March 4, 2025 • 20 mins
The latest Building Black Business podcast episode features David Montague in conversation with Stacie Anderson, owner of Touched By Stacie In Partnership with @DriveToyota
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello everybody.
Speaker 2 (00:00):
My name is David Montague and I'm the host of
this episode of Building Black Business. Today we have Stacy
Anderson who owns Touched by Stacy, and we are really
excited to talk to her. Hi Stacy, Hi David, how
are you good? Thank you for jumping on this, just
chat with me. Yeah, let's just get started and jump
(00:25):
into everything. How did you get started with touch by sac.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
Well, thank you for having me.
Speaker 4 (00:32):
Just like a lot of businesses I started during COVID,
we were locked down board with nothing to do. I
actually got into a car accident and broke my wrist,
so I couldn't really do anything else. Yes, stuck in
the house the board, couldn't do anything, and I had
to watch like YouTube videos on how to make candles. Right,
but I feel like a lot of people were making
(00:52):
candles around that time, so I'm like, how can I
be different from like every I was like, you know
what I'm do, massage candles and I just researched it,
watched a million videos because I had nothing but time.
So that's how it started. I started learning how to
do it. I made them, give them to my mom my,
sisters and stuff like that. Perfected it and then I
want to say, twenty twenty one, on my birthday, I
(01:14):
like officially launched.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
It made the website and everything.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Fantastic. So how did the launch look like? Were you nervous?
You know, were you like what type of struggles did
you have to deal.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
With the launch?
Speaker 4 (01:28):
I was super nervous because I mean it was my
first time, like bring out a brand, you know what
I mean, like represents me and I wanted people to
like it and this is something completely different, you know
what I mean. So it's like do you like the
scent of it? Do you like how it makes you feel?
And like, I feel like a big issue that I had.
And another thing that I feel like using other products
(01:49):
is like the oily residue you.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
Get on certain things like when you So my thing was.
Speaker 4 (01:55):
I didn't want that, so I it was a launch,
but basically people came. I had a bunch of samples
people to try and tell me how they liked it.
I'm always open to criticism, but of course I wanted
people to like it. So I think the biggest struggle
and the biggest thing for me was just hoping everybody
liked it. I want to be honest with me, so
like you know, I just open to all that. But
everyone loved it.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
It was good.
Speaker 4 (02:13):
And then again like when they use the product, there
was no residue. They were just really surprised about like
how soft their skin was and it didn't eve any
you know, like oiliness or anything like that.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
So a lot of like initial positive feedback.
Speaker 4 (02:25):
Yeah, thank god, I was So.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
So what does the day to day look like?
Speaker 2 (02:31):
Is this your complete, like full time job or do
you have something else on the side.
Speaker 4 (02:35):
So this is not my complete full time job. This
is a hobby and a side business. But a day
to day for me is I wake up super early
for my regular job, but it's a crazy I work
for a bank, So basically I try to wake up
early before the craziness, meditate a little bit, try to
meditate because you know, you think about your day and
what you gotta do, what you haven't done yet. So
(02:57):
I wake up early, try to just relax my mind
a little bit, prepare myself what I gotta do. And
then once I'm kind of like up and ready to go,
I look at my emails, I look at the website
for the candles, and I kind of look at the
numbers to see like where the traffic is coming from.
Is it from the Instagram, the Facebook? Did anybody purchase anything?
Speaker 3 (03:16):
I have any orders?
Speaker 4 (03:18):
Just stuff like that, and just kind of monitor that.
I'll scroll through TikTok to see what kind of like
what's trending. What can I do for my candles for
people to see it. That's how I kind of promote
to like I make like TikTok videos and stuff like that,
so I kind of see like what sounds or like trending,
what videos I could do, and then.
Speaker 3 (03:37):
I just start work.
Speaker 4 (03:38):
And then as a d like I'll bookmark like videos
of where I can do this over I can do
it this way, and then when the weekend comes, I
have my free time, I'll record and do stuff like that.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
So it's a good balance, That's what it sounds like.
You know, like you're able to pick it up and
it's not taking all of your time, but you have
a good balance with everything.
Speaker 4 (03:58):
I've actually gotten to spot because in the beginning it
took up all my time and I was like trying
to focus on focus on social media, you know, promoting it.
And right now I like I'm in a good spot
where people familiar with it. I mean, of course I
still have to promote it and market it, but like
I feel like the heavy lifting is done. So yeah,
now I'm just kind of monitoring and just advertising and
(04:19):
promoting it. And that's like the just thing relevant basically.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
So, way, when you talk about promoting and marketing, what
type of challenges have you face with getting the word
out there?
Speaker 3 (04:32):
I would say the challenges would be.
Speaker 4 (04:36):
Just trying to stay creative and just trying to find
ways to kind of just stay on top of mind
with people because, for instance, summertime, no one really wants
to use like if you think oil, you know, like
nobody wants to do that. So I'm just trying to
find creative ways for people to be like, oh, let
me just buy this, you know what I mean, I
don't that's my I feel like my major thing would
definitely be like catering towards the holidays, depending what the
(04:59):
hardest part is. Definitely summertime because I don't know about you,
but I'm not trying to put hot oil.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
On on you.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Yeah, absolutely right, So, and then I was also going
to that's a great pivot to my next question. What
scent is like the easiest to nail down, and you know,
like that you have it, you could do it in
your sleep. On the opposite end, what takes time to
get perfect, Like you know it took a couple of
trial and error, like you needed time to kind of
(05:25):
get that right, that right scent.
