Ep.85 From Beer Bottles to Kick-ass Candle Brand: How Bee Is Making Business Fun

What if your most profitable idea is the one you act on today? I sit down with Bee, the creative force behind The Wandering Bee, to explore how a scrappy Google search, a pile of beer bottles, and relentless childlike confidence turned into a luxury, sustainable candle brand with real momentum. From a two-month sprint to launch, to a thriving subscription model and a three-storey space, Bee shares the unfiltered story: constraints turned into design, reviews turned into content, and content turned into community.

We go inside the early moves—testing wicks and waxes in lockdown, hand-sanding bottles when glass was scarce, and seeding the first 12 orders through local Facebook groups. Bee breaks down her simple growth stack and we also dig into branding choices that scale—choosing a name that travels beyond candles, pairing luxury design with playful product names, and keeping sustainability stylish rather than preachy.

The most moving thread is balance. Bee is candid about returning to work two weeks after birth, the guilt of splitting attention, and the pressure of paying a team while learning to lead. Therapy helped her stop moving the goalposts and bring joy back into the business—“fun weeks,” team trips, and a rhythm that balances growth with life. If you’re stuck in a bridge job, craving a pivot, or wrestling with perfectionism, you’ll leave with practical steps: launch locally, ask for reviews, build a simple Shopify site, carve out a daily content hour, and let momentum teach you the next step.

Ready to trade overthinking for action and build something with heart, humour, and staying power? Hit follow, share this with a friend who needs a nudge, and leave a quick review so more mischief makers can find us.

https://thewanderingbee.co.uk/
https://www.instagram.com/_thewanderingbee/

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome & Main-Character Mindset
• 1:16 Meet Bee and The Wandering Bee
• 2:44 Childlike Confidence over Fear
• 6:40 Backstory: Jobs, Setbacks, Grit
• 12:32 Slowing Down to Get Clear
• 18:56 First Leap into Candle Business
• 23:20 Prototyping With Beer Bottles
• 26:50 Naming, Branding, and Shopify Launch
• 30:20 Zero Audience to First 12 Orders
• 34:16 Strategy, Ebb and Flow, Team Shifts
• 38:40 Ambition, Motherhood, and Guilt
• 45:20 Building Support and Leadership Lessons
• 49:20 Sponsor Break: Mischief Merch
• 50:42 Luxury Meets Cheek: Product Personality

Transcript

Bee Warren: 0:00

One of the most valuable pieces of advice that ever got given is that every your everybody is their own main character in their story. You're your own main character in your story, and I'm my main character in mine. So you're never as important in anybody else's book. So you don't need to worry about anyone else, just focus on your own story. Hey there.

Zoe Greenhalf: 0:16

Welcome or welcome back to the Mischief Movement Podcast. I'm Zoe, your guide on this journey to shake up the status quo and design a life that truly makes you feel alive. If you've ever felt disconnected, stuck on autopilot, or trapped in a life that feels more like a treadmill than an adventure, you're in the right place. I know that change can feel scary, so let's turn down the fear and tank up the fear as we transform your life from the inside out. Whether it's solo episode, act with actionable advice, or interviews with some absolute bad human beings who dare to define the normal by living life their way. We need to inspire, activate, empower, and attitude. You only get one point. So what are you planning to do with your? If you're ready to stop tackling, start living boldly and create a positive impact along the way. Let's dive in and stare at some mischief together. Now buckle up and let's go. All right, my fellow mischief makers. This week we're lighting things up, quite literally. My guest today is Bee, the creative spark behind The Wandering Bee, a luxury candle brand with a cheeky twist. She turns beer bottles into sleek, handcrafted candles that smell divine and are good for the planet, showing that sustainability can still have that doing a style. Bee is a living proof that rebellion doesn't have to shout. Sometimes it winks, smells incredible, and builds an empire one beer bottle at a time. What I love about her story is that she's doing business her way with warmth, humour, personality, and a whole lot of grit. She didn't wait to have it all figured out. She started messy, moved fast, and built a brand and a life that's entirely her own design. So grab your favourite scent, spark it up, and let's dive into a conversation that equal parts ambition, authenticity, and pure mischievous magic. Awesome. Right. Well, this week I'm really excited because I've wanted to have a conversation with Bee for quite some time. But the moment's come. So I will let you be introduce yourself and tell everybody what your mischief is.

Bee Warren: 2:44

Okay, so my name's, as you said, Bee, and I own a company called The Wandering Bee, where we make kick-ass can candles handcrafted from beer bottles. Um, I when you said about think about the question about what is my mischief, I actually thought, I don't think, am I very mischievous? I struggled with that question at first because it's actually quite a difficult question to answer. But after some thinking, it got me thinking about how I think my mischief is that I'm very, I have childlike confidence. So I think with my ability to hold on to my childlike confidence, I'm not scared to take on challenges or take risks. I don't overthink too much. I take on things no matter how big they are, without the fear of them going wrong. I just think, screw it, let's just go for it. And I think that really is part of who I am as a person. But what also makes me great as a business owner is that I'm not scared to take those risks. But I do think that that's deep rooted in me not losing that confidence you have from when you are young. I think as you get older, a lot of people tend to lose that confidence and they start thinking about what's the fear of what people think of them or if it'll work or money priorities, etc. etc. But I just never ended up losing that kind of one curiosity but two confidence, which has enabled me to run my own business.

Zoe Greenhalf: 4:11

Yeah, and I think not only is that such a fantastic answer, but also why you're you know you are the perfect person to be on this podcast. How do you think you have managed to hold on to that childlike confidence? Because, like you said, a lot of people they might have it when they're younger, but kind of just the world grinds it out of us. So, how have you managed to protect that in yourself?

