Have you ever wandered around your favorite store to find your favorite item and then think to yourself, “I could do that”? Mei Xu of the Chesapeake Bay Candle company did just that while strolling through Bloomingdales one day. She is an accidental entrepreneur of a multi-million-dollar international company that spans from China to the United States.
Accidental Entrepreneur?
She was born in China and was sent to a boarding school when she was 12 years old to become an international diplomat for her country where she was taught English Language Arts and cultural immersion. She graduated from Bejing Foreign Studies University and was working in the international communications profession when the demonstrations occurred at Tiananmen Square. She mentions in the podcast, “How I built this” that then students were assigned by their government to work in various locations to learn another traditional career. She was sent to work in a warehouse as a manager in shipping and receiving.
She eventually moved to the United States with her husband and landed a job in New York City. Her apartment was located near the department store Bloomingdales so she would spend many hours walking through the store in awe. She tried to explain her joy by mentioning that in China everyone wore the same clothes, ate the same food, and most colors were very muted. As she walked through Bloomingdales she was drawn to the variety of colors and textures. She noticed that fashion was made up of brands and certain styles that changed frequently. The home area was almost the complete opposite, with Laura Ashley being popular at the time with patterns that were floral and seemed out of fashion to her.
Self-Reliance
In discussions with her husband she would always discuss her adventures in the store and her perspectives. One day he surprised her and suggested they both quit their jobs and pursue a business in the home design area to sell to people for their homes. She agreed and began their journey to entrepreneurship. It took a while but eventually they began their candle business.
She would repurpose the soup cans after their meals for candle containers. She experimented with scents and colors to help her create an “experience” while burning the candles. She mentioned that when people burn their candles it would be a finishing touch after they would clean their homes to give a clean and purified aroma. This would be her niche for her business. At the time, few candle companies offered that option in the candle business. She wanted something that would be of high quality and affordable for everyone to purchase. To support her goal, she knew there was only one place to fit that requirement; home in China. Her sister began a search for a source that would support her need. When nothing was available, her sister decided that she would create a business to manufacture candles for Mei. Immediately she and her husband quit their jobs and decided to create an industry where there was none, creating new opportunities. Their extended family gathered all their resources available to them to start a business which turned into an international trade industry; another accidental entrepreneur.
Made in the USA, by way of China
The glass jars and lids were made in China and the wax recipe was poured into them. The family then shipped the candles to the United States where Mei could fill orders from the department stores. As the business grew, it became apparent that eventually Mei would need to manufacture the candles domestically so in 2015 Chesapeake Bay Candles opened a location in Maryland. Mei initially wanted to sell a product that was ‘Made in the USA’ to help keep manufacturing jobs at home instead of having products produced in another country. In the beginning of the business it was cost effective and cheaper to create the candles in China, but soon became cost prohibited for the company. “When I go home to China I would look for products that were ‘Made in the USA’ but there wasn’t any, everything was made in China. I think that “Made in the USA” means something, it stands for integrity and it has the ‘cool’ factor.” She mentioned there is something there that …”we haven’t thought of before as a country and it’s something we need to explore.”
Strong financial discipline
While creating their business, Mei explained they were very focused on the financial aspect of the business since they were self-financed. Using their experiences and knowledge they gained in their educational experiences, they knew to be successful they need to keep cost as low as possible. She mentioned they were very selective on the sites they chose while supporting a favorable worker supportive environment that valued its employees. When placing orders, they began insuring their products when they are sent, that way if something happens to the products it can be easily replaced by the insurance money. When dealing with large department stores and vendors, it is expected they can pay for their order. For orders from a smaller customer/vendor, they would check to see if they were “credit worthy” or Mei would require they prepay for their order. She mentions this practice is currently followed as it was from the beginning of their company.
Leap before you look…or is it look before you leap?
I can relate to Mei’s experiences because it reminds me of my higher educational experiences. If I had known that I would be where I am today, a Ph.D. student when I was chasing after my toddlers, I wouldn’t have believed it. When I began my journey, I had just finished a spring semester and was relaxing at home when I received a call from my professor stating that she had been given a stipend to hire a graduate assistant and would I be interested in helping her with her current research. I accepted the position, but I had no idea of the future adventures that were coming my way. I began helping with usual administrative tasks which led to searching for literature reviews, which eventually became a full research project. This project led to research papers and oral presentations at multiple conferences together. The most notable were the three years in a row presenting at the American Educational Research Association (AERA) where we shared what we discovered concerning border literacy and its effects on students living on the Texas-Mexico border. These projects strengthened my interest in pursuing a Ph.D. in Education and I decided this was a career choice for me.