Speaker 4 (05:28):
I feel like for me, the easier scent would be
the clean scent. I think as I enjoy that, it's
easy for me to kind of just.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
Do you have to do too much? Simple? The harder
sense for me would be the more woodsy sense.
Speaker 4 (05:43):
I try to have something for like men as well,
So I have like a fragrance, and it's more woodsy.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
It's not as like florally or girally.
Speaker 4 (05:52):
It's more unisex. But I try to gear it towards
the men, like I market that towards the men. I
don't know why. It's just harder because like I don't
know something about it. It's just I'm really particular with it.
Men are simple, Like when I say simple, they're easy
to please, but I feel like they're very particular with
their sense. Their favorite well, I don't know want to
(06:14):
say their favorite secret everybody, but I know a popular
scent would be mahogany teak wood see, I cannot.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (06:21):
I've been trying to like get that scent together from
my candle.
Speaker 3 (06:24):
I can't. It's really hard.
Speaker 4 (06:25):
So I would say right now, the difficulty would definitely
be like the more woodsy sense fragrances for the men.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
Okay, so woodsy, It's it's hard, definitely, I would say
mahogany teak, would I. I think it's it's a safe one.
You know, if I go into uh one of my
my friend's place and they a lot of my guy
friends live together, if I smell mahugan teak, but I'm like, oh, okay,
like this is not you know, this is pretty on brand.
But do you have like a signature scent, like something
(06:53):
that you enjoy.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
My favorite scent is Bergamont is very okay, very light.
Speaker 4 (07:00):
I feel yeah, I don't know. I just love That's
my go to one. But I noticed that a lot
of people like Midnight Jasmine. Okay, it's very subtle, it's
very like soft, and I think it's popular. Like if
you can go to Victoria No, Victoria's Secret Back and
body Works, you can find the Midnight Jasmine there too,
So I feel like maybe because it's more.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
Known maybe, but yeah, my here's Berghama. I love it.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
Now do you feel like with a lot of the
I want to say scent community on social media, especially
like TikTok and Instagram and Facebook and everything, a lot
of people are finding dupes and like they can't afford like,
you know, a two hundred dollars bottle of perfume or
(07:45):
cologne or anything. You know, Like what do you do
you think that there's space for both to live or
are you more of like you know, this is a
luxury type of thing, like you should spend money for
you to smell good, you know, at home, whether it's
like I saw one hundred fifty dollar candle at Anthropology
the other day, Like do you think it's worth it?
Or look at something like boy smells right, Like they
(08:06):
have seventy eighty dollars candles, Like are you someone that'll
swearge for like your your housees smell good? Or are
you at the dollar tree? Are you at like the
shop right? You know, like type of candles? Like what
do you think about that?
Speaker 3 (08:17):
That's a great question.
Speaker 4 (08:20):
I do love candles, so I would say my candles
are a little different only because it's for your body, right,
so it's like natural oil. So I feel like anything
I'm putting on my skin, I will definitely pay a
little bit extra to make sure that ingredients are like
good and it's not like, you know, something that's going
to make me break out or something like that. As
far as regular candles, I enjoy I to do both, right,
(08:44):
So like the more expensive ones, I've noticed the scents
are stronger, they last longer. I can kind of see
the difference. But whereas the cheaper ones, you don't really smell.
Like I can burn a cheap candle in my liv
room alms from my bedroom, but like if I get
expensive candle, I'll smell it all throughout the house, you
know what I mean.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
Yeah, But I think it just depends.
Speaker 4 (09:06):
Like if it's going on your body or something, I
think you should definitely pay the little the extra coins
and just make sure you're using good products.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
You know, do you think, like you know, for now,
obviously we're in the winter, it's cold. Is this ideal
like body oil season? Going back to like what you
were saying earlier, like it's not really time like in
the summery like it just doesn't make sense to be
rubbing the hot oil on you, Like is winter spring
like ideal time for you. Just suck up on the
body oil and make sure you bather it up.
Speaker 4 (09:36):
So this is why my product is so amazing because,
like I mentioned, I think you too, I've been I
was able to get rid of that oily residue, so
like you can rub it into your skin and it's
like putting motion on, you.
Speaker 3 (09:49):
Know what I mean.
Speaker 4 (09:49):
And I think it's definitely amazing to use in the
wintertime because it's all natural ingredients. So it's like shade butters, cocoa, coco,
coconut oil, vitamin E oil, you know, like all that natural,
so that's good for your skin.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
So definitely use it in the winter time, but you can.
Speaker 4 (10:04):
Also use it in the summertime as well and you
won't feel like gross and sticky.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
There we go, No, we can't have a sticky recidal.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
What is like what if you could walk into a
store or you know, an experience, like if you could
make a a cent based on a time of your
life or maybe like a special store, or even like
a form of media like a TV show or music,
Like I know, it's completely open ended but very broad.
(10:32):
But if you could make a scent based on any
one of those things, like what would you try to
make it?
Speaker 1 (10:37):
Like, what would you try to you know, capsule?
