Today, we’re so excited to introduce you to business owners and NYC-based married couple, Alaina and Jocelyn of Bijou Candles. We love a good candle, but we also love a brand with a mission. The owners of Bijou are inspired by women and aim to inspire as well through their product and their story. Bijou Candles are made from start to finish in the U.S. and are vegan, non-toxic and cruelty-free. Their belief that “women are magic” and how they incorporate that into their product is truly what sets this brand apart. Read on to learn more about these entrepreneur babes.

Tell us about Bijou and how it came to be?

Bijou was born out of the desire for luxury scented candles at a more accessible price. We are both obsessed with candles and luxury fragrances and soon after moving in together, realized we had a really expensive habit on our hands. As a couple who loves a bit of self-care and entertaining friends, we didn’t want to compromise on quality and quantity of home fragrance. After doing some research, we realized we could deliver high-quality candles at a way better price and that’s how Bijou got going!

We love the mission behind the brand. How are the values of the business inspired by those beliefs?

We are a women-owned and -run business that is comprised of diverse backgrounds. We believe in being inclusive and that helps to inspire our creative process as well. All of our candles are named after women in pop culture and history. As we unveil new products, we think this will become even more apparent and that is very exciting for us!

What has been the hardest part of launching your own business?

The first step is definitely the hardest. Turning an idea into reality takes a lot of guts and due diligence and we absolutely couldn’t have done it without the support of each other and our small team of brilliant women.

Do you have any advice for others who want to make similar entrepreneurial moves?

Our favorite piece of advice is, “failure isn’t the opposite of success, it’s part of it.” We think you can plan and plan and plan, but if you don’t know the mistakes that will eventually happen in any business, you can’t prepare for them. Ultimately, how you react to setbacks is what will make you a success.

Who are some other businesses or brands you really admire?

We love self-made businesses like Pat McGrath Labs, whose company was recently valued at over $1 billion. She not only became perhaps the most famous and well-loved makeup artist in the fashion industry, but then continued on to build an empire. We are also huge fans of Real Techniques, which is a fabulous makeup brush line started by sisters from England who literally started from just making YouTube video tutorials of their amazing makeup skills. It’s so fantastic to see people build their businesses from the ground up. Especially when they are so community driven.

What is a typical workday like for you both?

We would say the best part about our workday is that it’s never typical. We have a home office, where we do a lot of our photography and design work. If we’re not working from home, you can find us prancing around New York City creating content, looking for inspiration and meeting potential collaborators. Another big part of our work life is visiting our suppliers and production team. We really enjoy it because we are both creatives and need a nice change of pace from the typical 9-to-5.

How do you balance your relationship with working together?

We might be a rarity in that we really do love spending most of our time together, but of course, we take a lot of precautions so that we don’t rile each other up. We constantly are communicating and giving each other space to work out individual ideas. We are really good at collaboration.

Do you have any advice for other couples who want to start a business together?

Make sure you have really excellent communication skills. No passive aggressive nonsense. A business should be something you are both very passionate about, but also be able to know when the work day is done. Special date nights where no work is allowed are very important!

What’s next on the horizon for Bijou?

Intergalactic girl boss domination! Just kidding! We are releasing some new products this fall that we are VERY excited about. We are continuing to expand on our motto that “women are magic” and using this to create scents that are inspired by women that we love so that we can light them up every day. Ultimately, we just want to create products that make people feel good. We think there’s a lot of space out there for brands like us!

Connect with Bijou on Instagram and shop the candles here.

Get inspired by more creative business owners: Start Your Own Thing: 5 Fears To Squash.