#197: Why NOW Is The Time To Take A Leap of Faith With Annabelle DeGrazio, CEO and Founder of Taja Collection

I definitely wasn't fulfilled, but I wasn't actively thinking of what my next move was. The idea sort of just came to me. I was just looking for a gift that was thoughtful. I love candles. I wanted to get my secretary a candle. I looked everywhere and I wanted something that was higher end, non toxic and it didn't exist. So it really did fall into my lap like out of a need. I knew I wasn't going to be a lawyer forever. It wasn't bringing me that kind of fulfillment that I had wanted. Now I'm in a very different position, thankfully, and it's the total opposite. It's a really nice feeling. It's definitely a huge change, but it's a good one.

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Hi and welcome back. I'm so excited for you to meet my friend Annabelle Degrazio. She is the founder and CEO of Tasha Annabel. So excited to have you here today.

So excited to be here.

All right, so here's where I want to start is I remember you went to law school, you were a lawyer. You're like doing all the big things. And I remember being so impressed and then catching word that you are going to leave law behind to start your own company.

What I know. And not only that, but a cancel company that was online. Try explaining that to your parents.

How did that go?

You know, it was a challenge for sure. They're very supportive, so I'm grateful for that. But they were very confused and obviously those questions that came up were how are people going to buy candles if they can't smell it? You know, it's kind of like the same idea as like a Warby Parker, like how are you going to buy sunglasses if you can't try them on? And so that's obviously a challenge. But luckily, you know, we have great descriptions, we send out fragrance samples and we've kind of worked around that. But it is a great direct to consumer business and it's. It works so far so good. So I think now they obviously understand it more. But in the beginning it was definitely there was a learning curve.

What pushed you through in those early days when I mean, obviously you weren't passionate or excited about law anymore and so you're thinking like, okay, I'd like to do something different, but how do you go from being not totally fulfilled in one job to making that leap of Faith to jump into something completely unknown.

I mean, I definitely wasn't fulfilled, but I wasn't actively thinking of what my next move was. The idea sort of just came to me around holiday season. Like I was just looking for a gift that was thoughtful. I love candles. I wanted to get my secretary a candle. I wanted to put her cat on it. It didn't exist. And I really. I looked like, I looked everywhere. And I wanted something that was, you know, higher end, non toxic, and it didn't exist. So it really did fall into my lap, like out of a need. So it did happen more organically. I knew I wasn't gonna be a lawyer forever. It just, once I was there, I was like, this is not me. It wasn't bringing me that kind of fulfillment that I had wanted. I know it's like a very typical millennial response, but, you know, it just was. It was like a thankless job. And now I'm in a very different position, thankfully. And it's the total opposite, you know, like, I'm surrounded by people, people who are so grateful. We're making people so happy, we're bringing people to tears with the gift. So it's just. It's a really nice feeling. It's definitely a huge change, but it's a good one.

So it's hard for me. You know, I can remember being in corporate America and thinking, you know, I'm not fulfilled. There's gotta be something more out there. Granted, I didn't have some amazing idea like you did, which helps, but still, to make that leap blows my mind. I was pushed out the door, which was a lot easier. The decision was made for me. Me. What was it? Was it like you just went home one night and you said to yourself, okay, now is the time, you know, how did you actually resign?

So I had just gotten married, and so I was kind of going through a lot of changes. And my husband owns his own business. And seeing him kind of, you know, run his business but also have a really nice work life, balance was really, really nice, but also, like, I was very jealous of it. You know, I was glued to my desk all morning, all afternoon, all night, and some. And weekends. So it was. And which I'm. I'm totally happy to work hard, but it was just that feeling of, like, when it's not for yourself, it's difficult. Also growing up, my dad's an entrepreneur, he has his own business. So I'm not used to what I was in. And seeing it all around me, I just. I felt like this is my chance. If I don't take it now, then, you know it's never going to happen. It's only going to get harder the longer I stayed. I was there for two years, so it's not that long. But granted, I put in three years of law school, I clerked for two years, so there was a lot of investment time, money, you know, but I felt like, let me just try it out. If it doesn't work, I always have my law degree. I always have my, you know, I passed the bar, I was, I was practicing. So I had this great law firm on my resume. I had a great clerkship, I had a great network. So I figured, let me try it one year, a couple of years. If it doesn't work out, I'll go back to law. Thankfully, I haven't had to do that.

