Meet Sabrina Vaseleck | Sabrina Vaseleck – Owner/Creator of Ruby + Begonia

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

Hi Sabrina, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I never thought as a kid, “I want to be a candle maker when I grow up”… but life has a funny way of not working out as planned. I joined the Air Force at 18 and served for almost a decade as an Imagery Analyst. At 27, I left Active Duty and my home on Hickam, AFB in Hawaii to move back to Mount Pleasant, TX where my husband and I could raise our two boys closer to family. I went to college, received my degree in Education, taught for almost a decade, and then in 2018 I joined one of my childhood BFF’s as the COO of his Real Estate Firm. I quickly discovered that Business/Sales was definitely not my strong suit…but people, creativity, and problem solving were. In the few years that I worked with Michael Mayben at Mayben Realty, I soaked in everything I never thought I would need to know about running a business. In the meantime my mom and dad moved into a tiny home on the back of our property… So by day I helped my friend run his successful company and by night I loved our family dinners, card games, swimming parties, and movie nights.

In the summer of 2020, my mom, my best friend, and the sun that my entire family orbited around was diagnosed with Mixed Hepatocellular Cholangiocarcinoma, an extremely rare, extremely aggressive form of cancer. Over the next six months, I drove her to chemo appointments, helped count and sorted out her immunotherapy pills, took multiple trips to MD Anderson, and began working only part time, and mostly from home, so that I could help take care of her.

Day three after chemo was always her hardest day… she was so incredibly sick and it was almost unbearable to watch. On one particular “third day” she was lying on my bed with me watching Hamilton when she looked at me and said, “Sabrina… I’m so sorry baby… but I just can’t handle the smells in your house.” I didn’t really understand but I jumped up and grabbed every plug-in and candle in my home, put them all in a trash bag, and took them outside. Over the next few days I started researching some of the “Big Business” candle and soap companies that I had always loved and realized there were so many chemicals and toxins in them that I never knew about. In a time where I felt so little control… experimenting and making my very first soy candle and organic soap while my mom was sick gave me something to focus on.

Mom was the most beautiful soul. She was optimistic, kind, brave, encouraging, colorful, loving, giving, and she fought as hard as she could to stay with us. On December 11th of 2020 she passed away with me, my brother, and my dad holding her hands and telling her goodbye. Our entire family and all of the people that loved my mom so fiercely… well, we were all devastated. To know her was to love her. I wasn’t ready to go back to work full-time at Mayben Realty so I started reading all about the soap making process to keep my brain occupied. I experimented more and more with different waxes, wicks, and fragrances for candles. My husband even built me a shop for my new “outlet” where I spent a lot of my time. In August of 2021, and in honor of my mothers nickname, Ruby + Begonia was born. I started with festivals and fairs and then fell in love with a tiny little storefront in downtown Mount Pleasant and decided to go all in on myself.

At Ruby + Begonia we hand-pour candles, soaps, scrubs, body sprays, room sprays, and more. I love the creativity of it all. I love the people. I love making things that brings happiness to others. And I love having a business that I can pour into the way my mom poured into me.

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?
I am not an artist in the most common sense of the word. I don’t paint. I can’t sculpt. I don’t play an instrument. And my dancing is atrocious. But I do think of myself as a creative. I feel like the creation and crafting of my candles, soaps and scrubs is a form of art. It’s a constant experiment. Testing. Testing. And more testing. But when I finally get them right… Then comes the real fun part.

I think my names and descriptions are what sets me apart. As a teenager, I always wanted to be the girl who got to name nail polishes. As an adult, I think I have an even better job. For example, instead of just another vanilla cake candle… I have “The Antoinette.” For Valentines Day I created a candle mixed from chocolate ganache, vanilla truffle and strawberry macaroon fragrances and named it “I knew you were truffle when you walked in.” One of my best sellers, “The Scarlett” is my take on an earthy magnolia fragrance. I don’t want it to be just another basic candle. Or just another soap. I want to be different. And experimenting with different fragrances, mold toppings, names, and descriptions, I hope is what makes people remember me.

