A Chat With…Candice Lee (Director of Butterflyy Productions Ltd)
For those that missed it, here's my interview with the fantastic Fresh Connections Team.
Candice’s brand is Butterflyy Productions, under which she runs two businesses: Butterflyy Bliss, a range of natural skin-care products, and Butterflyy Property Services which offers maintenance services. This year, she added Social Butterflyy Events, an events planning arm, to her brand.
Tell us about your brand?
Butterflyy Productions goes by the motto ‘Just when the caterpillar thought her life was over, she emerged a beautiful butterfly’. I chose the name and mantra because when I started my business I was going through personal bereavement and a marriage breakdown, so it was a time when really, I should’ve just crumbled and given up. However, I can say at one of the darkest moments in my life, one of my biggest blessings was born.
Under the brand, I run speaking events to motivate and encourage others. I then have two, soon to be three, businesses. The property maintenance business actually started first, and with that I have a team that undertake major home renovations as well as small jobs. The main business is the natural skin-care products line Butterflyy Bliss; under that, I make body scrubs, body washes, oils, lip balms to name a few, and they are all natural and made in-house by me. So, I know what’s in them!
This summer, I will launch Social Butterflyy Events for event planning.
What inspired you to start your own venture?
As I mentioned, I went through a really difficult time in my life in 2015. Launching my business gave me a purpose, because, apart from my children, if I hadn’t had that to do, I would have just laid in bed and cried. My grief would have consumed me, and I know that is not what my mum, who had died, would have wanted.
My youngest son has very dry skin. I was reading the list of ingredients of some of the prescribed medication and couldn’t understand what some of the chemicals inside them were. I decided to experiment with natural ingredients to create body care products and tried them on my children and family. My family encouraged me to just go for it.
I also recalled the words of my mum, ‘If you’re going to do something, do it properly or not at all.’ From there, I just went for it. I did my research into the regulations and labelling and all and yes…just went for it! So, I would say that my mum and children were my inspiration.
How long ago was your business established?
Butterflyy Property Services started in 2016 and Butterflyy Bliss will be 2 years old this June!
Tell us about one highlight of your entrepreneurial journey.
Whoo! Well that would be winning the Divas of Colour Brand of the Year 2018 for Butterflyy Bliss. That gave me such a confidence boost and made realise that I can do this. It’s hard work, tiring and can be stressful but there are good bits that are fantastic.
One of those good things is knowing that people believe in me and my brand.
What is the best part of what you do?
Meeting people! I love people, I’m a people person and I just love meeting new people. So, when I do events, I love the networking, when people come up to your stand to talk - there is the potential to make really good friends as well as connecting with new contacts.
Being an entrepreneur can be lonely. It’s not like you’re in an office where you have colleagues you can crack a joke with or bounce ideas around with, so meeting people is a highlight. The other is an extension of that which is seeing how much people like my products and just getting the feedback, whatever it may be!
What’s a key challenge you’ve faced and how have you tackled it?
That’s probably finances. When I started, there was a lot of money going out and little coming in and it was a constant worry thinking about how to pay for things. How did I tackle it? A lot of prayer, and a lot of crying!
But I had to discipline myself in my personal life to make sacrifices. My background is in law so I would still do freelance legal work to bring money in. I also invested money from the property business into Butterflyy Bliss which meant no takeaways, no new shoes, no new outfits and not going out whenever I wanted to.
So, a lot of self-sacrifice which is now thankfully starting to pay off!
What can we look forward to seeing next for you and your business?
More products and more events. There is one product I’m excited about and that comes out soon. Then there will be more body butters, scrubs, lip balms and lip scrubs. The ultimate dream is to have a spa space, so watch this space…all in God’s hands.
The first thing you do when you wake up is…
Pray…and thank God for life and this amazing journey. It helps me get my mind right. Once I’ve said my prayers, I do some motivational reading and my positive affirmations. I look at my life board, all to help me get focused especially before I get my children up ready for the hecticness of the school run!
And the last thing you do before going to sleep is…
Aside from watching some TV to relax, I talk to friends. Then before I fall asleep, I pray again thanking God for seeing me through another day. They’re not always positive prayers! Sometimes they’re cry, cry ones but I always start and end the day in prayer.
On a day off, what would you do?
I just completely relax. I say that but with two children what is that?!
If my boys aren’t around, I would just have a shower, pamper myself, put my onesie on, eat crap, watch TV and just zone out. Then I’d end the day with some wine. I firmly believe we are not robots and we need to switch off.
If I have the children, then it’s mum-and-son time at home or outdoors.
You can find out more about Butterflyy Productions, Butterflyy Bliss & Social Butterflyy Events at:
www.butterflyyproductions.co.uk
www.butterflyybliss.co.uk
Butterflyy Productions
Insta & Facebook: @butterflyyproductions
Twitter: @butterflyyprod
Butterflyy Bliss
Insta & Facebook: @butterflyybliss
Twitter: @butterflyyb1
Social Butterflyy Events
Insta & Facebook: @socialbutterflyyevents entrepreneur
Twitter: @socialBEvent
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