Jennifer Wiechmann of Reminiscents by Jennifer
(Sioux Falls, SD)

Jennifer Wiechmann loves being creative. She has always loved to toil away making crafts for herself and for friends as gifts. Then a few years ago she decided to try her hand at making candles. Not only did she enjoy doing it, but her friends loved them as well and asked her if they could buy the candles. Jennifer sensed an opportunity for a business and Reminiscents by Jennifer was born.

That was in December 2005. Jennifer had a clear vision for her company. She wanted to create unique handcrafted candles that could not be found anywhere else. She didn’t want to become a mass producer of candles that you might find in a big department store. So her candles are different, with such fun names as Happy Hour, Road Trip, First Kiss and Rainy Days, each with a special scent designed to evoke fun memories as people reminisce about happy times in their past.

While her company has grown over the last three and a half years, it remains a part time business for Jennifer and she is happy to keep it that way. She wants to keep her candles unique and special, something that you can only find at local art shows and specialty boutiques. She works in an insurance office four days a week, with the candle making providing her with a creative outlet and, of course, some additional income.

I made the comment to Jennifer that for a part time business she had some beautifully designed labels. The credit for these goes to her husband, Scott, who works as an associate Creative Director at a local advertising agency. He produced the designs for all the labels, as well as the photography and design of the website www.ReminiscentsByJennifer.com. This gives Jennifer a huge advantage against other part time businesses that could not afford to spend the money to have their labels professionally designed.

With such beautiful designs, Jennifer decided right off the bat that she wanted to have her labels professionally printed rather than printing them herself at home. After reviewing our sample pack with the different label material options available, she decided on the Estate #9 material for all of her candle labels. This is a cream colored textured material that is popular in the wine industry because it gives an “old world” feel to products. In her words, Jennifer is “in love with the Estate #9 material.”

We are proud to be the only label supplier that Jennifer has used since starting her company back in 2005. When I asked her what she likes most about Lightning Labels she said the fast delivery times. She said we always seem to exceed her expectations and get the labels out the door fast. She also loves the service she gets as well as the quality of the printing.

While Jennifer has no plans for Reminiscents by Jennifer to become a full time business any time soon, she still wants to grow. She is focusing on selling more of her candles locally in South Dakota and is doing a marketing campaign soon targeting all the small boutique and gift shops in the region. Whatever happens you get the feeling Jennifer is thoroughly enjoying the ride of being a creative entrepreneur.

(Peter Renton)