Meet Ast Ilandove | Candle Curator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ast Ilandove and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ast, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
Creating has always been an outlet for me, sort of a therapy or food for the soul I would say. So naturally I passed my love for art down to my daughter, Carmin 13, and her younger siblings. After leaving my corporate job during the pandemic, I knew my next job would need to be more flexible to meet the needs of my family and different because the world around me was changing fast. More people where finding creative ways to make money from uncommon skills. Immediately I began evaluating my own skills and many of them would fall under the bracket of creation just with different mediums, My daughter whose creative eye and artistic talent honestly far outreaching my own joined me in this process so we could learn together because I believe monetizing skills is a life lessons she would benefit from given all her natural talents, I decided then that I wanted to create a brand with my daughter that could grow with her and speak to our passions as well as showed her the value of our unique abilities. T & C Sacred Candles was born after more research and here we are almost 2 years later.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
T & C Sacred Candles is all about creating not only unique looking and scented candles and products but creating an experience when using and purchasing our products. One of our intentions is to provide tools and spaces for our people to explore our divine connection to our Ancestors and the Universe around us. So, we make intentional tools of purpose and to ensure quality there was to be an extensive amount of testing and that still feels like an understatement, Testing is science and for a creative like myself required a great deal of patience and diligence. Everything from the chemistry of the candle wax to fragrance oil ratio to the music that is playing while the wax melts, to the color, to the top, mid and base notes, has been custom crafted through research and practical application. It is an ever-evolving project and I believe that’s why I like making small batches because each pour is custom, special and growth, which is magic within itself. I’ve learned so much about my strengths and weaknesses, excelling versus perfectionism and even found a love for hosting candle making classes and relaxing retreats. It has not been easy but I have found entrepreneurship challenges me to learn and depend on others strengths to help me along the way. Working with my daughter has also challenged our relationship and given us time to bond and for my daughter to shine and come out of her shell. We don’t back down from our challenges we look for the lesson or message, accept it, and excel.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Coffee & Brunch at Soirée Coffee Bar, jazz themed, delicious. Shopping at The Pan African Connection attend a class or concert there too. The DeSoto Grow Market more shopping and food. Drinks and live Music at The Free Man. More shopping at Witchology in Arlington. Lunch’s at Sankofa Kitchen. All of these business’ are black, local owned.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Firstly, have to acknowledge and give gratitude for sacrifice and protection of my Ancestors, as well as the guidance to my Spirit guides. I would also like to thank all those that have supported me by purchasing, posting and sharing our products and coming to events. Gratitude to my Sistars who have tested products, lended listening ears and words of advice, encouraged us to keep going and invited us to vend at events, and so on in no particular order: Dr. Chantal Hailey, Simone Webb, Jelisha Jones, TJ Cummings, Tamisha Stuckey, Ifa Bummni, Domonique Mack, Etorian & Alex Hines, Everlena Botchway-Johnson. To my brother, Brother Sidney Beal III thank you for holding me accountable and being my biggest cheerleader. Gratitude to my children for loving me and motivating me daily. Lastly, I would not be where I am today without the support of my loving partner, Gerald Mathew III. Thank you for loving me, showing me patience, holding down the fort when I am away on business, thank you for seeing the vision and staying right by my side through it all. Thank you to my business partner and best friend Carmin A. and her handsome brothers, my sons Asaad and Baby Gerald, my hearts. Thank you all for choosing me as your mommy. I love you all.

Website: https://www.tncsacredcandles.com/

Instagram: @tncsacredcandles