Today on The Business Diaries I’m chatting to Kate, the Founder of Maren & Wild. Hand poured by the sea in East Devon, Kate creates small batch candles and home fragrances that are inspired by seasons, memories and the places we love.

The team are big believers in making a difference where they can and living on the coast, supporting a charity focused on ocean conservation was a natural choice for Maren & Wild. Which is why they donate £1 from every candle/diffuser sold to Ocean Generation - a global movement focused on ocean conservation through science and education.

You’ll find Kate talking all about comparison, imposter syndrome and branding woes - as well as loving every second of running a business. What are you waiting for? Get scrolling folks!

How long have you been running your business for? How was your business born?

Although we officially launched in March of this year, Maren & Wild has been in the pipeline since 2019.

What did you want to do for a career? Was this something you’d always intended on doing?

I worked in marketing, specialising in small businesses, but found that what I really wanted was a small business of my own. I had been making candles as a hobby and I love photography, so it seemed a natural next step to turn it into my own little business.

What is one thing you know now that you would have told yourself when you first launched your business?

That saying ‘comparison is the thief of all joy’ is absolutely true, and I know it sounds a bit trite but everyone is on a different journey - focus on your own.

What has been one of the biggest challenges you’ve faced as a business owner, and how have you overcome it?

Imposter syndrome - it’s so difficult not to second guess yourself or overthink everything. It’s taken me a while to learn to take a deep breath and come back to problems later with a clear head.

I’d also like to add branding to this answer, which for me has been a headache - in the end, getting a professional to take care of it and make sense of the jumble that was my head and my Pinterest board has been fantastic - I love our new look and could never have created it myself.

Tell me an invaluable lesson you have learnt as a business owner?

Plan ahead - buyers and event organisers work on a completely different calendar to us and it’s important to get organised early so that you don’t miss opportunities to get yourself out there.

Being self-employed can be a struggle! How do you stay motivated? Do you have any productivity tips?

I’ve been self employed for a long time - I was freelance before M&W and have always found that a daily list of tasks and working in blocks of time helps, as does making sure your keyboard loving cat can’t get into Zoom calls. Plenty of tea breaks too!

Is there anyone (within the industry, celebrity, friend or family member) who inspires you and what you do for a living?

It’s not an obvious choice as nothing to do with candles, but I do love to cook and have a bit of cookbook addiction - I think Ottolenghi’s work ethic and dedication to creating new and interesting dishes is really inspiring, his social feeds are full of experiments and new discoveries and he clearly has a close knit team.

Name me your go-to podcast, audio book or song that you listen to while working?

I listen to a lot of Ben Howard while I’m working and I also love Jessie Ware’s Table manners podcast (Dan Levy was brilliant on this) and Marathon Talk with Martin Yelling and Holly Rush.

I’m all about supporting small businesses. How can your followers / customers / clients support your biz?

An easy way to support a small business is to engage with their social media - like, comment and share their posts - it costs nothing and helps to increase their reach, which is important on a saturated platform like Instagram.

What’s one thing you dislike about being a business owner?

Honestly, nothing - I absolutely love it.

What’s one thing you love about being a business owner?

Choosing my own hours - if the weather is good I can go for a run and start my day a little later which definitely feels like a luxury. Also, I never run out of candles!

What is a common myth about your business / field of expertise?

That making candles is easy - it’s far more technical than people realise and testing and perfecting a formula takes a long time.

If your business could be remembered for one thing, what would it be?

For adding a little touch of luxury to an otherwise ordinary routine.

What’s something your followers / customers / clients wouldn’t know about you?

I completed the Three Peaks Challenge (which is to climb the three highest peaks in England, Scotland and Wales in 24 hrs) last month with a fantastic group of women - it was great fun and very tiring!

What is one piece of advice you’d give to someone starting their own business?

Keep going - even when it all feels a bit chaotic, perseverance really does pay off. And be nice to yourself!

What do you have in store for your business? Is there anything exciting around the corner?

I am currently working on a lovely collection that I’m really excited about, I can’t say much at the moment but I’m hoping it will be ready for early 2022.

Describe being a business owner in three words. (E.G Rewarding, freedom, challenging).

Consuming, worthwhile, freeing.