The sweet duo of P.F. Candle Co, Kristen and Tom, have just opened up their flagship shop in Echo Park. The space is fresh with stacks of amber candles, diffusers, and incense galore, along with a quaint, curated collection of handmade home goods. Warm and welcoming, like the founders themselves, the new P.F. Candle flagship is a space cultivated by passion and hustle. Read on to learn how the owners of P.F. Candle Co. stay on top of their business, mental health, and lessons they've learned along the way. (In the interview "K" is Kristen and "T" is Tom.)

Tell us about the beginnings of P.F. Candle Co. Do you remember how the process got started? What was it like to create your first batch of candles together?

K - I started P.F. in 2008. Everyone knows us for our candles and home fragrance goods now, but originally, I was making a lot of different products for our Etsy shop and craft fairs. Candles were the thing that stuck. It wasn’t until 2012 that I started enlisting Tom in making the candles during the busy season. Our entire bedroom was filled with racks of candles – we didn’t have any space left! In 2013, Tom came on board full time when there was a big order on the horizon.

T - I remember very well when the business went from second bedroom to studio. I got Kristen to bother the buyer of West Elm to write a PO by guaranteeing that I would make it in the required time no matter what. Yeah, that order was 4,000 candles, and I could only make 100 a day, so our first batch was us trying to figure out how to make 4,000 candles in a month. A lot of stress, but I wouldn’t change a thing about it, because it was also a lot of fun.

Was there ever an “aha” moment that helped move the brand forward?

K - I’ll always remember doing a market in 2013 where Tom and I both had a line 30-minutes long to buy our candles. It was when we realized – oh, people really like this!

T - Kristen has always been about the brand. For me the “aha" in the business was to try and create the type of business that others would want to work for. My experience in the workforce was pretty demoralizing, so I didn’t want our employees to have that experience.

What is the biggest lesson you have learned on maintaining a strong partnership in and outside of the office?

K - Running a business is similar to having a kid, in that it really tests your relationship because you are both in “stress” mode 24/7. It’s just about recognizing that the reason you’re stressed is because you have a ton of work (or a newborn baby, or both) and not because it’s something your partner did. The worst thing you can do is take it out on your partner. Having clearly defined roles and tasks is a lifesaver, too.

T - Defining our roles, which has only happened recently. Also learning to love talking about the business, because it is both of our passion.

You have a day off, a mental health day. This day is all about you realigning and gaining back positive energy. What does your ideal mental health day look like?

K - Going for a long hike followed by a vegetarian meal. 

T - Going for a hike. Nature is pretty rejuvenating because there isn’t much to think about out there. Just walking, breathing, eating, and drinking.

Self care matters because.... 

K - You only get one body to take you through this life! Unless we all become cyborgs in the future.

T - There is a Vox article about the pitfalls of extreme altruism. The moral of the story is if you don’t take care of yourself you can’t take care of others. 

As entrepreneurs, what is one piece of advice you can give to others on cultivating productivity in your passion? 

K - For us, it’s less about cultivating productivity and more about staying busy. Saying yes to every opportunity. Keep yourself busy. If you’re having to convince yourself to be productive, it’s probably not your passion.

T - This a place where most people tell you there is one thing you can do that will change everything. The truth is, cultivating productivity in your passion is the result of a lot of small things. Just try and like what you do and try and be good at it.

My current definition of success is: 

K - Setting a goal and achieving it. We have large overarching goals, that are broken down into smaller, bite size goal.  When you set small goals every day, you feel success every day, and that keeps you going.

The secret to making a great product is:

 K - Always Be Improving. Test your product, take feedback, and implement it. Never settle for “good enough.”

 T - Caring about about the product and caring what your customers think about that product. Customers are the source of the most valid criticism.

Kristen: Is there a matriarchal figure that you admire or one that has influenced your path? 

K - I love me some Martha Stewart, she’s just the boss queen.

Tom: As the business has grown, I’m sure the amount of work to do in a day has grown with it. What mindset and productivity hacks do you have to stay on top of it all while also steering clear of burn out?  

T - I like to use Apple apps, like Notifications, Reminders, and Calendar to keep me on top of things. I’ve taken this trick from Kristen – when I remember something or a great idea, I immediately write it down in the Reminders app and set a time for it to notify me when I’m back in the office. That way, I don’t forget it! The only times I’ve experienced burnout is when I’ve lost joy in doing my job, and didn’t want to come in. It’s also important to keep your staff happy, because they will always motivate you.

 Kristen is wearing the Matriarchy tee in Clay and Tom is wearing the Stress Doesn't Equal Success Men's Tee (sold out). 