Bee Warren: 4:40

I think one part of it is that I have grown up in a family that is uber super extrovert and confident. Uh, my mum and dad are two very confident people, and they've um they've brought me up to always be super confident in any room I step into and to be comfortable within my own body. I live very authentically. I don't try to be anybody else, I am just be. Um, and I think that helps me hold on to it that you know I've had that bringing up and I've been brought up around people that are like that too. But also I think it's being able to push away any fear and doubt because I think a large proportion of people get the fear of what people think all the time, which stops them from doing things. And if you're able to kind of coach yourself into stop caring what people think about you, I think it's a lot easier to do things. Yeah, I just never ever worry about what anyone thinks of me. And I I mean, if people watch me online, they know I make an idiot out of myself every day on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram. I film real, I film reels every day making myself look like an idiot, but I don't care because it makes me money. So I think that yeah, it's being able to just kind of stop caring what people think. And the one of the most valuable pieces of advice that ever got given is that every your everybody is their own main character in their story, you're your own main character in your story, and I'm my main character in mine, and that's what everybody else. So you're never as important in anybody else's book. So you don't need to worry about anyone else, just focus on your own story. That's basically what I got told, and I hold on to that.

Zoe Greenhalf: 6:20

I love that so much. Um, before we get into you know what you're doing now with your candles and stuff, what is some of the backstory building up to this? Because I don't imagine you just started building candles out of nothing. You'd have had some kind of like working experience before that, or some where have you been? What places have you worked? What have you done? What are your skills?

Bee Warren: 6:43

Oh my god. Now that if I told you from start to finish, you'd be like, what the hell? I've worked a lot of jobs and I've got fired from a lot of jobs. Really? Yeah, I got fired from a lot of jobs. I even got fired from my own jobs with my own family. I am um my problem is in all jobs I ever have, I think of new ways that can it can be done better. And when you're not the owner of the company, that doesn't work. So my suggestions always fell flat. I've worked a lot of like, you know, if we're talking about from when I was little, I've had a lot of like waitressing, of jobs. I've worked in sales a lot. I worked a lot in sales, but I would say the core jobs that have moulded me into who I am today and have helped me um be able to own a business.

Speaker 2: 7:29

Yeah.

Bee Warren: 7:30

Um, I worked in Selfridges on Oxford Street. Now that was huge for not only learning how to read people and to sell, but also working that job. I used to I worked with a lot of people, it was a lot of people management. Um, and I had to learn how to juggle working with lots of different big personalities. Um, it's obviously super multicultural. I had to work and serve lots of different people from all over the world.

Zoe Greenhalf: 7:56

Yeah.

Bee Warren: 7:56

And also I was able to see things from outside of my town, living and working in London. Um, you know, I lived in London for five years. I was able to get out of my little bubble of my town and learn what else is out there, which helps me really grow and develop and become a lot of people.

Zoe Greenhalf: 8:13

It's really important, yeah.

Bee Warren: 8:14

It really is. I think if if you haven't moved out of your area even for short time, like I only moved away for five years, but it really was who I am today. Yeah. Um, I've also um I had a job in uh before I started The Wandering Bee, where I worked in the dentist and as just a receptionist. That's what I always used to say, quotation marks as just a receptionist. And um, I worked there for three years. Now I know it sounds like, oh, why would that be like a pivotal, pivotal point in your life? But the reason it was so important to do that job, it taught me to slow down and think about what I really wanted to do. When I worked in all these fast-paced environments, such as Selfridges, it was just a day-to-day grind. I was working hard every day, I was up early, going to bed late, just working. Whereas going there allowed me a lot of like free time, it was fairly easy work, and it gave me this space to really think about what I wanted to do. It didn't teach me the skills to be able to do what I do today, but it did give me the thinking and breathing space to figure out what I wanted to do, you know? And then the only other one that I could really comment on that was a big part of what I did. When I was 16, well, when I was 15, my mum and dad broke up, and when I was 16, my mum was seeing somebody who worked in the television industry, worked in film and television, and he got me a position as a music video runner on a James Morrison music video, and it was in London, and at this point I'd never been to London, I was 16, and I did it. I just went on my own. Andy, which is my partner at the time, he was in London while I was there. But I did the music video on my own. I worked a set of like 150 people, and I worked a 16 and a half hour day for free, and just like got thrown in in the deep end. And my mum always said today, she still can't believe I did that. She dropped me off and she said she was like, she couldn't believe I'd just gone to London at 16, just worked a day for free with all those people. But I always meant like to mention that because that was one of those fear things. I was terrified. I remember turning up and I was shaking. I was only little, yeah. But I just thought, you know what, screw it, don't matter, I'll just do my best. And I just did it and I did my best. But I worked more music videos following that, and that really built my confidence to know that I had no experience, never done it before, but I just thought, what's the worst that can happen? And I just worked it.

Zoe Greenhalf: 10:40

Yeah, yeah.

Bee Warren: 10:41

They're kind of the important one.

Zoe Greenhalf: 10:43

There's so much good stuff in there because just from the fact that when you were younger, you took steps like that to kind of um reinforce that self-confidence and proved yourself that you could do something hard. I think at that pivotal moment in your life when you're like 15, 16, and you don't really know what you want, you were able to know that okay, it's something I've never done before, but I'm not gonna let that stop me, which is amazing. So well done, that'll be well done. Um, but yeah, I thought what you were saying about the dentist job now. I think so often we can get stuck in jobs that don't feel like they're necessarily fulfilling that. But that you're showing me a different side to that because I've talked about it before as being like a bridging job between where you have been or where you are and where you want to get to, and something that's maybe talking along in the background. But I haven't really thought about it in terms of what you just said, which is something that allows me to just think and dream and reflect and uh actually focus on what it is that you want to do on. So I really appreciate that because I think that's so valuable to anybody who feels completely stuck in something that's not really related to what they want to do. And you're listening, I want to put that on a chat and think about it in the running across the floor from nine to five and you have got that breathing space. There's nothing wrong with sitting there and exactly. Exactly. And it's also learning space, isn't it? Because not only can you be learning about yourself, but there might be room for some people to actually be weaving in some sort of online learnings whilst they're in the job. I mean, I'm not advocating doing your job badly, but yeah, if the time is there, you can actually maximize it, can't you?

