June 10, 2024 • 34 mins
In this week's episode, we connect with Nsimire Godman, Founder of Raha Copenhagen. This Denmark-based creative shares how a humble background in Rwanda and a spark of creativity during the pandemic led her to create inclusive, aesthetically pleasing soy wax candles. Listen as Nsimire recounts her year-long journey of mastering the craft, overcoming challenges, and discovering a niche market in the Danish capital, Copenhagen.
As we know, entrepreneurship is best done with support and community, and Nsimire's beautiful journey to starting and running a business, is a good illustration of this. Her mother's financial savvy, her husband's business operations expertise and her mother in-law's artistic input have all been instrumental in turning her passion into a flourishing small-batch production company. Nsimire also shares how she also surrounds herself with allies and strives to create inclusive spaces for others who might not enjoy the same support she does.
Nsimire also shares that her soy wax candle business is sustainable by design - from reusing materials to keep her business eco-friendly to sourcing materials from eco-friendly suppliers and only making products to order....
As always, this conversation is Shades and Layers' style - lots of candor and humor.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (00:04):
Hello and welcome to Shades and Layers
.
I'm your Kutloano SkosanaRicci.
Today, my guest is NsimireGodman, F founder of Raha C
Kopenhagen.
Her small batch productioncompany offers her customers
inclusive and aestheticallypleasing soy wax candles for the
home.
Nsimire is based in the capitalcity of Denmark, where she also
(00:26):
runs her travel and fashionYouTube channel and Instagram
page called Flights and Fabrics.
Her love for sharing all thingscreative, coupled with a
pandemic-era hobby as well asmandated sick leave, led to
founding of Raha Copenhagen.
She envisions the brand assomething that will move beyond
(00:47):
lifestyle and include wellnessand self-care.
In our discussion, she talksabout why wellness is such an
important tenet in thefoundation of her brand.
She also shares her journeyfrom Rwanda to Kenya, to
Copenhagen.
Here is Nsimire's story.
Nsimire Godman (01:08):
My name is Nsimire Godman, that's my new
name , and I am the founder ofRaha Copenhagen, which is a
candle business where I producecandles in my own home.
For now, at least, I call themvery special candles because
(01:35):
they are made of soy wax, whichis much different to paraffin,
which is the product we use onall kinds of candles.
So that's basically what I do
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (01:39):
.
So before we get into thespecifics, let's talk about how
you came to this work and howyou would describe it
Nsimire Godman (01:48):
yeah, it's a funny story and I think we've
we've touched upon it earlier on.
I love candles, I've always beeninto candles.
I I feel like they give acertain mood, they give a
certain calm environment aroundyou.
But I go way back with candlesand it's like from humble
(02:08):
beginnings, where I come fromRwanda originally and my family.
There was a point in our liveswhere we weren't privileged in
terms of our economics, sosometimes we won't have enough
money to pay off our electricitybills, so we will use candles.
So there have always been athing in my life that I have
(02:31):
around the house.
Um, call it a trauma, whatever,but you, I just need a candle
in my house just in caseelectricity.
And as I grew older I figured,well, you can use candles
positively rather than anecessary thing to have in your
house.
So I tapped into that because Ilove having, as I said, I love
(02:56):
having a healthy environment anddoing things that makes me
happy and feels therapeutic.
Makes me happy and feelstherapeutic.
So I started, just you know,collecting candles and one day,
out of nowhere, I saw thesecandles that were molded
differently than normal candlesthat we buy in the supermarket
or the grocery stores, and I washooked and I was like okay, so
(03:22):
what is this exactly?
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (03:24):
What did it?
look like.
Nsimire Godman (03:26):
It was like a bubble candle made in like this.
Do you know these?
What do you call them?
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (03:35):
Oh, rubik's Cube, yeah, rubik's Cube
.
Nsimire Godman (03:38):
So I was like this is interesting.
And then, the more I went intothat rabbit hole of candles, I
found out that there is a wholeworld of different shaped
candles.
You do not always have to buythose you know typical candles
see everywhere.
And then I've I realized, oh,hold on a second, these candles,
(04:00):
I have to order them fromanother country, which will take
forever.
So what I did was just to startresearching on how can I get
these candles.
And then I did my research andone day I was at a flea market
and then there was this lady whowas selling these candles.
(04:22):
All of a sudden I feel like theuniverse was telling me yay,
you've got what you wanted.
And then I bought one of them.
And then she told me about howshe produced these candles and
how fun it is to produce candles.
And then I went home and Istarted trying myself to produce
candles, to have candles athome, and I got hooked on that,
(04:46):
even though the process was justterrible.
And then I used YouTube to justkind of guide me into how to
make a candle not just anycandle, but candles out of these
different shapes and molds.
And that's how it became athing for me to um, to tap into
that and, um, yeah, last story,yeah became a hobby, sure?
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (05:12):
and how long did it take you to, you
know, conceptualize what kind ofcandle you want to make, which
would be different from whatwhat was on offer on the market,
to actually starting to have aproduct that could be sold it
took me a long time.
Nsimire Godman (05:27):
I think I started I I.
It took me one year to tofinesse as I say like to make a
candle that was presentable.
Of course, I'll make candlesevery now and then, as you know,
a little gift for my friends,family and whatever.
But once I feel like I had agrip on on how to produce a
(05:49):
candle, I was like, okay, maybecould be fun to have to actually
right.
So these things that I amproducing, because I was so
proud of myself and my husbandwas very, very encouraging.
He was like you know, you canmake a business out of that.
And I was like I know nothingabout business, I'm just here
(06:12):
for my own hobbies.
But then the more you know Imake candles, the more you
search for knowledge and you'relike what kind of wax is
possible to get what's healthy?
What's healthy, what's good?
There's so many things to learnabout candle producing.
So, on my journey, once Ifigured out, okay, there is good
(06:37):
candles and there are badcandles in terms of your health,
in terms of your indoorenvironment, how, how you want
to use your candles it was like,oh, okay, maybe I can find a
market for this kind of product.
And since I live in denmark, um, it became much easier, very
(06:57):
quick, because first of all, welive in a small country, so the
choices will be very like narrow, uh, in terms of what kind of
candles I would like.
For example, I had seen thesebody-shaped candles in my skin
tone and I was very sure that Iwould never find them in Denmark
(07:19):
.
Completely sure that I wouldnever find them in.
Denmark, so that became Amotivating thing, Okay.
So I was like this is somethingthat looks very aesthetically
pleasing and I know people outthere who loves candles or loves
interior design.
They would love to havesomething that resemble their
personality or how they look.
So that was one factor that Iwrote down while writing that
(07:42):
like what should my brandrepresent?
Diversity, so far, so good.
So it started with these bodyshapes.
Yeah, I was like I want youknow everybody's talking, okay,
just to draw like somecomparison.
Everybody's talking aboutmakeup and how we struggle to
find the right color for everyshape color shades out there,
(08:07):
yeah, yeah yeah, that was thesame with my candles.
