Off The Vine with Kaitlyn Bristowe - Lily Lou's Aromas | 10-Year-Old Candle Entrepreneur Shares Overcoming Bullying & Building Her Business!

Episode Date: March 5, 2024

#716. In this heartfelt episode, Kaitlyn Bristowe sits down with the remarkable 10-year-old Lily, the radiant soul behind Lily Lou’s Aromas! From battling bullying in school to blossoming into a thriving young entrepreneur, Lily shares her inspiring journey of resilience and illumination that led to her small business. What began as a homeschooling project during the pandemic evolved into crafting her own products, ultimately catching the attention of none other than Taylor Swift, who purchased her exquisite candles! Discover how Lily's passion for empowering others and spreading positivity drives her business and fuels her mission to make the world a brighter place. Get ready to be inspired by Lily's story of strength, kindness, and the power of chasing dreams!Episode Highlights: (4:52) - Lily recounts her experience with bullying in school and how it ignited her journey toward entrepreneurship. (9:18) - Discover how Lily's homeschooling project during the pandemic evolved into the creation of Lily Lou Aromas and her first products. (12:30) - Learn about the moment Lily caught the attention of Taylor Swift, leading to the purchase of one of her candles. (17:30) - Explore Lily's passion for empowering others and spreading positivity through her charity work. (21:40) - Hear Lily's heartfelt advice for children facing bullying and her strategies for self-care and resilience. Come See Me On The Pour Decisions Tour!! BUY YOUR TICKETS HERE!  Thank you to our sponsors!COVER GIRL: Say hello to your real life makeup filter in a bottle, COVERGIRL’s Simply Ageless Skin Perfector Essence. Glowing and radiant skin is only a pump away. Only from Easy, Breezy, Beautiful COVERGIRL.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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For the first leg of our tour, I'm coming through the good old Midwest. For the second half, I'll be headed to the southeast. So I'm going Columbus, Cleveland, Ohio, Atlanta, Madison, Des Moines, Kansas City, Columbia, Missouri, Tampa, Orlando, Nashville. I'm coming to all you beautiful people. These podcast tours are always a highlight of my year because there's just no other way to put it than it's just pretty damn fun. I get to hang out with you in person. It's just the energy is electric. It's just insane. Like leaving those live podcasts, I'm like, whoa, that felt like an empowerment session. I feel elevated. The vibrations don't get me started on how high those are. So check out my website, Caitlinristo.com to buy tickets for those who join me, I can guarantee

a little dancing, a lot of laughing, wine, lots of wine. Even if you're pregnant. I've had pregnant, sober people come to my show and say it was still fun. They bring. their boyfriends, their husbands, and I even see them smiling at the end of it. So let's toast to that. I'll see you on tour. Everybody, welcome to Off the Vine. I'm your host, Caitlin Bristow, and I have the most special, unique, gifted, kind, smart, brilliant, little 10-year-old on this podcast today who I have, I have. had to take a moment after we podcasted to come back and just like get myself together because

I was so emotional. She is such a bright light and she shared her journey of being an entrepreneur how getting bullied at school led her to being homeschooled, which led to her creating projects to stay busy at home that led to her selling a candle to Taylor Swift. And she's just going to do really big things in her life. And I think this podcast is going to inspire the heck out of you. Oh my gosh, you're the cutest. I'm so excited to talk to you. You are a remarkable young lady, only 10 years old, an entrepreneur and founder of Lily Lou's aromas. I have one going right now. It's the best. Thank you. I actually have one in my room. I have one in my bathroom and I have one in my podcast room and they smell so good. And I just think it's adorable how you have these little, I don't want to

spill it, but there's little pink hearts in that. So when the candle melts, the pink hearts melt and it turns pink and I just love everything that you're doing. Oh, I love that. I hope you're loving them so much. You just have always loved candles? Yes, always loved candles. Always been my thing. Is that what kind of sparked your joy and your idea of Lily Lou aromas? Like, take me back to the beginning. Was it during COVID that you started the business? Um, so no, it wasn't during COVID. So, um, no, it wasn't. No, it wasn't. So I'm going to kind of go in with a story it's a bit of a long story so just like buckle it in get like a cup of two like because it's a long story yeah so I went and I was at school and I was being met I was like

