Bear Burners, a handmade candle and wax melt shop in Jarrow, narrowly avoided liquidation in April 2023 when the business found success on TikTok.
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00:00 So we established in 2018 and we make handmade candles, handmade wax melts.
00:05 We're based in Jarrow in Beed Industrial Estate.
00:07 Yeah, so we just sent you home full of beautiful goodness.
00:11 Now we're topping plain sailing for you, but we'll go right back to the beginning.
00:15 Founded in 2018, talk me through why you founded the business.
00:19 So I was working full-time at the time and I'd just returned back from maternity leave
00:23 and candles and wax is something I've always been into.
00:26 And I was off on maternity leave, went back and I noticed there was two reasons.
00:31 We had a dog who was allergic to everything, like everything.
00:35 And also my little boy, I woke him up from a nap and he had a little bit of black up his nose.
00:40 And I was like, what on earth is that?
00:41 Obviously, making sure everything was fine.
00:43 I found out it's a by-product of certain candles you can use
00:47 because of the, like what comes off the flame.
00:50 So I did my research and at the same time I did, I always wanted to do candles.
00:55 I was at full-time, new mom, it didn't work.
00:57 So anyways, went back, I was at work and I came home one day and James was like,
01:01 "Rachel, do you still want to make candles?"
01:04 I was like, "Yes, but financially we can't do it."
01:07 Anyways, turned out that he had got a little startup loan
01:10 and bought me the basic that you kind of need, destroyed it all.
01:14 Like I had no idea what I was doing, but yes, that's kind of how it started.
01:20 And then I did it along my full-time job.
01:22 I pretty much worked full-time, came home and then I would pull all night.
01:26 I was doing bare burners and I've tracked the journey all the way through.
01:28 But yeah, that's pretty much where it started, on the kitchen bench.
01:32 - Starting on the kitchen bench, obviously you opened a shop in 2021.
01:36 - Yes.
01:36 - What was that like being able to see sort of, as you say,
01:39 something that you know, as you work, that you did alongside full-time work,
01:42 finally being able to run a shop in 2021, what was that like?
01:44 - It was crazy.
01:45 So I didn't actually, it wasn't a plan to have this as a shop.
01:49 So when I signed for this, it was going to be manufacturing.
01:53 I'm profoundly deaf, so it's a little bit uneasy for customers to come in,
01:57 but we took it on and at the same time, my spine was disintegrating.
02:01 So I actually needed a cage to put on my spine, but I'd signed for this place.
02:05 I was like, what are we going to do?
02:06 What are we going to do?
02:07 It didn't look like how it looks like today at all, but I was so proud.
02:12 I was like, this is my own shop.
02:13 Never, ever visioned, never planned for a shop.
02:16 It was something that kind of happened by chance, but felt amazing.
02:20 So yes, that was the plan in 2021.
02:23 And then obviously I had to go in for emergency spinal surgery.
02:27 And that was when James, so James is my husband,
02:29 we kind of decided we quite liked working together.
02:32 So he gave up his, very well-established career, as might I just add,
02:38 gave up that and came on board and he kind of seen it through
02:42 whilst I was recovering from surgery.
02:44 But yes.
02:45 And then obviously every sort of business goes through hitches.
02:49 And in 2023, obviously, the start of 2023,
02:51 so last year, you suddenly had to close your shop.
02:54 Yeah.
02:54 And I'm right in saying you were very much on the verge of having to liquidate the business.
02:58 So I'll be totally, totally transparent.
03:00 It actually, there was a couple of factors.
03:03 So the cost of living, I didn't realise the impact of how much it affected the business.
03:08 Obviously it was me and James at the time.
03:10 And I didn't realise how much it was affecting until I got my gas and electric bill.
03:14 And it had gone from £97 to £850 and it didn't come down.
03:18 It kept going up and I was like, what am I doing?
03:20 So this coupled with what should have been our busiest period wasn't there.
03:25 And then we noticed some damp in here.