I was like I see it, I see it inthe US, I see it everywhere,
but it's not here in Scandinavia.
I'm not going to find a candlethat looks like me or my sister,
because my sister and I we havetwo different, you know, shade
of tones.
So that's where I was like,okay, okay, so I have these
(08:27):
ideas about how I want it tolook like, so let's go with that
.
And then the next thing I wentfor was the wax, because there
are so many different waxes outthere there are beeswax, there
are paraffin, there are soy.
I wanted something that wasrepresentative of the aesthetic
(08:48):
that I was going for.
I want something that looksvery aesthetically pleasing,
beautiful to look at.
And that was soy for me, andluckily because soy it's a
creamy kind of wax.
It gives this very air blushlook.
So I was like, okay, I gotsomething.
(09:08):
And the good thing about soyalso is that it's healthy.
It's from soy beans um sure,please.
It gives like a clean burn.
And that's where I also likeokay, I've got something,
because my mother-in-law she'sactually allergic to candles.
She cannot have candles thatare made of paraffin because
that disturbs her health issues.
(09:29):
So once I introduced her to soywax she was like, oh my god,
I've never heard of this.
This is I can have it in myhouse and it's cozy, I like it
so you solved a lot of problemswith this soy thing so once I
figured out that I wanted tomake some aesthetically pleasing
(09:50):
candles that are healthy foryour indoor environment and also
tap into the sustainable part,yeah, so I wanted to touch on
that because you have therepresentation element, but
there's more to talk about asfar as that goes.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (10:04):
But you know the sustainability element.
You know where does that landfor you and how does it manifest
in the way you, you produceyour product well the fact that
I live in scandinavia.
Nsimire Godman (10:17):
I feel like sustainability just comes easily
to us and we're very privilegedto have the resources to, you
know, have a sustainable life.
That doesn't mean that it'shighly costly, so it just comes
naturally to me to just havelike, if I can live a
sustainable life, of course I'mgoing to do that, so I wanted
(10:38):
that with my candles as well.
And how it manifests into mybusiness is I produce a very
limited amount, so I don't wantto waste anything.
I produce the the amount ofcandles that my customers order,
so I don't over produce.
I don't.
I don't have anything on my.
(10:59):
Do you call it uh?
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (11:00):
in your stock you don't have like, yeah,
my stock, yeah, yeah, so smallbatch to order productions.
Yeah, yeah, yeah and alsocandles.
Nsimire Godman (11:08):
I can remelt them just in case.
So it's like the sustainablepart is there again.
If I don't get to sell some ofmy candles or my customers are
unsatisfied with the productthat they received, I will
remelt these, you know, the wax,and then mold something to
their satisfaction.
So that way I'm sustainable.
(11:30):
And when it comes to how I, youknow I produce the candles, my
wicks, you know like, have to beeco-friendly.
They're made of like cotton andyeah, there's so many things
that I just are moreenvironmental friendly because,
yeah, it also taps into themodern day person who likes to
(11:54):
enjoy themselves.
So I have to think that in myproducing of candles as well.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (12:01):
Yeah, this is Shades and Layers.
My guest today is maker andfounder of Raha Kopenhagen,
nsimre Godman.
Her brand celebrates diversityand inclusion in the self-care
journey.
Her home-based soy candlemaking business focuses on
sustainability, impact andcommunity.
(12:22):
Up next, we hear all about that.
On her journey so far, have youactually run into any customer
problems so far?
Nsimire Godman (12:31):
yeah, um yeah, yeah that was the first time and
I was like, oh no, um, where Isent some candles and because
it's, you know, like the pastaoffice and you know these are
delicate, because they're likemodels, so they can be very
delicate in terms of like how doyou place them or how to hold
(12:53):
them, so they, they brokeactually on in in the process of
, uh, delivery so the customersreceived some broken candles and
I was like well, you know what,you keep them um or otherwise,
you can just send them.
I'll pay um for the shipment andthen I will remelt them for you
um in terms of some new ones.
(13:14):
So in that way I try to reallykeep my my sustainability in
check.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (13:20):
Yeah, yeah, uh, because also this um
packaging, right.
So, yeah, yeah, how how do youpackage your goods?
Nsimire Godman (13:28):
yeah, that's also like it's all recycling and
I don't know like I.
I'm so lucky to have peoplearound me who has been
entrepreneurs and in business indifferent areas.
My mother-in-law used to have abusiness.
She used to sew like small bagsand she will send them to her
(13:49):
customers.
So basically she has theseboxes that have been lying
around for forever and she don'tuse them for anything.
So we reuse them and send themto our customers.
And also boxes that I receivefrom ordering all kinds of stuff
, whether it's my supplies interms of waxes or wicks or
(14:10):
anything.
If they're reusable, I canreuse them and I do tell my
customers these are like reuseboxes and that's how they look.
They look very tarnished andeverything sometimes, but I make
sure that the the packaging isinside is very presentable, but
we you recycling boxes becausethat, like the, if you buy
(14:32):
something, it's not the box thatyou're going to keep around.
You throw it out, maybe.
So I make sure that now we canreuse it.
Yeah and maybe my customers aregoing to reuse it for something
else, so that in the packagingas well, I make sure that okay.
So how can we do this veryfriendly and it doesn't have to
look messy, but still make mycustomer aware of like these
(14:56):
boxes are not something that Ijust buy somewhere, but
something that has been usedelsewhere?
Oh, that's amazing.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (15:03):
That's really great.
Well, it actually sounds likeyou have quite the support
structure around you in terms ofgetting this business going.
So tell me more yourmother-in-law.
Apart from being allergic, shesounds like a great resource,
you know.
Nsimire Godman (15:19):
No, she is.
She's a very creative person.
She's like, naturally creative.
So she also helped me in termsof of.
We had, you know, flea markets.
People stumbled upon ourinstagram page and they would
ask like, hey, would you like tobe a part of a flea market?
Said yes, but I was like, okay,so we have to produce this
(15:42):
amount of candles and I am justa one-man kind of boutique, so
what are we going to do?
My mother-in-law was like, well, let me help you.
So she would produce in thedaytime, because she has so much
time on her hands in thedaytime, and I'll produce in the
evening.
So we had a little partnershipgoing on, and she sometimes also
(16:05):
comes with ideas, because sheused to make soap as well.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (16:08):
Like I said, she's a very creative.
Nsimire Godman (16:10):
So, like making creams and soaps, it's kind of
the same process as producingcandles.
So she gave me all these kindof ideas and she would say, well
, we'll talk in terms of likehow to do the next step.
One thing is watching a YouTubevideo and someone telling you
and the other thing is actuallytrying.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (16:30):
Yeah, absolutely, yeah, absolutely,
yeah.
So, and um, I know when we didthe pre-interview, you mentioned
that your husband also, um, hasbeen helpful he has.
Nsimire Godman (16:41):
He runs his own company.
So on that point I I used himto really help me with all kinds
of very practical stuff how tomake a business plan, how to
like all these practical stuff.
