Success Stories: QuickBooks Live helps Simone Banks and a Sacred Space candles find peace

Lighting a warm, scented candle has always been part of Simóne Banks’s relaxation ritual. So in 2019, after a gruelling fall semester of grad school and teaching, she knew she had to include candles in her self-care regimen. But this time, she wanted to try something different. Rather than lighting a candle she had at home, she sat down to make her own.

“I decided it might be a fun and relaxing process,” says Banks, who purchased her first candle-making kit as a Christmas holiday activity.

At first, she only made candles for family and friends, who were delighted with their gifts. Banks had a knack for blending fragrances and playing with different types of waxes and jars. What’s more, she enjoyed it.

It wasn’t long before she realized the process of making each candle was nearly as relaxing as the candles themselves. Banks didn’t want to stop. In fact, she wanted to share her candles with others.

A spark of interest becomes a flaming passion

“When I first started selling my candles, I would take them to local farmers markets,” says Banks. She settled on three curated scents, which turned out to be fan favorites. “My first time selling, I sold out very quickly.”

Banks knew her candles were special. She’d long envisioned a “sacred space” that would act as a retreat from the external pressures of the world. She imagined sharing that vision with others through her own hand-poured candles, transforming their environments via a highly curated, olfactory experience.

From her kitchen table, Banks began working to make that vision a reality, and A Sacred Space was born.

Today, A Sacred Space contains two collections—the Botanical Collection and the Be: Collection. “The first consists of aromatherapy fragrances to help relax and unwind,” says Banks. For instance, one candle called Breathe contains eucalyptus, ceder, peppermint, and clove.

Banks’s second collection is an everyday candle with affirmations on the labels. Examples include Ground (scented with lemongrass, jasmine, lemon, and patchouli) and Reflect (sage, lavender, amber, and tonka bean).

Every candle is poured and labeled in Banks’s kitchen. And while that process might be intimate and relaxing, other parts of the business have proved more of a headache. Fortunately, Banks says she’s found a tool that’s helped her feel less in the dark.

QuickBooks lights the way with personalized bookkeeping

Like many small business owners, Banks initially tracked everything in a spreadsheet. But the more her business grew, the more challenging that process became. Manually managing her sales, inventory, and more was a nightmare—bookkeeping especially so.

“That was the part of entrepreneurship I knew I needed help with the most,” she says. And that’s when she turned to QuickBooks.

“QuickBooks Live Bookkeeping has helped me overcome the learning curve of balancing my books,” she says.

When Banks signed up with QuickBooks Live, she was matched with an experienced, certified bookkeeper named Rhonda. She and Rhonda spent an hour setting up Banks’s account for A Sacred Space, customizing it to fit her needs.

“She walked me through the entire interface, so I could understand how to use QuickBooks,” says Banks. “She walked me through each and every step and answered all my questions.”

Banks says it took a few months for her to get comfortable with QuickBooks. All the while, Rhonda was there to answer questions and streamline the process, giving Banks the tools to manage things on her own.

Eventually Banks was able to do just that. Now she and Rhonda only meet monthly to clean up Banks’s books and address any lingering challenges.

Banks finds success in clean books and clean-burning candles

Banks is the kind of business owner who wants to do things on her own. Just as she pours every candle herself, she wants to feel like she has control over her business’s finances. And she says Rhonda understands that.

“I’m not just handing work over to her,” says Banks. “She’s empowering me to eventually go on this journey on my own.”

As a result, Banks feels more confident in her business than ever before. “I couldn't be more grateful for Rhonda,” she says. “With her help, I know A Sacred Space will continue to grow and bring people peace for a long time.”

Follow A Sacred Space on Instagram.