Bee Warren: 12:52

Oh, absolutely, yeah. I mean, 100%. I think the time when I started, even though I was working at the dentist when I knew I'd started my own business, it was all guns blazing from there. Any at work, if I had downtime, I was brainstorming, thinking, working on what I was gonna do for me.

Speaker 2: 13:10

Yeah.

Bee Warren: 13:11

And I just ran the two simultaneously. So I was in a dead end job that I didn't want to do when I actually paid it in the end. But I knew I was doing it to build the bigger picture, which was my own thing.

Zoe Greenhalf: 13:21

Yeah. And how long did it take you, do you think, before you got clear on what that was gonna be? Did you start off with the idea of I think I want to start a candle business, or was it more a case of I think I want to work for myself, but I don't quite know how that's gonna look yet?

Bee Warren: 13:38

I'm honest answer. December 2020, back end of COVID. I Googled top 10 most profitable small business ideas, and candles was number one. You're a smart cookie, aren't you? Um, I didn't care what it was in. Um, I know I'm the type of person I know whatever I do, if I put my mind to it, I'll do it, but I'll do it the best. I'm very, very motivated and I always want to be the best at whatever I'm doing. So it didn't matter what it was, it could have been clothes, it could have been candles, it could have been, it literally could have been anything. But candles happened to be number one. So I just chose candles. Did I like candles? Yes. Was I obsessed? Did I have a passion for them? No. Now I do. But it started from just wanting to work for myself. So I Googled in December top 10 most profitable business ideas. Candles are number one. I picked candles. I developed, worked, and built a business from the like, say we'll say the 28th of December, and I launched the business on the 12th of February 2021. So it took me two months. Wow, you're a fast mover. I really am. My brain works like that. I'm someone who I don't like to sit on things. If I've got an idea, I have to do it now. If I think about it, I won't do it.

Speaker 2: 14:52

Yeah.

Bee Warren: 14:53

You know, like putting away your clothes in bedroom. If I have a pile of clothes in my bedroom, if I think about doing it, I won't do it. But if I just walk in my room and do it straight away, it's done. That's me.

Zoe Greenhalf: 15:06

And so did you start on your own, or did you start this with your husband, Josh?

Bee Warren: 15:10

Started it, it's difficult really because I started it on my own in the sense of it's it's my business and it was for me. But Josh is a graphic designer, so he had he helped me design the logo, he helped me with the bottle design, and obviously, very quickly after launching, I know you've seen obviously through our Instagram, we grew very quickly. We started selling candles quite quickly, which meant Josh had to come in and help me very quickly.

Zoe Greenhalf: 15:36

Okay.

Bee Warren: 15:37

Today Josh isn't he doesn't work for the wand really at all, but especially for the first year and a half, Josh was very prominent in bottle and candle production, but he didn't run the business. I still ran the business and he basically assisted with the production of the candles.

Zoe Greenhalf: 15:54

Okay, okay. That's interesting as well. Because I wasn't sure whether it was uh you know, like a partnership, a family business, or whether it was you with him in more of a supporting role. But I mean, there again, you see it just highlights the importance of having those people that share your vision and believe in you and your ability to um you know bring it all together as well. So amazing. Um and in terms of what happened between that December and February, right? You've gone from Googling what could be a profitable business to actually setting up your business. What did that look like in those two months? What kind of things were you doing?

Bee Warren: 16:35

So I remember when I first Googled that idea and I knew I'd picked candles. I was like, yeah, we're gonna do candles. Josh said to me, You've never made a candle before. Maybe just make one candle. I was like, Yeah, yeah. I ordered a 15-pound candle making kit off Amazon. Before it had even arrived, I'd ordered a 22 kilogram bag of wax and loads of fragrance oils and wicks to test. So I already know it. No, you didn't know. So I was like, I'll be fine. So I made my one candle from Amazon. I was like, yeah, I could do this, that's fine. And then that's when I began testing. So the first initial couple of weeks, I was testing candle recipes, testing wicks, fragrance oil wax. The one hurdle we had was obviously it was COVID, so you couldn't get your hands on any candle glass. Um, in steps the beer bottle, because we had a lot of beer bottles lying around because we've been drinking beer because it's COVID. So um, Josh said, Why don't you use the beer bottle? And at first I thought that was bizarre. I thought, no, that'll look tacky. No, I don't want to do that. He went, just give it a go. So I went, All right then. I split the bottle with Josh at the sink using hot and cold water, yeah, and then using just a sanding pad, I hand sanded the sides and poured the recipe I'd made into that glass, and I loved it. I was like, oh my god. That was within the first week, I'd say. After that, and I knew I loved that bottle, I then needed to design the label. Obviously, Josh being a graphic designer and a very talented one really helped. Um, and also because he was at the time he had time to take on clients, so he took me on as one of his clients essentially, the one as the wandering bee. At that time, I can't come up the name yet, so as B. And we designed the label, and that's when I was like, you know what? I want a name that isn't the Wandering Bee Candles or something candles. I want this to be a brand. I want to be able to move into anything. Think about Jo Malone. Jo Malone started making candles in a kitchen, but she was Jo Malone, and obviously today she's like the fragrances. It was the same for me. I wanted a brand, not just a candle company. So when I was brainstorming names, before I came up with my own company name, I always used to say I felt like when I was at the dentist, I was just like wandering through life, just not knowing what to do with myself. My nickname's B. So the wandering B just felt supernatural. And as soon as we said it, it clicked, and I was like, that's it. We had the name, we built the logo out together, we had the labels, we put the labels on the products, and that was it. Um I googled what are the best websites or uh website platforms for products, and Shopify was number one. So I just chose Shopify, used one of their three themes. It looked all right, it wasn't the best, but it looked alright. Put my products on Shopify and just launched on the 12th of February. That's all I did. I just made the product.

