Meet Erica Bridges: Candle creator & Mom

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

Hi Erica, as a parent, what do you feel is the most meaningful thing you’ve done for them?
I’m a mother of two to a 12 year old son and 14 year old daughter. The most important thing I’ve done as a parent is to not give up and love. There are days I get discouraged or sad because business isn’t going the way I want it to. I keep them in mind and push through. I have told them before that life gets hard, school gets hard but you should never give up no matter what. I know that if I make excuses then they will. I am my children’s role model and what I display influences them in a major way. Love is something that’s shown to them and through my work. If it’s something you love you have to put the work into it and not give up. They even tell me at times good job for working hard and not giving up.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Elegant Scents by Erica is family owned and operated. The way I connect with the customers is what sets me apart. People love real people and I feel like they can relate to me in some way so they want to support. I’m most proud of my consistency and willingness to ask for help and adapt to change. I wouldn’t have gotten this far if I wasn’t consistent, researched a lot and asked for help from people who have been in business longer than I have. It hasn’t been easy especially being something new that I chose to do while doing residential cleaning. I taught myself a lot of things and was able to teach it to my children. I’ve never met anyone who was in this industry before I started. I overcome challenges by praying, learning how to take a break and regrouping when I need to because it gets overwhelming some days. The lessons I’ve learned along the way is nothing will ever be perfect and to give myself time to grow. I can always make changes as I go. My story was never meant to be written how other candle makers are. I want the world to know that my brand shows my personality through it, my children are apart of it. I’m passionate about the things I create and want to be more impactful as I continue growing. People are watching and saying hey if she can do it I know I can too.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Some fun places in Dallas would be Punch Bowl Social, go kart racing, the Galleria to shop, Brunchaholics has good food and Cobbler Gobbler for dessert and a spa to relax, I don’t get out enough but those are a few things I like to do.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would love to shoutout my children(Jamiya & Jamari) and my supporters. Without them I don’t know if I would have as much drive as I do. I feel like my work is serving some kind of purpose.

Website: www.elegantscentsbyerica.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/elegantscentsbyerica
Twitter: www.twitter.com/ScentsErica
Facebook: www.facebook.com/elegantscentsbyerica
Youtube: www.youtube.com/Elegantscentsbyerica

Image Credits
Suraj Photography