikea [00:36:00] desk that she was working from. I was like, oh man. And she just like, she brought her a box and put it down on the desk and was like, cool. What can I get started on? Like did not even phase her. I was like, thank God for you.
[00:36:10] Danielle: Oh, I love that. That's so cool. And I remember that. I remember you saying, yeah, like so excited to have her start and everything. And then she just seemed to like, just Go for it right away. I remember seeing like consistent reels and stories and all of the things and yeah, it's so cool. Just to see, and I love that you knew yourself well enough to be like, I don't need to have this marketing piece. Go for it and run with it.
[00:36:38] Letting someone that is really passionate about that and does know what they're doing to kind of run with it and find their groove. So. That's awesome.
[00:36:45] Caylen: Totally. Yeah. I find that like the areas that I'm, that I have the most insecurities within myself, I think because marketing, it was my background for so long and that's what my education and everything is in. I was easy to let that go because I could, [00:37:00] I'm confident that if there's adjustments or corrections or whatever that need to be made, then I could like guide Adrian on that. But on the operation side, I don't have any formal training in operations. I don't have formal training on how to run a business.
[00:37:13] So that for me is the side that I'm really insecure on. So I tend to be a little bit more, not micromanaging because I, I hate, I hate that, but I definitely tend to be a little bit more insecure in that area of the business for sure.
[00:37:27] Danielle: Yeah. Yeah. Oh, that's so cool. I love, I love just hearing about the growth and just challenges that comes with that, but then also, yeah, you being able to step into this new role where now, like you are in charge of growth and, you know
[00:37:42] Caylen: yeah.
[00:37:42] Danielle: Connections and collaborations and connecting with other business owners, which is like what you love. Right. So, So cool and such an exciting time to be in, I think, for, for you and your business. So it's so great.
[00:37:55] Caylen: Yeah. It's very, very exciting.
[00:37:57] Danielle: Yeah. I love it. Okay. What has been [00:38:00] one of the biggest, I guess, lessons that you've had to learn in growing your business and what encouragement would you give for people who are in that kind of starting phase or that messy phase of like their first few years in business and just feeling like man, they're putting in the work, but they might not see the end picture or they might, you know, have doubt whether is this gonna work? Is this gonna happen for me? Like what advice would you give to someone who's in that season?
[00:38:28] Caylen: Totally. So I would say definitely the best advice that I could give is look at your business in different seasons. So like when you first start out, you've gotta get your foundations out, like really strongly. So your branding, your messaging, your core connections of your community, everything like that, like collaboration is so huge within that, that first little area.
[00:38:52] And then you're probably gonna find yourself in an area where you're discovering your brand. You're figuring out what works for you, what doesn't work for you. And then once you [00:39:00] figure out what does work, then you like move into scaling the business. Scaling your business is 10 times harder than you ever think that it will be.
[00:39:08] And no one really talks about it. Like for me, I'm in the, the scaling part of my business and we're really growing and it's been really hard to find people to talk to about it that are open and honest and willing to have a conversation about it. So, I mean, just be prepared to look at your business in different stages, and you're not always gonna be in that stage and you're gonna be constantly learning.
[00:39:31] That never stops the learning piece of it never, ever, ever stops. So you really have to approach it with excitement. Otherwise it can be overwhelming to constantly have to learn something new. And then the other thing that I would definitely recommend for people, especially when you get to the scaling stage is have a very good understanding of cash flow.
[00:39:53] because it's so important. And no one really talks about that. Like when you're first starting out, I guess, you know what cash flow's [00:40:00] really important from the very beginning. If you have a solid understanding of that, and you're not pulling a significant money out of the business and you're investing back in and keeping it back in, honestly, I think that's gonna serve you really well for the future.
[00:40:13] And if you can show self-control in that area, then it's definitely worth it. I started canvas with $500 and I've, I've never put more money into it, aside from what the business has generated, because for the first three and a half years, I didn't take a single penny out when I was working full time. So yeah, I think that served me really well.