Speaker 4 (10:40):
Okay, so based off a time of my life, I
would actually say right now only because I feel like
I'm entering this like confident woman, sexy, like just feeling
myself kind of right now, you know what I mean?
So absolutely, And then it's so funny because I feel
(11:01):
like a show that kind of fits that as girlfriends.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
I don't know if you've seen it.
Speaker 4 (11:05):
Yes, yes, okay, so yeah, like all those women were
like doing their own things, super confident, you know what
I mean. So I just feel like I'm going out
with my friends like I'm handling my business and like
look at Joan, you know what I mean, Like or
all those women were like doing their things. I feel
like I just want my candles to make people feel
like confident and sexy, like they're taking control of things,
you know.
Speaker 3 (11:25):
So I feel like, yeah, right now, right let be that. Yeah,
I'm my libraies right now. Definitely.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
You know, I'm not one for like the whole like Gormond,
you know, sense where it's like I really don't like
a I'm good with like like a clean vanilla. I'm
with you, like you were saying, yeah, it's good to
have like a clean scent and everything, but I would
love to smell like a Willy Wanka chocolate factory, you know,
like something deep, something rich, something like that. But I
(11:52):
love that you're you would like to encapsulate this whole experience,
and you know you're you're entering your growth era. I
would to have that too, you know, so that that's
not surprising. I think if you could make it, if
you could make that and sell that, I would definitely
be I would have it on repeat. I would have
a subscription. Last final questions is what or yeah?
Speaker 1 (12:13):
What is so you?
Speaker 2 (12:14):
Before we started everything you started talked about being in
retail and kind of jumping into that new space. How
does that feel?
Speaker 4 (12:22):
So I still can't believe that's real. That's something like
I've wanted from when I was a kid. And it's
so funny because I'm super creative. I'm always thinking of
stuff that I want to do, and I never when
I was younger. Obviously I didn't think I was going
to make candles or anything like that. But I've always
wanted to own something or own a store or whatever.
So I don't own I'm in a boutique right now,
but I feel like it's a childhood dream that I
(12:44):
just accomplished.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (12:46):
I was able to walk into the mall this so
I'm in North Carolina right now. Where the shop is.
Speaker 4 (12:51):
It's in Crabtream Mall. The name of the shop is
called Jinsa Essentials, and everything he sells in there is
all natural. And I spoke to him. I was like listen.
I had to like run upon him and like just
like pitch myself like hey, I love your shop. This
is great. He sells like other oils. And I'm like, well,
this is why she carried my candles.
Speaker 3 (13:10):
This is what they do. And I'm not gonna lie.
Speaker 4 (13:13):
In the beginning, i feel like he was like looking
like I don't know about this. I just kept pitching
myself like I have a sample on here, give me
your hand and let me try it. And I'm like like, oh,
I'm talking to him, trying to like kill time, to
distract him or whatever.
Speaker 3 (13:25):
It's like, give me your hand. I'm pointed out there.
He's like, oh wow, this is great, oh wow.
Speaker 4 (13:30):
And I'm like yeah, because at first he was like,
I carry candles because I don't want it to compete
with another vendor.
Speaker 3 (13:37):
He has candles in there room. I'm like, well, this
is completely cool.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
Oh okay, it's completely different.
Speaker 4 (13:41):
And I had to I was like listen, like I
understand that, but this is not that. This is completely different.
This is for your skin. Pull up the samples, pulled
on his hand and I seen.
Speaker 3 (13:49):
His face change. He was like, oh, this is really nice.
It smells good.
Speaker 4 (13:51):
I was like, thank you, sir. So I worked him
over and he was like, yeah, hees, we'll see how
it does. And he gave me a little section on
like a little case and it's they so just walking
into the mall and walking into that boutique and seeing
my stuff like on a case, it's just really I
can't I still can't believe.
Speaker 3 (14:06):
It's so cool.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
And you know, you you didn't come to the mall
with like any type of plan.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
You know, it just happened like it just happened so organically.
That's fantastic.
Speaker 3 (14:16):
Do you want to laugh?
Speaker 4 (14:18):
So the shop is next to Auntie Annie's. I was
going to Auntie Andie's to get a pretzel and yeah,
so then he he was sitting outside and I just
read the little steppery pee was just like, hey, you
want to It was around Christmas time too, actually, so
he's like, you want to come inside? Come inside, I
can show you some products. And in my head I
(14:40):
was like I really didn't want.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
To time, but how it goes.
Speaker 4 (14:44):
But I was like, you know what, let me just
go in side black owned business. Let me just support
and just listen to him. And that I did because
I went inside, I seen his products, he was super nice,
and then him telling me about his other products.
Speaker 3 (14:55):
I'm like, wait a minute, I wonder if I can
pitch my candles to him.
Speaker 4 (14:58):
So I didn't do it right then, and I came
back when I was more prepared and the rest is history.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
Still, we're gonna get an Auntie Ann's collab.
Speaker 4 (15:07):
We think listen, don't don't tell me because I'm going
to die.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
You can't eat it, DC, you can smell it. You
can smell it.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
Last two questions is with having all these products that
make you look good feel good, what does self care
look like for you?
Speaker 4 (15:25):
Self care is so important because I feel like we
are so busy from day to day we forget about ourselves.
Self care is anything that just makes you feel good.