Zoe Greenhalf: 19:32

What did that look like? Were you on social media? Were you building a bit of a so a following on social media, or did you just email people that you knew? Like, what does that even look like?

Bee Warren: 19:42

Do you know how I did it? I didn't have any following at all. Because obviously the wondering no one had heard of us before didn't even know what we're doing. I did have all the I bought I got all of kind of the domains across Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and I was posting posts that were like coming soon, but no one was interacting with them because they didn't know who we were. Yeah. So to get our name out there, what I did was I copied the URL to my website and posted it in all the neighborhood groups within the area. So you know the like Facebook groups that are like we have around here, we have like the Cherry Fields Estate, Aston Lodge, the Walton Estate. I posted it in all of their groups and I got 12 orders from the White Ridge, and I've hand delivered all 12 of those orders and asked every single person to write me a review that I could share online. They told their friends who wrote a review and then it just started spider webbing from there. I used those reviews as leverage to make content. That content then fed into me making more candles, which led to more orders, which allowed me to make more candles. That's essentially what I did.

Zoe Greenhalf: 20:45

Yeah, and it's interesting, isn't it? Because I think sometimes when I see you on social media and I see you having fun, it would be so easy to think you're just having fun and you're not being strategic about these things. But you really are, and you really have been since the very beginning of this journey, haven't you?

Bee Warren: 21:07

I think that um I go through I ebb and flow with my my strategies. Um sometimes I feel super organized, sometimes I feel like I know exactly what I'm doing, sometimes I feel like God, you know, I'm having fun, but I also have my plan. And then other times I do feel completely swamped and lost, and I just feel like I'm just doing my best. So I feel like it ebbs and flows. Like right now, I'm feeling um all a bit lost because Jen, one of my members of staff, goes on maternity leave. And it's the first time I've ever had a member of staff go on maternity leave, and it's a bit odd and it's weird. I feel like I'm losing my right leg. Um, so right now you would I would say it is a time where I I have strategy but feel less confident. And then there's been other times where I can make loads of content and be having the right laugh and feel no strategy. I feel like I'm just like just make funny content and it'll work itself out. So I feel like it really does ebb and flow. I don't I don't want to say I've always got all the answers, I don't. I just do my best. And when I get lost, I do somehow find out my way back to working out where the path is. But yeah, just ebbs and flows.

Zoe Greenhalf: 22:24

I think that's real life, though, isn't it? I think sometimes we're missed this idea that running a business not only is serious, but it's like constant strategy. Um everybody's got their head down, their nose in the grind. And yet I think when you tend to look at it as in terms of cycles or this kind of ebb and flow, you can see how in some moments you will be following more of a plan and more of a strategy, and in other times you'll just be going more with the flow. And I think it's okay. And also, not only is it okay, but it's actually a very natural part of also being a parent, a working parent with their own business, because let's not forget that you've got two children, and one of them was actually born like after you'd already started the business. So you've also had to navigate that. Yeah, how challenging has that been?

Bee Warren: 23:14

Yeah. I honestly the most, the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. It I am riddled with guilt all the time because I had Ettie and came straight back to work within two weeks. So I didn't get that beautiful maternity leave that I got with Callo, my first daughter, which meant it was bittersweet because yes, I'm building my dream, but I lost a lot of my dream, which was to bring up two beautiful kids. And you know, I lost a lot of Eti's start of her life. Like a lot of the time I was I had a straptomy, but it was a lot of like, shut up, I'm trying to serve customer. And it wasn't that like beautiful thing that I had with Callo where I took her to the park every day, and you know, I I mean, I'm not I'm not saying I there was parts of having Callo at home for that whole nine months on maternity that I didn't enjoy. I don't really enjoy being at home in that baby bubble. That's not really me. I enjoy work, but I did lose a lot when I had Ettie and had to work at the same time, and it was really tough, and I lost a lot of myself. Um, and I think as well, working with two kids. I always say to Josh, I think if I hadn't have had children, obviously I'm much happier that they are here. I think the wandering B would have multiple stores across the country. I believe that I would I would be, I really, really do believe we'd be 20 times as big as what we are. But I just believe that I'm like two separate people and I'm constantly 50% because I have to jump out of being a boss and be a mom.

unknown: 24:49

Yeah.

Bee Warren: 24:50

And then I have to jump out of being a mom and be a boss. So it means I can't always give 100%, which is really difficult because I wish I could give 100% to both, but I can't. Yeah. And I think until the girls are a bit older, I'm not going to be able to do that because I have to be able to, I don't want to lose out on their life, but also at the same time, I don't want to lose my business. So I've just got to split myself and do both.

Zoe Greenhalf: 25:13

Yeah. Um it's such a tough one, isn't it? But I think as women, we often have to make peace with this idea that we can still be ambitious, but it it just naturally ends up slowing down. No, because it's what you said about splitting yourself 50-50. You can't physically give yourself a hundred a hundred percent to either thing. And so everything just has to slow down.

