My name is Brandi Rosamond and I am the owner of Laurel Rose Company. My daughter Karlee manages our business and my mother Kathy works in our storefront, allowing me the time to be creative. Here’s a little about where our business began and where we are now. Our story is about family. Three generations of strong women, working together to create safe, non-toxic products for the Laurel Rose Co. C
andle making isn’t new to us. It all started with my Mom Kathy, back in the late 80s. She and her dear friend started making candles together as a hobby - in a camper. The knowledge was passed down to me and then my daughter, Karlee. Three women, three generations and over 25 years of candle making experience. Making candles started as a hobby, something we could all do together. We were always encouraged to make more and sell them but it just wasn’t the right time, life was too busy. In March of 2018, I was inspired on a trip to Nashville to pursue my dream of making candles for our community to enjoy. My girls were in college and my husband, Mark, traveled for work most weeks. I found myself with a lot of time on my hands. So, I thought why not? Why not take a chance and start this little business. First, I’d need a name. Laurel - my middle name, after the Mountain Laurel. They are strong and hardy. A bush that lives and grows best in difficult situations, challenged by its environment, yet it thrives. Rose - from my last name, Rosamond. My grandmother Kitten used to say “not to fuss that roses have thorns; be thankful for the blooms.” This reminds me to look for beauty in all situations. There will always be thorns in every journey you take. Now that we had a name we could really begin! After months of research, my daughter Karlee and I set up at our first pop-up sale, created our website and began to pick up wholesale accounts. Our first pop-up sale took place with McLeod Family Farm, in my best friend Julia's front yard, during one of her weekly flower sales. After that we popped up at countless other sales including Mayfest and the Hummingbird Festival. We spent many hours trying to develop our website (which we knew absolutely nothing about) and visited local stores we loved to show off our candles. That was Laurel Rose Co. for almost 2 years and we loved it. During those first 2 years, we were thankful for family and friends who believed in our dream as much as we did. After Christmas of 2019, we realized the business had completely outgrown our small space in our home where we made the candles. In January, we signed our lease with the thought that this space would only be a space to grow in our wholesale accounts and online store. We soon realized this space would allow us to create much more. We were often getting requests for people to come pour with us, so I thought lets make this space a place for that. A candle bar - something Carrollton has never had. If you're from a small town like us, you know everyone is always looking for something to do. During February and early March, we spent many long days and nights preparing to open. On March 14th we opened our storefront for the very first time! Only a few short days later, we decided to close the storefront due to COVID-19. Since opening our storefront, we’ve been shown an overwhelming amount of support from this community - we could not be more thankful. Our candle bars have taken off and everyone who comes seems to truly enjoy their time pouring with us. Karlee and I both share so much joy when meeting new customers and hearing how much everyone enjoys our products. Our mission for Laurel Rose Co. since day one has been to create safe, quality, non-toxic products for our customers. Thank you for taking the time to learn a little about us and our small business! We are thankful for this opportunity each day!
-Brandi