I, oh, I forgot to say I am asocial worker.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (16:59):
Yeah, yeah, yeah yeah.
Nsimire Godman (17:01):
So I've never touched anything that sounds
like business, anything that hasto do with business.
I just I've never been there,I've never been an entrepreneur,
so it was a new world for me.
I just knew that I had a hobbyand I was becoming good at it
and I'm still learning.
But I didn't.
I was like okay, so you justhave to sell this.
(17:22):
And he was like no, no, no, no,no, no.
You have to register yourcompany, you have to make sure
that you know, know all these,because there are so many rules
about selling something thatburns you know, Absolutely yeah.
Yeah, so we had to get all thesevouchers on like.
Uh, is it, you know, to make itlegal to legalize my company in
(17:44):
terms of like, using all kindsof liquid products, oils because
I use scents as well and has tobe environmental friendly in
terms of like, people, if theybuy my supply, you know if they
buy my products they're notgoing to get allergic reactions
and you know.
Just all these practical,boring stuff.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (18:03):
Yeah yeah, but that makes things run
smoothly, right and you're notrunning into unnecessary
problems yeah, yeah even though,like I, we I'm still learning,
and he, he too as well.
Nsimire Godman (18:16):
And my mom, my mom, used to run her own company
as well, so very surroundedwith yeah, that's great, that's
great.
Yeah, yeah, yeah so she's alwaysthe one who's like she keeps me
in check in terms like you haveto have, like somebody look at
your economy in terms of whatyou're getting in your income,
how much you use on yourproducts.
(18:37):
Like, does it?
You know all these mathematicalthings that I have absolutely
no idea of.
I'm getting a grip of it asmuch as we talk, because
everybody's so excited aboutthis thing.
Nobody knew that you couldproduce a candle.
So once I produced a candle andwe started this whole like
let's sell them, everybody'stuning in.
(18:58):
You know, everybody in mycircle is like so how is it
going?
So we like they're very excited.
So we do share conversationsabout like how is it going?
So we like they're very excited, so they do.
We do share conversations aboutlike how to run a business and
especially how to run a candlesbusiness, because it's a bit of
a niche.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (19:12):
Yeah, yeah, that's really cool.
That's really really great.
But let's talk about the branditself raha copenhagen.
Let's start with the name and,uh, what does it stand for?
Nsimire Godman (19:23):
Yeah well, Raha Copenhagen, I really wanted to
make both of my cultures collidetogether.
So I have roots in Rwanda andI'm born in Rwanda and my family
and I lived in Kenya foractually four years after the
war, back in 94.
(19:44):
And there Swahili kind ofbecame my second language.
I have Kinyaranta and then Ihad Swahili and, um, my dad is
has roots in Congo and theyspeak Swahili as well okay yeah,
and so it has always been alanguage that has has been in my
subconscious.
(20:04):
And then, when I was thinkingabout okay, so what do I want
this brand to represent or thiscompany to represent, I thought
of happiness and I thought of myorigins and the story I told
you about how I see candles andwhat they represent for me.
And since I really don't, Ifeel like Swahili was just the
(20:25):
right, you know the rightlanguage to use.
In in this sense, I said raha,because raha in swahili means
happiness, yeah, so like thehappiness that, like candle, can
bring you light, brings youright.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (20:40):
And then copenhagen, because it's my
city, that that's where you are.
Nsimire Godman (20:44):
Happiness in Copenhagen.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (20:46):
Oh, that's nice, that's really nice.
So who do you want to be happy?
Nsimire Godman (20:51):
Well, yes, I want everybody who sees this as
an opportunity to indulge insome self-care to be happy.
To indulge in some self-care, tobe happy.
I want people who has thismindset of like you know, when I
(21:12):
said that I used to thinkcandles were things that you had
in your house just to make surethat you have some light once
the electricity is gone I wantus to indulge in buying candles
for this, you know, just for thesake of buying candles, to feel
like you're content enough touse the small changes that you
have to buy some candles andthey will bring you joy because
(21:34):
you're indulging in some sort oflike.
It's the small luxury in life.
That's what my brand, I want mybrand to represent.
Like the small, small stuffthat you do not necessarily
think about.
You know, when you have you'rehaving a candleless dinner with
your husband, or you're havingcandles around, when you're
having your friends around, itjust creates something, um, and
(21:56):
it's not big, but it adds toyour joy.
Yeah, and that's why, like, mytarget is just a vastity of
people, like everyone who isjust want to indulge in that
little luxurious joy that youget when you purchase something.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (22:11):
Yeah, so small, yeah, and I think it's
important to point out that yousay it is a brand, which means
you've got a bigger vision forwhat you're doing so.
You know you've got the candlesright now, but you know what's
the big dream?
Nsimire Godman (22:29):
you caught me there.
Yeah, I could have.
Yeah, I could have chosen tocall it something candle, but I
thought, well, we're going toexpand this.
Um, yeah, the dream is to havesomething that has to do with
wellness, basically, just, youknow, small indulgement in your
(22:51):
everyday life.
I might say I am not quite surehow you know my next step is
going to be, but I know thatit's going to be more than
candles.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (23:02):
Yeah, you mentioned wellness.
Why is that an important thingto you?
Nsimire Godman (23:06):
I think, when I look at how I navigated in my
adult life and how to get asense of self-awareness, one
thing came to my mind.
It was therapy and I'm not atherapist, so obviously I cannot
share my therapeutic knowledgewith somebody but I also
realized that taking time out totake care of your body, your
(23:30):
mind and your soul really,really does great things to you
in terms of evolving as a humanbeing.
And it might sound cliche, likelighting up candles or buying
yourself yourself flowers, butsometimes it really is that,
yeah, I had a period in my lifewhere was the same period where
I was making candles?
(23:50):
I was in sick leave, actuallybecause of too much stress, and
I started noticing, uh, with thehelp, guidance of my therapist,
in terms of, like, buying smallthings to myself, doing small
gestures for myself, such asbuying flowers or rearranging my
living room or litting a candle, because I had so many candles
(24:13):
that I produced, and it justsomehow it worked.
And it has nothing to do with,you know, capitalism, because I
know a lot of people do tend totalk about.
Well, capitalism is, you know,taking advantage of our mental
health.
I think it has something to dowith realizing that you do
deserve to treat yourself.
It does not mean that you haveto buy something, but you do
(24:36):
have to take good care ofyourself.
That could be anything andthat's why, yeah, it's a brand.
It could be anything.
It shouldn't be something thatyou buy into.
It could also be a collectiveof people.
We get together in the RajaCopenhagen city and, you know,
share some food or share somethoughts.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (24:55):
So yeah, no, absolutely Doing nice
things for yourself, I agree, Iagree.
I mean, you can also be caughtin this trap of feeling bad for
looking after yourself right.
Which is what you see all overmedia at the moment?
Nsimire Godman (25:10):
Yeah, exactly.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (25:11):
Great, so on the sustainability part,
just one final thing Talk to meabout sourcing off your raw
materials.
