Ept 341: From candle making at home to opening a Candle Bar on Main Street - with AnaLisa Garcia

From Candles to a Main Street Storefront: How Annalisa Garcia Built Ambitious Vibes Candle Bar One Step at a Time

If you've ever wondered whether you can really start a business from scratch — with no experience, no big budget, and honestly, in one of the hardest seasons of your life — then this episode of She's Just Getting Started is going to stay with you.

Annalisa Garcia is the owner of Ambitious Vibes Candle Bar, and she is opening her very first retail location on Main Street in Racine, Wisconsin. But she didn't start there. She started in her kitchen during the pandemic, making candles to cope with everything that was falling apart around her.

And I mean everything.

She had just moved across the country from Wisconsin to California as a single mom. Then the pandemic hit. She was mandated to work as an ER ultrasound technician while her son was doing virtual school at home — with zero support system nearby. And in the middle of all of that, she found candle making.

Not as a business idea. As survival.

She Started With $500 and a Lot of Heart

Annalisa spent her first $500 testing waxes, wicks, vessels, and fragrance oils. She taught herself Canva to design her own labels. She learned everything from YouTube videos and Facebook groups. And it took her ten months to perfect her candle formula — because there's more science to candle making than most of us realize. Different waxes burn differently with different wicks. Change one variable, and you have to start testing all over again.

What she created wasn't just a candle. It was an entire empowerment line — six signature scents, each with a poem she wrote herself. She Is Brave. She Is Beautiful. She Is Powerful. She Is Strong. She Is Ambitious. She Is a Warrior. Each one pulled from real moments in her own life. Each one resonating deeply with the women who read them.

That's the thing about building a business from your own story — when it means something to you, it means something to other people too.

She Figured It Out One Step at a Time

From her kitchen, Annalisa moved to vendor markets — driving up to two hours away, Thursday through Sunday, her son right there with her learning what entrepreneurship looks like up close. He's now in fifth grade, homeschooled, and already running his own T-shirt business on Canva.

She went from online sales to markets to a 400-square-foot booth inside the Midwest Market in Racine — a converted grocery store turned small business hub. She negotiated her way into the space the same day she walked in. Then she filled it with gold jars, empowerment quotes, tote bags, mugs, and an atmosphere that felt, in her words, like a healing place.

When her events started overflowing and people were waiting outside, she knew it was time to grow again. She joined a city-hosted small business mentorship group, walked in on day one, and said out loud that she wanted her own storefront. Someone in the room told her he had a space. That deal fell through months later — and something better came along.

She found a space directly on Main Street. She negotiated the price down. She got everything she asked for and more.

And Then She Got Creative About Revenue

Here's where it gets really smart. Knowing that a bigger space meant bigger overhead, Annalisa didn't just open a candle shop. She opened a candle bar — where guests sit down, choose their fragrance shots, and pour their own custom candle. Then she opened the space mid-week to other small business owners who need a venue — cookie decorating, cake decorating, floral arranging, charcuterie, paint and sip nights. Her customers now have a reason to come back every single week for something new.

She's not just selling candles. She's creating community in her city. Women who didn't know each other have become friends. People who used to drive to Milwaukee or Chicago for something fun now have a destination right in downtown Racine.

The Lesson Behind All of It

Annalisa started this business in one of the darkest seasons of her life. And now? It's joy. It's community. It's purpose.

She never had it all figured out. She just kept taking the next step. She started with what she had, learned what she didn't know, negotiated when she was scared, and stayed true to a vision that other people told her was too expensive or too ambitious.

If you have a tug at your soul — something you keep thinking about, something you keep putting off — Annalisa's story is your permission slip.

You don't have to be in a perfect place to start. You just have to start.

Listen to the full episode wherever you get your podcasts, and follow Annalisa on Instagram and Facebook at Ambitious Vibes Candle Bar. Her grand opening on Main Street in Racine, Wisconsin is May 1st — and it's going to be something special.