Colorado artisan gives with Handmade at Amazon

After eight years of event planning for an education nonprofit, Sejal Parag was feeling unfulfilled. She was surrounded by teachers who were making enormous impacts on their students. She wanted to get out from behind the desk and create her own dream job.

While shopping for candles, Sejal noticed that nothing inexpensive had a lasting scent, and the alternative was too pricey. She decided to create affordable candles that have a lasting fragrance, as well as a positive initiative behind them.

So she started slowly – researching, making mistakes, asking questions, asking more questions. After spending hours upon hours and then days and weeks crafting candle formulas, researching packaging and learning the handmade lingo, Sejal created KarmaLit.

The soy candles are made from ingredients harvested ethically by American farmers, making them completely renewable and sustainable. With each purchase, KarmaLit donates a percentage of sales to fund classroom supplies so teachers do not have to pay out-of-pocket for their own materials and can instead focus on educating and inspiring students.  

In 2015, KarmaLit joined Handmade at Amazon, and has since seen a wide range of shoppers purchase candles.

“By selling on Handmade at Amazon, we’ve drawn in quite a variety of customers. Some are familiar with the craft industry and others are the standard Amazon shopper perusing the site,” said Sejal. “I’ll never forget what it felt like to see an email come to my inbox that read ‘You’ve made a sale!’” 

Since joining Handmade, Sejal has sold to customers across the country, and even Puerto Rico. “The holidays are one of our busiest times as that’s when most people purchase candles. We also typically see an increase in custom party favor orders around wedding season,” Sejal said.

KarmaLit’s scents are meant to remind customers of their favorite childhood memory or something that brings them comfort such as a favorite hoodie, the first snow fall or a cozy night.

“We’re inspired by our customers, and they often come back to us saying that a candle scent reminds them of their old house or mother’s perfume,” Sejal said. “It’s wonderful that we play a role in people’s memories and how they craft them.