Meet Melissa: With an eye for style and a heart for gracious hospitality, Melissa loves creating beautiful candles that can transform your space with a simple, yet elegant touch. Melissa uses her unique process of hand-gold leafing and hand-pouring her candles to create luxurious, fragrant, and clean-burning candles that fill your home with a warm glow.
Launching a line of candles was never really in Melissa’s plans. She’s learned over the years; however, that the best things in life aren’t always the ones in which you’ve planned. Since 2012, candle-making had been her hobby and creative outlet. Through local and regional pop-up shops and markets, the popularity of her candles grew, and so did her love for the working in the creative, maker community in the South. As her collections became more popular, particularly her gold-leaf collections, she officially launched Melissa Warnke Candles in 2020.
A native of Cullman, Alabama, she graduated from Auburn University and has lived in Montgomery since 2010. She has two daughters, ages 4 and 6, is an avid tennis player, and works full-time as a Director of Communications.
Time Stamp:
1:10 Background
2:10 Candle company was inspired by Martha Stewart tea cup magazine cover
3:40 Wicks and Willow the original tea cup candle company had a total rebrand in 2020
5:00 Retail pick up location only
7:24 How do you create your scents?
8:49 Fun fragrance party ideas
11:07 Soy wax base
12:30 Let Artists design your experience
13:45 Candle Care and Accessories
17:04 Tip: Train your candle not to tunnel
19:43 Best selling scent: Tobacco and Bay Leaf
22:15 Tip: Do not pour wax in your sink!
23:50 Branding = evolution
25:10 Invest in photographs
27:52 Gold Leafing
29:30 How do workshops work?
31:29 What type of workshop would you prefer
34:00 Welcoming Community
35:35 www.melissawarnke.com
Follow Melissa on IG and FB @melissawarnkecandles
Follow Amber on IG and FB @InspiringThyme
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