We had the good fortune of connecting with Mackenzie Ofordire and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Mackenzie, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
To bring more awareness to maternal health issues that affect women and their families. Being someone who experienced a late term pregnancy loss unexpectedly, I wasn’t aware of all the maternal health issues that women and their families face pre-conception, during pregnancy and postpartum. Through research I learned that 1 in 4 women will experience a pregnancy loss whether during pregnancy, delivery or infancy.

What should our readers know about your business?
What sets my company, the Samantha Rose Candle Company apart from other candle companies is that we are a mission based company with a focus on bringing awareness to maternal health issues. We also find maternal health organizations to donate a percentage of our yearly profits too to continue to help advance the cause. My company is still a small business and we have an online presence through our website and social media and also do in person events such as farmers markets, street fairs, bazaars, etc. It’s definitely not easy being a small business as many people aren’t comfortable discussing maternal health issues or even aware of all the challenges that women and their families face. We also have competition from other local candle companies or well known candle companies such as Bath and Body Works. As a small business owner I have learned how to multi-task as I am the candle maker, procurement and sourcing department, marketing department, salesperson, website creator, etc. It is hard to do all of this as one person in addition to having a full-time job and a family.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Currently living in Columbus, Ohio I would say the best time to come and visit would be in the summer time. I would take my best friend out to some of the cool farmer’s markets happening on the weekends so we could go shopping, we could stop and have lunch in the Short North part of Downtown Columbus and get some good food at Forno or Hyde Park Steakhouse, and we could go to a concert at the Nationwide arena or Schottenstein center.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would like to shout out my daughter Samantha Rose who my company the Samantha Rose Candle Company is named after as a way to honor her legacy. Although she isn’t here with me she still inspires me everyday to keep fighting the good fight for bringing awareness to maternal health issues that women and their families face. I would also like to shout out everyone who has supported us thus far so our customers, friends, family members and other advocates for maternal health.

Website: www.samantharosecandlecompany.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samantharosecandlecompany/?hl=en

Twitter: https://twitter.com/samrosecandleco?lang=en

Image Credits
Olivia Kristin Photography

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