Ep. 30 A Homemade Soy Candle Company’s Slow Burn to 7 Figures Through Storytelling & Community

08/10/22 • 24 min

Alicia Reisinger started Wax Buffalo Soy Candles out of her home and grew her business to be both a hub of community in her brick and mortar flagship store as well as a thriving DTC online business. In her seven years as a business owner, Alicia has defined her company through her willingness to be vulnerable and to share her story each step of the way, and it has paid off emotionally and financially. Here, she shares her story with Jason, talks about her community building approach and gets deep into 21st century content strategy.

Jason invited Alicia Reisinger onto Ecommerce Building Blocks to showcase an entrepreneur who is both a working mom, and who didn’t use the typical steps that many Ecommerce founders use to get their product out into the world. Alicia started extremely local, and still uses her local community as a foundation for her entire business. Having this home base allowed Wax Buffalo to grow at a slow and steady pace. This episode covers the intangible factors that go into how entrepreneurs scale their business, and Alicia’s journey as a storyteller, mom, and business founder. With a surprise detour to Google’s content strategy pyramid, Alicia and Jason conclude their conversation with Alicia sharing her most important lesson as a business owner.

Topics Discussed

-Wax Buffalo’s founding ethos and story from spending 100 on candle supplies to millions in revenue

-The toxic history of candles

-Why founders should think about the life they want when making business decisions

-Building a strong business foundation by growing slowly

-What it took for Wax Buffalo to build their community

-Is vulnerability a good content strategy?

-Jason’s TikTok 101 for businesses who haven’t joined yet

-The 3H approach to content

-Wax Buffalo’s middle path approach to making big decisions and long-term plans

Wax Buffalo: https://www.instagram.com/waxbuffalo/?hl=en

Alicia’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alicia-reisinger/

➡️ Building Blocks website: bbclass.co

🍍Jason’s twitter: https://twitter.com/EggrolI

Sign up for Jason's weekly newsletter: http://news.bbclass.co

Topics Discussed

-Wax Buffalo’s founding ethos and story from spending 100 on candle supplies to millions in revenue

-The toxic history of candles

-Why founders should think about the life they want when making business decisions

-Building a strong business foundation by growing slowly

-What it took for Wax Buffalo to build their community

-Is vulnerability a good content strategy?

-Jason’s TikTok 101 for businesses who haven’t joined yet

-The 3H approach to content

-Wax Buffalo’s middle path approach to making big decisions and long-term plans

Wax Buffalo: https://www.instagram.com/waxbuffalo/?hl=en

Alicia’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alicia-reisinger/

➡️ Building Blocks website: bbclass.co

🍍Jason’s twitter: https://twitter.com/EggrolI

Sign up for Jason's weekly newsletter: http://news.bbclass.co

Previous Episode

Ep. 29 Building Blocks Summer Roundup - Top Advice from June & July

This bonus episode of Ecommerce Building Blocks is a great place to start if you want to see what you can learn from the show. Jason has selected these clips from some of our favorite summer interviews. Listen ahead for aha moments that will apply to operators, product developers, and marketers and use these foundational segments as units that will help you build to your next level.

Topics Discussed:

-Inventory Management

-ROI simplified

-CTA’s for your audience on TikTok

-learning how to ask your customers to do something

-educating your customers so they know what your product is worth

-how inclusive marketing inspires people to pay more for your product (and to be loyal)

-understanding how customers prioritize their spending

-summer 2022 marketing and operations

This episode features clips from:

Episode 21: Optimizing ROI with Dynamic Inventory Management feat. Adii Pienaar from Cogsy

Episode 23: How Brands Can Go Viral on TikTok feat. JT Barnett

Episode 19: Going Viral with Mission Driven Branding feat. Lindsay McCormick

Episode 24: Building a Loyal Community feat. Emily Miethner

➡️ Building Blocks website: https://www.bbclass.co/

🍍Jason’s twitter: https://twitter.com/EggrolI

Next Episode

Ep. 31 How Gefen Skolnick’s Independent, Learning First Business Model Rocketed Couplet Coffee to Success in One Year

By the time Gefen Skolnick finished college she had already dipped her toes into the world of venture capital, and was well on her way to a tech career in Silicon Valley. But in 2021 she put down the laptop, founded Couplet Coffee, and became an immediately successful CPG entrepreneur. A year later, Couplet is wildly successful in both online DTC and on retail shelves and Gefen is exploring what it means to grow a business intelligently and intentionally, all while having fun and enjoying great coffee.

In this episode of Ecommerce Building Blocks, Jason picks Gefen Skolnick’s brain about why she founded Couplet, how she broke into the saturated coffee market, why package design and inclusivity go hand-in-hand, breaking into wholesale, and tips for founders who are looking for creative ways to self-fund. The most important takeaway from this wide-ranging interview is that Gefen figured out early on how to think in ways that work for her business. She asks a lot of questions, gathers tons of information, and then makes decisions for what works best for her bottom line. Listen ahead for inspiration and new perspectives on marketing, sales, growth, and more.

Topics Discussed:

-Couplet Coffee’s founding story

-Breaking into the saturated world of specialty coffee

-How Gefen decided what kind of product she wanted to sell

-The open space Gefen saw in the coffee market and how she filled it

-Why packaging design is half the battle in some markets

-How taking her time and asking questions influenced Gefen’s business plan

-The way Gefen approaches growth - in advertising budgets, sales, and seeking funding

-How wholesale can stabilize revenue

-Intelligent growth

Gefen's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gefenskolnick

Gefen's Twitter: https://twitter.com/chiefgayofficer