Nsimire Godman (25:20):
Yeah, well, again, I have been very, very
lucky that I live in a smallcity so all my raw materials I
get like I have one supplierthat supply me with my materials
and I make sure that they'reall like eco-friendly.
And I think most candle makerswho are in the same path as I am
(25:41):
in sustainable candle businesscandle making they have the same
supplier because they supply.
There's only one supplier thatI know of right, and that makes
it much easier for me to justknow that I am getting the right
stuff exactly, yeah even thoughit took me.
It took me forever to get to apoint where like, okay, this is
(26:05):
actually.
It is in tune with my vision interms of sustainability.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (26:12):
Yeah, yeah, great.
It's time to find out aboutNsimire Godman's personal
journey to entrepreneurship onShades and Layers, to
entrepreneurship on Shades andLayers.
We will then get into the rapidfire where we find out how she
envisions telling her life story, both as a book and as a film.
Here we go.
(26:32):
So you've talked a little bitabout your journey in life.
First it was Rwanda, then Kenya, and now you're in Copenhagen.
Yeah, and you seem to havefound your place, found your
groove, and this is a placethat's notorious, as I have been
there for non-welcomingoutsiders.
(26:56):
So you know, how have you foundyour place and how does one
thrive?
Nsimire Godman (27:01):
I think it's hard.
To be quite honest, it is hardthrive.
I think it's hard, uh, to bequite honest, it is hard.
Well, I've been lucky againbecause I came here as a young
kid.
Um, but it's, it's a you've,you lived here.
It's a very close community, asif I can say like that.
So to get, to get your foot in,can be very, very tough, and
(27:23):
I've seen it, but you simplyhave to fight through.
I feel like you have to fightto get.
You know, like to get a seat atthe table.
And if you don't, a lot ofpeople around say if you, if you
can get the seat at the table,you built your own table, you
know.
But the first thing that reallygrounded me and makes me outlive
(27:44):
my, my dreams and my, mythoughts, it's having a
community.
Like, yeah, because you know,growing up and not having um, a
close community can damage you,but finding people who thrive on
you being happy and and theother way around, is very giving
, and I think I found mine.
It took me a long time, becauseI've been here for 20 years, um
(28:08):
, but once I finally found mycommunity, I think it was much
easier to just say you know what.
Let's build our own table andjust you know um start doing
things and every now and thenyou attend these events and you
know somebody introduce you toanother person.
You know of color or justdiversity is just becoming a
(28:28):
thing and you see people reallycreating things that I didn't
see 20 years ago.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (28:35):
It's definitely a different city,
yeah.
Nsimire Godman (28:38):
It is definitely because I feel like this
generation is so fearless.
We have so many people doing somany things when, like back
when I was young, I didn't havelike a young black entrepreneurs
to look up to here in Denmarkand say oh, okay, I can do that,
but I feel like it has become athing now.
It's like everywhere you look,someone is out there really
(29:00):
trying to get through, eventhough it is tough.
It can get tough, and it's alsolike having people who are
allies.
That's the most important.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (29:10):
Like you , when you have no, absolutely
yeah, Because it's a very, very,very small number of people of
color.
Nsimire Godman (29:17):
still anyway, yeah.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (29:20):
Okay, so what didn't I touch on?
I didn't touch on the range ofcandles, so they all have
different interesting names.
Nsimire Godman (29:30):
Yeah, yeah.
Kutloano Skosana Ri (29:31):
Interesting names, interesting shapes.
So you've already mentioned thebustier, and then I saw there
was one which was wavy.
Yeah, tell me about each one inthe range.
Nsimire Godman (29:44):
Well, I started very small.
Like normally, when you seeother candles business, they
have a range of different shapes, different looks and different
colors as well.
I still wanted to stay verygrounded and I wanted to build
my brand very slow, like youknow, it's slow, good, um, and
(30:06):
taking your time as well.
So I have, for the fifth iscoming.
I wanted something that looksaesthetically pleasing in your
home, not just to burn, but ithas to go with your um, into
your design at home, right?
So I I took something that canlook familiar and something that
(30:26):
you can relate to and somethingthat isn't very disturbing for
the eye.
So, yeah, there is the bustier,there is the time glass and
there is the ruby's cube, um,and then there is the wavy one
that looks like a flower.
Yeah, that's very pretty yeahyeah, and then we have the
rainbow that is coming as well.
So I gave them different names,also in Swahili, because I
(30:52):
really want to incorporate myAfricanness in this.
So they all have something thatis loving is happiness, because
, the thing is, the vocabularyin Swahili is just wide, so you
can say happiness in so manydifferent ways.
You can say love in so manyways, so that's how I named my
(31:14):
candles.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (31:15):
Oh, that's wonderful.
So we've talked about where youwant to take your business, or
rather, let me say, your brand,right?
Nsimire Godman (31:23):
Yes.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (31:25):
So let's go into.
You know how you see yourself.
We're going to do the rapidfire.
You've had quite the adventure.
So if somebody had tocommission a memoir from you
today, what would you call itand why?
Nsimire Godman (31:38):
Oh dear, I don't even know, but what would I
call it?
The blooming flower?
Yeah, why are you a bloomingflower?
I think I uh, as as we grow, aswe go on this self-discovery
journey, you find out thatyou're not that bad at it.
(32:01):
You know so many petals like uhon you that just keeps on
blooming, and sometimes you'reso happily surprised and
sometimes you're just like, oh,this is a side of me that I
don't like, but you keepblooming, you look nice.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (32:15):
Awesome, nice, nice, nice.
So you take that book and youturn it into a movie.
Who do you choose for the leadactress, lila Davis?
Through and through, nohesitation there.
Nsimire Godman (32:24):
Through and through book and you turn it
into a movie.
Who do you choose for the leadactress?
Ooh like through and through.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (32:28):
No hesitation there, through and
through.
Nsimire Godman (32:33):
I love her.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (32:34):
That's wonderful and if you had to
invite a famous black woman todinner, living or dead, who
would it be, and why?
Nsimire Godman (32:45):
Oh dear, there are so many, many.
Let's go with angela bassett um.
She's an actor.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (32:51):
I love her um you do I love her.
Nsimire Godman (32:56):
She's like, she's my everything goal, from
fitness to aging, to whatevercreativity, she's just
everything that's why you justdescribed the reason that I just
want to sit and have aconversation with her about
being a woman, like how do youdo it, you know?
Um, yeah, her definitely, she'samazing.
(33:18):
Yes, oh, we are aligned, there,definitely I would love to hang
out with her.
She she's the queen mother forgoodness sake.
I know, yeah, definitely her.
So many other but her.
I was like she's a veryinteresting woman.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (33:37):
Yeah, yeah, definitely, definitely
Great.
So if people want to work withyou, get in touch, follow your
work.
Where can they find you Well?
Nsimire Godman (33:48):
we do have our Instagram and we have our
website.
So our website israhacopenhagendk and we have our
Instagram, which is rahacph.
