She Turned Her Pandemic Hobby Into a Full-Time Business. Now Her Heritage-Inspired Candles Are Sold in Retailers Like Nordstrom and Barnes & Noble.

Melissa Gallardo, CEO and founder of Bonita Fierce Candles, was only eight months into her first full-time job when the pandemic hit in 2020. She found herself questioning her career choices.

“I quickly realized that I was too ambitious and impatient to move up the corporate ladder, and started thinking about side hustles,” she says. She found herself discovering a new hobby during the pandemic — candle making. As she dove into this new hobby, Gallardo also began to question what the idea of a home meant to her.

“The entire candle industry smells like pumpkin spice, lavender lemonade and crisp apple. The industry isn’t progressing or evolving, but most importantly, candle inclusion doesn’t exist. And I am on a mission to change that,” says Gallardo. “I realized Latinos don’t have scents and fragrances that accurately represent them in the home fragrance industry. I wanted to create candles that celebrate, honor and authentically represent niche Latino American experiences.”

She decided to quit her full-time role and go all in on leveraging her new hobby into building a business.

Today, Bonita Fierce is disrupting the home fragrance industry. The business grew 275% between 2022 and 2023. “In 2024, we are at an 80% month-over-month growth rate and we haven’t even reached peak season yet,” says Gallardo. The candles, featuring popular scents like Abuela’s Bakery, Spanish Moss and Coquito, can be found in retailers like Barnes & Noble, Nordstrom, Urban Outfitters and more.

As Gallardo continues to build her business dedicated to creating premium home fragrances inspired by Latin heritage, here’s the advice she offers to other founders.

Related: How to Turn Your Hobby Into a Successful Business

1. Embrace healthy debt

“As women of color, many of us have been taught to run away from credit card debt,” says Gallardo. “If you can’t afford it, you shouldn’t do it. Don’t touch the credit card. And I wanted to think about the ways in which I could finance the business differently.”

When Gallardo had a large Barnes & Noble purchase order come in, she knew it would be a game changer for the company — an opportunity to continue to scale into key retailers. “Two-thirds of all candles sold are in big retailers; I knew we would succeed in retailers after our Nordstrom launch. And some of the best business advice I received was to prepare and understand seasonality. We have our biggest months in Q3 and Q4 and need capital for inventory in Q2.”

Gallardo got a credit card with 0% APR for the first 12 months in January. She nearly maxed out by June as we began funding the Barnes & Noble purchase order. By embracing healthy debt, Gallardo says she was able to scale her business and service customers.

“Since I knew we would get paid within our 0% APR period, it was a no-brainer to leverage the credit card. And, I immediately paid off the bill when we did get paid. My hope is that more founders don’t shy away and embrace healthy debt.”

2. Invest in legal advice from the start

“I wish I had invested in legal advice sooner. First-time founders can underestimate how much you need to understand the legal implications in order to operate, make smarter decisions and eventually scale,” says Gallardo. “You need contracts and to be legally protected at all times.”

Gallardo encourages founders to invest in legal advice from the very start: how to start an LLC, acquiring trademarks, insurance, copyrights and more; including having a business attorney look over your website. She cautions founders not to cut corners, and realize that what they are creating is part of their own intellectual property.

“As I am building Bonita Fierce, I want to make sure that we’re legally protected on all fronts. I’ve seen other founder friends have to negotiate or settle regarding ADA compliance, trademarks on product names, copyrights on artwork, etc. If you don’t invest in legal advice from the start, you may end up paying for it 10x in the future. You never know what may come your way,” she says.

Related: She Launched Her Black-Owned Beauty Brand with $1,500 in Her Pockets — Now Her Products Are on Sephora’s Shelves.

3. Remember the power you have to shatter stereotypes

“Growing up, my parents attempted to protect me from racism in our community. And at the same time, I started to feel disconnected from my culture,” says Gallardo. “As a non-Spanish speaking brown Latina, I struggled to find my place in the community and in conversations, where I didn’t see myself reflected.”

Gallardo wants candles to do more than just light up rooms and fill them with amazing fragrances. As a founder, she knows she has the responsibility and power to shatter stereotypes and create a community for those who have felt excluded or left behind. She reminds us that “there’s a huge spectrum of Latindad with over 63+ million Latinos living in the U.S. from the recent immigrants to assimilated, multi-generational Latinos.”

“As I build Bonita Fierce, I am filling the gaps I have been feeling for much of my life. A simple candle does have the power to connect us and finally feel like we have found community and belong.”