So I think overall, like how is your mental health?
How is your like physical health? So me personally like
I like to work out a lot and like make
your body feels good. So I'll wake up, I'll go
(15:46):
work out, don't come home, take a nice warm shower,
my eyebrows done, my nails done. It's like the upkeep,
you know what I mean. I just want to feel
an overall.
Speaker 3 (15:56):
So for me, self care is like am I not
stressed out? Am I?
Speaker 4 (16:00):
You know?
Speaker 3 (16:00):
I do everything I had to do? So I would
I like to save my self care days to like
the weekend.
Speaker 4 (16:04):
So I've got to worry about work, I gotta worry
about running anything like that. So going to the gym,
I'm pushing myself hard. Then I'm going to trying to
see the order. Probably go home and shower, relax. But
I want to make sure my eyebrowser done, my nails
and my toes are done.
Speaker 3 (16:18):
I just want to look good. I want to feel
good good, right, you know what I mean? My skin
get facial so yes, mm hmm.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
What can you say? I know I said I had
two questions. I'm lying but what would you say to
other you know, small business owners who honestly like not
trying to just get anything crazy right, Like they just
want to do something and get something out there into
the world. Like you had and you had like these visions,
what would you say to someone that's struggling or is
(16:46):
looking for where to go, like and how to start?
Speaker 4 (16:50):
You know what's so funny. I had a conversation with
my best friend about this earlier. You have to bet
on yourself, honestly, Like when I first started this, I
didn't I'm not going to say things big because of
course it was, but you just kind of do just
do what you love, just do something you're like excited about.
Because again, like my day to day job, but this
(17:10):
is like a breakaway from that, you know what I mean.
Speaker 3 (17:13):
You want to do something.
Speaker 4 (17:14):
That's gonna be fun for you, that's not gonna feel
like work. So I enjoy creating stuff and making things right.
So I'm also a DJ, so I started like picking
out my favorite R and B song. So basically I
want the candles to be like a full experience. So
you get your candle, you pick your favorite scent, and
then you can pick.
Speaker 3 (17:31):
Like a playlist.
Speaker 4 (17:32):
So I have like a whole bunch of R and
B so you don't have to even worry about playing music,
you know what I mean. So you take your showers,
take your bath or whatever, come out like your candle.
It smells good and you're putting on your skin. That's
like your experience, right. So I feel like, if you
have a passion for something, find a way to make
it work for you and just bet on yourself and
do it.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
Create advice.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
I feel so inspired, you know, like I want, I
want that.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
You just gotta do it.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
Yeah, last question, obviously we're on the iHeart radio platform.
If you could have your own station, your own CC's
station on iHeart Radio, What artists, what songs, what genre is?
What are we playing?
Speaker 3 (18:17):
Okay, that's fun.
Speaker 4 (18:18):
So I would definitely go with a little Jennet Jackson,
some Miguel, some Ashanti, some Rihanna of course, got the
Beyonce on there. Yes, I'm trying to think just R
and B, just stuff to just like unline to you know, use.
Speaker 1 (18:34):
Your candles too, use your candles too.
Speaker 4 (18:37):
Absolutely, I'm trying to think that I'm missing I mean,
of course I'm missing people, but I'm trying to think
of it, the main people might go to to just
like I love Miguel.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
Honestly, I feel like Miguel is so underrated and that's
basically it. That's it, well not it, but for right now, okay.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
I am so grateful that we were able to connect
and talk more about your brand and how can people
find you?
Speaker 4 (19:06):
So I'm on Instagram touched by Stacey dot Com and
that's Stacey with the st A C.
Speaker 3 (19:12):
I E.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
You're in the pre mall.
Speaker 3 (19:15):
Oh my god. So it's Crabtree Mall.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
In Crabtree in Peachtree. Right where did I I don't
know how I got that bled Crabtree.
Speaker 4 (19:22):
Mallah, Crabtree Mall in Raleigh, North Carolina, right next to
Aunty and he's get a get a pretzel, then go
inside and get a candle. And yeah, the website, Instagram,
everything is the same. Touched by Stacey dot Com.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
Awesome, Stacey, thank you so much for talking to me today.
Looking forward to learning more and seeing you grow. Definitely
want that. I need that aromatherapy. I need to breathe
in feel good.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
I think I'm gonna try the Sandalwood one. I think
I'm a big fan of Sandalwood, but I'm open to everything.
Get my my Spotify up. Oh you need a iHeartRadio one.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
I think that needs to be your next one.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
Yeah, you know what's so funny. I was thinking.
Speaker 4 (20:02):
I was like, I have these plays, but I don't
think I've made one on iHeart which is crazy.
Speaker 3 (20:05):
So I'm going to do that now and listen to
iHeart Radio. And I definitely have a candle with your
name on it. David, my love. I'm a CD. So
let me know what you want because I got you.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
Yes, surprise. I'm big on surprises, So however you feel,
mood everything.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
Thank you so much. I can't wait to tell everyone
about my candle.
Speaker 3 (20:25):
So much, Dave. This is so fun.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
Thank you Stacy.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
You could find more about Stacy's business in the description.
If you or someone you know wants to open up
a black business or has a wants to start and
launch their black business head tell them to head over
to Building blackbazs dot com. Might Once again, my name
is David Montague. This has been Building backs face with
Stacey Anderson off touched by Stacy.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
Thank you for listening.