But it worked out. What are you talking about? Are you saying two really important things for everybody listening. One, and I really totally identify with this one, the longer you stay in something, the harder it is to leave. That's such a great point. So you already had two years in. And he said, okay, this is long enough. It's not going to get easier to leave in the future. That's so true. The time is now. So smart. And the second thing that I like that you said is about your husband. When you surround yourself with like minded people that are pushing themselves, creating their own thing, living their best life, that's going to push you to take that chance to want, like you said, you didn't want to be jealous anymore. You wanted to live that same great entrepreneurial life that you saw him day in and day out doing.

And like just even, I mean, not just like from a financial standpoint, but also just from taking charge of your life and taking charge of your own success, you know, not being reliant on so many other people. I mean, when I started I was very low on the totem pole, so I had a really long way to climb up and I just, not that I wasn't up for the challenge. It's just you have to have a passion for that. You have to love it. And I would see like he really loves what he does. Like he loves what he does and he loves his business and you know, he puts everything in it. I just didn't feel the same way because it wasn't my own and it wasn't something I felt really passionate about. I mean, it's hard to get excited about that.

All right, everyone listening right now. If you're not passionate about your Job, you have got to look to make the leap. Okay, so you started Taja, and I've seen. What year was that when you started the company?

2017.

Okay, so 2017, you started the company. How did you go? You were initially going business to consumer direct only, Correct.

So, actually, no, we started out both. So we launched our website, but then we were also doing wholesale, and that was accidental. Like, we just had a couple of local stores reach out to us through Instagram, which, by the way, like, launched our business, because, you know, at that time, Instagram, it was before you could do, like, business ads and things like that. So everything, I mean, and no algorithm problems. So it was just like straight up, like, people reaching out, like, stores reaching out, saying, like, hey, we'd love to carry your candles. And I'm like, you don't even know. Like, we just launched, but okay, so we started getting wholesale orders like that Miami Heat reached out to us. They were one of our first big clients. Yeah. And they're still one of our clients today, which is amazing. But we were like, we were pivoted mostly towards direct to consumer.

So I love that you kind of fell into it, because I truly believe the older that I am, I really believe when you're going and doing the right things for yourself and pursuing your best life and your passions and doing those good things, good things show up for you. And when you're not. When you're not living, I bet when you were in law, great things weren't just showing up out of nowhere for you.

Totally. I totally agree with that. Yes.

When we look at bringing a product to market, which you did incredibly well, what were your differentiators about your. Your candle that made it so unique and different? That it did catch on, so.

Sure. So there's definitely a few things. First one is funny because the whole we launched off of having a square jar, and most candles that you see are cylinder. So that's kind of like a design choice, one to differentiate ourselves. But also, squares look really chic in spaces, and just like, the look of it is really pretty. Also, it helps us to. To engrave on all four sides of the jar so they're fully customizable, which is the whole concept behind Taja. It's thoughtful gifting, and so you're able to put your favorite quote on the jar. You can put your dog's face on the jar. You can do anything you want on all four sides of the jar. And then on the top and the inside of the wooden lid, you can engrave anything you want as well.

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And that is so different and so unique. And you mentioned this earlier, it's so emotional. The stories that you end up hearing from people, even from the collab that we did a month ago. I had people messaging me saying, Heather, you can't believe what my wife said when she opened the candle and read the message I left her. And, and they'll have that forever. I mean, that's just. You're doing something that obviously smart business, great business, and bringing good to market, but the feel good element of it is priceless.

Priceless. And that's really, I mean, that's. I would say, number one, we're all about thoughtful gifting and then kind of like secondary to that, but really important is that we're non toxic. So it's super important to know what you're burning. And you know, and I say this to everybody because they're like, well, I have like $100 candle, so it doesn't have that in it. And that's not necessarily true. You know, there's paraffin and parabens and phthalates and all this junk that could be found in candles. So we stay away from that. All of our candles are non toxic. We also have two and working on the third right now, essential oil candles that are 100% natural. So it's just soy wax and the essential oil. And so, you know, from that perspective, you as a consumer, you should feel confident with what you're purchasing. You should want it to be non toxic and just expect it to be non toxic. So that is also very, very important. And then we're all about sustainability. So when your candle burns out, you can bring it into the store, we can refill it, or you can use the jar forever. You can use it for your hairbrushes, you can use it for your pens on your desk, you can really use it. You can plant succulents. So really for anything. And the whole idea behind that is we don't want you to throw it out. It's something that's sentimental, it's something that was gifted, or maybe you got it for yourself or whatever it is, you should have that forever.

I love that you're owning this white space that, you know, nobody has really been talking about. At least I don't care about toxicity around candles. Or you're leaning into space and educating people, which of course we know we can make better choices for ourselves. Why wouldn't we go with the one that is the better choice? But frankly, I just assumed stuff that you're buying is right.