And, yeah, dm us, we are alwaysready to.
(34:09):
Just great answer I love it.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (34:11):
I love it.
Thank you so much, and that isall from me this time around.
Thank you for sharing yourjourney so generously.
If you want to learn more aboutand her brandige and her brand,
raha Copenhagen, please visitthe show notes.
While you are there, please hitthe share button and let
(34:32):
someone else know that Shadesand Layers is the place to be.
Thanks again for your support.
I'm Kutloano Skosana Ricci anduntil next time, please do take
good care.
Hello and welcome to Shades and Layers
.
I'm your Kutloano SkosanaRicci.
Today, my guest is NsimireGodman, F founder of Raha C
Kopenhagen.
Her small batch productioncompany offers her customers
inclusive and aestheticallypleasing soy wax candles for the
home.
Nsimire is based in the capitalcity of Denmark, where she also
(00:26):
runs her travel and fashionYouTube channel and Instagram
page called Flights and Fabrics.
Her love for sharing all thingscreative, coupled with a
pandemic-era hobby as well asmandated sick leave, led to
founding of Raha Copenhagen.
She envisions the brand assomething that will move beyond
(00:47):
lifestyle and include wellnessand self-care.
In our discussion, she talksabout why wellness is such an
important tenet in thefoundation of her brand.
She also shares her journeyfrom Rwanda to Kenya, to
Copenhagen.
Here is Nsimire's story.
Nsimire Godman (01:08):
My name is Nsimire Godman, that's my new
name , and I am the founder ofRaha Copenhagen, which is a
candle business where I producecandles in my own home.
For now, at least, I call themvery special candles because
(01:35):
they are made of soy wax, whichis much different to paraffin,
which is the product we use onall kinds of candles.
So that's basically what I do
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (01:39):
.
So before we get into thespecifics, let's talk about how
you came to this work and howyou would describe it
Nsimire Godman (01:48):
yeah, it's a funny story and I think we've
we've touched upon it earlier on.
I love candles, I've always beeninto candles.
I I feel like they give acertain mood, they give a
certain calm environment aroundyou.
But I go way back with candlesand it's like from humble
(02:08):
beginnings, where I come fromRwanda originally and my family.
There was a point in our liveswhere we weren't privileged in
terms of our economics, sosometimes we won't have enough
money to pay off our electricitybills, so we will use candles.
So there have always been athing in my life that I have
(02:31):
around the house.
Um, call it a trauma, whatever,but you, I just need a candle
in my house just in caseelectricity.
And as I grew older I figured,well, you can use candles
positively rather than anecessary thing to have in your
house.
So I tapped into that because Ilove having, as I said, I love
(02:56):
having a healthy environment anddoing things that makes me
happy and feels therapeutic.
Makes me happy and feelstherapeutic.
So I started, just you know,collecting candles and one day,
out of nowhere, I saw thesecandles that were molded
differently than normal candlesthat we buy in the supermarket
or the grocery stores, and I washooked and I was like okay, so
(03:22):
what is this exactly?
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (03:24):
What did it?
look like.
Nsimire Godman (03:26):
It was like a bubble candle made in like this.
Do you know these?
What do you call them?
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (03:35):
Oh, rubik's Cube, yeah, rubik's Cube
.
Nsimire Godman (03:38):
So I was like this is interesting.
And then, the more I went intothat rabbit hole of candles, I
found out that there is a wholeworld of different shaped
candles.
You do not always have to buythose you know typical candles
see everywhere.
And then I've I realized, oh,hold on a second, these candles,
(04:00):
I have to order them fromanother country, which will take
forever.
So what I did was just to startresearching on how can I get
these candles.
And then I did my research andone day I was at a flea market
and then there was this lady whowas selling these candles.
(04:22):
All of a sudden I feel like theuniverse was telling me yay,
you've got what you wanted.
And then I bought one of them.
And then she told me about howshe produced these candles and
how fun it is to produce candles.
And then I went home and Istarted trying myself to produce
candles, to have candles athome, and I got hooked on that,
(04:46):
even though the process was justterrible.
And then I used YouTube to justkind of guide me into how to
make a candle not just anycandle, but candles out of these
different shapes and molds.
And that's how it became athing for me to um, to tap into
that and, um, yeah, last story,yeah became a hobby, sure?
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (05:12):
and how long did it take you to, you
know, conceptualize what kind ofcandle you want to make, which
would be different from whatwhat was on offer on the market,
to actually starting to have aproduct that could be sold it
took me a long time.
Nsimire Godman (05:27):
I think I started I I.
It took me one year to tofinesse as I say like to make a
candle that was presentable.
Of course, I'll make candlesevery now and then, as you know,
a little gift for my friends,family and whatever.
But once I feel like I had agrip on on how to produce a
(05:49):
candle, I was like, okay, maybecould be fun to have to actually
right.
So these things that I amproducing, because I was so
proud of myself and my husbandwas very, very encouraging.
He was like you know, you canmake a business out of that.
And I was like I know nothingabout business, I'm just here
(06:12):
for my own hobbies.
But then the more you know Imake candles, the more you
search for knowledge and you'relike what kind of wax is
possible to get what's healthy?
What's healthy, what's good?
There's so many things to learnabout candle producing.
So, on my journey, once Ifigured out, okay, there is good
(06:37):
candles and there are badcandles in terms of your health,
in terms of your indoorenvironment, how, how you want
to use your candles it was like,oh, okay, maybe I can find a
market for this kind of product.
And since I live in denmark, um, it became much easier, very
(06:57):
quick, because first of all, welive in a small country, so the
choices will be very like narrow, uh, in terms of what kind of
candles I would like.
For example, I had seen thesebody-shaped candles in my skin
tone and I was very sure that Iwould never find them in Denmark
(07:19):
.
Completely sure that I wouldnever find them in.
Denmark, so that became Amotivating thing, Okay.
So I was like this is somethingthat looks very aesthetically
pleasing and I know people outthere who loves candles or loves
interior design.
They would love to havesomething that resemble their
personality or how they look.
So that was one factor that Iwrote down while writing that
(07:42):
like what should my brandrepresent?
Diversity, so far, so good.
So it started with these bodyshapes.
Yeah, I was like I want youknow everybody's talking, okay,
just to draw like somecomparison.
Everybody's talking aboutmakeup and how we struggle to
find the right color for everyshape color shades out there,
(08:07):
yeah, yeah yeah, that was thesame with my candles.
I was like I see it, I see it inthe US, I see it everywhere,
but it's not here in Scandinavia.
I'm not going to find a candlethat looks like me or my sister,
because my sister and I we havetwo different, you know, shade
of tones.
So that's where I was like,okay, okay, so I have these
(08:27):
ideas about how I want it tolook like, so let's go with that
.
And then the next thing I wentfor was the wax, because there
are so many different waxes outthere there are beeswax, there
are paraffin, there are soy.
I wanted something that wasrepresentative of the aesthetic
(08:48):
that I was going for.
