Editor's Note: A previous version of this article referred to Hannah Long as a professor instead of an instructor. This mistake has now been corrected.
An instructor at the University of New Mexico is cooking up some sweet smelling candles in her spare time.
Communications instructor and fourth year doctoral student Hannah Long started her own candle-making business called WitchCrafted Candles.
WitchCrafted Candles started in December 2017 as a new craft project, but with encouragement from her family and friends it turned into a passionate business venture.
“I started all this stuff because I needed something that wasn’t graduate school, to be able to do and get fulfillment from,” Long said. “I (needed) something I could make and find and see it was completed, do a thing with my hands and it was done instead of working on drafts over and over and over again.”
Long handcrafts and hand pours each candle tailored to the individual wants and intentions of her customers.
“You don’t have to go out and do all this extravagant stuff to make something great, you can do it right in your home, in your kitchen,” Long said.
Long makes a citrus scented candle called Uplift — a citrine stone sits at the bottom of the jar, meant to elevate your mood and lower stress and infections.
“Most candles made for spiritual and intention practices aren’t made with super great ingredients either, a lot of palm wax or paraffin wax, so I wanted to make something I wanted to use,” Long said. “I use soy wax, therapeutic grade essential oils, crystals, locally sourced herbs and so I try to use things I would want to use.”
Jars get set with wicks at the bottom, she weighs out two to four pounds of wax at a time, and once the wax is melted she adds the color.
“Sometimes (there’s) resistance and I just take that as a sign that this candle wants to be this shade in this batch for a reason,” Long said.
Long ensures each candle has individual attention. Once the wax is at the ideal temperature she adds essential oils and lets them set before shipment or delivery.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
Long is working on her third communication degree and is channeling her communication and teaching experience into her business.
“I’m catering to my audience based on packaging, based on where I vend, when I try to seek out opportunities of where my target audience might be, (and) how do I price this in a way that people are able to afford it without feeling that they’re getting ripped off?” Long said.
The communication, research and persuasive tactics she has gained has been essential for her in different ways — the candle business is proof of this, Long said.
Social media is also another component of business ownership, and Long said if you are good at it, it will come easy to you.
“Any job you do is going to be a job in your field if you’re in communications, because we use communication all the time in everything,” Long said.
Long has plans to have a candle collaboration with a Taos based business that involves teaching classes and she continues to have that energy needed for her ‘side hustle.’
“Just keep working at it, just keep working at your degree, your program — find what brings you joy — and that you can grow from what you can use to sustain yourself, because that’s real, capitalism is real, but find something that brings you a little bit of joy,” Long said.
Alyssa Bitsie is a freelance reporter with the Daily Lobo. She can be contacted at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @Albitsie.