being bullied mentally and physically I was getting pushed down middle stairs I was getting put up I was like the rock sat and it was like really hurting me and like I just and I talked to the teachers about it and there was only so much they could do so they put me like on like a single table so because my bullies were in my class so then they couldn't bully me and then I was just out I was just alone there isolated and they put me at the back of the line it just it wasn't it was not nice and then there was one time where we were at like we were going down the stairs to get like picked up from like our moms and dads and after like work and stuff and we were in alphabetical order and I was an L and then there was like one of

these bullies like that were bullying me and I had like a pink backpack it was really special because that time I loved unicorns I was obsessed with them so I had like sparkly sequins I had like sparkly sequence on it like I had like a little like unicorn horn like pom-poms on it and they were actually like like ripping it so when they went they actually pulled it let go with me and i started tumbling down the stairs and then when i was like i just sat there and i was like my head was buzzing like my i was dizzy i couldn't see anything and all i remember was my dad scooping me up from the floor and going to the principal's office like it was the most worst thing ever and i'm so sorry yeah but then what happened and then COVID hit and my mom homeschooled me and we I couldn't like my mom would sit down with

me do homework and I was just like what is this this is like a jungle of words I don't even know like I'd be like oh look there's a butterfly like I have ADHD so it's really hard for me to focus so when I go my mom got like really frustrated and she talked to my grandma and she was like sobbing and she was on the sofa and she was like what do I do I feel like a face like I feel like I'm letting her down and she went and my my grandma's she my grandma before she was like a teacher so she was like it's okay like just learn good play like everybody like every kid has their own journey and that's all right so my mom was like okay so that we we had like a lot of like I love Amazon boxes I'm pretty sure every day did everyone did during COVID yeah yeah and we started

coloring it we started like like shaping the boxes and I love artsy crafty stuff so that is like I would take over somebody's shop for doing that you're good at it yes very good at it that's my thing so when I go and I did it and it was called Lily Lou shop and it was so good it was so good and me my mom would be like the buyer so she would buy from me and then my dad would take them he would like be the stockist so i'd pay him like money and then he'd come like get the product and then like put it back on the shelf and stuff and then my mom would come and she was like oh like i would like this for an example like these sunglasses and i'll be like okay that would be like five dollars and 25 cents and then we were like work out the money like work out the like work out the cents and

everything and it was so fun and i wanted to do it every day but like the reason my business started as well because me and my mom do this night routine where we go upstairs, light a candle, watch a favorite show. And we realized the candles you were using were given us headaches. And I was like, why is this? Like, what is giving us headaches? Because it was like a reminder to take care of our self-care. And because I was like traumatized for like being pushed down the middle stairs and like

getting bullied and everything. And my mom had postponed depression as well and anxiety. When we did that, we were like, like getting headaches and we're like where is this coming from and i had to search it up and they had toxins they had gasoline in them paravans and they're bad for women's hormonal system like really bad for them and bad for like the physical health we were like we need to make a change in this so when we made a change in that we started off with my spouse because candles are really hard to do and what we did Yeah. When we did wax melts, we used the wrong wax. So it was crumbling. You have to learn as you go and make mistakes, right? Yep. Yep. That's the, is that exactly. Yeah. So when we did that, we were, it was crumbling. It was the worst, like, just not the vibe. So after months later, we were like, got the vibe of it. We were like, okay, we got this. Like, why don't we move on to candles? So we did candles and yep, still the same.