Absolutely. So unlike cosmetics, which are heavily regulated, candles aren't because they don't have contact with the skin. So we are subject to different rules. And it's just not as regulated, which, you know, is unfortunate because even me, prior to having Tasha, I would just buy candles. I didn't look at what was in it. I didn't ask anybody, you know, if it was a pretty candle, it smelled good, I would buy it. So it is really, really important. I try to tell everybody this because we're not the only ones with non toxic candles, but it's just so important to learn what you're burning because at the end of the day, some of these things like paraffin, it's a byproduct of petroleum. Like you don't want to inhale that. You know, phthalates are endocrine disruptors. Like you don't want to inhale that. So. And it's just like something that you don't really think about again, because why would you. So it's really something that we do try to educate people on because it's your health, it's important. And I think that the cosmetic industry has come so far with that kind of stuff, but not the candle industry.

Thankfully, because that's definitely a leg up that your business has. Look back at how you started. I remember firsthand how generous you gifted so much to so many people, myself included, of your products. Has that always been part of your strategy? Is.

Yes, yes.

All about that.

I mean, look, it's about thoughtful gifting. So like it's not gifting just to give, but really like intentional gifting. Like if somebody in the community that maybe is not like my closest friend, that they got married and whatever, I want to celebrate that. I think it's a great thing. It's sort of like a pay it forward thing, you know, where if you gift something thoughtful to someone and they have that reaction, then the next time that they need a gift, they're going to say, oh, you know what, When I got that candle, I felt so special. And I love lighting it and I love looking at every. Looking at it every day. I'm going to give that to my friend because I want them to have that same feeling. And it's really worked. I mean, we do obviously ads and all that stuff, but I would say the best marketing that we do is like referrals and like friends and just word of mouth and, you know, people getting them and understanding it. Because obviously it's so different when you just see it on a photo or on Instagram than when you actually touch and feel it.

It absolutely it is. And the feedback, like you said, from people is off the charts when they get it. So I love that Your strategy coming out of the gates was gifting your own products to people. And for everyone listening, when you do good in business, good will come back to you. And that sort of is that center of that gifting strategy. Yeah.

And listen, we gifted to so many people, and at the time, five years ago, four years ago, maybe they were like small influencers, micro influencers or whatever. And we just kind of kept in touch. And now some of these people have, like, millions of followers. And it's just amazing because, you know, everyone's like, how did you get this person to post? And I'm like, you know, we don't pay people to post. So really it's just genuine. We want people to genuinely, you know, if they like it, to post it. If not, don't post it. But we've had a lot of luck with that because, you know, it's a personal item, people tend to love it. And then we build these relationships from so early on. So sometimes it's beneficial to go for, like, a smaller influencer or for just someone who's genuine or someone who aligns with your brand. They don't even have to be an influencer. I mean, I don't have that many followers. But when you post something, your friends listen. So you don't need 10,000 or 10 million followers. Sometimes it's just a couple thousand. And it's just if your audience is listening to you, then that's enough.

So true. All right, so how did your business get impacted when the pandemic.

So staffing was really hard. You know, it was kind of like an unknown. Like, are we going to be out of business? Are we going to keep selling, like, what's going to happen? And then also, like, having everybody in the office, because we do make everything ourselves. So we hand pour the candles and we engrave the candles and we fulfill our, like, all of our candles. So I had to stagger everybody on different days. So, like, Monday, my candle maker would come in. Tuesday, my engraver would come in. Wednesday, the fulfillment person would come. It was just kind of like a, you know, because no one really at that time, especially in the beginning, like, no one knew what was going on. Once things sort of calmed down and we had a little more grasp on, like, what was happening, you know, we just tried to keep it as safe as possible and, and keep it moving. Luckily, people were buying a lot of candles because a lot of people were working from home. So, you know, it didn't impact us, like, from a business perspective that badly. Supply chain stuff. I mean, we do get 99% of our stuff locally, like, domestically. So it wasn't that difficult. There's delays, but, you know, that's. That was given, and we just accounted for it. So luckily, it's kind of been okay. And, like, the icing on the cake was we were able to move into our current space in Wynwood. An art gallery, unfortunately, had to leave, and so we were able to get in there. And so now we have this beautiful space in Wynwood where we do our production in the back, and then we have a retail space and, like, an entertainment space in the front. And so I guess in that way, it's been okay.

It's been really good. All right. There's something that I have to mention, and this is. It actually came up on a show I did the other day where someone was talking about, I was so fearful if I ever got pregnant, it would mean the end of my business. It would be the end of who I am at work. And it's important for people to know that not only did you give birth to your son during this entire thing, but you're about to give birth to your second baby.