Bee Warren: 25:42

Really does. I mean when I had Etty, God, it was that was a big um big pace change because right before I fell pregnant with Eti, we were hiring our second member of staff. I was we were making more money than we'd ever made. We'd launched our subscription boxes, which is now the base of our business. So we were selling subscription boxes to loads of our community. Um, we were just growing so much. I was having the pop-ups, I was doing all these things, and then I fell pregnant, and it just it all had to slow. I mean, I get big in pregnancy as well. I was a big pregnant lady, uh, I was a big girl. Um and I was I was dealing with a lot of uh sciatica and sickness, and then obviously she was born, and then I had a newborn. The pace just got completely flipped on its head, and no one teaches you how to do that. No, you can't you can't be taught how to run a business and be a mom. You have to just navigate yourself because everybody's children's different, everybody's area, everybody's income, everybody's life is different, so it suits everybody differently, and it's you know, you have to tailor it to yourself. And I quickly realized this was gonna be 20 times harder than I ever imagined. Um, and it's been really tough. There's been times I've wanted to stop when Ettie was really young. Yeah, you know, when she was going through a hardest phase at like nine months old, when she was screaming all the time at work, I used to just cry. Jen and Millie and Beth also. We had another member staff who helped me during that. Like, I had like a maternity leave sort of, so I wasn't in full time, I was in like ninth or three a lot. Beth came in and really helped me. So Beth, Millie, and Jen had to really help me because there were days I had so much work to do, and she just screamed the whole day. So Jen would have to like take her out of the room, she'd have her on lunch breaks for me. Um, they really helped me raise Essie for the first nine months, to be honest. We were a little like gaggle of girls. Um, and props to all three of them because they had to deal with me as well, and I'm sure I wasn't the most pleasant to be around because I was stressed a lot. Yeah, and I had the weight of the world on my shoulders, it felt as sometimes because they also had a responsibility to make money and pay wages, which was the scariest thing. You know, I wasn't just trying to pay myself, I was trying to fund three people's worth of wages as well, which was a lot of pressure.

Zoe Greenhalf: 28:13

Yeah, it is a lot of pressure, and kudos to you because you managed to make it work somehow, and and probably helped by the fact that you you built a good supportive team around you.

Bee Warren: 28:26

Amazing team, yeah. Very supportive team. I I couldn't have done it without him. I literally couldn't do it without him. And you know what? I learned so much from it. The it's it's hard and tough, and it's I'm sad, but it was. I learned so much, and I'm grateful for the experience. It learned me how to multitask beyond belief. Yeah, like I never could multitask before that, and now I can. So I learned so much from it, and it also taught me how important it is to have an amazing team. I think a lot, I think before I had Etty, I was probably too confident. I thought I don't don't need everyone, I just want them there. And then I quickly realized that was not the truth, and you can't do everything on your own. And actually, a lot of the things the girls are better than me at. They're better at making candles than me, they're way better at it. I'm good at making a process and I'm good at motivating a team, but they're better at all the nitty-gritty stuff. I'm just better at leading the team. I think that's that's what it is.

Zoe Greenhalf: 29:22

Well, I think that's what you need, isn't it, at the end of the day? You know, the smart CEO knows that employing the people that are better than them in each of the class is the one that's going to go far.

Bee Warren: 29:31

Yeah.

Zoe Greenhalf: 29:36

In case you haven't heard, you can now purchase Mischief Movement Merch. It's all done through T Mail, a UK print on demand platform offering global delivery, organic cotton, and production powered by renewable energy. Not only can you now tell everyone you are a true mischief maker, but if you feel inspired to create your own t shirts at stickers, Or mugs, you could also give T Mail a try because it's a great way to experiment your ideas and take fast action with low risk. You'll find the links in the show notes. So write yourself a little reminder for later and let's get back to the episode. It's really interesting to hear you talk about these difficult times. One of the things I love about the brand that you've built is that your sense of mischief and your sense of fun really comes through. And it's so interesting because your branding is very stylish and very it has a real sort of luxury feel about it. But there's this underlying cheeky side, especially when you look at the names of some of your candles. Give me some of your the names of them because I can't think off the top of my head.

Bee Warren: 30:52

I've got Son of a Beach.

Zoe Greenhalf: 30:54

That's it.

Bee Warren: 30:55

And when we started to make a lot of money and get a lot bigger, I had a candle called Citrus Got Real. Yep. Um we have we have like pun names. We have cute ones as well, like Jazz the Two of Us for our Jasmine candle. Yeah. We have loads of names. We had come up with a lot of puns and alliterations, common cheek names, what we like to do really.

Zoe Greenhalf: 31:15

Yeah. And that's one of the, I mean, that's one of the standout things for me when I look at your brand. It's like this underlying cheeky side, which I love so much. And then your personality that just shines through on the socials. Um so how do you take running a business which could be really serious? And um, I'm not saying it's not hard work, but how do you then weave in that sense of fun and make it feel like it's the lifestyle that you want for you and your family rather than just uh running a business um to bring in the money?