crumbling, not the vibe, but yeah, we got the hang of it. And then I started handing it out to family and friends. And they were like, no, it doesn't give us any headaches. It's totally nice. Like, I love it. It's more so good. And then that's when a lot of people started saying to me and reaching out on my social media saying, I really want to buy from, like, buy from you. Like, where do I get the candles? And we were like, haven't even set up a website yet. like so um we needed to set up a true you're a true entrepreneur thank you so we went and we went to go like set up the website but we were like what are we doing like this is a bunch of buttons that we don't even know what to do so we like press random buttons we like followed like

videos and stuff and we made it happen and we didn't realize that the mistake that we made was really bad and we actually set everything for free so we got like two to three orders for free and um we didn't set a price on it so we learned everything and we sent a price on it yeah and then yeah and then i posted more on my social media it blew up i have now 400 000 followers across my platforms oh my gosh lily that can i tell you something i think you know this but i'm not sure And I really take in and read people's energies. You are such a bright light. And sometimes people, especially at a young age,

don't know how to deal with such a bright light. And, you know, they might have something going on at home or they don't know their own feelings. But you are such a star and such a bright light. And that confuses people. And I get bullied even as a 38-year-old adult online all the time, not physically. And I'm so sorry you had to go through that.

and you are just the most bright shining star i've ever met like your energy i just want to bottle it up and i want to take it with me everywhere and you're so kind and smart and i'm just like and i love that you're in canada and you're just like you're making mistakes you're learning from them you are so brilliant no you're going to make me sob you are brilliant and so kind and i hope you know that you're already making a difference in this world oh it means so much i'm sending like all the love to you like you're amazing like i just so proud of you you've built such a business already and you've learned so many things that i'm still learning as an adult in in that kind of world so yeah like a lot of people call me an old soul and like and that means like i've experienced so much than i was

supposed to experience like 20 years in the future i'm glad you know that and that you're starting because at 10 years old if you already start to understand that i can't even imagine where you're going to be and where you're going to go in your life, you are here to change the world, and I truly believe that. Oh, you're so, so nice. It's going to start with a candle, but you're going to do something. I just, I feel it in my whole soul, and I just want to know so much more. Like, how do you come up with the smells?

Like, the one I'm smelling right now is chocolate strawberry, and wait, I'm obsessed that it's like Taylor Swift themed. Are we into Taylor Swift? I love Taylor Swift. Like, I'm like, such a fan of her. and yeah we started we started making Taylor Swift candles and a lot of people started to buy them and that's when it happened when like something crazy happened and they had that such high that Taylor Swift ordered from me and I was like wait Taylor Swift ordered from you yeah I will I mean

we confirmed it and everything so we were like hold up like what is this this is I'm gonna scream I know, me too. So I was literally almost sobbing at that day. I was like, Taylor's with order from me. Taylor's with order from me. Like, what is this? Oh my gosh. I know.

She has your candles. She bought, like she probably appreciates such a young entrepreneur and like she's such a supporter of other women and girls. And I'm just like, of course you, I'm so glad because part, I'm glad you already reached her because I was like, I'm going to get this girl in front of Taylor Swift, but you already have done it yourself. Oh, this is so, it's so kind of you. Yeah, I love her so much. She's like the most amazing singer. So, okay, tell me what your favorite part is about making these candles. Is it

picking out the smells? Is it the sales part of it, the social media? What's your favorite part? It's the inspiring and the empowering, you know, like helping people chase their dreams. And when they're like struggling with bullying, I help them. and like, like, stand up from themselves and say, like, you got this. Like, you're great. You're amazing. Like, like, I love empowering people so much. That is literally my whole job and my whole journey is to make sure people are, like,

doing their own thing, like, making sure, like, they have good, like, good vibes and everything. So, yeah. You're making me cry. You are such a special soul. You're, like, working so hard. But not only are you doing this and making candles and doing social. media your commitment to charity work is so inspiring and heartwarming and you partner with a new charity every single month to give a percentage of your earnings back which is just like I can't even like share

