Meet Shannan Hunt | Candle Enthusiast & Entrepreneur

We had the good fortune of connecting with Shannan Hunt and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Shannan, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Starting out as a young adult, I’ve always known that I wanted my own business but I didn’t know how to go about it. It wasn’t until I had my daughter that I realized that I actually needed to make it happen. Looking back, I thought about how I was working for others and assisting in bringing in profit for them. This wasn’t the best way for us. It took a great chunk of time each day and week away from what matters to me the most, which is my child and spending time with her. Processing these thoughts showed me I was capable of building a legacy for myself and my future children. I knew that it wouldn’t be an easy task but It would be worth it in the future. After deciding, I was going to follow my dreams I started looking for things I would be good at. I started out with multi-level marketing which I soon found out wasn’t the route I wanted to go. I wanted to do something that I could call my own. Little did I know our candle hobby, that was just to keep us busy would be just the thing that brings joy to us both and become our business.

What should our readers know about your business?
At Calming Rains Candle Co. we aim to aid in providing welcoming environments by the products we offer. What sets us apart is that we offer Natural soy candles that expels little to no soot. We use eco friendly fragrance oils that will help stimulate the senses. Our focus is our customers and bringing them scents they love.

What helped us get to where we are today is testing. We tested a lot of fragrances and candle formulas on friends and family. Starting a business is never easy. We believe staying focused, creating goals and having faith, with works, will help you succeed in anything that you want to create.

Along the way I’ve learned lessons. The most important one is to never let doubt set in. If you doubt yourself you are allowing yourself to be talked out of what you set forth to accomplish.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
The Ponce City Market is a must go for myself and friends. With all the different shops, restaurants and the roof top amusement park its a pleasant experience. The crowd is so diverse and you are going to meet a least one new person each time you go. I would recommend checking out The Tap at Ponce and roof top of course!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
There’re are so many who deserve credit and recognition in our story. Starting off, my mother Darian. My mother has supported each and every idea I’ve had and has encouraged me to make the ideas a reality. Without her support I wouldn’t have gotten this far. Without her I would not have taken any risks and I would have settled for safe.

Secondly, Dennis & Santoshia Oggs, The first Black Entrepreneurs I worked for as a teen in high school. They opened my eyes to entrepreneurship and ownership. They made it a real attainable concept in my life. The skills and experience, as well as the example they have set for me to follow paved a path for me.

Lastly, my community in Jonesboro, Ga. Each year we attend the Juneteenth celebrations as vendors at our local park. Our community is so strong and supportive they shows up and shows out for one another. It’s a blessing to have the support of the community.

Website: www.CalmingRains.com

Instagram: Instagram.com/CalmingRainsCandle

Other: TikTok: @CalmingRainsCandle

Image Credits
Earl Hodge of EvisualWorks