deshawnmarie's photostream

Hi, welcome to my Flickr page. Thanks for taking the time to drop by. You want to know a little bit about me?

Well my name is DeShawn Marie and I’ve been making candles, soaps, lotions, oils and salts for 14 years now. I started out in Seattle, WA in 1996 when trying to figure out something special to give my family for Christmas. I was broke and in school so I couldn’t afford much. I stumbled across a small candle making kit in a new age shop and raced home to begin my gift making. Little did I know this was going to become my passion and lifes work. I love it and feel very lucky to have found this satisfaction in my life. Before this I had tried many careers, mostly in the travel industry. I was a flight attendant, a cruise ship steward and believe it or not even a hairstylist at one time. It wasn’t until I moved to NYC in 1998 that I realized I could do this as a career. Up until then I had just made it for family, friends and sold a few items at a small local market in Seattle.

My first weekend off in NYC I went window shopping and wandered around the streets exploring. That day I walked into an amazing store that sold handmade candle holders, they were beautiful. All I could think of was my candles would make these holders look even better. It was a perfect match. So I said to the person working there “hey I make candles that would look great on these candle holders” and she said “well bring some in and we’ll see.” I raced home and begin designing something new and unusual to bring to her. The next week I brought a few over to her and she said “I’ll take them” I was in shock as I hadn’t even thought about pricing or anything. I came up with prices on the fly and made my first sale to a store. That is when the light bulb went off in my head and I realized I can do this for a living. I quit my job and started my business within 2 weeks of that sale. After that a few other stores contacted me asking to carry my candles as they had seen them in the first store. I then started my career in soap and candle design. I went to stores showing them my creations and selling what I could. I started calling stores across the nation and sending them information. In 1999 I had one of the first candle websites online. I did local markets, art fairs and sold on the streets of Hoboken & Soho.

Since my start in 1998 I've accomplished quite a lot, have had a store, sold wholesale to 50 stores internationally and much more. I have recently moved to Boston and have focused my business to selling online. I now focus mostly on my vegan soap line. I currently sell my creations at the links below, please drop in to see my online stores. Any support, suggestions, etc are greatly appreciated. Thank you, DeShawn Marie

My Website
My Etsy
My Blog
Twitter
My Artfire
My DaWanda
My 1000markets
My Made it Myself