Hello everybody.
Speaker 2 (00:00):
My name is David Montague and I'm the host of
this episode of Building Black Business. Today we have Stacy
Anderson who owns Touched by Stacy, and we are really
excited to talk to her. Hi Stacy, Hi David, how
are you good? Thank you for jumping on this, just
chat with me. Yeah, let's just get started and jump
(00:25):
into everything. How did you get started with touch by sac.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
Well, thank you for having me.
Speaker 4 (00:32):
Just like a lot of businesses I started during COVID,
we were locked down board with nothing to do. I
actually got into a car accident and broke my wrist,
so I couldn't really do anything else. Yes, stuck in
the house the board, couldn't do anything, and I had
to watch like YouTube videos on how to make candles. Right,
but I feel like a lot of people were making
(00:52):
candles around that time, so I'm like, how can I
be different from like every I was like, you know
what I'm do, massage candles and I just researched it,
watched a million videos because I had nothing but time.
So that's how it started. I started learning how to
do it. I made them, give them to my mom my,
sisters and stuff like that. Perfected it and then I
want to say, twenty twenty one, on my birthday, I
(01:14):
like officially launched.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
It made the website and everything.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Fantastic. So how did the launch look like? Were you nervous?
You know, were you like what type of struggles did
you have to deal.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
With the launch?
Speaker 4 (01:28):
I was super nervous because I mean it was my
first time, like bring out a brand, you know what
I mean, like represents me and I wanted people to
like it and this is something completely different, you know
what I mean. So it's like do you like the
scent of it? Do you like how it makes you feel?
And like, I feel like a big issue that I had.
And another thing that I feel like using other products
(01:49):
is like the oily residue you.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
Get on certain things like when you So my thing was.
Speaker 4 (01:55):
I didn't want that, so I it was a launch,
but basically people came. I had a bunch of samples
people to try and tell me how they liked it.
I'm always open to criticism, but of course I wanted
people to like it. So I think the biggest struggle
and the biggest thing for me was just hoping everybody
liked it. I want to be honest with me, so
like you know, I just open to all that. But
everyone loved it.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
It was good.
Speaker 4 (02:13):
And then again like when they use the product, there
was no residue. They were just really surprised about like
how soft their skin was and it didn't eve any
you know, like oiliness or anything like that.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
So a lot of like initial positive feedback.
Speaker 4 (02:25):
Yeah, thank god, I was So.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
So what does the day to day look like?
Speaker 2 (02:31):
Is this your complete, like full time job or do
you have something else on the side.
Speaker 4 (02:35):
So this is not my complete full time job. This
is a hobby and a side business. But a day
to day for me is I wake up super early
for my regular job, but it's a crazy I work
for a bank, So basically I try to wake up
early before the craziness, meditate a little bit, try to
meditate because you know, you think about your day and
what you gotta do, what you haven't done yet. So
(02:57):
I wake up early, try to just relax my mind
a little bit, prepare myself what I gotta do. And
then once I'm kind of like up and ready to go,
I look at my emails, I look at the website
for the candles, and I kind of look at the
numbers to see like where the traffic is coming from.
Is it from the Instagram, the Facebook? Did anybody purchase anything?
Speaker 3 (03:16):
I have any orders?
Speaker 4 (03:18):
Just stuff like that, and just kind of monitor that.
I'll scroll through TikTok to see what kind of like
what's trending. What can I do for my candles for
people to see it. That's how I kind of promote
to like I make like TikTok videos and stuff like that,
so I kind of see like what sounds or like trending,
what videos I could do, and then.
Speaker 3 (03:37):
I just start work.
Speaker 4 (03:38):
And then as a d like I'll bookmark like videos
of where I can do this over I can do
it this way, and then when the weekend comes, I
have my free time, I'll record and do stuff like that.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
So it's a good balance, That's what it sounds like.
You know, like you're able to pick it up and
it's not taking all of your time, but you have
a good balance with everything.
Speaker 4 (03:58):
I've actually gotten to spot because in the beginning it
took up all my time and I was like trying
to focus on focus on social media, you know, promoting it.
And right now I like I'm in a good spot
where people familiar with it. I mean, of course I
still have to promote it and market it, but like
I feel like the heavy lifting is done. So yeah,
now I'm just kind of monitoring and just advertising and
(04:19):
promoting it. And that's like the just thing relevant basically.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
So, way, when you talk about promoting and marketing, what
type of challenges have you face with getting the word
out there?
Speaker 3 (04:32):
I would say the challenges would be.
Speaker 4 (04:36):
Just trying to stay creative and just trying to find
ways to kind of just stay on top of mind
with people because, for instance, summertime, no one really wants
to use like if you think oil, you know, like
nobody wants to do that. So I'm just trying to
find creative ways for people to be like, oh, let
me just buy this, you know what I mean, I
don't that's my I feel like my major thing would
definitely be like catering towards the holidays, depending what the
(04:59):
hardest part is. Definitely summertime because I don't know about you,
but I'm not trying to put hot oil.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
On on you.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Yeah, absolutely right, So, and then I was also going
to that's a great pivot to my next question. What
scent is like the easiest to nail down, and you know,
like that you have it, you could do it in
your sleep. On the opposite end, what takes time to
get perfect, Like you know it took a couple of
trial and error, like you needed time to kind of
(05:25):
get that right, that right scent.