I want something that looksvery aesthetically pleasing,
beautiful to look at.
And that was soy for me, andluckily because soy it's a
creamy kind of wax.
It gives this very air blushlook.
So I was like, okay, I gotsomething.
(09:08):
And the good thing about soyalso is that it's healthy.
It's from soy beans um sure,please.
It gives like a clean burn.
And that's where I also likeokay, I've got something,
because my mother-in-law she'sactually allergic to candles.
She cannot have candles thatare made of paraffin because
that disturbs her health issues.
(09:29):
So once I introduced her to soywax she was like, oh my god,
I've never heard of this.
This is I can have it in myhouse and it's cozy, I like it
so you solved a lot of problemswith this soy thing so once I
figured out that I wanted tomake some aesthetically pleasing
(09:50):
candles that are healthy foryour indoor environment and also
tap into the sustainable part,yeah, so I wanted to touch on
that because you have therepresentation element, but
there's more to talk about asfar as that goes.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (10:04):
But you know the sustainability element.
You know where does that landfor you and how does it manifest
in the way you, you produceyour product well the fact that
I live in scandinavia.
Nsimire Godman (10:17):
I feel like sustainability just comes easily
to us and we're very privilegedto have the resources to, you
know, have a sustainable life.
That doesn't mean that it'shighly costly, so it just comes
naturally to me to just havelike, if I can live a
sustainable life, of course I'mgoing to do that, so I wanted
(10:38):
that with my candles as well.
And how it manifests into mybusiness is I produce a very
limited amount, so I don't wantto waste anything.
I produce the the amount ofcandles that my customers order,
so I don't over produce.
I don't.
I don't have anything on my.
(10:59):
Do you call it uh?
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (11:00):
in your stock you don't have like, yeah,
my stock, yeah, yeah, so smallbatch to order productions.
Yeah, yeah, yeah and alsocandles.
Nsimire Godman (11:08):
I can remelt them just in case.
So it's like the sustainablepart is there again.
If I don't get to sell some ofmy candles or my customers are
unsatisfied with the productthat they received, I will
remelt these, you know, the wax,and then mold something to
their satisfaction.
So that way I'm sustainable.
(11:30):
And when it comes to how I, youknow I produce the candles, my
wicks, you know like, have to beeco-friendly.
They're made of like cotton andyeah, there's so many things
that I just are moreenvironmental friendly because,
yeah, it also taps into themodern day person who likes to
(11:54):
enjoy themselves.
So I have to think that in myproducing of candles as well.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (12:01):
Yeah, this is Shades and Layers.
My guest today is maker andfounder of Raha Kopenhagen,
nsimre Godman.
Her brand celebrates diversityand inclusion in the self-care
journey.
Her home-based soy candlemaking business focuses on
sustainability, impact andcommunity.
(12:22):
Up next, we hear all about that.
On her journey so far, have youactually run into any customer
problems so far?
Nsimire Godman (12:31):
yeah, um yeah, yeah that was the first time and
I was like, oh no, um, where Isent some candles and because
it's, you know, like the pastaoffice and you know these are
delicate, because they're likemodels, so they can be very
delicate in terms of like how doyou place them or how to hold
(12:53):
them, so they, they brokeactually on in in the process of
, uh, delivery so the customersreceived some broken candles and
I was like well, you know what,you keep them um or otherwise,
you can just send them.
I'll pay um for the shipment andthen I will remelt them for you
um in terms of some new ones.
(13:14):
So in that way I try to reallykeep my my sustainability in
check.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (13:20):
Yeah, yeah, uh, because also this um
packaging, right.
So, yeah, yeah, how how do youpackage your goods?
Nsimire Godman (13:28):
yeah, that's also like it's all recycling and
I don't know like I.
I'm so lucky to have peoplearound me who has been
entrepreneurs and in business indifferent areas.
My mother-in-law used to have abusiness.
She used to sew like small bagsand she will send them to her
(13:49):
customers.
So basically she has theseboxes that have been lying
around for forever and she don'tuse them for anything.
So we reuse them and send themto our customers.
And also boxes that I receivefrom ordering all kinds of stuff
, whether it's my supplies interms of waxes or wicks or
(14:10):
anything.
If they're reusable, I canreuse them and I do tell my
customers these are like reuseboxes and that's how they look.
They look very tarnished andeverything sometimes, but I make
sure that the the packaging isinside is very presentable, but
we you recycling boxes becausethat, like the, if you buy
(14:32):
something, it's not the box thatyou're going to keep around.
You throw it out, maybe.
So I make sure that now we canreuse it.
Yeah and maybe my customers aregoing to reuse it for something
else, so that in the packagingas well, I make sure that okay.
So how can we do this veryfriendly and it doesn't have to
look messy, but still make mycustomer aware of like these
(14:56):
boxes are not something that Ijust buy somewhere, but
something that has been usedelsewhere?
Oh, that's amazing.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (15:03):
That's really great.
Well, it actually sounds likeyou have quite the support
structure around you in terms ofgetting this business going.
So tell me more yourmother-in-law.
Apart from being allergic, shesounds like a great resource,
you know.
Nsimire Godman (15:19):
No, she is.
She's a very creative person.
She's like, naturally creative.
So she also helped me in termsof of.
We had, you know, flea markets.
People stumbled upon ourinstagram page and they would
ask like, hey, would you like tobe a part of a flea market?
Said yes, but I was like, okay,so we have to produce this
(15:42):
amount of candles and I am justa one-man kind of boutique, so
what are we going to do?
My mother-in-law was like, well, let me help you.
So she would produce in thedaytime, because she has so much
time on her hands in thedaytime, and I'll produce in the
evening.
So we had a little partnershipgoing on, and she sometimes also
(16:05):
comes with ideas, because sheused to make soap as well.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (16:08):
Like I said, she's a very creative.
Nsimire Godman (16:10):
So, like making creams and soaps, it's kind of
the same process as producingcandles.
So she gave me all these kindof ideas and she would say, well
, we'll talk in terms of likehow to do the next step.
One thing is watching a YouTubevideo and someone telling you
and the other thing is actuallytrying.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (16:30):
Yeah, absolutely, yeah, absolutely,
yeah.
So, and um, I know when we didthe pre-interview, you mentioned
that your husband also, um, hasbeen helpful he has.
Nsimire Godman (16:41):
He runs his own company.
So on that point I I used himto really help me with all kinds
of very practical stuff how tomake a business plan, how to
like all these practical stuff.
I, oh, I forgot to say I am asocial worker.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (16:59):
Yeah, yeah, yeah yeah.
Nsimire Godman (17:01):
So I've never touched anything that sounds
like business, anything that hasto do with business.
I just I've never been there,I've never been an entrepreneur,
so it was a new world for me.
I just knew that I had a hobbyand I was becoming good at it
and I'm still learning.
But I didn't.
I was like okay, so you justhave to sell this.
(17:22):
And he was like no, no, no, no,no, no.