with me the story behind why you started partnering with different charities each month because I thought it'd be like a great thing to do and like so I started off with like helping trees grow for like I went like every time somebody would order for me like they would grow a tree. tree. Like that would be my thing before. Um, and then like I also was like, I'd also do like many other charities because I love charities because when I was younger, I used to like give all my toys that I didn't like anymore and like give them to charity. Like I did thousands of that when I was younger and I was like, why don't I do this again? Like I, I love charity. So I need to like connect more with charities because it's my jam. It's my jam. Oh my gosh. You would be so perfect. I am on

the board for a nonprofit called Free to Be, and it's empowering younger kids to be who they are and live an authentic life and be proud of themselves. And we would love to involve you in some way in that because we could do something with your candles because that's so perfectly aligned. Oh my God, you need to email the deeds to me. Like you need to. Like tell me. Tell me all the dates. I will email all the deeds to you. That's just so incredible. That's just in you to give back. You know, like some people will go their whole life not doing that. And you at 10 years old are, you're wanting to give back. I know that you had a heart condition when you were younger and you see the importance of

what giving back can do. And I'm just like, I obviously don't know you, but now I'm going to make you my best friend. But you are, I'm going to keep saying it over and over. You're just so special. And, and I mean, you do have such a voice and you have a platform and you're doing all the right things. What would you say to other kids who are getting. bullied because it happens to so many kids out there and and you you have such a beautiful voice

for it. What would you say to them? Yeah. So I would say that it's okay like to stand up for yourself. Like, like push off the bullies. Like how do I say never give up. Like trust your gut, trust your heart. Yes. I think what you're saying too is like don't be afraid. I think a lot of people feel like they're being like a tattletail if they tell somebody about it. But it's actually you standing up for yourself yeah definitely um so i would just say like yeah just never give up like be yourself like like tell like tell like a guardian like tell like your parents about it like don't be afraid to tell anybody because if you don't tell somebody like they can't help you with it you like you know so tell a teacher tell like um a guard tell like your parents uh or grandparents or whoever in your

family tell somebody so then they can deal with the problem and then they can make sure that you're like like you're safe you know yes exactly that was very well said and i know you have a ton on your plate because you are running a business you're also going to school you're doing all your activities and you're an older sister okay you're homeschooled still amazing which is that's a lot of work too And, you know, you, you maintain all these things. What do you do for yourself that is helpful for, like, for example, I know you like to light candles, me too. I like to have fresh flowers in every room.

I like to meditate. I like to say kind words to myself. What do you do to make yourself feel good? I journal. Yes. So I write down all my feelings. I also meditate as well, like the same as you. I say.

Good. And I say words of affirmation. So I have like these little cards that I got from like a little small business. They're so cute. And they have like little words of information. And then you go and you put them in like a little card holder. And you'll say like, I am beautiful. Like the universe trusts in like trusts me.

Like I have this and they're just, they like they make me motivated for the day all the time. And self care as well. Well, yes, of course. And I think everybody should have like from the age that you. you can read, I think we should be reading affirmations to ourselves. Because to be honest with you, I just started probably five to six, maybe seven years ago on like really giving myself words of affirmation. And I have noticed such a positive shift in myself in the way that I speak to myself.

So I can only imagine if I started at the age of 10 doing words of affirmation for myself. I'm, I think that's really cool. Yes, it is really cool. I think it like, it motivates us for the day. like it makes us started yeah it sets the tone for a good day do you know about like the term like high vibrations and low vibrations yeah yeah they're just they're amazing i love like sometimes like sometimes when like do you know when you're like i feel like if this a hybrid vibration but like something when it's like exciting you're like vibrating like you're so excited like that is like that's exactly

right that's me for the day like i like vibrate but how excited i am for the day you know yes And that's how I also like to think good vibes. Exactly. And that's how I like to think of, I want to live my life on a high vibration where I'm always excited about things. I always have a positive outlook on things. And you know what? Sometimes the bullies try and take that from us. But that's because they're living on this low vibrational space. And it's just like, I think you can have this too where you almost have a little bit of empathy or feel sorry for them because they aren't living the life that you are, you know? Yeah. Because like sometimes I feel like, like sometimes maybe because like bullies like may not have like good like role models or like like of like yeah parents and it's like very sad you know and and I feel like um so like I always like make sure like that they are like a good person like I know they're a good person in the inside like they just right yeah like with that like so um I feel like I go and I'm like praying for them I'm like like let's wish that they're like a good person and then like so I always send the good vibes to them that that they're gonna be a good person and that they're going to do good in life.

