
Attending a candle making class years ago sparked a light inside of Shauna. The process of learning how to craft non-toxic, earth-friendly candles gave the Orangeburg, South Carolina native the confidence to pursue a business in handmade home goods.
“I was coming out of a rough period and the candle making encouraged me to believe in myself again,” she said. “As I took time to learn and perfect my craft, I also started rediscovering the part of myself that was confident.”
Shauna’s business, Wicks+ Scents, was awarded $30,000 from our statewide LEAP cohort, which took place in the second half of 2020. LEAP, short for the Local Entrepreneur Acceleration Program, supports diversity in small business ownership across South Carolina by providing minority and women entrepreneurs with business plan development support, technical skills, and the chance to compete for a startup capital award. Find out more about LEAP.
Wicks + Scents sells handcrafted home goods and personal care products. With the award money Shauna will continue to expand her women-owned business with the goal to one day take the leap into full-time entrepreneurship.
“As my business grows, I also want to be able to at some point have a warehouse to do some type of production in [Orangeburg] county so that I can hire a small team of people to help with that,” she said.