Yes. You know, and it's funny because, you know, a lot of the women that work for me are a little bit younger, and so they're not at this stage in their lives yet. And I'm like, guys, I just want you to remember, like, I'm doing candle making classes 33 weeks pregnant or 36 weeks pregnant. Like, you know, and I think it's, like, really nice for them to see that. And they're like, wow, like, that's great. And that's. It's not gonna, like, stop everything. And if anything, I'll say this pregnancy has, like, flown by because I'm just so busy. Luckily, I feel good, so I'm able to maintain my crazy schedule. But I'm imagining in a couple of weeks, it's gonna slow down a bit. But, yeah, I mean, who says you can't do it?

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You are seriously doing it all. And you just recently announced that Taja is now available on a major website.

Yes. Yeah. So we're on Shop up which is so exciting. It's kind of been my goal all of 2021 to get on to like Shopbob net a porter, like just like reach more of an audience. We don't do the customization through them which you know, hopefully we will add that soon. But just like an introduction to our brand and it's such great marketing and it's our demographic and so it's so great. And they have two day shipping and it's free so we always tell our customers like if you're in a rush like just get it on shopbop. But it's great. They've been great to work with, hoping to do more.

I mean that's huge goals. How did you go about something like that when you set out, did you have these big goals and you were constantly working towards them or what was that like?

Yes. So we have still, you know like a target list of maybe like 10 online retailers or even just like shops that we want to be at and like for the physical shops like we just go in and like harass them, we give them samples. I think FaceTime is super important with the online retailers. It is a little more challenging. So I did hire a consultant to help us with that and so she's been amazing and so she actually helped get us into ShopUp and hopefully many more.

That's so smart though. Investing in yourself, investing in your brand. And bringing someone in who already has the relationship that you're looking to access, it just, it tightens up that window that could have taken so much longer for you to open.

Yes. And listen, I wear many hats, but I have to know my limits. And there are things that like, yes, if I spent all day, every day doing that, I'm sure I could have done it by myself. But it's just like in the interest of time and momentum, sometimes it's better to invest in something like that and to invest in other people to take it off your plate. And in this case it was really helpful because that would have taken me over probably like months to a year. But not all.

Just for everyone listening, not all aspects of your business are easy. And it was funny, I called you out of the blue the other day and you were out in Palm beach, just out pitching people and reconnecting, doing the things that I don't think people realize when you're really running your own company, what that looks like.

Oh yeah, for sure. It's funny because, you know, we look at our client base and Miami's great and New York is great and LA is great. We have such great presence there, but we really just want to expand to other areas. And especially with Palm beach, there's so much interest there, but we don't have like a touch and feel. And so we're looking into doing a pop up there. And just from that one day trip that I took with my head of E Commerce, we just, we picked up some candles, we dropped them off at a bunch of different stores and it looks like we're going to have a pop up there in the summer for about a year, so more on that soon. But it's super exciting. And that's all about manifesting because on Christmas Day is like when things start to slow down for us a little bit and so we can breathe and think about the next year. And so like our first conversation was like, how do we activate Palm Beach? It's like right in our backyard and we don't really use it. And so it's just all about manifesting. Like we were just, we've been like saying Palm beach, we were writing it down. And so now it's like actually becoming a reality.

And what does manifesting look like? Because I know some people listening completely understand what you're talking about and other people have no idea what manifesting is all about.

Sure. So we write it down. So my head of E Commerce and marketing and I, we sat down at the beginning of the year we talked about 2022. What does it look like? We wrote everything down, like, explicitly. Like, some things were very, very detailed, some things were more general. But especially with something like Palm beach, we said, we want to do a pop up there maybe for six months, maybe for a year, and then just kind of like reminding ourselves about it frequently. So, like, at every team meeting, which is once a week, we'll say, like, okay, where are we on Palm Beach? Like, where are we? And just like repeating it and talking about it, and then you don't realize it. But then, like, in conversations that you have with other people, you start talking about it. And so this actually happened, you know, through my husband. Somebody approached him and was like, hey, I do the leasing at this, you know, development in West Palm Beach. That would be great. And so that's how it happened, because he happened to be talking about it, because I talk about it so much. So it's just sort of like repetition, putting it out in the universe, talking about it not just to yourself, but to other people. And then, you know, maybe it takes a few days, maybe it takes a few weeks, maybe it takes a few months, but it does happen.