I have been following Miracle Eye for years because of their amazing clothes and impeccable 60s/70s aesthetic. All this time I had no idea there was an amazing story and Dazey Lady behind the brand! When I was shooting a collab with Nico & Bullitt boutique I spotted some of her pieces and mentioned that I followed her! Glen, who works at the boutique, said she was a friend and began to tell me her amazing story. I knew I had to feature her and carry her pieces in the Dazey Lady Shop! Badass female owned brand with a 70s vibe?! Doesn't get more Dazey than that :) 

I met up with boss babe Larissa at their showroom and studio space in Chinatown for the shoot. I felt like I had entered a time machine! The room was filled old school memorabilia, quirky furniture, her amazing clothes, and a ton of the most incredible hand picked vintage. I wandered into their production room and found her adorable mother cutting out pattern pieces and her aunt sewing away! Later her dad even came in too! That's when it dawned on me that this label Larissa stared when she was 15 was now supporting her whole family six years later. I almost got choked up talking to her about it haha. Larissa is so humble I don't think she realizes how incredible it is :) you can tell that they all love each other so much and love what they do.

Read more about her story below and shop her looks HERE

Follow Miracle Eye on Instagram: @MiracleEye

So you were only 15 years old when you started Miracle Eye, so amazing! How did it all begin? 

Miracle Eye kind of came about as a result of feeling very anti-social topped with a passion for vintage and handmade clothing and entrepreneurship. I’d actually had 5+ years of experience in running a business by the time I created Miracle Eye. This was made possible because I was never much of a social butterfly (had tons of free time!) and experienced an extreme case of bullying. Those two things are what led me to take the business route. At 10 years old a family friend introduced me to the concept of selling on the internet which completely blew my mind. What do you mean you don’t have to talk to a customer in person? I can work from my laptop and not have to face anyone or let them hear my voice and still make a sale? I can ship the items and use a tracking method to trust that it will arrive on their doorstep on the other side of the country??? This almost seemed too good to be true because it was hard to get anyone to take me seriously in real life, whereas the on internet I was just an anonymous entity. On the internet, I was a 30 year-old confident business owner, but in real life, I was an awkward and shy 10 year-old girl. eBay for me was love at first sight and a dream come true!  

A little run-down on the businesses I ran before Miracle Eye: When I was a tiny lil gal, I was selling gum to my neighbors on our block and painting my parent's friends’ nails from age 5-10… And from 10-15 years old, I re-sold clothing from thrift stores on the internet. I purchased these items with the money I had saved up from those two previous businesses. At 15 years old, I decided I wanted to design clothing, and it was just my luck… I happened to be born the daughter of the best seamstress in the world aka my darling mother! I grew up in the fabric stores, always accompanying my mom when she was commissioned for a custom job through her freelance work, so all the fabric store owners knew me from a wee gal. By the time I was 15, I knew the fabric stores like the back of my hand. And I later realized it was just a matter of time until I had put the pieces together, since it happened subconsciously for me. Nothing was ever consciously leading up to it, nor did I ever think this is what I’d do full-time for the rest of my life. I just woke up one morning and asked my mom if she would be open to creating some samples of some sketches I had and she was 100% fully on-board! All those little business endeavors I had experienced were real-life training, filled with plenty of trial-and-error, for creating a company (Miracle Eye!). 

How did you promote your brand as a young designer without a huge budget? What were some of the mediums you used?

I kinda hit the jackpot timing-wise because a few months after I created Miracle Eye, Instagram came out… So I’ve been using Instagram since its conception, and haven’t looked back! It’s free and the best marketing tool out there if you know how to post engaging and captivating content. It’s also how I discover all my favorite brands and vintage shops, so I’m both a content-creator and a consumer/fan, which is nice, because I’m living on both sides of the coin. I’ve given it so much thought, and really, because of Instagram, I am able to support myself and my family. I can afford to lease out a brick-and-mortar studio space because of Instagram. So wild how an app can really rule your life! And before Instagram came out, I was promoting Miracle Eye primarily through my blog (when I used to blog six years ago and was just a wee lil teenage gal!). I wouldn’t be where I am now if it weren’t for that app (wowee!).

So you were doing all of this while in high school, was it hard to balance both? At what point did you go full time working for Miracle Eye?

Yes, I was! It was very difficult to balance both, and I found myself prioritizing Miracle Eye above schoolwork, which in the end totally worked out! I often felt guilty for not putting in as much time as I wanted into schoolwork, but Miracle Eye just required all my attention, everyday. I went full time schedule-wise the day after I graduated high school since I no longer had an eight hour long commitment Monday-Friday, but my brain/thoughts went full-time Miracle Eye at 16, in the beginning of my last year of school.