Speaker 4 (05:28):
I feel like for me, the easier scent would be
the clean scent. I think as I enjoy that, it's
easy for me to kind of just.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
Do you have to do too much? Simple? The harder
sense for me would be the more woodsy sense.
Speaker 4 (05:43):
I try to have something for like men as well,
So I have like a fragrance, and it's more woodsy.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
It's not as like florally or girally.
Speaker 4 (05:52):
It's more unisex. But I try to gear it towards
the men, like I market that towards the men. I
don't know why. It's just harder because like I don't
know something about it. It's just I'm really particular with it.
Men are simple, Like when I say simple, they're easy
to please, but I feel like they're very particular with
their sense. Their favorite well, I don't know want to
(06:14):
say their favorite secret everybody, but I know a popular
scent would be mahogany teak wood see, I cannot.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (06:21):
I've been trying to like get that scent together from
my candle.
Speaker 3 (06:24):
I can't. It's really hard.
Speaker 4 (06:25):
So I would say right now, the difficulty would definitely
be like the more woodsy sense fragrances for the men.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
Okay, so woodsy, It's it's hard, definitely, I would say
mahogany teak, would I. I think it's it's a safe one.
You know, if I go into uh one of my
my friend's place and they a lot of my guy
friends live together, if I smell mahugan teak, but I'm like, oh, okay,
like this is not you know, this is pretty on brand.
But do you have like a signature scent, like something
(06:53):
that you enjoy.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
My favorite scent is Bergamont is very okay, very light.
Speaker 4 (07:00):
I feel yeah, I don't know. I just love That's
my go to one. But I noticed that a lot
of people like Midnight Jasmine. Okay, it's very subtle, it's
very like soft, and I think it's popular. Like if
you can go to Victoria No, Victoria's Secret Back and
body Works, you can find the Midnight Jasmine there too,
So I feel like maybe because it's more.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
Known maybe, but yeah, my here's Berghama. I love it.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
Now do you feel like with a lot of the
I want to say scent community on social media, especially
like TikTok and Instagram and Facebook and everything, a lot
of people are finding dupes and like they can't afford like,
you know, a two hundred dollars bottle of perfume or
(07:45):
cologne or anything. You know, Like what do you do
you think that there's space for both to live or
are you more of like you know, this is a
luxury type of thing, like you should spend money for
you to smell good, you know, at home, whether it's
like I saw one hundred fifty dollar candle at Anthropology
the other day, Like do you think it's worth it?
Or look at something like boy smells right, Like they
(08:06):
have seventy eighty dollars candles, Like are you someone that'll
swearge for like your your housees smell good? Or are
you at the dollar tree? Are you at like the
shop right? You know, like type of candles? Like what
do you think about that?
Speaker 3 (08:17):
That's a great question.
Speaker 4 (08:20):
I do love candles, so I would say my candles
are a little different only because it's for your body, right,
so it's like natural oil. So I feel like anything
I'm putting on my skin, I will definitely pay a
little bit extra to make sure that ingredients are like
good and it's not like, you know, something that's going
to make me break out or something like that. As
far as regular candles, I enjoy I to do both, right,
(08:44):
So like the more expensive ones, I've noticed the scents
are stronger, they last longer. I can kind of see
the difference. But whereas the cheaper ones, you don't really smell.
Like I can burn a cheap candle in my liv
room alms from my bedroom, but like if I get
expensive candle, I'll smell it all throughout the house, you
know what I mean.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
Yeah, But I think it just depends.
Speaker 4 (09:06):
Like if it's going on your body or something, I
think you should definitely pay the little the extra coins
and just make sure you're using good products.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
You know, do you think, like you know, for now,
obviously we're in the winter, it's cold. Is this ideal
like body oil season? Going back to like what you
were saying earlier, like it's not really time like in
the summery like it just doesn't make sense to be
rubbing the hot oil on you, Like is winter spring
like ideal time for you. Just suck up on the
body oil and make sure you bather it up.
Speaker 4 (09:36):
So this is why my product is so amazing because,
like I mentioned, I think you too, I've been I
was able to get rid of that oily residue, so
like you can rub it into your skin and it's
like putting motion on, you.
Speaker 3 (09:49):
Know what I mean.
Speaker 4 (09:49):
And I think it's definitely amazing to use in the
wintertime because it's all natural ingredients. So it's like shade butters, cocoa, coco,
coconut oil, vitamin E oil, you know, like all that natural,
so that's good for your skin.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
So definitely use it in the winter time, but you can.
Speaker 4 (10:04):
Also use it in the summertime as well and you
won't feel like gross and sticky.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
There we go, No, we can't have a sticky recidal.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
What is like what if you could walk into a
store or you know, an experience, like if you could
make a a cent based on a time of your
life or maybe like a special store, or even like
a form of media like a TV show or music,
Like I know, it's completely open ended but very broad.
(10:32):
But if you could make a scent based on any
one of those things, like what would you try to
make it?
Speaker 1 (10:37):
Like, what would you try to you know, capsule?
Speaker 4 (10:40):
Okay, so based off a time of my life, I
would actually say right now only because I feel like
I'm entering this like confident woman, sexy, like just feeling
myself kind of right now, you know what I mean?
