Not Just Candle Talk: Burn the Rules. Build Your Legacy
This isn’t your average business podcast.
Not Just Candle Talk is the unapologetic, unfiltered audio home for ambitious entrepreneurs, creatives, and side-hustlers ready to do business on their own terms — no fluff, no fake motivation.
Founded on real experience and raw truth, this podcast dives into the real-life challenges behind the candle business and beyond. Whether you’re just starting out or scaling your empire, every episode is packed with lessons, strategies, and mindset shifts to help you build a business and a life you don’t need to escape from.
Hey, I’m Toni, and I know what it’s like to start from scratch.
When I launched my candle business, I had big dreams but limited resources — no investors, no fancy marketing team, just grit, Google, and a lot of trial and error. I built my brand from the ground up, burned out more times than I can count, and learned to pivot, scale, and get smart about what really makes money in this game.
Not Just Candle Talk was born out of my journey — the highs, the hustle, the hard lessons — and the deep desire to have conversations no one else is having in entrepreneurship. The stuff beyond the surface. The why behind the work.
This Podcast Is For You If…
- You’re tired of overnight success stories with no receipts.
- You want to make real money while staying true to yourself.
- You believe business can be both profitable and purposeful.
- You’re building your brand while managing your real life.
Not Just Candle Talk: Burn the Rules. Build Your Legacy
Purpose-Driven Profits: Why Knowing Your "Why" Changes Everything in Entrepreneurship
Ever found yourself asking, "Why am I even doing this?" in your business? You're experiencing what I call a purpose crisis – a critical turning point where the passion that once fueled your entrepreneurial journey seems to have disappeared.
Purpose isn't just some fluffy concept for vision boards. It's the backbone of sustainable business success and the antidote to entrepreneurial burnout. Throughout this episode, I break down how purpose transforms from an abstract concept into a tangible business asset that drives revenue, clarifies messaging, and attracts your ideal audience. When you understand your why, your content resonates more deeply, your community grows more loyal, and you develop the resilience to navigate market shifts without losing your foundation.
I share the powerful example of a candle maker who transformed her grief into a purpose-driven brand, creating workshops and affirmation-infused products that elevated her business from commodity to movement. This isn't just about feeling good—it's about building something that lasts. I provide three essential questions to help you uncover or refine your purpose, while acknowledging that purpose naturally evolves as you grow. The key difference between entrepreneurs who build lasting legacies and those who create glorified jobs for themselves lies in this purpose-strategy alignment.
Ready to realign your business with what truly matters? Take this week's challenge: write your why statement and check if your digital presence genuinely reflects it. Remember, when purpose meets strategy, profit naturally follows. Share this episode with a fellow entrepreneur who needs this message, and tag us on Instagram @notjustcandletalk to let us know you're building something bigger than just a business.
Collect all free downloadable checklist and access to other items including the featured Stanley on the go tumblers. https://linktr.ee/notjustcandletalk
Hello world, welcome back to Not Just Candle Talk, the podcast where talk meets real strategy for real entrepreneurs. I'm your host, toni, and today we're diving into something that every entrepreneur thinks they understand but mostly only scratch the surface of. Whether you're running a candle brand, a coaching business or building something from scratch while working your 9 to 5, this episode is for you. We're getting into the power of purpose, not just as a fluffy concept, but as a real, revenue-driven clarity building force behind every successful business. Let's be honest the word purpose gets tossed around like glitter on Instagram quotes, but here's what it really means in entrepreneurship. Purpose is the reason your business exists, beyond money. It's the why behind your brand, your grind, your sleepless nights. It's what separates burnout from breakthrough. If you have ever said these things, I don't know what I'm doing anymore. This isn't fun like it used to be. Why am I even doing this? That's a purpose crisis, and it hits hard when you're only chasing money with no mission. Purpose gives you emotional equity in your business. Emotional equity in your business. It fuels consistency. It magnetizes your audience and in 2025, where authenticity sells, people aren't just buying what you do, they're buying why you do it. Now, let's get savvy. You might be thinking that sounds cute, but I need cash flow. Here's the truth. Purpose is profitable and here's how it clarifies your messaging when you know what your, your content hits harder, people resonate with it, not just your product. It attracts the right clients and repels the wrong ones. Purpose acts like a filter. It knows you're aligned and your community is loyal and your community is loyal. It helps you pivot without panic, because markets change the analog shifts, but your why. It keeps you rooted through chaos. Let's take an example. Let's take an example, let's talk. Let's take one example A woman starting a soy candle business to help people with anxiety after losing her mother. That purpose anchored her when sales dipped. It gave her a mission. She started hosting healing through sense. She started a workshop and added affirmations to every product. Now her business isn't just surviving, it's leading a movement.
Speaker 1:So what if you're not sure what your purpose is? What if you're not sure what your purpose is? Here are three questions to ask yourself. What problem do I feel called to solve? Not just what's trending, but what matters to you. Number two what do I feel most connected to serving? Think about the people you've helped, even if you weren't getting paid. Number three what legacy do I want my brand to leave your business? Is your message to the world. What do you want to say? Understand your purpose evolves. What drives you today may shift, and that's okay.
Speaker 1:The key is to stay curious and to check in with yourself often I think I've said this before in other episodes what you started doing in the beginning, it will, over time, shift right, and when it shifts, this is your subconscious saying okay, what is the purpose? What are we doing this for? So it happens. Right, it's a real thing. If you've been in business for a couple of years, but you don't need a perfect mission statement, right, you need a clear heartbeat behind your hustle. Okay, you got to understand what you're doing, why you're doing it, right, um, now don't confuse purpose with vibes alone. You need strategy. Purpose gives you fuel. Purpose gives you direction. Together with those two, that's power, okay.
Speaker 1:So ask yourself is my business model aligned with my purpose? Are my offerings solving problems I care about? Is my content reflective of what I believe in? Your brand isn't just candles, coaching, digital products. It's a movement, and movements are built on meaning. Okay. So a business without purpose is just a job created for yourself, but a business with purpose. That's legacy, that's impact, that's also the absolute freedom.
Speaker 1:So this week I want you to do a little project. If you will grab a notebook and write and write, write down your why statement, then check does your website reflect this? Do your social posts reflect it? Does your audience feel it? If not, now's the time to realign, because when your purpose meets the right strategy, profit always follows. Okay, let me say that again your purpose meets the right strategy, profit always follow.
Speaker 1:I just wanted to touch on this, uh, real quick, uh, with this episode, because alignment and purpose they are, you know, connected, of course, and it's important, especially now, to really sit with't wake up with the burnout feeling all the time and that, and you know that's, that's great. But if you do start to feel these things always go back to the why, go back to the beginning of what fueled the fire in the first place, right in the first place, right, and sometimes, like I said, even I've done episodes in the past about even starting something as a hobby. Think about it like that, like that hobby. You was doing it without profit, you was doing it because that was you, it came from the love of that hobby and it turned into something that could generate that purpose driven thinking. Uh, again if you lose it. Um.
Speaker 1:So I wanted to touch on this because I I'm a true believer in uh, where I'm at right now in my business, uh, I, um, um, I understand my purpose in a lot of things that I do professionally and business-wise. So I just wanted to touch on this real quick and share it. So, if this episode hits home, share it with someone who's feeling lost in the grind, and if you would tag us on Instagram not just Candle Talk and let the world know you're building more than a business. You're building a purpose driven brand. And you heard it, you know you heard it from from, from, not just Candle Talk. So I just wanted to hit on it real quick and, until next time, keep the fire lit and never forget why you started. Thank you so much. Bye.