I hope you know I'm learning so much from you. And it's just, yeah, I'm so glad you have a platform and that you're a voice in this world. I just, I just am obsessed. Tell me what your future plans are for Lily Lou. Like what are you looking forward to? What do you have coming up? So I would say my future plans are like running my own, like, self-care brands.

But this isn't when I'm going to do an order. Like, not right now. Like, I'm doing candles right now, but, like, I'm going to do this when I'm older. Like, I was thinking of, like, my hair care brand, self-care brand, like, mental health tools and stuff, like, all and, like, doing books and everything. Like, that is what I want to do when I'm older, like, all of it. I have, like, a billion ideas, but, like, you will. I have a billion ideas, but, like, you would be asleep by then. No, I don't know if I would.

I don't know if I would. I want to care all of your ideas. I want to help you in any way I can. I'm like going to be your number one supporter from here on out. Oh, thank you. Truly, truly, I can't wait. And I'm going to send you an email with the deets about free to be. And I think you're going to be so good in this program.

And it's just, it's a really, really cool thing that I'm excited to implement into schools because obviously schools need that. Yeah, yeah, definitely. Yeah. I think it could really help fine. Okay, so I've got a little fun game for you. And it's called, I do too. It's called this or that real life smells. So which smell do you prefer in real life?

Freshly baked bread or pizza in the oven? Freshly baked bread. Yeah, me too. I love bread. I love bread. I love like bread. I was like went to Disney World one time and they gave me this really nice bread and i was like i'm really a million of these this is so good oh i this you are so relatable

let me tell you i could that's i could eat that breakfast lunch and dinner i just had some bread actually um right before this podcast yeah me too i had a cheese toasty oh yeah wait what's a cheese toasty is that like a oh so um so it's like with like i have vegan cheese inside of it and then like i go i put it in the ninja so it's like a little like have you heard of the ninja before yeah yeah the ninja fry yeah and um i put my toasty in i cut it and then it makes like this nice like like like like cheese like like like separating from each other like gooey like so like gooey like so nice like that's what i want to see every time i have like a cheese toasty so um yeah it was really nice it's really nice that's why cheese toasty is that needs to you need to make a candle

called the cheese toastie yes i mean like make it smell like a cheese toastie I love it. Do you have dogs by any chance? Yeah, I have, so I have one, which is Chihuahua. She's pretty old now, though. She works a lot. I think every Chihuahua box a lot. Yeah, like, and then I have another one, which is, well, her name, Chihuahua's called Poppy. And then the other one is Molly.

So it's called, it's like, also both Spanish. so because of rescue dogs um oh sweet yeah so um one the other one molly like she's a black dog um she's quite big bigger than a chihuahua yeah she loves snuggles and hugs all day like this is what she lives for i have i have two rescue dogs that are golden retrievers and they both live for snuggles as well isn't it the best i know right they're so fluffy and so nice that's well that's well that leads me to my next question. Would you rather smell doggy paws or puppy breath? Doggy pose. Pause. Yeah. I'm not quite sure puppy breath.

It's a hit or miss. It's 50-50. It's like cilantro. Some people love it. Some people hate it. I'll take any dog smells, but I'll take dog paws. I'm with you. Okay. What about pumpkin pie or cookies? Cookies. I know. I've never been really a big fan of pumpkin pie. Well, you know what? I didn't, as a kid, I didn't like pumpkin pie, but now as an adult, I really do. So sometimes your flavor palette will change. Yeah, taste plus change. Yes, exactly.

Well, I'm curious about this one for you. Would you rather smell sizzling bacon or freshly popped popcorn? Popcorn. Okay. Yeah. And what is your, what is your favorite smell of all your candles? What's the favorite scent you've ever come up with? Birthday cake.