Did you go to college or take any classes in fashion design or was it more of a  learn as you go thing?

By the time I graduated high school, I already had the business for two years and was ready to lease out a studio/work space as nothing quite fit in our tiny apartment at that point! I had an interest in attending a fashion design/business school here in Los Angeles, but after going to see a panel of their most successful graduates who were all in their late 20’s/early 30’s, I felt unenthused about attending. They were either an “assistant designer” or “head in marketing” for giant brands and companies, but I realized that’s not what I wanted at all. I wanted to work for myself and never accept payment from someone else for my ideas and give them permission to sell them as their “vision”. They were nearly 10 years my senior, and just now reaching a point in their career where I was at, at 16. This was about a week before applications were due in. I ended up skipping on college applications, and two months after graduating high school, leased out our brick-and-mortar shop/studio space in Chinatown, Los Angeles. So crazy how everything truly happens for a reason. I was 99% ready to submit my application and hand over a giant chunk of my savings to attend, but decided to opt out… It was the greatest decision I ever made! 

 

This has always been a family oriented operation, which we love. Your business now supports your mom, dad, and aunt! How long have they been working with Miracle Eye full time? What roles do they play? What did they do before?

My mom and dad have been a part of Miracle Eye since the day I mentioned the idea of creating my own clothing line! My mother immigrated to America and worked in a sweatshop factory in Los Angeles from the second she landed here up until the day I was able to get Miracle Eye big enough to have her quit, and work full-time for me. She speaks no English, which stopped her from finding a better job. But by working at these factories for over 15 years, she learned so much, and by the time Miracle Eye came into fruition, she was a magic seamstress. Pattern-making and grading patterns, the works basically, were no big deal for her. So essentially, all those years trained her to become the master seamstress she is now. The day she quit working at the factory was the happiest day of my life! My aunt is now the other part of the business, sewing for me, as well. My dad has helped me make wise decisions throughout the years and keeping our shop clean and tidy, as well as helping with shipping orders! The business is basically 90% them and 10% me just keeping things going. I would be nothing without them and I owe them everything!

As a fashion designer what is your biggest inspiration? You as a person have such a distinct 70s vibe and have captured that era like no one else! Have you always been a fan of this decade?

Aw shucks! Thank you! My biggest inspiration comes from vintage photographs, films, but more specifically, from my favorite musicians ranging from the early 1960’s to early 1970’s. I haven’t always been a fan of this decade, but only because I was never exposed to it. I wasn’t sure what I considered my style to be beforehand, and I did know that I never felt too comfortable in it. But all that changed one day when I was visiting a friend, and her brother, who I had a giant crush on, wasn’t home. So I snuck into his room to learn what kinda stuff he was into, so I could study it and like all of that too, and become his dream girl. Logical, right? Well, to my surprise, I found a bunch of records, posters of the Beatles, Janis Joplin, The Kinks, and all the greats hanging in his room. I remember being speechless. It just wasn’t what I was expecting, but also, I had never seen anyone look like the people in these photos. So I wrote down a bunch of the artists’ names, went home, looked up photos, listened to their music, and completely forgot about the boy… And fell in love with Jimi Hendrix and Paul McCartney! My new dream guys! From that moment on, I started thrifting clothing similar to their styles and it kinda just never ended, haha! Funny how that worked out!

At Dazey we believe women are capable of amazing things and deserve respect! As a 21-year-old designer running a successful clothing line have you faced prejudice and/or jealousy regarding your age?

I’ve experienced both of those things so often that I’ve lost count. There have been so many times that I’ve been ignored or disregarded due to my age versus my gender, especially in the first couple of years when I was 15-17. It was constant, and I remember convincing myself that how vendors, sellers, or leasing agents treated me didn’t matter, and I had what it took to do “blank” thing. I felt like my “growing up” stage was forced to be put on hyper-speed just so I could keep up and not let anyone shut my vision down. My parents constant flow of support and kindness allowed me to never crash and burn, because I knew I always had them if things went awry. 

It’s been six years since you started! What are your plans for the future?

I hope to continue to grow, and at some point be able to hire several more employees. When ever I take days off to relax at the park or shop at the farmer’s market, it feels like heaven! Having some more help around would allow me to have another day or two like that a week. My goal has always been to keep spreading colorful, stylish, and comfortable clothing in the most ethical way possible. I hope to be able to do it forever, and anything else that comes along is just a bonus!

What does being a Dazey Lady mean to you?

Being a Dazey Lady means wanting to spread love and positivity everywhere you go, and supporting all folks of all genders, sizes, and ethnicities. I’m honored to be a Dazey Lady!