03:28 And what was meant to be a week closure ended up being four months.
03:31 Now that was partially fighting for the business,
03:34 but partially we didn't have a shop open.
03:36 So we've got a gorgeous local community that come in and it was just gone
03:41 because we couldn't have the shop open.
03:42 Because what we did is all the walls were done and then the damp came back through.
03:47 So they had a border or it was, it was a nightmare.
03:51 And, but in April time I called my accountant and I was like,
03:54 because there's a limited business, you've got legal duties.
03:57 Called my, and I was like, it doesn't matter.
03:59 Passion is not going to save this anymore.
04:01 It doesn't matter.
04:02 Like I literally put everything into it.
04:03 So yeah, the accountant was due to come in on the day that I went on TikTok.
04:08 - And obviously that leads us on to setting up a TikTok account last April.
04:12 - Yeah. - April, 2023.
04:13 Tell us, obviously, it's obviously gone very well.
04:16 Just talk us through how the thought process behind it and how it's gone.
04:20 - I'm not going to sugarcoat it.
04:21 And I've actively said it.
04:23 I refused TikTok for years.
04:25 I was like, I am not cool enough.
04:27 I'm a 30 year old, 32 year old woman.
04:29 I was like, I haven't got a clue.
04:30 I can't dance.
04:31 You know, I'm part Terminator at this point.
04:34 I've got, you know, metal in my leg, metal in my back, metal in my head.
04:37 And I was like, I'll not fit in.
04:38 And there was a couple of business friends that were like,
04:40 "Rach, you really need to get on there."
04:42 And I was like, "It's not for me."
04:44 And there was a customer, a long-term customer, who was like,
04:46 "Rach, honestly, give it a try."
04:48 And I went on.
04:49 And I remember the day, it was April 27th.
04:51 And I did a live and I was pouring clam shells.
04:54 And I had seven viewers.
04:55 And I was like, "Oh!"
04:56 'Cause I thrive off interaction.
04:58 I thrive off speaking to people.
05:00 I love to engage.
05:01 I love to hear about them and vice versa.
05:03 And it just went bananas.
05:09 Absolutely bananas.
05:10 It's the only way I can explain it.
05:12 - I think I checked yesterday, it's like 18.8 thousand followers,
05:15 something like that.
05:16 - Yeah.
05:16 - Obviously the success of TikTok, you know,
05:18 you guys are obviously very busy because of that.
05:20 And obviously you get loads of TikTok orders
05:23 and queues out the door, obviously, for the actual physical shop as well.
05:25 Talk us through all of that.
05:28 I just thought, I imagine a total whirlwind for you guys.
05:31 - Honestly, I'm not gonna sugarcoat it, I'm pinching myself.
05:34 I'm honestly pinching myself because this is like a dream.
05:39 We've built up a community.
05:40 That's the foundation of it.
05:42 So when we launched the shop,
05:44 there was a two and a half hour queue to come in here.
05:46 People had traveled from Bristol.
05:47 People had traveled from Ireland, Scotland.
05:50 It's not being viral.
05:51 I've never went viral.
05:52 It's not a viral sensation.
05:53 It's making time and making people feel part of the community
05:56 and enabling someone to tune in and just being normal.
06:00 Pretty much what you see on camera is what you would get in the shop,
06:03 what you would get if you seen us outside.
06:04 There's also like other things we've done.
06:07 We work very close with Hearing Dogs for Deaf People,
06:09 with Me Being Deaf.
06:10 And as a business, we've nearly raised 9,000 pounds.
06:13 But within the TikTok community,
06:15 we're actively raising every single month.
06:17 And it's just, we've got a party booked for the end of April.
06:23 And we've got just purely to celebrate a year of Bear Burners,
06:28 the survival of Bear Burners, the revival almost.
06:31 But also to kind of bring those insane people together.
06:35 And there's people traveling from everywhere to come to Marsden Grotto
06:38 for fish and chips and a bit of a dance.
06:41 And honestly, I'm so, so excited.