Oh, so good. I know, right? It has like, I actually have one in my room right now. it's like right there but um yes i'm actually going to go get it so you can see it yeah please i want to see it i love seeing that your packaging is just incredible it's this oh it's gorgeous oh i love that and that's the birthday cake one yeah it's the birthday cake one okay your designs are so special thank you it smells just like birthday case like yellow it's yellow cake and buttercream frosting i want to eat the candle yeah i know right me too sometimes like my customers are like

can I like can I eat this and I'm like it's it's to heat not to eat that was always been my my little rimey candle thing yeah you're so good you're so I love it and obviously we talked about the Taylor Swift little branding you've got here and how you love her and um I too love her so I thought we would well first of all I want to know what inspired you to make the lover collection of candles it's just that like music obviously Oh, so I was like this song, like, lover. Like, I was like, I definitely got off that because like, that's my favorite song. Like, I love that song.

I'd sing to it every day and night. Like, yeah, it actually really inspired me by Taylor Swift because I've ever since, like, I've been like very young. Like, loved her so much. So, yeah, that's what kind of inspired me. You know her song, Cardigan? I've always listened to like. This is so many. I know.

I actually, I've listened to it, but I don't remember the lyrics. Well, because I'm trying to think of if we made certain sense for certain songs. So, like, lavender haze would be such a good candle because you could like, you know, the smell of lavender is so calming and I feel like that would be a good one. Yeah, definitely. Midnight rain, maybe. I don't know. Miraball.

Ooh, I've never heard of that before. Mirabal. What's that? It's one of, it's, wait, Miraball is one of her songs that I really love, but also, Have you ever heard of the show Dancing with the Stars? Yes. Okay. So I won that show, and so I won the mirror ball.

And so I also love the song, Miraball. So then naturally, I love that song and that, um, yeah. Oh, okay. I've never heard Mirabal before. It's not really one of her popular ones. So I don't think a lot of people have really, well, if you're, depends how much of a swifty level one to 10 you are, but it's one of her less popular songs. But now you have some homework.

to do you can get more inspired by you've already got enough on your plate i just i thank you so much for coming on this podcast i i think it's so cool to hear younger kids talking about mental health and standing up for yourself and your your parents have done just such an incredible job with talking to you about these things and you're just you've gotten an inspiring story they're real role models to me that is i mean that's just incredible they must be be so proud of you. I'm proud of you and all of your achievements. And I want everyone to know where they can buy your candles and where they can find your aromas and what your social media handles are because we need to get you all of these people, need to get all these people

on board to buy your candles. Thank you. Okay. So my website is lily-lose aromas.com. And then the other one for my handles, I have like, I'm all over the platform. So I'm like, on LinkedIn, Facebook, I have like Instagram, uh, TikTok. Oh, no. I got banned on that one. Um, so, uh, yeah, my handle is Lily Luz Aromas on every platform. Okay. And we will share it on our social media as well. And I'm just so glad that I came across your Instagram and that I got your candles and that I got to have the absolute pleasure of talking to you today. I don't think you know how much you've touched my soul from this conversation. You've made me want to be a better person.

I love to hear that I've inspired you and just made you, made you happy and everything that makes, that makes a true impact of my business. Oh my gosh, you're amazing. Thank you so much and we'll keep in touch, okay? Yes, we will. We will. I'll send you emails and DM messages. Yeah, thank you for bringing me on this podcast.

It's just, it's so amazing. Oh my gosh. Any, literally come on anytime. be my new co-host. I don't know. You need to stay in my life somehow. You're just a ray of light. Thank you so much. All the love to you. And I'm here for you if you ever need to talk about bullies. I get them too. And I'm here to talk to you about anything. Amazing. That's so nice. Thank you. Okay. Okay. Tell your mom. I say thanks for letting you chat. Yes. I will. Okay. Okay. Bye, honey. I'm Caitlin Bristow. I'll see you next Tuesday.

See your next Tuesday.