So absolutely, And then it's so funny because I feel
(11:01):
like a show that kind of fits that as girlfriends.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
I don't know if you've seen it.
Speaker 4 (11:05):
Yes, yes, okay, so yeah, like all those women were
like doing their own things, super confident, you know what
I mean. So I just feel like I'm going out
with my friends like I'm handling my business and like
look at Joan, you know what I mean, Like or
all those women were like doing their things. I feel
like I just want my candles to make people feel
like confident and sexy, like they're taking control of things,
you know.
Speaker 3 (11:25):
So I feel like, yeah, right now, right let be that. Yeah,
I'm my libraies right now. Definitely.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
You know, I'm not one for like the whole like Gormond,
you know, sense where it's like I really don't like
a I'm good with like like a clean vanilla. I'm
with you, like you were saying, yeah, it's good to
have like a clean scent and everything, but I would
love to smell like a Willy Wanka chocolate factory, you know,
like something deep, something rich, something like that. But I
(11:52):
love that you're you would like to encapsulate this whole experience,
and you know you're you're entering your growth era. I
would to have that too, you know, so that that's
not surprising. I think if you could make it, if
you could make that and sell that, I would definitely
be I would have it on repeat. I would have
a subscription. Last final questions is what or yeah?
Speaker 1 (12:13):
What is so you?
Speaker 2 (12:14):
Before we started everything you started talked about being in
retail and kind of jumping into that new space. How
does that feel?
Speaker 4 (12:22):
So I still can't believe that's real. That's something like
I've wanted from when I was a kid. And it's
so funny because I'm super creative. I'm always thinking of
stuff that I want to do, and I never when
I was younger. Obviously I didn't think I was going
to make candles or anything like that. But I've always
wanted to own something or own a store or whatever.
So I don't own I'm in a boutique right now,
but I feel like it's a childhood dream that I
(12:44):
just accomplished.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (12:46):
I was able to walk into the mall this so
I'm in North Carolina right now. Where the shop is.
Speaker 4 (12:51):
It's in Crabtream Mall. The name of the shop is
called Jinsa Essentials, and everything he sells in there is
all natural. And I spoke to him. I was like listen.
I had to like run upon him and like just
like pitch myself like hey, I love your shop. This
is great. He sells like other oils. And I'm like, well,
this is why she carried my candles.
Speaker 3 (13:10):
This is what they do. And I'm not gonna lie.
Speaker 4 (13:13):
In the beginning, i feel like he was like looking
like I don't know about this. I just kept pitching
myself like I have a sample on here, give me
your hand and let me try it. And I'm like like, oh,
I'm talking to him, trying to like kill time, to
distract him or whatever.
Speaker 3 (13:25):
It's like, give me your hand. I'm pointed out there.
He's like, oh wow, this is great, oh wow.
Speaker 4 (13:30):
And I'm like yeah, because at first he was like,
I carry candles because I don't want it to compete
with another vendor.
Speaker 3 (13:37):
He has candles in there room. I'm like, well, this
is completely cool.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
Oh okay, it's completely different.
Speaker 4 (13:41):
And I had to I was like listen, like I
understand that, but this is not that. This is completely different.
This is for your skin. Pull up the samples, pulled
on his hand and I seen.
Speaker 3 (13:49):
His face change. He was like, oh, this is really nice.
It smells good.
Speaker 4 (13:51):
I was like, thank you, sir. So I worked him
over and he was like, yeah, hees, we'll see how
it does. And he gave me a little section on
like a little case and it's they so just walking
into the mall and walking into that boutique and seeing
my stuff like on a case, it's just really I
can't I still can't believe.
Speaker 3 (14:06):
It's so cool.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
And you know, you you didn't come to the mall
with like any type of plan.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
You know, it just happened like it just happened so organically.
That's fantastic.
Speaker 3 (14:16):
Do you want to laugh?
Speaker 4 (14:18):
So the shop is next to Auntie Annie's. I was
going to Auntie Andie's to get a pretzel and yeah,
so then he he was sitting outside and I just
read the little steppery pee was just like, hey, you
want to It was around Christmas time too, actually, so
he's like, you want to come inside? Come inside, I
can show you some products. And in my head I
(14:40):
was like I really didn't want.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
To time, but how it goes.
Speaker 4 (14:44):
But I was like, you know what, let me just
go in side black owned business. Let me just support
and just listen to him. And that I did because
I went inside, I seen his products, he was super nice,
and then him telling me about his other products.
Speaker 3 (14:55):
I'm like, wait a minute, I wonder if I can
pitch my candles to him.
Speaker 4 (14:58):
So I didn't do it right then, and I came
back when I was more prepared and the rest is history.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
Still, we're gonna get an Auntie Ann's collab.
Speaker 4 (15:07):
We think listen, don't don't tell me because I'm going
to die.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
You can't eat it, DC, you can smell it. You
can smell it.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
Last two questions is with having all these products that
make you look good feel good, what does self care
look like for you?
Speaker 4 (15:25):
Self care is so important because I feel like we
are so busy from day to day we forget about ourselves.
Self care is anything that just makes you feel good.
So I think overall, like how is your mental health?
