Behind the brand-Meet the maker

Sat in a beautiful log cabin in Devon on this sunny weekend I thought whilst all is quiet I would write an all about me blog 😊

About me

Hi, my name is Carla, I am a 46 year old women living in the beautiful market town, Thame Oxfordshire with my fiancé David, our 4 children & our cockapoo Molly.

I am a mother to 4 boys, 3 are teenagers and our youngest boy is 9 next month.

We are a close, busy, chaotic at times, loud, fun loving family. Everyone is extremely independent especially the older the boys get which allows for us all to have space which when in a large household is very needed!

I love holidays, especially in the UK, I love yoga, Pilates & am a member at our local Spa. I'm a book worm, love writing and being creative. I have a small circle of amazing inspiring friends & you will always find me up at the crack of dawn walking with Molly.

I love anything Interior and have completed an Interior styling course and how to style with photography course.

Photography by www.imagine-photography.uk

My story

I didn't come from much growing up, but I was incredibly hard working and knew that if I wanted to create a good life for myself I would need to work extremely hard for it.

I always wanted to work with children from a very young age and loved playing teachers, I was blessed with a lot of siblings and loved looking after them (I'm the eldest of 6!) After leaving school I worked in a sandwich shop for 5 years, I loved this job but after a while I craved more and after seeing an apprenticeship being offered in our local newspaper I went on to become a Nursery Nurse, after having my first baby at the age of 28 I decided to convert our garage into a mini nursey where I worked as a qualified childminder throughout my children's childhoods.

My Childcare carer lasted 18 years and when my youngest was a year old something changed, I was nearing 40 & couldn't see myself working in childcare after he started nursery or full time school, I didn't know what I wanted to do but I knew that it had to be a business I could run around my family (working for somebody else after years of being self employed wasn't an option) I've always been creative, loved art at school and was really good at it so I started looking at nail art courses, which then led me to seeing a level 2 beauty therapy course at Aylesbury college, I applied, got an interview and was excepted on the course, Looking back we never sat there and spoke about how it was going to work, we just new it had too, we would both work full time in the day & tag teamed in the afternoon into the evening whilst I was at collage!

After a year I was a qualified beautician but did nothing with it for a year, sat in my comfort zone unsure if I could make it work, building a business from scratch is a massive gamble and very scary, but with Dave's income, support and that voice in my head telling me I had to do it, I set up Glamour by Carla from home and created a successful beauty business, I loved making women feel special, I loved listening to their life stories and many became close friends, in year 5 of my business I started looking at ways to grow, I looked at bringing in products to upsell, and other than nail files, cuticle creams and pedicure products I couldn't find what I was looking for which was wax melts and candles. I loved lighting scents when I had clients with me, it created that warm ambiance, relaxing safe environment along with spa music and fresh flowers.

Dave bought me a wax melt calendar for Christmas that year, I looked up the company, a little family run business in Truro Cornwall, I did research in my area, I you tubed, I researched on google, I talked about it with Dave, literally within weeks I was like I'm going to create a little business.

I never had any doubt that I couldn't do it, I just had this strong urge to do it, Dave bought me a wax melting kit & I spent all of Christmas into the new year practicing, we didn't tell a sole. We already had a name, driving to Oxford one day to do some Christmas shopping we were talking though loads of names and it was actually Dave that said what about 'Thame Aromas' as that's where it all started 😊

On the 5th January 2022 I started my first Instagram & Facebook account

Ha! My first ever post!

In the first year I started with Wax melts, Candles and Reed diffusers and was lucky to be helped out with some space to create all of my products by a wonderful dear friend of mine .

In my second year I started doing craft fairs, introduced aesthetic candles, had a photo shoot, wholesale to lots of amazing small businesses and started working with corporate gifting to local companies.

Now in my Third year, I've worked with an amazing local advertising company strengthening my website with an SEO audit, I'm bringing it more corporate gifting, Fairs are becoming bigger, I'll be re introducing wax melt calendars (how can I not as that's where it all started)

I've introduced personalised gifting and I've started a private group on Facebook - Interior styling with Home fragrances

And a few other things in the pipeline this year including the launch of our summer scents.

One thing I know from running businesses is that its more than a full time job, its a passion within you, its urges, its your baby, you spend copious amounts of time on it, you literally live and breathe it because you care so much. But there is also finding a balance hence us being away in Devon this weekend.

Making people happy gives me goosebumps, hearing compliments about my brand makes me beam, your customer service is at the heart of my business as without you wonderful supporters Thame Aromas wouldn't thrive.

I believe in what I created which is a luxury affordable brand and I'm so excited for what the future holds.

I am behind the website design, social media management, Facebook group, product photography, seasonal planning, accounts, making products, designing products, packaging your orders & sending them, admin, replying to reviews and emails and as a result I took a step back for my beauty business to focus solely on Thame Aromas.

I'm so grateful to how far I've come, and I want to say thank you for following me on this crazy journey that is running your own Business.

Dream big and follow your heart, what is meant for you will not pass you by.

Take care as always

Carla xx