Making Something From Nothing: Shanay Walker Of ‘Obsidian: The Signature BLK’ On How To Go From Idea To Launch
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
I wish someone really told me just how rewarding it is to start and lead a company. The reward is being able to work for yourself and sharing something you enjoy with others. Having more time to be with family and friends. The freedom of not being stuck on a specific schedule.
As a part of our series called “Making Something From Nothing”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Shanay Walker.
Shanay Walker is the founder and creative behind luxe candle brand Obsidian: The Signature BLK. Shanay came upon candle making when she decided to try something new. Shanay is an artist and with candle making she found a new art. She turned her oil and wax into her medium and her vessels became her canvas. With her art she spreads and reminds others to take time for self-care and in turn love themselves.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a bit about your “childhood backstory”?
I am Shanay Walker, candle artisan, entrepreneur, wife, mom and daughter. Growing up, I enjoyed art and would draw from books and VHS cases. I enjoy unique things, things that aren’t considered traditional. I am naturally creative, so I was always drawing something, making up new games, and making something.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
My favorite “Life Lesson Quote” is simply to, “Just keep swimming.” If you’re not familiar this came from Dory in Finding Nemo, and I really think about this because it is true! Never give up, never stop. When I started this business after working in corporate America, I was determined to not fall. I am trying to build something for my family, that will produce generational wealth for my children and their children, throughout the generations after me. I must keep swimming, because no matter how long it may take, I will reach all my goals, and I have no choice but to keep swimming because I have the young eyes of my children watching me, and my husband cheering me along and right there to support me.
Is there a particular book, podcast, or film that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?
A few years back my husband introduced me to the “Hidden Colors Series” by Tariq Nasheed, and it really opened my eyes to a lot of the history amongst black people. This series resonated with me because I am a black woman. I know we are a great people and are destined for greatness. I am raising young black girls, and I am showing them that anything is possible.
Ok super. Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion. There is no shortage of good ideas out there. Many people have good ideas all the time. But people seem to struggle in taking a good idea and translating it into an actual business. Can you share a few ideas from your experience about how to overcome this challenge?
From my experience, when you have an idea, you have to literally just dive into it, and take a chance. For me taking a chance, came when I took a break from my former employer for 4 months. In that time, I had dived into my candles, and when the time came for me to return to my previous employer, I had resigned. I was so excited about the thought of entrepreneurship that I told myself I will never go back to working for someone else. I believe a great idea can always be turned into a business. Turn it into something physical that you can see, and if it isn’t something physical begin with sharing it everywhere which will then build engagement and a following if people can connect to it.
Often when people think of a new idea, they dismiss it saying someone else must have thought of it before. How would you recommend that someone go about researching whether or not their idea has already been created?
Do not worry about what everyone else is doing and how many people are creating the same thing you are about to pursue. They are not you. An example, given a lot of times is when you go to the grocery store, and you see all the bread in the bread aisle. There are so many brands but that doesn’t make someone not buy bread, they choose the one they like or want to try. Same with an idea that is already live. It’s okay that it’s existing, what makes the idea special is what you do to make it stand out.
For the benefit of our readers, can you outline the steps one has to go through, from when they think of the idea, until it finally lands in a customer’s hands? In particular, we’d love to hear about how to file a patent, how to source a good manufacturer, and how to find a retailer to distribute it.
I’ll speak from personal experience and what I did.
When I thought of the idea, I started test trials first to see what formulation of wax and oil in combination with wick and vessel would work best together for the safety of my future customers. Knowing then that I wanted to be as clean and nontoxic as possible helped me narrow down my choices as far as wax and wick was concerned. I took it a step further in my fragrance oils, to be sure they contained no harmful chemicals at all because I have a family and I don’t want anything burning in my home that could potentially harm us, so I feel the same for my customers.
When sourcing a manufacturer look at their reviews from others who have used their services. What are their values, how are they producing the product you are sourcing from them? Is child labor involved at all? Are people being paid fairly? Do the values of your manufacturer align with yours?