How is your like physical health? So me personally like
I like to work out a lot and like make
your body feels good. So I'll wake up, I'll go
(15:46):
work out, don't come home, take a nice warm shower,
my eyebrows done, my nails done. It's like the upkeep,
you know what I mean. I just want to feel
an overall.
Speaker 3 (15:56):
So for me, self care is like am I not
stressed out? Am I?
Speaker 4 (16:00):
You know?
Speaker 3 (16:00):
I do everything I had to do? So I would
I like to save my self care days to like
the weekend.
Speaker 4 (16:04):
So I've got to worry about work, I gotta worry
about running anything like that. So going to the gym,
I'm pushing myself hard. Then I'm going to trying to
see the order. Probably go home and shower, relax. But
I want to make sure my eyebrowser done, my nails
and my toes are done.
Speaker 3 (16:18):
I just want to look good. I want to feel
good good, right, you know what I mean? My skin
get facial so yes, mm hmm.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
What can you say? I know I said I had
two questions. I'm lying but what would you say to
other you know, small business owners who honestly like not
trying to just get anything crazy right, Like they just
want to do something and get something out there into
the world. Like you had and you had like these visions,
what would you say to someone that's struggling or is
(16:46):
looking for where to go, like and how to start?
Speaker 4 (16:50):
You know what's so funny. I had a conversation with
my best friend about this earlier. You have to bet
on yourself, honestly, Like when I first started this, I
didn't I'm not going to say things big because of
course it was, but you just kind of do just
do what you love, just do something you're like excited about.
Because again, like my day to day job, but this
(17:10):
is like a breakaway from that, you know what I mean.
Speaker 3 (17:13):
You want to do something.
Speaker 4 (17:14):
That's gonna be fun for you, that's not gonna feel
like work. So I enjoy creating stuff and making things right.
So I'm also a DJ, so I started like picking
out my favorite R and B song. So basically I
want the candles to be like a full experience. So
you get your candle, you pick your favorite scent, and
then you can pick.
Speaker 3 (17:31):
Like a playlist.
Speaker 4 (17:32):
So I have like a whole bunch of R and
B so you don't have to even worry about playing music,
you know what I mean. So you take your showers,
take your bath or whatever, come out like your candle.
It smells good and you're putting on your skin. That's
like your experience, right. So I feel like, if you
have a passion for something, find a way to make
it work for you and just bet on yourself and
do it.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
Create advice.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
I feel so inspired, you know, like I want, I
want that.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
You just gotta do it.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
Yeah, last question, obviously we're on the iHeart radio platform.
If you could have your own station, your own CC's
station on iHeart Radio, What artists, what songs, what genre is?
What are we playing?
Speaker 3 (18:17):
Okay, that's fun.
Speaker 4 (18:18):
So I would definitely go with a little Jennet Jackson,
some Miguel, some Ashanti, some Rihanna of course, got the
Beyonce on there. Yes, I'm trying to think just R
and B, just stuff to just like unline to you know, use.
Speaker 1 (18:34):
Your candles too, use your candles too.
Speaker 4 (18:37):
Absolutely, I'm trying to think that I'm missing I mean,
of course I'm missing people, but I'm trying to think
of it, the main people might go to to just
like I love Miguel.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
Honestly, I feel like Miguel is so underrated and that's
basically it. That's it, well not it, but for right now, okay.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
I am so grateful that we were able to connect
and talk more about your brand and how can people
find you?
Speaker 4 (19:06):
So I'm on Instagram touched by Stacey dot Com and
that's Stacey with the st A C.
Speaker 3 (19:12):
I E.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
You're in the pre mall.
Speaker 3 (19:15):
Oh my god. So it's Crabtree Mall.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
In Crabtree in Peachtree. Right where did I I don't
know how I got that bled Crabtree.
Speaker 4 (19:22):
Mallah, Crabtree Mall in Raleigh, North Carolina, right next to
Aunty and he's get a get a pretzel, then go
inside and get a candle. And yeah, the website, Instagram,
everything is the same. Touched by Stacey dot Com.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
Awesome, Stacey, thank you so much for talking to me today.
Looking forward to learning more and seeing you grow. Definitely
want that. I need that aromatherapy. I need to breathe
in feel good.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
I think I'm gonna try the Sandalwood one. I think
I'm a big fan of Sandalwood, but I'm open to everything.
Get my my Spotify up. Oh you need a iHeartRadio one.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
I think that needs to be your next one.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
Yeah, you know what's so funny. I was thinking.
Speaker 4 (20:02):
I was like, I have these plays, but I don't
think I've made one on iHeart which is crazy.
Speaker 3 (20:05):
So I'm going to do that now and listen to
iHeart Radio. And I definitely have a candle with your
name on it. David, my love. I'm a CD. So
let me know what you want because I got you.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
Yes, surprise. I'm big on surprises, So however you feel,
mood everything.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
Thank you so much. I can't wait to tell everyone
about my candle.
Speaker 3 (20:25):
So much, Dave. This is so fun.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
Thank you Stacy.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
You could find more about Stacy's business in the description.
If you or someone you know wants to open up
a black business or has a wants to start and
launch their black business head tell them to head over
to Building blackbazs dot com. Might Once again, my name
is David Montague. This has been Building backs face with
Stacey Anderson off touched by Stacy.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
Thank you for listening.
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