You have to register yourcompany, you have to make sure
that you know, know all these,because there are so many rules
about selling something thatburns you know, Absolutely yeah.
Yeah, so we had to get all thesevouchers on like.
Uh, is it, you know, to make itlegal to legalize my company in
(17:44):
terms of like, using all kindsof liquid products, oils because
I use scents as well and has tobe environmental friendly in
terms of like, people, if theybuy my supply, you know if they
buy my products they're notgoing to get allergic reactions
and you know.
Just all these practical,boring stuff.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (18:03):
Yeah yeah, but that makes things run
smoothly, right and you're notrunning into unnecessary
problems yeah, yeah even though,like I, we I'm still learning,
and he, he too as well.
Nsimire Godman (18:16):
And my mom, my mom, used to run her own company
as well, so very surroundedwith yeah, that's great, that's
great.
Yeah, yeah, yeah so she's alwaysthe one who's like she keeps me
in check in terms like you haveto have, like somebody look at
your economy in terms of whatyou're getting in your income,
how much you use on yourproducts.
(18:37):
Like, does it?
You know all these mathematicalthings that I have absolutely
no idea of.
I'm getting a grip of it asmuch as we talk, because
everybody's so excited aboutthis thing.
Nobody knew that you couldproduce a candle.
So once I produced a candle andwe started this whole like
let's sell them, everybody'stuning in.
(18:58):
You know, everybody in mycircle is like so how is it
going?
So we like they're very excited.
So we do share conversationsabout like how is it going?
So we like they're very excited, so they do.
We do share conversations aboutlike how to run a business and
especially how to run a candlesbusiness, because it's a bit of
a niche.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (19:12):
Yeah, yeah, that's really cool.
That's really really great.
But let's talk about the branditself raha copenhagen.
Let's start with the name and,uh, what does it stand for?
Nsimire Godman (19:23):
Yeah well, Raha Copenhagen, I really wanted to
make both of my cultures collidetogether.
So I have roots in Rwanda andI'm born in Rwanda and my family
and I lived in Kenya foractually four years after the
war, back in 94.
(19:44):
And there Swahili kind ofbecame my second language.
I have Kinyaranta and then Ihad Swahili and, um, my dad is
has roots in Congo and theyspeak Swahili as well okay yeah,
and so it has always been alanguage that has has been in my
subconscious.
(20:04):
And then, when I was thinkingabout okay, so what do I want
this brand to represent or thiscompany to represent, I thought
of happiness and I thought of myorigins and the story I told
you about how I see candles andwhat they represent for me.
And since I really don't, Ifeel like Swahili was just the
(20:25):
right, you know the rightlanguage to use.
In in this sense, I said raha,because raha in swahili means
happiness, yeah, so like thehappiness that, like candle, can
bring you light, brings youright.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (20:40):
And then copenhagen, because it's my
city, that that's where you are.
Nsimire Godman (20:44):
Happiness in Copenhagen.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (20:46):
Oh, that's nice, that's really nice.
So who do you want to be happy?
Nsimire Godman (20:51):
Well, yes, I want everybody who sees this as
an opportunity to indulge insome self-care to be happy.
To indulge in some self-care, tobe happy.
I want people who has thismindset of like you know, when I
(21:12):
said that I used to thinkcandles were things that you had
in your house just to make surethat you have some light once
the electricity is gone I wantus to indulge in buying candles
for this, you know, just for thesake of buying candles, to feel
like you're content enough touse the small changes that you
have to buy some candles andthey will bring you joy because
(21:34):
you're indulging in some sort oflike.
It's the small luxury in life.
That's what my brand, I want mybrand to represent.
Like the small, small stuffthat you do not necessarily
think about.
You know, when you have you'rehaving a candleless dinner with
your husband, or you're havingcandles around, when you're
having your friends around, itjust creates something, um, and
(21:56):
it's not big, but it adds toyour joy.
Yeah, and that's why, like, mytarget is just a vastity of
people, like everyone who isjust want to indulge in that
little luxurious joy that youget when you purchase something.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (22:11):
Yeah, so small, yeah, and I think it's
important to point out that yousay it is a brand, which means
you've got a bigger vision forwhat you're doing so.
You know you've got the candlesright now, but you know what's
the big dream?
Nsimire Godman (22:29):
you caught me there.
Yeah, I could have.
Yeah, I could have chosen tocall it something candle, but I
thought, well, we're going toexpand this.
Um, yeah, the dream is to havesomething that has to do with
wellness, basically, just, youknow, small indulgement in your
(22:51):
everyday life.
I might say I am not quite surehow you know my next step is
going to be, but I know thatit's going to be more than
candles.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (23:02):
Yeah, you mentioned wellness.
Why is that an important thingto you?
Nsimire Godman (23:06):
I think, when I look at how I navigated in my
adult life and how to get asense of self-awareness, one
thing came to my mind.
It was therapy and I'm not atherapist, so obviously I cannot
share my therapeutic knowledgewith somebody but I also
realized that taking time out totake care of your body, your
(23:30):
mind and your soul really,really does great things to you
in terms of evolving as a humanbeing.
And it might sound cliche, likelighting up candles or buying
yourself yourself flowers, butsometimes it really is that,
yeah, I had a period in my lifewhere was the same period where
I was making candles?
(23:50):
I was in sick leave, actuallybecause of too much stress, and
I started noticing, uh, with thehelp, guidance of my therapist,
in terms of, like, buying smallthings to myself, doing small
gestures for myself, such asbuying flowers or rearranging my
living room or litting a candle, because I had so many candles
(24:13):
that I produced, and it justsomehow it worked.
And it has nothing to do with,you know, capitalism, because I
know a lot of people do tend totalk about.
Well, capitalism is, you know,taking advantage of our mental
health.
I think it has something to dowith realizing that you do
deserve to treat yourself.
It does not mean that you haveto buy something, but you do
(24:36):
have to take good care ofyourself.
That could be anything andthat's why, yeah, it's a brand.
It could be anything.
It shouldn't be something thatyou buy into.
It could also be a collectiveof people.
We get together in the RajaCopenhagen city and, you know,
share some food or share somethoughts.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (24:55):
So yeah, no, absolutely Doing nice
things for yourself, I agree, Iagree.
I mean, you can also be caughtin this trap of feeling bad for
looking after yourself right.
Which is what you see all overmedia at the moment?
Nsimire Godman (25:10):
Yeah, exactly.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (25:11):
Great, so on the sustainability part,
just one final thing Talk to meabout sourcing off your raw
materials.
Nsimire Godman (25:20):
Yeah, well, again, I have been very, very
lucky that I live in a smallcity so all my raw materials I
get like I have one supplierthat supply me with my materials
and I make sure that they'reall like eco-friendly.
And I think most candle makerswho are in the same path as I am
(25:41):
in sustainable candle businesscandle making they have the same
supplier because they supply.
There's only one supplier thatI know of right, and that makes
it much easier for me to justknow that I am getting the right
stuff exactly, yeah even thoughit took me.
