You know, starting a small business is a lot like trying to cook soufflé for the first time. You whip up your batter with all the enthusiasm in the world, only to find that you forgot an ingredient—or worse, you miscalculated the oven temperature and ended up creating what can only be described as a pancake. Trust me; I speak from experience here.

Let me take you back to my first foray into entrepreneurship. Picture this: excited me, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed (okay, lacking the hairy tail), ready to conquer the world with my handmade candles (I was turning 16 at the time). Why candles? Well, why not? They’re cute, they smell good, and everyone loves a flickering flame on a cozy evening. It seemed foolproof—at least until I discovered that not every wick is created equal.

On my very first attempt at pouring wax into molds, I was all about precision. In my mind’s eye, I was an artisan crafting exquisite pieces worthy of Instagram fame. Instead? I ended up creating what looked like melted crayon blobs tossed haphazardly onto a tablecloth (and don’t even get me started on the colors, a kid eating said crayons and then vomitting them up would have made better colors). Spoiler alert: no one wants to buy “Firework Fiasco” candles.

But here’s where life—and business—gets interesting. Instead of sulking over my candle catastrophe (though I did consider it for about five minutes), I decided to learn from it! And by learn, I mean frantically googling “how to make candles without looking like an art supply explosion.” P.S. Don’t google that. Thank goodness for YouTube tutorials; they were my saving grace. Sorta. What did people do before YT?

Fast forward to a few weeks later when I felt confident enough to try again—this time armed with knowledge and slightly more realistic expectations. Guess what? My second batch turned out beautifully! Well… almost beautifully (maybe you should read better). The smell was divine (albeit overpowering); however, they didn’t exactly look like something you’d want sitting on your coffee table next to your favorite mug—with their tops resembling something akin to crusty pancake batter instead of smooth candle wax. Hey! Don’t laugh!

If there’s anything I’ve learned on this rollercoaster ride of entrepreneurship (besides how NOT to make pancakes), it’s that mistakes are part of the process. Like bad hairstyles in middle school or disastrous first dates—they happen—THAT’S LIFE! What matters is how you bounce back from them, or don’t and then you’re a failure. Hey, don’t look at me like that. It’s the truth. Or as it was in my case, how many times you have your friends come over for “quality control” testing while pretending that each new batch is definitely the one. Hum, maybe that’s why it took so long now that I am thinking about it. So much for brutal honesty.

Sure enough—I made mistakes again! And again! Each time teaching me something new until finally—after countless trial-and-error evenings spent hunched over pans of melting wax much to my mother’s chagrin—I created a line of candles that people actually bought (which weren’t family members (thanks grandma))! Cue triumphant music!

Now here’s where it gets really interesting (or perhaps mildly embarrassing, though I would argue it was already pretty embarasing): just when I thought things couldn’t go wrong anymore… enter stage left: shipping disasters. One day after sending out orders filled with love and care—cue dramatic music—I received multiple emails from customers claiming their packages arrived looking as though they’d been through some sort of wrestling match with a bear, that was when Bearestling™ was born!

Imagine receiving a parcel that smells heavenly but looks like someone stomped on it ten times before throwing it at your doorstep! Then again once more when it was there for good measure. But again, instead of losing faith in humanity or giving up entirely (both tempting ideas), we had another learning opportunity on our hands! And not one on how to promote Bearestling™.

So there we were brainstorming ways to improve packaging—a bit more cushioning here and there—and experimenting with various materials until we finally found the right balance between eco-awareness (I was their before Greta, but I attended school) and durability because I peanutted the hell out of the boxes (who knew packing peanuts could be so controversial?).

What’s the moral here besides don’t wrestle with bears? Life—and running a business—is just one big experiment filled with hilarious hiccups along the way. It might seem daunting at times (most times)—but those moments (become fewest and fewer) when things go awry often lead us toward growth if we let them! Oh, and packing peanuts, even if you really don’t want them.

Embrace those little mess-ups because they are merely stepping stones toward success (at least that is what you’ll tell yourself even in retrospect you feel otherwise about them)—or at least toward making better candles next time around (especially when your friends say these are the one)! So grab your metaphorical whisk (or actual craft-making supplies) and get back in there—you never know what beautiful messes await you! Thanks mom! She always cleaned them up for me.

And hey, if nothing else—at least you’ll have some funny stories along the way… or maybe even an idea for your next small business venture: “Candle Catastrophes – A Collection!” Who could resist? Actually everyone, I tried and it didn’t work.