06:43 Obviously, you mentioned that it's fostered a great community of customers,
06:47 but you've also been able to grow a community of staff as well.
06:48 You've been able to grow your team out, obviously based on the success.
06:51 How does that make you feel?
06:52 So I was trying to put this into words.
06:55 I can't put it into words as in it's just insane.
06:59 So it's been me and James, me and James for a long time,
07:01 where we work seven days a week.
07:03 We will continue it in seven days a week.
07:05 But we have recently just, I think we're up to seven now.
07:08 And that's some part time.
07:10 And I've officially taken on what I would say is like real responsibility
07:14 in the way that these are big hours for talking.
07:17 And the dynamics that they bring,
07:19 the fact that I can take people out of jobs
07:22 that they might not necessarily been enjoying,
07:23 or also let them flourish with their abilities.
07:28 It's surreal.
07:29 That's the only way I can say it is surreal.
07:31 Like every night I'm like, what is going on?
07:34 (laughs)
07:35 Obviously, you mentioned it is surreal.
07:36 Obviously, where you guys were,
07:38 suppose obviously this time last year,
07:39 and then towards obviously,
07:40 you probably should say the cost of living crisis still going on.
07:42 And obviously it's a very difficult time for everybody.
07:44 And as a thriving business now,
07:46 where do you guys see yourself taking bare burners
07:49 in the next maybe year, five years, 10 years?
07:51 Where do you see it going?
07:52 Do you know what?
07:53 This is something that James keeps telling us that I need to do.
07:55 He's like, forecast, Rachel, forecast.
07:57 And I'm like, what's forecasting?
08:01 Staff.
08:01 I would love more staff.
08:02 Obviously this is our premises,
08:06 but there is only so much we can do with this size premises.
08:08 So I think if this continues,
08:10 we may outgrow where we are.
08:12 We are pushing with it.
08:13 We're changing the workshop around
08:14 because I love it here.
08:15 And I finally got my shop exactly how I love it.
08:18 But yeah, a couple more staff.
08:20 We have taken on some really exciting projects.
08:22 So we work with Lillidore Annec,
08:24 and we work with Durham Cathedral.
08:26 We've now been included to do an embargo project
08:31 for a really exciting project.
08:33 So maybe some more projects in that way.
08:36 I don't see us as a wholesale business
08:37 in the way that I would maybe see in John Lewis
08:39 and stuff like that,
08:40 because I kind of want to make my own waves
08:42 as in it's bespoke to bare burners.
08:44 So yeah, that's kind of the plan.
08:47 It's obviously been, you know, what, six years in business,
08:50 almost six years in business now.
08:52 What's been your favorite moment?
08:53 So you're going to say, this is going to sound ridiculous.
08:56 We went on TikTok and May last year,
09:00 there is a lady called Rebecca.
09:03 She was a Kickstarter manager at the time.
09:06 And I completely lost myself.
09:07 So anyone around me at the time would tell you
09:10 that I was just totally,
09:11 I would probably go on Virgin,
09:13 like completely in myself, anxious, depressed.
09:18 And Rebecca rang from TikTok and was like,
09:20 "Wow, who are you guys?
09:22 "Where have you came from?
09:23 "You've got 700 followers
09:25 "and you are the fastest growing merchant on TikTok."
09:27 And I was like, "What?"
09:29 She was like, "How are you doing it?"
09:30 And I was like, "I don't know.
09:31 "I don't have a strategy.
09:32 "I don't have plans.
09:32 "I'm just me."
09:34 And from then on, the opportunities we've now had,
09:37 because one person believed in bare burners,
09:39 has to be my favorite moment,
09:41 because that is what pivoted the business on its head.
09:43 I truly believe that.
09:44 You're going to think it probably sounds cheesy,
09:46 but that is definitely what pivoted the business on its head.
09:49 - Anything else you'd like to add?
09:50 - No, just that we made the best candles in Waxmelson.
09:54 Please come along.
09:54 (laughing)