Young entrepreneur blazing trail with her own business

Sophie Fox O’Connor of Divine Blaze Candles was at Mullingar Arts Centre on Saturday for the ‘Mullingar Mindfulness’ fundraiser in support of the ‘A Lust for Life' charity.

Sophie’s stall selling the beautiful scented candles she makes was just one part of a busy event at the arts centre – going on in the various rooms throughout the building were workshops and sessions with a wellness theme.

There was dance, Pilates, yoga, art, music meditation, Qigong and sound healing, the ‘Kind Kids Club’, and much more.

Sophie, who is from the Killucan Rathwire area and is a student at St Joseph’s Secondary School in Rochfortbridge, told us a bit about her business.

She had completed an entrepreneur programme during transition year at school, and started candle making as a hobby. She later did a ‘start your own business’ course with the Westmeath Local Enterprise Office and set up Divine Blaze Candles.

Her entrepreneurial drive is strong, and she has put a lot of effort into ensuring the quality of her products is consistently high, and into generating sales.

Sophie plays soccer and GAA and starts sixth year at school this week. She would like to do a business course after school.

What does she envisage for Divine Blaze Candles?

“I just plan to just keep growing, do more markets, really just get my name out there. I did the Christmas market in December here at the WinterFest. I did really well in that, so I’ll be doing that again this year.

“I don’t pay myself at all – I put it back into the business, no, I don’t make anything at the moment because I just want to grow my business first until I generate more sales.”

Sophie thanked her parents Georgina and Paul for the support they’ve given her, and Siobhán Moore, head of dance at Mullingar Arts Centre, who organised the ‘Mullingar Mindfulness’ fundraiser.