I always seem to get the question "How did you get started in making soy candles?" Yes, that's what a lot of people ask me, and the real story is kinda funny. After rebuilding my accounting career (from pursing a performing career), and working tremendous hours, with high-stress, I needed a creative outlet. I started making paraffin candles again. This is something I've done on and off for over twenty years. I even took some beading classes. I leaed how to knot pearls, and started making tons of jewelry. I went back to the bead shop in the Heights, where I took the class through Leisure Leaing University, to buy some beads. One of the owners asked me if I was interested in teaching a candle class. She said that the President of Leisure Leaing University in Houston was looking for someone to teach candle making. I thought, okay, that might be fun. So, I called and signed up to teach the class. The original teacher was going out on medical leave due to a upcoming surgery. So, I called the teacher, and she literally told me how teach the class and how to make soy candles.

This was back in 2005, and I really didn't know anything about soy succulent candle  at that time. I asked what soy candles were, and why soy was better. She told me about soy being natural, renewable, comes from soybeans grown right here in the U.S.A., bus longer, bus cleaners, uses cotton wicks, easy to clean-up, environmentally friendly and non-toxic. Okay, I thought, I'll try this, because it sounds fun. I wasn't totally convinced what soy candles were about, and I usually have to find out for myself, if the claims were true.

So, I purchased a 50 lb box of soy wax, the jelly jars, wicks, dyes, a crock pot, plastic 2 cup measuring cups, and other supplies. I even had to bring ice-cubes to speed up the candle cooling time, so the students could walk away with a formed candle within a 3 hour class. The former instructor told me to buy a Presto pot, but at that time, I couldn't locate one at any of the super centers, so I bought a crock pot.