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?
I LOVE our little Hallmark town. At Christmastime, for example, I think we could literally be the setting for a winter rom-com. Our downtown courthouse is covered in over a million lights while carriage rides, complete with piping cups of hot chocolate, make their rounds on the square. The annual Christmas parade is a festival of lights on its own… with every square inch of the town’s sidewalk filled with people all waiting to see Santa. All of the stores are plastered from top to bottom with decorations as Christmas music is blasted through the sound system 24-7. The outdoor seating at Jimmy Nardellos is the perfect place to grab a fresh brick-oven pizza and a cocktail while you take it all in. Then, for dessert, you can walk down the street to the Sugar Emporium and be transported to an old-timey general store. Lots of local boutiques…Diamond T, Seasons, Plum Crazy, Miss-Behavin, The Willow, Hamiltons and more… are fun to explore and shop in for unique, fun finds. And of course, there is Laura’s Cheesecake, famous for their “Texas shaped cheesecake!”

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?
There are soooooo many people that helped me in the journey to Ruby + Begonia.

Firstly, I absolutely could not have done this without the help of the ENTIRE Marketing Department at Mayben Realty who helped me form and design the aesthetic for all of my products and brought my colorful and creative vision to life. To Michael Mayben himself, who gave me opinions, advice, support, and even put his own team to work to help me get off the ground; I wouldn’t have known where to start without them.

To Ally Cochran & Rafael Sanchez (PrintRally.com) who would literally watch wicks with me at night to make sure they were burning properly or answer my “How do I build a website?” questions. These two are the ones that helped me realize that my love of words needed to be a part of this journey as well; All of my fun descriptions and product names began from their encouragement.

To Maya, Megan, Claire, and Belle… who have loved my little store the way that I do; I would never be able to stay afloat without these gals. They make me write my recipes down, they keep track of all of my post-it notes and lists, they greet customers all while whipping up sugar scrubs, they are my cheerleaders, testers, and the other faces of Ruby + Begonia… I trust them implicitly and couldn’t function without them.

To Ginger & Micki…Thank you for showing up at the Grand Opening to shop and then staying the whole day to help because I was wrong in thinking only a few people would come (LOL). You guys are two of my biggest cheerleaders and I don’t think I would have made it through the last two years without you guys by my side.

To Camille… Thank you for helping me bring my store to life. Thank you for imagining everything in color for me even though your favorites are black and white. Thank you for blowing up balloons, learning my lip balm recipe, and always telling me the truth.

To Jamie… Thank you from the bottom of my heart for coming into my creative chaos with your organizational genius. I would be a mess without you.

To my people. My tribe. My sisters; Some of which I’ve had since the 5th grade and others… only in the last few years. But all of you somehow love me at my worst and celebrate me at my best. Thank you for always clapping for me. Thank you for showing up… and continuing to show up for me. Thank you for believing that I can do this… when I don’t think I can. You guys know who you are. I don’t deserve you.

To Dad… thank you for being my very first customer. I love you.

To BC, Lacey, and Aiden… Thank you for sharing my posts, sharing my candles, and knowing that when you come to visit we will mostly be at the store (LOL). I love you guys so much.

To Brian, Alex & Ephram (my boys)… Thank you for letting me chase a dream. But mostly…thank you for chasing it with me. You are my reason. You three are my whole heart.

To all of my other family, friends, and customers … THANK YOU!!! I am still overwhelmed by the emotion I feel when each of you walk through the door. Your support is the reason I get to do what I love. How lucky am I?

And lastly, to my mom. I miss you. I love you. And I’m trying, Mom. I’m trying to honor you everyday by living with intention. By loving people well. By believing in what I’m doing. By making it all count. and by… really living.

Website: myrubyandbegonia.com – Coming Soon

Instagram: @myrubyandbegonia

Facebook: @myrubyandbegonia

Image Credits
Kyle Shovan (on pictures that include me)