Plenty of people have turned their creative energy into a side hustle and their side hustle into a profitable business, but for Jasmine Griffin, founder of Heritage House Candle Company, it’s more than that. Her hand-poured, 100% soy wax candles are helping her connect to the community she loves while also giving back to scholarship programs in the process.

After humble beginnings in 2017 as an online store and pop-up market vendor, Heritage House Candle Company opened its first storefront in Perkins Rowe last September. To learn more, we caught up with Griffin to chat about her love of candles and what she plans for the future.

1. What inspired the start of the Heritage House Candle Company?

As a creative person, it’s always been important that I have a creative outlet where I can show my talents. While searching for a new hobby, I expressed an interest in candle-making. After creating a few candles for my family and friends, I decided that I’d like to try my hand at building a brand and starting a business. As a professional digital marketer at the time, I understood that people ultimately want to feel connected to what they buy. Therefore, I decided to launch my business with candles that are named after positive affirmations that inspire people to feel good about themselves.

2. When did you launch, and how has your business grown or changed since then?

Although Heritage House has been around since 2017, we launched our brick-and-mortar location in Perkins Rowe in September 2021, and have curated our business to fit the needs of the Perkins Rowe area by incorporating amazing candle accessories and gifts for special occasions such as birthdays, engagements and more. 

3. What products and services do you offer?

We produce hand-poured artisan candles made from 100% soy wax with the purest fragrances. We also carry plant-based soaps, curated gifts, and flameless fragrance options such as wax melts and electric wax melters. Our services include offering fun candle classes in a relaxing and inviting environment, customizing candle labels, and creating specialty baskets for the spring and holiday seasons.

4. When a customer walks into your store, what can they expect to find?

Customers love our boutique-level service with options like gift selections and gift wrapping. Customers can expect to find locally inspired seasonal candle collections. We have specific fragrances that we like to call “coffee table candles,” which have a beautiful mass appeal. These fragrances often become household favorites for our regular customers.

5. What sets Heritage House Candle Company apart?

Unlike large stores, we are a local artisan company that uses 100% soy wax. This is different from paraffin or paraffin-blend waxes. Natural waxes tend to be much healthier for you and produce a lot less soot. Soot can stick to walls and linens and is in the air you breathe. We also invite customers to join in on the fun and concoct their own fragrance blends with our amazing candle classes. 

6. What is something about Heritage House Candle Company that readers may not be aware of?

Here is a fun fact about our signature black-and-white striped awning: When Heritage House first started, I needed a way to protect the candles from melting in the heat while keeping my booth cute and stylish. There wasn’t anything available on the market that I could easily buy. So in the spirit of craftiness, I hand-built a wood-and-fabric tabletop awning. That allowed our new following of customers to easily spot us at all of our local markets! It has now become a core part of our brand. Just look for the black-and-white striped awning to find us! 

7. What are some best-selling products?

One best-selling product is anything from the Affirmations collection, which uplifts and inspires. These candy-colored labeled jars are bright, positive and happy. Our popular holiday collection includes “Pumpkin Chai” and “Christmas On The Bayou” fragrances. Our shop’s top-selling fragrance, “Rouge,” is an ode to Baton Rouge and includes fragrance notes of indigenous plants that grow in our area. 

8. What is the story behind the name Heritage House Candle Company?

When starting Heritage House, I wanted to create an entity that gives back. A portion of the store proceeds is donated to academic scholarships focusing on HBCUs and other accredited schools. Growing up on the campus of Southern University Laboratory School my entire life, I gained a great understanding of what higher education and a sense of community mean for students, alumni and fans of HBCUs. It is that same sense of heritage that inspired our namesake. It is passed along through generations of families and communities. We wanted to be a positive part of that continuation. 

9. Can you tell us about any upcoming collections?

On March 19, we will be launching our Flowers Around the World collection that showcases exotic floral fragrances from various travel destinations. We’ll be releasing more details soon about how customers can enter to win premium luggage with our collaboration with Pearson’s Travel World, a local travel agency that has been serving the Baton Rouge area for decades.

10. What can we expect in the future from Heritage House Candle Company?

I like to describe the company as “a small company, a big leap!” We are so grateful for this opportunity to bring quality candles to the city we love—and beyond! We plan to grow the company by introducing new and exciting fragrances, more candle classes, gift options, collaborations and more. Our goal is to be Baton Rouge’s favorite candle company, and we are well on our way!

For more information, visit heritagehousecandles.com or follow @heritagehousecandles on Instagram.