Bee Warren: 31:54

I had a um a big turning point for me that happened. So um start of last year in January, um, I had a big epiphany. We were moving from our little shop to this shop, which we opened in the April of last year, and everything was really heavy and serious, and I was really unhappy, and I lost a really close friend, and a big portion of that was my kind of uh loss of my own self in the business. I became the wandering bee. I wasn't somebody who built a business, I was the business. Yeah, and within that I lost myself a bit, and I lost a really close friend due to that, and in that I became very serious about growing it and making it worth it, and all of it kind of started to become very heavy clouded. Um, I had a lot on my shoulders, I felt the weight of the world, I felt like I had the pressure to make money, and I basically had, I wouldn't say as far as a breakdown, but I was very unhappy. I was crying a lot, and I realized that I'd built something I no longer enjoyed. And I started to go into therapy, and when I started going to therapy, I learned a lot about why that was and what I had kind of built and the pressure, unnecessary pressure that I was putting on myself. One of the reasons I always wanted to work myself was to be free. Now, my version of free is being able to make my own schedule, spend time with my kids, have a laugh when I want, get my nails done when I want to have my nails done, go on holiday when if I'm able to, you know, and I've got a good, I've earned enough money that I'm able to save money to go on holiday. That was kind of my version of free. And my therapist once said to me, Haven't you got that? And I was like, Oh, oh yeah, sure I have. And he was like, So why do you keep moving the gold post? And I quickly started to flip it all on its head, and I was like, wait a minute, I've got a really good life. I literally love what I do, I love coming to work, and I miss not being here. I have a team that feels the same. Jen and Mill literally love their jobs. Um, and then I brought on a new girl called Amy, who's absolutely lovely, and hopefully she's gonna feel the same. I have a beautiful building. Um, I yes, I would love more money, don't get me wrong. I would love to be able to go on holiday when I want. I've not yet at that at that stage in the business and in my life, but I'm on my way there, and I thought I think I've reached a point where I thought that's good enough for right now. Then when that I started to realise that, come on, April, I opened this shop here last year, and I just in a it's like a switch went off my brain, and I was like, I'm just gonna have fun. And I decided to spend from April to the end of last year just having fun and see where it got me. I had the best, I had the best year last year. It was just non-stop last. We went on holiday to all together as a team. I closed the business for a weekend to go to Paris with the girls. We we grew as a business, not as fast as we were growing, don't get me wrong. But we grew and we were just having a laugh. Last year it was all about just having fun. This year I'm trying to balance the two. Yeah. So this year I'm trying to upward grow as well as have fun. And the only way I know how to do that is every time I feel like I'm getting too in my head and too serious, I decide to have a fun week. And I just decide to bring it back down to what I enjoy, and I just keep going back and forth between these like two modes. Yeah, I am learning because I think the best way is to be able to do both simultaneously, but I'm not yet mastered that. I'm learning how to do that. So at the minute I'm kind of jumping between serious weeks and more fun weeks, serious weeks and more fun weeks, yeah. And then hopefully I'll get to a stage where I can just do them simultaneously.

Zoe Greenhalf: 35:57

Yeah. And how do you manage all of the content creation alongside everything else? Because there's quite a lot that goes on. You're all you're across what how many platforms?

Bee Warren: 36:07

Um, so I have two plat, I have two accounts on TikTok, and then I have my Instagram and then a Facebook as well. Um, I the best way I could do it. So I actually was looking at my analytics the other day, and in the last 30 days, I'd posted 330 pieces of content on one Instagram platform.

Speaker 2: 36:24

Wow.

Bee Warren: 36:24

So 330 pieces across 30 days, I was super proud of because I don't think I really give myself enough credit for how much I push on socials. Sometimes I feel like I'm not doing enough, which I'm sure you'll feel the same. You just feel like you're not doing enough, and I always think that. And then when I saw that, I thought, you know what? I couldn't have done much more than that. With content creation, the best I get asked this by a few of my friends who own shots on the high street. My biggest piece of advice I give them is I carve out space every day. So every single day between 9 and 10 is my content creation hour.

Speaker 2: 37:02

Brilliant.

Bee Warren: 37:03

And if I from 10am, if I haven't got as much as I wanted, I can push it half an hour if I want, but I tend to try and say 10 o'clock's my cut off.

Speaker 2: 37:12

Yeah.

Bee Warren: 37:13

Then when I've sat on till serving customers or on quiet, I edit that content and part of that content. I aim for two to three pieces of content every day for Instagram.

Speaker 2: 37:22

Wow.

Bee Warren: 37:22

And I always say to them as well, is choose one who whatever suits your audience, because obviously every business is different, every brand is different. Choose one platform that's your hero, my hero's Instagram, other people's heroes, TikTok, and that's the one you really hit home with your customers. So for me, as you know, because you've got new followers, like I talk on my story all day, every day, just constantly talking on my stories. That's my hero platform, that's the one I connect with my customers. Yeah, but I use my TikTok and Facebook to push the brand. And then I tailor my content across all three. So Facebook's my more serious content, Instagram's my personal, TikTok is my more low grade. It's a lot more, I don't really try and do as much editing, a lot of talking. Trying to reach a more of a like a Gen Z audience, I suppose, on TikTok. Okay.

Zoe Greenhalf: 38:12

So what kind of stuff are you putting out on TikTok then?

Bee Warren: 38:16

Um, I put out different things. I generally do um more than I do on Instagram in terms of real, you know, TikToks, reels, etc., on there. So I can do anything from eating videos, which not like mukbongs. I'm not sat there talking and eating, but like I'll try things from the high street. So like I'd always try and make it linked back to helping another small business. So like Mishka, uh Michaela Ruins, Mishka's on the high street. I'll try her new bakes and try to eat that on there, yeah. And I'll tell people about her business and where they can buy it. Um, I'll also film things like teasing the next subscribed scent, um, anything, a lot of get to know the teams. I think it's really important nowadays. The kind of content people want to see is behind the scenes.

Speaker 2: 39:03

Yeah.

Bee Warren: 39:03

So I film a lot of get to know Jen, get to know Millie, get to know me, get to know Amy, get to know how we make candles and what we do behind all the business fronts.

Speaker 2: 39:12

Yeah.