It took me forever to get to apoint where like, okay, this is
(26:05):
actually.
It is in tune with my vision interms of sustainability.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (26:12):
Yeah, yeah, great.
It's time to find out aboutNsimire Godman's personal
journey to entrepreneurship onShades and Layers, to
entrepreneurship on Shades andLayers.
We will then get into the rapidfire where we find out how she
envisions telling her life story, both as a book and as a film.
Here we go.
(26:32):
So you've talked a little bitabout your journey in life.
First it was Rwanda, then Kenya, and now you're in Copenhagen.
Yeah, and you seem to havefound your place, found your
groove, and this is a placethat's notorious, as I have been
there for non-welcomingoutsiders.
(26:56):
So you know, how have you foundyour place and how does one
thrive?
Nsimire Godman (27:01):
I think it's hard.
To be quite honest, it is hardthrive.
I think it's hard, uh, to bequite honest, it is hard.
Well, I've been lucky againbecause I came here as a young
kid.
Um, but it's, it's a you've,you lived here.
It's a very close community, asif I can say like that.
So to get, to get your foot in,can be very, very tough, and
(27:23):
I've seen it, but you simplyhave to fight through.
I feel like you have to fightto get.
You know, like to get a seat atthe table.
And if you don't, a lot ofpeople around say if you, if you
can get the seat at the table,you built your own table, you
know.
But the first thing that reallygrounded me and makes me outlive
(27:44):
my, my dreams and my, mythoughts, it's having a
community.
Like, yeah, because you know,growing up and not having um, a
close community can damage you,but finding people who thrive on
you being happy and and theother way around, is very giving
, and I think I found mine.
It took me a long time, becauseI've been here for 20 years, um
(28:08):
, but once I finally found mycommunity, I think it was much
easier to just say you know what.
Let's build our own table andjust you know um start doing
things and every now and thenyou attend these events and you
know somebody introduce you toanother person.
You know of color or justdiversity is just becoming a
(28:28):
thing and you see people reallycreating things that I didn't
see 20 years ago.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (28:35):
It's definitely a different city,
yeah.
Nsimire Godman (28:38):
It is definitely because I feel like this
generation is so fearless.
We have so many people doing somany things when, like back
when I was young, I didn't havelike a young black entrepreneurs
to look up to here in Denmarkand say oh, okay, I can do that,
but I feel like it has become athing now.
It's like everywhere you look,someone is out there really
(29:00):
trying to get through, eventhough it is tough.
It can get tough, and it's alsolike having people who are
allies.
That's the most important.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (29:10):
Like you , when you have no, absolutely
yeah, Because it's a very, very,very small number of people of
color.
Nsimire Godman (29:17):
still anyway, yeah.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (29:20):
Okay, so what didn't I touch on?
I didn't touch on the range ofcandles, so they all have
different interesting names.
Nsimire Godman (29:30):
Yeah, yeah.
Kutloano Skosana Ri (29:31):
Interesting names, interesting shapes.
So you've already mentioned thebustier, and then I saw there
was one which was wavy.
Yeah, tell me about each one inthe range.
Nsimire Godman (29:44):
Well, I started very small.
Like normally, when you seeother candles business, they
have a range of different shapes, different looks and different
colors as well.
I still wanted to stay verygrounded and I wanted to build
my brand very slow, like youknow, it's slow, good, um, and
(30:06):
taking your time as well.
So I have, for the fifth iscoming.
I wanted something that looksaesthetically pleasing in your
home, not just to burn, but ithas to go with your um, into
your design at home, right?
So I I took something that canlook familiar and something that
(30:26):
you can relate to and somethingthat isn't very disturbing for
the eye.
So, yeah, there is the bustier,there is the time glass and
there is the ruby's cube, um,and then there is the wavy one
that looks like a flower.
Yeah, that's very pretty yeahyeah, and then we have the
rainbow that is coming as well.
So I gave them different names,also in Swahili, because I
(30:52):
really want to incorporate myAfricanness in this.
So they all have something thatis loving is happiness, because
, the thing is, the vocabularyin Swahili is just wide, so you
can say happiness in so manydifferent ways.
You can say love in so manyways, so that's how I named my
(31:14):
candles.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (31:15):
Oh, that's wonderful.
So we've talked about where youwant to take your business, or
rather, let me say, your brand,right?
Nsimire Godman (31:23):
Yes.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (31:25):
So let's go into.
You know how you see yourself.
We're going to do the rapidfire.
You've had quite the adventure.
So if somebody had tocommission a memoir from you
today, what would you call itand why?
Nsimire Godman (31:38):
Oh dear, I don't even know, but what would I
call it?
The blooming flower?
Yeah, why are you a bloomingflower?
I think I uh, as as we grow, aswe go on this self-discovery
journey, you find out thatyou're not that bad at it.
(32:01):
You know so many petals like uhon you that just keeps on
blooming, and sometimes you'reso happily surprised and
sometimes you're just like, oh,this is a side of me that I
don't like, but you keepblooming, you look nice.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (32:15):
Awesome, nice, nice, nice.
So you take that book and youturn it into a movie.
Who do you choose for the leadactress, lila Davis?
Through and through, nohesitation there.
Nsimire Godman (32:24):
Through and through book and you turn it
into a movie.
Who do you choose for the leadactress?
Ooh like through and through.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (32:28):
No hesitation there, through and
through.
Nsimire Godman (32:33):
I love her.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (32:34):
That's wonderful and if you had to
invite a famous black woman todinner, living or dead, who
would it be, and why?
Nsimire Godman (32:45):
Oh dear, there are so many, many.
Let's go with angela bassett um.
She's an actor.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (32:51):
I love her um you do I love her.
Nsimire Godman (32:56):
She's like, she's my everything goal, from
fitness to aging, to whatevercreativity, she's just
everything that's why you justdescribed the reason that I just
want to sit and have aconversation with her about
being a woman, like how do youdo it, you know?
Um, yeah, her definitely, she'samazing.
(33:18):
Yes, oh, we are aligned, there,definitely I would love to hang
out with her.
She she's the queen mother forgoodness sake.
I know, yeah, definitely her.
So many other but her.
I was like she's a veryinteresting woman.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (33:37):
Yeah, yeah, definitely, definitely
Great.
So if people want to work withyou, get in touch, follow your
work.
Where can they find you Well?
Nsimire Godman (33:48):
we do have our Instagram and we have our
website.
So our website israhacopenhagendk and we have our
Instagram, which is rahacph.
And, yeah, dm us, we are alwaysready to.
(34:09):
Just great answer I love it.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (34:11):
I love it.
Thank you so much, and that isall from me this time around.
Thank you for sharing yourjourney so generously.
If you want to learn more aboutand her brandige and her brand,
raha Copenhagen, please visitthe show notes.
While you are there, please hitthe share button and let
(34:32):
someone else know that Shadesand Layers is the place to be.
Thanks again for your support.
I'm Kutloano Skosana Ricci anduntil next time, please do take
good care.
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