What's my story?

Hi there, thank you for visiting When In Aroma! I'm Shelby, the owner, founder, candle maker, marketer, and so much more. During the day, I work from home as a digital marketer on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. At night, I pour my heart and soul into candlemaking. And some weekends, you'll find me at various craft shows in Pennsylvania and Maryland selling my candles and wax melts!

A lot of people ask me how I got into candlemaking and what made me want to start a business anyways. So here's my story:

When I was a kid, I watched my mom get a lot of candles as Christmas gifts, and I thought "wow, what a boring gift." Fast forward quite a few years to college and I (illegally) began to burn a few small candles in my dorm room as I did homework or binged Netflix. From there, my candle obsession grew when I had an apartment of my own.

A few years prior to my launch, I played with the idea of starting a candle business, but at the time when I looked into it, it was much more complicated to own a business than I expected. Plus, who knows if I could even make a good candle!

As Christmastime came around I figured I would give it a shot and bought a few candle supplies to make gifts for family. It was fun and felt rewarding, but I had no time for a business and still didn't really want to get into the hassle of it all.

Then: covid hit. I was working from home full time. I got a cat. I started playing way too much Farmville. My friend launched her own small business. As I talked to her about what she did, I was so amazed and proud of everything she had done. I loved the idea of having my own side gig, and I started to make candles again. While I initially thought about doing something similar to her, I realized that what I needed was to do something I was passionate about: candles.

From those initial thoughts and encouragement from my friends that I COULD do this and I COULD succeed, I couldn't stop thinking about candles and all of the ideas I had to make my business unique. I joined candle Facebook groups, I watched hours of videos, and I tested new scents, different jars, and wicks.

For 3 straight months I worked hard to perfect my candles and develop the When In Aroma brand, and I officially launched this business to the public in July 2020.

Ever since I've been challenged in ways I did not even imagine and humbled by so many loyal customers. I'm still amazed at the overwhelming support I've had from day 1. As this business continues to grow, I'm thankful for the support of my family, the experiences I've had over the years, and of course the customers who make it all possible. I still get that giddy feeling when a new order notification pops up no matter how big or small the order.