My Dumb Beginning: No Clue What I Was Doing
Okay, so this whole “redemption brand” thing hit me after totally bombing my first attempt at selling handmade candles. Felt like my guts got ripped out when no one bought squat. Packed up the leftover wax feeling like a loser, right? Then stumbled on this phrase online – “redemption brand.” Sounded cheesy, but I was desperate. Decided, screw it, I’ll try turning this candle failure into… something else. But honestly? Started with zero plan.
First, I forced myself to actually write down why the candles flopped. Hard to stare at, man. Stuff like: prices too high for crappy labels, scents nobody wanted (looking at you, ‘Mystic Forest’), and my website was a sad ghost town. Felt like peeling your soul in public. But I grabbed a notebook – actual paper and pen, felt weird – and dumped everything I screwed up. No sugarcoating.
Phase 2: The Mess-Up Middle
Armed with my ugly list, I tried “rebranding.” Total disaster at first. Thought slapping “Phoenix Rising Candles” on everything would magically fix it. Nope. Still felt fake. Scrambled to sketch new label ideas, asked my mom’s friends what scents they’d actually buy (turned out lavender and vanilla beat ‘Mystic Forest’ any day). Looked at competitors who bounced back – not copying, just seeing how they admitted past crap.
The scary part? Publicly owning the flop. Drafted this awkward post: “Hey, remember those terrible candles I made? Yeah… learned stuff. Trying again, smarter.” Almost deleted it ten times. Took a deep breath, hit post. Heart was pounding like a drum. Braced for laughs. Got a few “LOL”s yeah, but weirdly, also got “Hey, respect the honesty” and “What’s the new one gonna be?” That shocked me.
How It Actually Started Shaping Up
Took the “honesty sucks but works” vibe and ran with it:
- Wiped the old shop clean: Took down every single “Mystic Forest” abomination. Felt good, like chucking old baggage.
- Built simple, not fancy: Used a basic website builder focused only on the new stuff. Put the story of the failure right there on the “About” page. Short and awkward, not some hero tale.
- Kept the price low & real: Made simple soy candles with two solid scents. Priced ’em to barely cover costs. Label was literally just a sticker with the scent, batch number, and “Better Than Last Time. Hopefully.”
- Beggars can’t be choosers: Slid into DMs of people who commented nicely. Asked flat out: “Will you try Batch #001 for free? Just tell me honestly if it still sucks?” Sent out like 20 jars with sweaty palms.
The “Maybe This Works?” Part
Feedback trickled in. “Way better scent throw!” “Love the simplicity.” One person even said, “The label made me laugh, bought one for my sister.” Holy crap. People actually paid after the freebies? The story wasn’t hidden – it was the brand now. Every order felt like a tiny win against the past failure.
Started posting little behind-the-scenes bits:
- Pics of messy wax spills (“Learning curve: steep”)
- Polls for the next scent (“Help me pick, last time sucked”)
- A pic of the old “Mystic Forest” label in the trash (“Never again”)
People dug the transparency. It wasn’t glamorous, it was just… real, and getting slightly better. The key wasn’t pretending the failure didn’t happen. It was making the climb out of the failure the whole point. Now my inbox has actual orders mixed with messages saying “My startup bombed too, thanks for showing it’s possible.” Feels way more solid than pretending to be perfect ever did.
