Home-Based Candlemaker Finds Support In Del Ray Community

ALEXANDRIA, VA — A love of candle making has turned into a home-based business with support from the Del Ray community.

Erin McCarty Bell started her business ISO Candles after joining candle making classes. Those lessons ignited a passion, leading her to form a small business in 2017. ISO Candles offers hand poured soy wax candles with various scent options.

McCarty Bell and her husband moved from Arlington to Del Ray in March 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic started. She credits the Del Ray community for helping small businesses continue to thrive.

Patch is featuring small businesses like ISO Candles for a business spotlight series. If you'd like your business to be featured, fill out our Q&A form. Feel free to pass the form along to any businesses that should be spotlighted in our community.

Here's more information on ISO Candles:

Business name

ISO Candles

Location

home based, Alexandria, VA

Website/Social media

www.isocandles.com, Instagram @iso.candles

When and how did the business get started?

My excitement for making candles started in 2015 when my husband encouraged me to participate in a candle making class (solo!) while we were on vacation! I have always wanted to be creative but lack every fancy handwriting and drawing skill imaginable. The joy that candle making brought just from those few classes was incredible. I loved seeing something that I made - and that smelled delightful! I started making them for friends and family soon after and after some nudging from friends, finally took the leap to transform this creative outlet into a small business in 2017!

What does your business offer?

Hand poured scented soy wax candles

What's your most popular product or service?

Douglas Fir during the holiday season and Aloe and Green Clover or Magnolia year round!

What's your favorite thing about the community your business is located in?

We moved to Del Ray, from Arlington, at the start of the pandemic in March 2020. My husband and I were so nervous about what the pandemic, and closing of restaurants, would do to our new community, and the complete opposite of what we expected to happen. This community rallied behind the local businesses to ensure they stayed afloat and came together in unimaginable ways. The community continues to pick one another up when someone faces a hardship, and champion others along when they're working towards a new goal. It seems like everyone knows one another, or at least knows someone who they know, and it's an absolute dream come true to be a member of this type of community.

What kind of impact has the COVID-19 pandemic had on business?

At first I was extremely scared about how the pandemic would impact my small, home-based, online only business. For the nearly three years prior I did at least 75% of my business through holiday and craft fairs which were nowhere in site in March 2020. One thing I had no way of anticipating or expecting was what the coincidental timing of moving to Del Ray would do for ISO Candles. Within a few months of moving, and connecting with neighbors on Facebook, I had my candles in Kiskadee, the local boutique, and had been put in connection with others who not only provided invaluable guidance and suggestions to help me take my "pop-up" set up/style to the next level, but put me in touch with Del Ray events that have since allowed me to establish and grow relationships, both personal and professional! I felt how the community supports one another immediately, and ever since.

Do you have any favorite memories at the business?

Buying our first home in March 2020 was daunting, but I was even more nervous about getting in with the Del Ray community. It was an entirely different environment than where we lived in Arlington, and is truly a community and neighborhood in all the right ways. I couldn't have imagined a better or more uplifting way to become part of the community. It started with connecting with neighbors through Facebook and then at the local restaurants (and beer tastings!), and eventually at in person pop-ups and craft fairs. This community shows up for every local event along Mt. Vernon Avenue, supporting local businesses and makers alike. Over these past two years I couldn't put into words how incredible it feels to have someone come up to me at an in-person event to make a purchase, either as a repeat customer, seeing my products at Kiskadee, or because they saw me in one of the neighborhood Facebook groups. I am constantly filled with emotion and gratefulness thinking about the individuals who stop by my booth because they've seen me before, or heard about my candles from a neighbor. While I've received various custom orders or bulk orders for holiday events, when someone is a repeat customer, or heard about me (in a positive way!) from a friend, I am just so grateful for the support.