Bee Warren: 39:13

Because if you build a connection from with me, you're gonna buy my products a lot of the time. People buy from people who don't say that old age on sales. People buy from people. So if you build a connection with me, you're gonna trust me to know when things are good. And I'm dead honest, when I don't like a scent, I'll be like, guys, this one isn't for me. You might love it, but this one's not for me. And I think people learn to trust you, which makes them want to buy from you.

Zoe Greenhalf: 39:38

Yeah, I have to say that across all your content, your your sense of fun and being authentic just comes across, um, which is brilliant because obviously that's what you're doing, you're connecting with your audience. And I love the Subs Club. I love this idea that you have uh created for yourself a recurring revenue. I remember when you rolled that out actually, and I was disappointed because obviously I don't live in the UK, which is really annoying. Yeah, um, because otherwise I'd definitely have signed up. Yeah, um, it was just so good. I love the idea that you get these, you know, these exclusive scents and you kind of get a first look at things and it feels really, yeah, it just feels really fun. It's not your usual go into a shop and buy a candle, it's a bit more, isn't it?

Bee Warren: 40:29

Yeah, I think as well. As a customer and a business, it worked amazing because as a business, it enabled me stable income.

Speaker 2: 40:36

Yeah.

Bee Warren: 40:37

I knew what was coming. Um, it allows me to get a hit of cash at the start of the month to pay the rent. Um, and then as a customer, it gives you something new every month. Yeah, it gives you something new to get, it's something to look forward to, it's something to get excited about. And then it also, there's that thing that people do, they buy something, they buy a candle or a bottle of nice champagne or wine, and they don't open it, they save it for a special occasion. And there was this whole thing ages ago on TikTok and Instagram that was like, stop saving your things like tomorrow's never promise, like burn them, use them, drink them. And I think one thing that's really nice about the subsclub is you've always got something new on its way. So you don't feel guilty about burning your nice candles. You can burn your candles and know that you've got two more on its way in three weeks. So I think that it created something for customers that they hadn't had before, which I thought was really nice.

Zoe Greenhalf: 41:27

Yeah, because essentially you're also enriching their experience of everyday life as well. That's what I love about candles, it just makes everything feel a bit more special.

Bee Warren: 41:36

It does. And literally, honestly, if I if you'd asked me before I started the wonderful if I burnt candles all the time, the answer would have been no. I used to burn them at Christmas time, and if I was having a nice evening, I'd put on a candle, but now I live with a candle on all the time. Like I never not have a candle burning. And honestly, it's adding those little whimsical things into your life that make it so much more like magical and better. Like now, I never walk into my house with it not smelling nice. Like I walk through my front door and it smells of whatever is burning. Um, because Josh has worked from home, so he's always got a candle burning. And also, as you know, because you've had our candles before, a lot of the time our candles smell when they're not even burning. So if you've got it on your windowsill and the sun comes through, you can smell your candle. So just having one in the hallway and opening your door now, I would be lost without them now, put it that way.

Zoe Greenhalf: 42:23

Do you find it hard with new to people's homes that don't smell good? Are you just like, what is this?

Bee Warren: 42:28

So true. And what's so funny is if I know if someone's got one or someone hasn't got one. So like I could walk in someone's house and be like, that's antique bookshop. I know it straight away. Amazing.

Zoe Greenhalf: 42:43

Um, just before we wrap up, then what sort of advice do you think you would give somebody who is toying with the idea, perhaps they're in their dead-end job, dreaming about starting their own brand or starting their own business, just starting something, but they're like, ah, I don't know what it should be, or I don't know even what the first step might be, because you literally got this off up and running very, very fast. I mean, it wasn't, it wasn't the three-story shop that it is now. Yeah. But you still, within two months, have been like, right, I've nailed it. I've got a brand, I've got a product, I've tested it, and now I'm going with it.

Bee Warren: 43:18

I would say my biggest piece of advice is don't overthink it and just do it. If you've even had a tiny inkling in your head about doing it, do it today. Don't think about it, just do it. So if you're starting off from scratch and you haven't even got an idea, choose something. If you're fairly creative, just choose something you think could be fairly profitable, such as candles or anything that could be fairly profitable. If you have an inkling on like I like drawing, or um, I love doing ceramics, or you know, I like clothing, I want to, I could do a clothing brand, just start doing it. Don't put the thought into how you're gonna get it to where you want it to be. I think it's just literally doing it step by step. I don't know if anybody on here has watched Friends or knows what I'm talking about, but Chandler, when he's getting ready for the wedding, can he he's paranoid in there like, right, we're just getting dressed. Just getting dressed. Um, that's how you've got to do it. And that's what I did. I swear to God, there was no thought processing to me building a business. All I knew I was doing was making some candles. I wanted to make some money. And as soon as I did that, I just did the next thing and did the next thing. I never had any business experience. I never knew what I was doing. I just I was winging it. I still am. I'm still winging it. I don't know what I'm doing. It's just every day I know I need to make new candles, and that's just what I do each month. So I probably say that's my biggest advice is don't overthink it and just do it.

Zoe Greenhalf: 44:39

Yeah, don't let the fear stop you.

Bee Warren: 44:41

Don't matter what people think.

Zoe Greenhalf: 44:42

I think sometimes though it's the getting bogged down with the whole business stuff. Yeah, you clearly didn't let that stop you at all. You were like, I'm I'm just making a product and I'm selling the product.

Bee Warren: 44:52

What you've just said is perfect because it it people tell you, I didn't know what I was doing, and people will tell you when you need to know. HMRC, you know, you straight away you sign up and it'll tell you what you need to do. Like the you don't have to really do the thinking because it does it for you, but it'll tell you what you need to do. That that side of things that people always get scared of. I'm like, literally, if you type in on and everybody's got chat GPT now, go on chat GPT, it'll write you a checklist. It will, it will write it at you and it'll just it'll tell you exactly what to do. If you type it into Chat GPT, hey, I always say my pleas and thank yous, just in case. Hey, I want to start a business in Candles. Can you give me a 10-step checklist of what I need to do first? It's gonna give you one. Yeah, I just don't know what lag word for you.