I could not agree with you more. And I didn't know this when I was younger, but I had accidentally done it. I'll never forget, I was in front of one of the biggest advertisers in the country trying to get more of this guy's business. And he said, I'll do a deal with you. Get me a reservation at Blah blah blah restaurant in New York. This is back in 2017. And you couldn't get into the restaurant. And he said, and I will give you more of my business. And I said, done. Consider it done. I'll be back when I have the reservation done. I had no idea how I was going to get that res. But I just like you said, I would talk about it to everybody and anybody I knew. I had it on my reminders. It would pop up on my calendar. Get reservation for now. I can't remember the name of the restaurant. It was Rao's. And so I just had it everywhere. And it was so funny. I ended up one night I was at dinner with a ton of friends. We were at the bar waiting for our table, and I just yelled out, does anyone know someone at Ray Al's? And a guy stood up next to me and said, I do. I have a table there. And I ended up this guy gave me his table for one night. But it goes back to just that, keeping it constantly present and in front of your face. And this is Annabelle. This is. I love why we have this collab that I'm actually. If anyone's watching this on video right now, you can see yours truly. I think that's hilarious. And that was Annabelle's idea, not mine.

I swear.

This is adorable. And the messaging we put in front of our face that we look at all the time really impacts our life. So much so that if you constantly are watching the news, you will end up panicked, afraid, and negative in some regard. If you're constantly watching happy baby movies, you're probably going to start feeling pretty happy. So when I look at the candles that you created that said be the girl who just went for it every day I see that message in my home every night, I'm lighting that candle. It seeps into your subconscious in a very real way.

Oh, yeah. We put, like, physical pieces of paper with, like, writing of, like, our sales goals, like, other goals. Like, we write all of that stuff down. Because when you look at that every day and you see it every day, it's ingrained in you and you don't realize it, but, like, somehow, like, it'll come up in conversations with other people. And like, you never know. Like, if you scream in a, in a roof, you know, and you say, like, does anyone have a reservation? Like, someone will answer, you know, and that's the way to do it. And maybe they don't. Maybe no one in that room knows, but then they know somebody else that might help you. You know what I mean? And so that's like, I'm such a big believer in that. I think it works. I think that repetition and just like putting it out in the universe, saying it out loud, being specific, being intentional, it sounds so woo woo. If I hurt myself, like, five years ago, I would laugh at myself. But I do think it works. And so I'm going with it.

No, I totally agree. I've seen way too many examples in my own life that completely validate it. It does work. What's been the biggest surprise for you along your entrepreneurial journey?

How much time everything takes. You know, it's. People think, like, I work for myself. They're like, oh, well, like, you can have lunch whenever you want, or like, you have a flexible schedule. And like, for sure, obviously I dictate my own schedule. But when you have a team working with you and you have responsibilities, just, it's nonstop, like, it never ends. So that part, I mean, I guess I kind of knew it in the back of my head. I just didn't really know it, and so that definitely was a surprise. But also, I love what I do. So I keep going. I look at people who are, like, miserable and don't like what they do and they work so much, and I'm like, how do you do that?

It wears down on them over time. You see, it truly sucks the life out of people. We've all seen it.

Yeah.

Well, now you are living your best life. And now, since it is women's Month in March, I'm super excited to announce that you are offering a 15% off code for our collab collection.

That's right. It's creating confidence 15. And it's 15% off anything on our site. It's very rare. So jump on it.

Jump on it. Send a personal note to a woman that you care about. Want to recognize that you want to feel seen. And because anvil's so funny, you can even put my head on the top of it, which I think is hilarious.

It's beautiful. It's beautiful.

It's amazing that you guys can create something that technical and granular and have it look as if it's a photograph right on top. It's unbelievable.

Oh, it's. Yeah. No, it's awesome. You can also do it on the jar. I mean, really. I told you, we can do almost anything.

It's amazing to see and I'm so glad you're enjoying your work and living your best life. How can everybody find Tasha and how can they find you?

Our site is www.tajacollection.com. our Instagram. Yes. Collection, singular. And then our Instagram is as collection. Everything else is as collection. And we're always a phone call or an email or a DM away. Customer service is really important to me, so we're always on it. People always call us for help to design or with fragrance questions. So you can chat us on our website. You can chat us on Instagram anywhere.

Well, I'm so excited for this collab. Check it out. I will link everything in the show notes and hoping to see you next week. Hoping that little doll stays.

Yes, yes, for sure.

Thanks for being here, Annabelle. And until next year, creating your confidence. Check out The Creating Confidence 15 code. Check it out in the link and check out Taja. You will not be disappointed. See you all next week.

I decided to change that dynamic.

I couldn't be more excited for what you're going to hear. Start learning and growing. Inevitably something will happen. No one succeeds alone. You don't stop and look around once in a while.

You could miss it.

Come on this journey with me.