[00:40:33] Danielle: That's a good thing to, to talk about too, is that often, you know, your business isn't necessarily generating a profit until the first few years, because you're reinvesting that money into more things to have the business grow more long term. So it's also, you know, thinking of your business, are you thinking of it in short term of like how much money could just make quickly from this?
[00:40:56] Or are you looking at it of long term, [00:41:00] you know, the next five or 10 years? What can I build? That's gonna be sustainable long term as you continue to grow. So I love that you touched on that. Thank you so much. My last question for you, Caylen, you've been able to accomplish so much in your business and it's just been so encouraging to see you grow and just to hear all the different lessons. What are you most proud of, of your entrepreneurial journey so far?
[00:41:22] Caylen: I think I am the most proud that I haven't given up. there have been so many times where I've come so close and so many situations where I have just wanted to tap out or be like I'm selling the business or, or whatever, but, um, honestly I'm the most proud of, I think the resiliency in, resiliency, is that a word? Resilience that I have shown that I've shown myself in growing the business because it can be really, really, really hard sometimes.
[00:41:53] And I'm grateful for the team that I get to work with every day, cuz they like see those ups and downs and they come along for the ride with me and they [00:42:00] trust in me that, you know, we'll always get through it. And a lot of the time they talk me through it, which is awesome. And then just also, yeah, creating a really solid network of people for support.
[00:42:10] Like for me, the business babes mastermind has been that. And like, you know, you guys, you know, Danielle I have cried a lot. You guys have talked me off quite a few ledges over the years, but yeah, just not giving up. I think that it's so easy to give up when you doubt yourself. And if you push through, it feels so good when you do have those wins, they just feel 10 times better.
[00:42:29] Danielle: Well, and it's so like it's sometimes you need someone to share with you or remind you like what you've already accomplished, because it's so easy to get caught. In this rut of all the things that are going wrong and then you just need other people. And that's why like, I'm so passionate about community is have other people around you who can remind you, like all the things that you've accomplished and all the things that you've done.
[00:42:53] That's so beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing. Can you tell people how they can connect with you, how they can buy your gorgeous candles [00:43:00] and yeah. Anything else that you wanna share before we end off?
[00:43:04] Caylen: Yeah, for sure. We are on Instagram at canvas candle co our website is canvas candle, co.com. We actually just launched bundles. So we've put together bundles of some of our best sellers, sort of like new product bundles, everything like that. And they're at a pretty good discount. Yeah. If you wanted to go check that out, I think we also did a promo code as well for
[00:43:30] Danielle: yes.
[00:43:30] Caylen: 20% off.
[00:43:32] Danielle: You did. I'm gonna go check right now just to make sure.
[00:43:36] Caylen: Yeah.
[00:43:36] Danielle: Okay. So BUSINESSBABES, all caps. 20% off that is so generous.
[00:43:43] Caylen: Yeah. So if you guys wanna use that promo code, feel free to use it at the website. We also have our showroom open. We're located in the Port Kells area of the Surry Langley border. And our showroom's open from Monday to Thursday, 10 to four right now. And then as we get into the winter [00:44:00] season, we'll probably be opening up some weekends as well.
[00:44:02] Danielle: Love it. Thank you so much Caylen, it has been so great to chat with you, get to know more about your journey. And I know so many things that you shared are things that people are either going through or gonna go through in their journey. So thank you so much for sharing so authentically and thanks for being on the podcast. We'll see you soon.
[00:44:20] Caylen: Of course. Thank you so much for having me, Dani, this like means so much to me and I've loved watching you grow and I love the podcast. So it means a lot that you had me on.
[00:44:29] Danielle: Oh, thanks, Caylen. And yeah, if you wanna check out anything to do with Caylen's candles, connect with her, we'll put all the links in the show notes as well. So we'll see you on the next episode.
[00:44:43] If you love this episode, make sure you screenshot, post and tag us on Instagram @businessbabesco . Want to know when the next episode goes live? Subscribe on your podcast app, and while you're there, leave us a review! Until next time, keep dreaming big, setting goals and taking action.[00:45:00]