Link Princess

Mei Xu will now be speaking here at Ladies Who Launch. She is the founder and creator of Chesapeake Bay Candle and Blissliving Home.

Chesapeake Bay Candle is something that I’ve heard of (I heart their candles) but Blissliving Home is new to me. Their mission, as stated on their Web site, is:

“It started with a quest for bed linens that combined sublime comfort with modern, tasteful design. After searching the world, we realized that we must make our own dream come true — and if we desired it, others did too. And so was born Blissliving Home.

Already dressing many a bed in Asia, our exclusive sheets, shams and covers are only now available in the United States. Each piece is crafted of fine cotton from the Orient, sumptuous silk from India and China or beautiful cotton jacquard from Italy.

Imagine easing into slumber in silken sheets, or opening your eyes to refreshing graphic patterns. Along with bedding to please your senses, we offer fragrant candles and other accents that bring to your bedroom the colors, textures and influences of exotic destinations. We invite you to discover all you need to create your sanctuary where you can rest and recharge, with stylish, simple solutions from Blissliving Home.”

Wow! I’m in! Where do I sign up??

 Mei Xu (pronouned May She) joins us with an amazing story. She came to America not even knowing the language and now has a billion dollar company.  She loves Ladies Who Launch (at this point, who doesn’t?) and she believes that business is a journey and it can take you absolutely anywhere.

Mei was trained as a diplomat in China at the age of 12.  She was able to learn the language and pick up on the culture very easily. She came to America for a graduate degree in journalism and was unhappy in her job (that has never happened to me. Okay, you caught me. But I’m not there now). She took the risk to launch her own business.

She lived in NY and her husband lived in Maryland. She had ample opportunity to shop. I’m jealous. She says she is a shopaholic even though she was raised in a communist country. I’m cracking up as I type this.

She realized that something was happening in the home decor industry in the early 90s. There was a disparity between home decor and fashion. Her husband gave her the suggestion to start the business in 1994 and they both quit their jobs to start the business (yikes). If you look at the difference between 1994 and now, lots of businesses are now in this space.

Being a world traveller, Mei was able to identify trends in other countries that helped her with the concept behind her business. She used her friends as her focus group (there was no Ladies Who Launch back then).  She loved what she did and she had very high standards. She talks about how she bounced product ideas back and forth until she found her bliss in candles.

Big piece of her advice: start with the niche and grow from there. Don’t start with the big idea. She went to a gift show in an 8×10 show space and picked up $90,000 worth of orders. Wow.

She did it all herself in the beginning including running to UPS to ship those orders. She talks about growing and finding vendors. Vendors are as important as your customers. She looked for ways to finance her business, build a sound business plan, and become a reliable business. She is now manufacturing internationally.

She discovered that many people were buying the candles as a decor item, but not burning them. So she came up with fragances to encourage her customers to actually use her candles. She learned how to create her own fragances. She says she started the business in her basement. She also says basements are precious. She experimented with colors and fragrances. Some of her designs were mistakes. You have to love oops moments.

Her next tip is even if you are starting small, expect and envision yourself at the big events. Attend the biggest events as a buyer and explore what other companies are doing. Draw inspiration from what is around you and at the premiere events in your industry.

All of Mei’s candles were hand poured and they were original pieces of art. She also says that the US is the only country in the world where so many people are open to new ideas. Not just small businesses, but large corporations as well.

Mei is phenomenal. I love the candles and I love the concept on the whole!