Life & Work with Jen Ayres

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jen Ayres.

Hi Jen, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My passion for candles and fragrances goes back to my childhood when I was a little girl growing up in Redondo Beach. I grew up loving the ocean, the sand and sun and all the wonderful fragrances from the natural surroundings. I pursued candle making for my own use. Then family and friends loved the rich fragrances of my candles so I started getting orders from people around me. It was a fun hobby and my “day job” was a personal trainer and owner of a boutique fitness studio (yes, I would have my candles lit during classes). When the pandemic hit and small fitness studios were forced to close, I had to close the doors for good. This is when I began looking at the candle business as a real opportunity. My husband, who is a marketer and entrepreneur, made a Shopify website for me jenayreshome.com, and the business got off to a very fast start. We posted on our personal Facebook and Instagram pages and we started getting orders immediately. So, even though I loved being a personal trainer and owner of my fitness studio, I have found so much joy in candle-making and fragrances and honored when someone chooses my products to adorn their living spaces or for gifts.

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?
I don’t think “smooth” is a surface for any startup 🙂 It’s been challenging with figuring out supply-chain, managing inventory, and Jen Ayres Home is just that… in my home. So preparing meals has been challenging as the kitchen was transformed to my factory. I really can’t complain though because it hasn’t been incredibly difficult… yet. Currently, the business is outgrowing our current production so the challenge of scaling is upon us now. Obstacles and challenges to overcome are certain but I’m confident we’ll make it happen!

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’ve always been involved in the health and wellness industry. I’m a certified personal trainer and a fitness nut. I love helping others achieve better health and quality of life by inspiring them to exercise regularly and eat nutritiously. I truly care for people and am blessed to be a part of so many lives that have improved from being able to train them. Of course, my personal training clients are among my most loyal candle buyers too. They are so supportive of me and I’m so blessed to have them in my life.

What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
I think the most important lesson I’ve learned is to gamble bigger. I did run into a snag with supply-chain and had a short period of time when we could not ship due to shortages in some of our essential oils and vessels. I’ve learned from this and my order sizes from my suppliers have increased significantly so I have some safety stock. It’s very stressful looking out the window for your deliveries on a daily basis so I’d rather gamble bigger so we don’t run out of inventory.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: jenayreshome.com
• Instagram: @jenayreshome
• Facebook: Jen Ayres Home

Image Credits
Leah Johnhell (Personal Photo) Jim Ayres (all others)