Today we’d like to introduce you to Jasmine Cormier.
Jasmine, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
As a child, I grew up watching my mother self-publish her own books and tour her stage plays around Texas. Since then I knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur. My mother taught me to be fearless and pursue the things that I want in life no matter how difficult they may be to accomplish or how long it may take to achieve. In 2015, I became a certified 200-Hr Power Vinyasa and Yoga Sculpt teacher. I became more aware of the mind-body connection which helped me during a tough time. I went undiagnosed with depression since a teenager and the effects started physically manifesting. There were several times I had panic attacks at work and home due to stress and having no emotional outlet. My yoga journey helped me realize a lot about myself as well. I enjoyed using various essential oils in our yoga sessions at studios around the Austin area. I started Soy Society Wellness, then called Soy Society Candle Club, in 2018. I wanted to stay true to who I was becoming at the time. I choose to make aromatherapy soy candles that have the ability to positively affect our moods. It was my way of helping myself stay grounded and chase my dreams of entrepreneurship, and as a way to share what I’ve learned with others on their journey- whether that’s great smelling candles or intention-inspired candles to encourage you.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
There have been many struggles and times I wanted to give up. What I have learned and come to expect are “Learning Curves.” Initially, I felt like every time I messed up that I was failing, this isn’t what I should be doing, or how could you not know that you would need XYZ. By calling it a learning curve it lifted a lot of pressure off of me and gave me grace for making mistakes that I couldn’t plan for when I hit new milestones in the business. It’s my first time getting to this point and I don’t have a roadmap or a guide saying, ” Hey, you need to put better systems in place to avoid running out of labels,” for example. Something I struggle with is trying not to do everything myself. For a long time, I not only handmade each candle but I was making the labels at home and spending every Sunday at the Farmer’s market. Then I added on running the social media page, wholesale accounts to stores, and e-commerce. And not to forget having a full-time job. I was spreading myself way too thin. Now, I delegate tasks to my assistant in the office and have her do outdoor events. That way I can focus on producing candles and scaling the business. I wasn’t taking time off to just simply live and be a person. The culture has these terms like “No Days Off” and “Team No Sleep” which are not healthy at all! I do strategically take days off, but if I have deadlines to meet that’s when I add in the extra hours to make sure the task gets completed. I have to remind myself that I’m doing the job of five or six people, so there will always be something on my to-do list, so go to bed, girl.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Soy Society Wellness?
The vision for Soy Society Wellness is to create essential oil aromatherapy soy candles. Not only do we believe in room-filling fragrance, but also candles that do good to your mind, body, and soul. What makes our candles different than most brands is that they are mostly made up of therapeutic-grade essential oils. There are even some candles that are 100% essential oil in the collection. I am most proud brand wise of how far we have come in three years. We started off at this very small farmer’s market on the east side called Hope Farmer’s market to being sold on the shelves of WholeFoods Market downtown. I look forward to pushing through the next “Learning Curve” and seeing where we are three years from now. We do offer a candle-making workshop called Sip & Wick. It’s similar to Painting with a Twist, except we walk you through all of the steps to handmake and personalize your very own candle. It makes for a great team builder for your company or as a fun engaging birthday party or Sunday Funday event. You can learn more about me and Soy Society on our blog or YouTube channel.
What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
The quality or characteristic I feel is most important to my success has been doing the work. As much as I’d like to jump to the part of having a whole team to operate the business, I know that I can’t skip steps. Each role is important. Each task matters. What I learn here at the bottom will help me be the best CEO when I’m at the top. When I was in college I did my internship at Walmart where I was trained to be a store manager. In that, I had to learn every position in the store from cashier to filling up window washer fluid in the Automotive Dept, to working the overnight shift to stock shelves. If at any point I need to step in to fill a position, I will know how to do that in Soy Society Wellness.
Pricing:
- Pricing as low as $6 for wax melts
- and $9 for candles
Contact Info:
- Email: hello@soysociety.com
- Website: www.soysociety.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/soysocietywellness
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/soysociety
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQjFS885ZZb6fjEQdvRTLkw
Image Credits
Boss [Movement] LLC www.bossmovement.org
