Before her candles were shipping nationwide or lining boutique shelves, Sukie was a Seattle girl raised by two Waldorf School artists and educators who encouraged her to explore the world. That foundation carried her from the Pacific Northwest to Spelman College, and eventually to Brazil and Tanzania, where she immersed herself in culture, wellness, and the ways communities nurture one another.

After earning her master’s degree and settling in Los Angeles, Sukie followed a quiet nudge to create something of her own. She studied the craft of candle making, started sharing her creations with friends and family, and their steady support turned a personal passion into a growing demand. In 2018, Sukie’s Candle Co. was born. Today, she leads a dedicated team, handcrafting candles with layered exotically scented soy blends that are all vegan, non‑toxic, and poured with deep intention.

Now, let’s learn more about the woman behind the flame.

When was the moment you realized it was time to take the leap and leave corporate life?

I think it had to get pretty bad. I had to hit my version of rock bottom, which for somebody else may not be rock bottom at all. But internally, the turmoil I felt going in to do work that I didn’t believe in and wasn’t connected to was overwhelming. My belief is that when life or God is trying to pull you in another direction and you resist that, when you try to make your own plan instead of trusting God’s direction or your intuition, whatever plan you’re clinging to will increasingly get more difficult. Things will crumble around you to get your attention.

In my case, I was so concerned about underperforming at work that I actually manifested that. I became so tense and consumed with imposter syndrome, questioning whether I was qualified, that it took a toll on my health and my nervous system. And I always credit my older brother, who’s a dancer and DJ living in Europe. He left the States years ago to pursue his craft, and he’s been living this freelance lifestyle. Whenever we talked, he reminded me that life is a blank canvas waiting for you to paint it each and every day with your dreams. You’re not locked into anything. He planted the seed about branching out, leaving, quitting, all of it.

Share more about the role your brother played in encouraging your transition. How did he influence that leap?

He really was the one who planted the seed for spreading my wings. Sometimes we get so stuck in our routines and so comfortable in them that we don’t even consider another path. My whole family saw that I was stressed and unhappy, and they encouraged me to take the leap. But it took months for that idea to actually plant.

During that time, I had to fill my mind with stories, podcasts, YouTube videos, anything from entrepreneurs or people who had been on one path and decided to leap into something else. Steve Harvey has messages about how the path may not be defined, you may not have all the answers, but you’ll be blessed just by trusting your intuition that something else is meant for you.

Eventually, it meant giving up everything. I quit the job. I ended my relationship. I left the city. I canceled my lease. I had to do a full rewiring because anything reflective of my old life would have kept me stuck. I moved back home, humbled myself, and quieted my mind.

You left everything, job, relationship, city, and moved to a remote island in Canada. What was that season like? 

I took about six months and moved to an island in Canada to live in a yoga community. I didn’t know a single person there. We lived on the land, grew our own food, meditated every day, walked through the forest in silence. It was the complete opposite of my life in Los Angeles, but it was everything I needed.

It recalibrated my nervous system and brought me back into connection with my body. It gave me the grounding I needed to fuel my next chapter. I had no idea that would be part of my journey. I wouldn’t wish that level of drastic change on anyone, but sometimes a course correction requires something drastic for the change to truly take root.

How did that experience shape the vision behind your business?

What became clear to me was that I wanted something that could be independently my own, something no one could take from me. I didn’t want anyone having authority over my income, my choices, or my day. In Los Angeles, my time was always tied to someone else’s vision or business needs.

When that no longer aligned with my lifestyle or desires, I realized the people who had real freedom were those with autonomy over their schedules and income. That felt empowering. It was beautiful to hear people’s stories, yes, they worked hard, but their environments supported their values. That’s what entrepreneurship looked like to me. I wanted to build something no one could take from me and create an environment for others that I hadn’t found in my own journey.

Entrepreneurship looks different for everyone. What has your journey looked like?

My version of entrepreneurship has never fit the typical story. I haven’t sought outside funding, angel investors, or VC money. I’ve completely and solely funded this myself. That means you can’t scale as fast, but you have more creative flexibility. There’s humanity in the way I run my company.

I’ve been doing this for 10 years. Over the last couple of years, I gave myself grace to pause certain parts of the company for personal life, falling in love, getting married, starting a family. It was important to invest fully into that chapter. And because of how I built the company, I knew it would always be there. I never experienced burnout because the business is integrated into my life in a balanced way, instead of running my life.

I’ve seen friends go so hard in the first few years that they lose themselves. I didn’t want that. Injecting humanity and feminine balance has made my business sustainable for the next 20 or 30 years.

As you grow in life and business, what helps you stay aligned with your purpose?

It’s been important for me to stay true to what works for my business and what doesn’t. Recently, I received the largest offer to expand in the company’s 10‑year history. Wayfair asked me to expand my exclusive collection into four more stores nationally. On paper, it sounded perfect. It would have tripled my capacity and put the brand on the map.

But something in me knew it wasn’t quite right. It wasn’t an immediate yes. It didn’t align with how I like to scale or the capacity I want for myself and my team.

That goes back to seasonality, knowing when to push and when to pull back so I still have something left in the tank for my own creative ideas. I had lost some inspiration for the company for a while. So for our 10‑year anniversary, I spent a lot of time in prayer and meditation asking God if this was something I wanted to continue. The answer was a unanimous yes.

That yes turned into a full rebrand, new scents, a new vessel, redesigned logos. It feels fresh and new. And as soon as I sent it to the Wayfair lab, they loved it. They wanted to expand it. I wasn’t surprised because I knew how much time and love I poured into it. When you invest back into your business with intention, the benefits always unfold.

What’s new for Sukie’s Candle Co.? What can we expect next?

We’ve expanded the team, more help with production and fulfillment. We relocated from Seattle to Atlanta and are fully operational here now. For 2026, we’re focused on getting into more stores, especially small boutiques and local shops.

The Wayfair collection is inspired by Atlanta neighborhoods, Buckhead, Decatur, College Park. My husband picked the College Park scent. These candles represent places I grew up in or have memories in.

Behind the scenes, we’re increasing inventory, capacity, and infrastructure so that when we relaunch publicly, we’re ready to say yes to more opportunities. I’m also collaborating with Sharde Marchewski, who left her executive role at Wayfair to launch a new Black arts collective called Muse & Kin. We’re creating curated candles with influencers to mark the launch of her brand. 

There’s a lot more in the works now that I took the time to reset.

What crown jewels would you like to leave to inspire another woman, whether she’s starting a business or trying to transition into a better season in her life?

Baby girl, just start.

If there’s anything I wish someone had told me back in the day, it’s that nothing you create has to be perfect for you to begin. Think about any product you use, all the iterations and updates they go through. They’re not perfect when they first hit the market, but companies still put them out there, and they start receiving feedback and revenue right away.

It’s the same with starting a business. Just start. You can tweak it and make modifications as you go. But you have to have the courage to put it out there.

So many people sit on an idea for years because they think they need the perfect website, or they want guaranteed demand, or they can’t figure out pricing. You will figure out all of that. You’ll learn what needs to change once your product is actually out in the world.

Just start, start scared, start unsure, start without all the answers. Once it’s out there, the path will reveal itself.

If you’d like to stay connected with Sukie and experience the collection for yourself, visit here:

Sukie’s Candle Co.

Instagram: @SukiesCandleCo