Zoe Greenhalf: 45:35

Yeah, yeah, that's so true. I think, as you said, the secret is just to not overthink it and just sometimes I think like it must be a bit like being a parent. You don't need to know everything before you become a parent. And then once you've had a kid, you realise okay, the next thing I need to know is I need to learn about, I don't know, weaning and the next thing is a good analogy. You learn as you go because it's on a need-to-know basis, but you don't you never stop to think when you're like 20. I wonder how kids like how to wean my future kid that I might have.

Bee Warren: 46:08

That is such a good analogy because you do get given a baby and then they're like, come on, man. Yeah, go take care of it and you have to learn. It's exactly the same thing. You just you just have to learn as you go. And if you don't overthink it, you don't let the fear of failure stop you, you're flying. Yeah, because the biggest thing is like I didn't start making money, I wasn't making thousands of pounds when I first started selling candles, I was making like 12 quid. Do you know? And I just carried on, kept carrying on. I just thought, well, something will pay off in the end, something'll work, and it did in the end, just kept reinvesting for cash.

Zoe Greenhalf: 46:42

Amazing. Well, that's your self-belief, which really came through for you, I think. And you know, it's awesome. It's so good to see you and your business having this kind of success and giving you the life that you're designing for you and for your kids. Um, you know, I love tuning in on Instagram to see what you're up to and what fragrances are coming out. And every time you come out with something new, not just a new scent, but just a new way of doing something, or like when you brought out the subs club, I was like, yes, that is just the next logical step. Amazing, well done. Yeah, the progression, exactly.

Speaker 2: 47:17

Yeah.

Zoe Greenhalf: 47:17

Um, where can everybody find you and um follow you and buy your candles from?

Bee Warren: 47:24

So, our website, if you wanted to just immediately shop, if I've sold it to you already. Absolutely. Um, our website is www.thewanderingbee.co.uk. And on Instagram we are at underscore the wandering bee, and then Facebook and TikTok with The Wandering Bee Shop. And my personal TikTok, which I do do a lot of business stuff on, that's all about like what we're talking about now, talking about the mischief behind the business. My personal TikTok is B E E E Warren, and then that's all like being a CEO, founder of a small business. That's all that sort of stuff as well.

Zoe Greenhalf: 48:02

Amazing. I love that. I really feel like at some point in the future it'd be really fun to do a um a mischief collab candle.

Bee Warren: 48:10

Yeah, yeah, let's do it. I'd love to do that.

Zoe Greenhalf: 48:14

I'd love to do that.

Bee Warren: 48:16

I'd love to do that.

Zoe Greenhalf: 48:17

Well, listen, I think everybody needs to go and smile some of these amazing candles. And I love the fact that you can also personalise them as well. Um, but thank you so much for sharing your story, your journey, and all these little nuggets of wisdom about what it takes um to start a business from scratch. I just can't wait to see where it goes next.

Bee Warren: 48:39

Oh, thank you. Hopefully I'll carry on going, but we'll see. I'm winging it.

Zoe Greenhalf: 48:44

So is there a plan? Is there a plan B, or is it or are you just winging it till the end?

Bee Warren: 48:49

Uh you know what? My plan is my next store I want to be in the US. So I want to go to the US. Yeah, that's my next goal. My aim is when everyone's when everything's sorted with Trump and everything. Yeah. My my goal is to grow the business enough to open a branch there. My second store, I want to be in the US. Yeah. That's an amazing dream.

Zoe Greenhalf: 49:12

I can't wait to see it happen. I know it's going to. I'm going to matter. I don't doubt you for a second. You know that. Thanks, my love. No, thank you so much. So before I leave you, it's time for this week's rebel recap. Here are my main takeaways from the episode. Number one, tap into your childlike confidence and curiosity. Two, uh everyone is their own main character of this story. You are your own main character, and so you don't need to worry about anybody else. Just focus on your own story. Three, uh moving away from your hometown can help you grow and develop as you learn what else is out there. Four, uh, sometimes a job can provide you with a space to figure out what you want to do rather than give you new skills, and that is still valuable. Five, don't overlook or dismiss an opportunity to work for free if it helps you to face your fear and grow your confidence, or move in alignment with the direction of what it is you enjoy doing. Six. You might feel like you're in a dead end job, but focus on the bigger picture. Can you build something alongside it? Could you incorporate some learning whilst you're still there? Maximize your time so you can get as much value from that experience as possible. Seven, if you're thinking of starting a business, don't limit yourself to one product, but consider building a brand that you could take in any direction. That way, you give yourself even more room to experiment and test different ideas. Eight, don't be afraid to ask for help. Remember, if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go further, go together. 9. Schedule in some fun weeks. When life feels heavy or your business gets too much, you can always schedule in some fun and bring back the parts of your life or your business that do actually light you up. And number 10 is simply don't overthink it, just do it. That's a wrap on another episode of the Mischief Movement Podcast. If today's content stirred something in you, let's keep in touch on Instagram or connect with me on LinkedIn. You can even click the link in the show notes to sign up to my Mischief Mail newsletter, where you'll get exclusive insights on upcoming episodes and your chance to submit questions to future guests. But shh, don't tell anyone, it's our secret. For more info on ways to work with me and some fun free resources, check out the website themischiefmovement.com. Until next time, stay bold, stay rebellious, and of course, keep making mischief.