When finding retailers to distribute your product, you should observe who their target audience is, and do they fit your niche? Do they also align with your values? Where are they located, what’s the area like?
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Started Leading My Company” and why?
- I wish someone really told me just how rewarding it is to start and lead a company. The reward is being able to work for yourself and sharing something you enjoy with others. Having more time to be with family and friends. The freedom of not being stuck on a specific schedule.
- I wish someone had really told me the amount of stress that can be involved. Running a business whether with a team or solo can be stressful at times. If there is a deadline to get product out to a distributor, or a massive order comes in that needs to be fulfilled and you are short on some of your supplies. These are situations I have been in personally, and although everything was fine in the end the stress still presented itself. But I pulled myself together and it worked out.
- I wish someone had shared the growth that comes when you start and lead a company. I have grown so much in a short time. By growth I’m not just referring to my business, but personal areas of growth. Extending grace to myself instead of criticizing everything I may mess up on. Realizing I am learning daily, and things won’t always go as planned.
- I wish it was shared that you may be able to do everything yourself but eventually you will need help. As mentioned, I run my business solo, I do not have a team, yet. But this holds true because as my brand grows, the inventory grows, the orders needing fulfillment grows, everything expands. And it can happen slowly but for me it exploded and took off rather quickly. I am managing for now, but I am seeing that things can and would go a lot quicker if I had extra help. A team doesn’t have to be 100’s of people it can be a small handful and once task are delegated to others and I can free up some of my time, I am confident my business will run even more efficiently than it already is.
- I wish someone had also told me that prices do not and will not always remain the same. As the leader I have to be mindful of not only my competition but also the changes happening with my suppliers. Inflation is real, and prices can go up but they an also go down. This is something I wish I really knew before starting and leading because it’s just a part of the business. Customers either understand or they don’t but communicating to them the reasons behind a price increase I think is important and worth it. And that changes can be good, for everyone.
Let’s imagine that a reader reading this interview has an idea for a product that they would like to invent. What are the first few steps that you would recommend that they take?
I would first recommend; they write out the need for the product and what problem is it solving for the consumer?
Create your first tester/prototype of the product. Give it a name and be sure the name fits but also aim to be unique if you can. Test the product yourself and multiple times! This is important because you need to be sure it is safe, for others to use.
There are many invention development consultants. Would you recommend that a person with a new idea hire such a consultant, or should they try to strike out on their own?
I feel it depends on the idea. I create candles, I didn’t need a development consultant however help from others as far as branding is always a good idea, unless you are well versed in marketing and branding. I took a chance on my own and have had no problems.
What are your thoughts about bootstrapping vs looking for venture capital? What is the best way to decide if you should do either one?
I feel bootstrapping is better over venture capital because you the owner maintain more equity than having investors come and own a percentage. I like to maintain 100% ownership of my business; however, it may take longer to actually startup and grow. Versus venture capital which has the potential to help you grow faster, but at the expense of having others owning a portion of your business. On deciding, do you have the patience and determination to grow your business through your own efforts and maintain 100% ownership or would you like to have outside help to grow? I don’t think there is any right answer, just depends on what it is that you want.
Ok. We are nearly done. Here are our final questions. How have you used your success to make the world a better place?
I have used my success to spread awareness that you need to take time for yourself. It’s not only a need but a requirement to be your best self. Self-Care is needed because without it you can burn out. Rest gives you a chance to clear your mind, a clear mind yields new ideas!
You are an inspiration to a great many people. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
If I could inspire a movement, it would be a dream movement geared towards young, black men and women between the ages of 16 and 35. This movement would be focused on are you doing what you dreamed you would be doing and if not let’s take a step in the direction that will align you with that dream.
We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US, with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.
I would enjoy meeting with Tabitha Brown. She is a wonderful woman, and she is always sharing something where I get a takeaway.
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.
Making Something From Nothing: Shanay Walker Of ‘Obsidian: The Signature BLK’ On How To Go From… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
