Today we’d like to introduce you to Tram Nguyen.
Hi Tram, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I started Sạch as a way to provide eco-friendly gifts to friends during the holidays. I’ve always been interested in creating an eco-conscious brand as it’s something I care deeply about. I just didn’t think it was something I would do until much later. I made my first batch of candles with a scent (Sophie’s Garden) inspired by my favorite movie Howl’s Moving Castle and asked my partner Kevin to make me some labels. The response I got from friends was really great and their friends started reaching out to purchase our candles. It made me think that I might be able to do something with this. Kevin and I spent a lot of time brainstorming what this brand might be and what we might offer, and we landed on Sạch which means clean in Vietnamese. It was really driven by that original ambition to create eco-conscious products. Kevin works in design and I work in marketing, so we started to develop an initial offering of scents and put together some packaging and brand materials to make it real. We wanted this to be official and not be perceived as some sort of fun side project. We also wanted to tell our story as Vietnamese-Americans that grew up in Little Saigon in Orange County, CA. When you think of Vietnamese-Americans, you might not necessarily think of creators or creatives. We want to shift that perspective and hopefully make our community proud in the process.
Once we launched the brand, we got a great outpouring of support from our friends and family. From there, things have really just been organic. The brand has been growing off the strength of the product and by word of mouth. Being able to do wholesale and pop-ups also really helped extend the reach of our brand. We’re still figuring things out as best as we can with both of us having full-time jobs, but we’re happy to take the slow and considered approach.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Definitely not! Taxes are hard and convoluted. We’ve also definitely been close to pausing production because of supply issues. Admittedly, some of the struggles have been of our own doing. We’ve had difficulties finding suppliers that really hit all the marks for us when we look at things holistically. Our labels are printed on compostable and recyclable sugar cane paper, but the liners are not recyclable. Or like boxes! We’ve been in situations where they can’t get a specific cutout removed or they’ll say they are based in the states, but we’ll get a shipment from overseas. When you’re a small business, you don’t have control over a lot of the process so it’s a lot of long hours of research, trial, and error to get things as close as possible. Regardless, we’re always looking for ways to grow and improve our process and product.
As you know, we’re big fans of Sạch Goods. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Right now our business solely sells candles, but our goal is to eventually provide product offerings that align with our interests and goals. As a business, we’re trying to take a considered approach in what and how we choose to produce. Sure, we could throw our logo on a tote or a t-shirt, but what would that add to the world? With our candles, we strive to craft a unique story that inspires each scent whether it be from our background, our culture, or our own personal interests. Some of our more complex scents pull from a moment or more esoteric references. For instance, our scent “altar” is an olfactory representation of a praying altar we have for our elders. We combined the smell of the incense we light, the sweetness of the fruits we offer, and florals of the flowers we place on the altar. For us, it’s about digging deeper than just making a great product: that’s the baseline. We want people to connect to the product on a deeper level, and hopefully even invoke feelings of comfort, nostalgia, and joy. For us, that’s the thing we’re most proud of. When people reach out to us to let us know how much our product and brand mean to them—whether it be the story or the representation—that means the world.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
As the issue of climate change becomes more pressing, the industry is definitely going to shift towards catering to a more conscious customer. As the scarcity and costs of supplies increase, there’s going to be a need to provide a more meaningful product. It simply is unsustainable for a business to produce and sell cheaply with the hopes of selling in large quantities. Brands will need to position their products as a premium offering and be more concerned with establishing loyal customers that will be brand advocates and provide lifetime value to the business.
Pricing:
- Standard Candle (7.4oz) -$26
- Sample Set of all our scents -$40
- Essential Set (four 3.6oz candles) – $48
- We are happy to provide a 10% off discount code to VoyageLA readers. The code is voyagela10 and it expires 12/31/22 at 11:59pm pst.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://sachgoods.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sachgoods/
Image Credits
Kevin Magic Lam
