From Trauma to Triumph: How Itumeleng Sekhu Is Building a Healing Candle Business Posted on March 23, 2026March 20, 2026 By Kekeletso Nkele, small.news Assistant (small.news) — On Mar. 16, 2026, Itumeleng Sekhu, Founder of ISCandlesSA, joined our small.talk to discuss building a small business rooted in hope, healing, and wellness. Itumeleng spoke with Silver Lining Founder and CEO Carissa Reiniger about how, after surviving a traumatic childhood accident, she found peace in candle-making and transformed it into a growing brand. Q: Tell us about your small business first. A: So I started a candle business. When I started it, it wasn’t really a business idea for me. It was just something that I wanted to do because I wanted to face my phobia. So I started making a candle, researching about it, and learning how to make them. And obviously, for the first couple of years, it was like a trial and a lot of error. A lot of my people on Facebook would always say, “Please sell these candles to us.”And that’s when I started taking it as a business, and I started doing more and learning more about the power of scents and how scents can heal, and how scents have healed me, because I had to know why I was finding so much peace from making them. I want to bring so much healing to people’s homes. And I always say, “I’m bringing hope, healing, and wellness.” One candle at a time. Top Stories Jessica Chen on the Creative Economy, Disappearing Arts Funding, and Why Artists Are Small Business Owners On September 23, 2026, Jessica Chen, a dancer, choreographer, and artistic director who runs the nonprofit dance company J Chen Project, joined our small.talk to make the case that artists are small business owners too, and that when creative work thrives, the surrounding community thrives with it. How Small Business Owners Are Actually Using AI to Market Smarter Aishah Coleman, an architecture and interior design business owner, taught an audience through the tools and habits that have reshaped how she runs her marketing — no technical background required. Indonesia’s Cosmetics Exports Rise 13.7% as Government Ramps Up SME Support and Tightens Regulatory Oversight Indonesia’s cosmetics exports reached $473.8 million in 2025, a 13.7% increase from $416.8 million the previous year , as the country’s Ministry of Industry moves to strengthen support for the small businesses that dominate the sector and help them compete in international markets, according to Personal Care Insights. Q: What’s the story that got you to the place where you needed to use this business? A: I actually got burned by a candle when I was 11 months old. I was sleeping on the bed, and the candle fell over. It was one of those long candles, and they fell over the bed. I was wearing a pink and white dress that day, with a fleece on top of me, and the candle just fell, and I just started burning. My mom and her brothers were in the very next room, and they started smelling smoke. By the time my mom found me on the bed, she had picked me up from the bed, and my right hand literally stayed behind. I was then rushed to the hospital. And on my left hand, there was a white glove, and literally every day, a finger would drop into that glove until I was only left with one thumb. Yeah, grew up, had low self-esteem, and tried to commit suicide three times. I went through so much emotional turmoil. I call it internal scars, which every single person actually has, because we all have a story to tell. With my internal scars, I had to learn how to get to a point of healing that came through my spiritual journey with God. But throughout that entire journey, I had to learn how to heal from the trauma of being burned from a scar, but also just learning to appreciate and love myself for who I am. And that was the first step where I realized that God loves me. Q: What do you do to keep this incredible mindset? A: Honestly, what keeps me going is where I want to see the business. What wakes me up every single morning is the dreams I have for the business. The dream is for us to have our own store. From there, I want us to franchise it around South Africa. Our ultimate goal is to franchise it worldwide. That is what keeps me waking up every single morning. Q: If you were talking to another small business owner who was just feeling like they were worn out, what advice would you give them? A: I’m now coming from a motivational speaker point of view. And there’s a quote I love by Lao Tzu: “Mastering others is called strength, but mastering yourself is called true power.” And I think another thing as well, that people fall in love with in terms of business, they fall in love with you more than they fall in love with your product. So it’s you first, and then it’s your product. I mean, there was a guy that I met, I think a couple of months ago, maybe two months ago. And he asked me, how much is your candle? And I said, ” It’s 3.99. And he said, only?” And I was like, yeah. And he said, for who you are and for your story, I would pay thousands more. Q: What sort of concerns do you have the most in this moment for small business owners? A: The one thing that really concerns me is the recession. And I feel like the recession has been going on, but nobody has been talking about it. So that is what I am afraid of, especially with other businesses. And I’m not excluding myself from the equation, but I do know, and I can see even in our business, that there is a significant recession in terms of purchases like that. I would, however, go back again to say, keep it authentic, keep telling people your story, let people fall in love with you. Q: What’s the opportunity for small businesses? A: Our biggest leverage at the moment is market visibility. We do have the privilege of being on social media. Let’s utilize it to the maximum. So we were actually saying that the fewer markets we do, the more online sales we can make. Because when people know that they can find us online, they can buy online. Q: If you could wave a Magic Silver Wand and you could make one thing true for every single small business owner in the world right now, what would you use your silver wand for? A: I would use my silver wand for our businesses to be known globally, because if your business is known globally, it goes back online, and then you’re able to focus online. You can work on your product. You can just send your products through. You’re able to just service people and also have that one-on-one. Like, people don’t ever lose that. I feel like that is such a powerful tool that big businesses really hunger for, and they can never get, you know what I mean? But it’s such a beautiful thing that we should never ever lose that one-on-one with people, that relationship. Therefore, stores are still very, very important. We should never leave those. Q: Tell us how we can rally around your business. A: I need a lot of things. Funding is part of it. That’s real. Market visibility. Just getting my brand and my story out there so that when we give people products, they can get the hope, healing, and wellness my candles provide. My website for the candles is iscandlessa.com. The Facebook page is iscandlessa, and the Instagram page is iscandlessa as well. Please just follow us, DM us, or order online. Do you want to shop small? Check out our new buy.small Marketplace! Latest Stories
Jessica Chen on the Creative Economy, Disappearing Arts Funding, and Why Artists Are Small Business Owners On September 23, 2026, Jessica Chen, a dancer, choreographer, and artistic director who runs the nonprofit dance company J Chen Project, joined our small.talk to make the case that artists are small business owners too, and that when creative work thrives, the surrounding community thrives with it.
How Small Business Owners Are Actually Using AI to Market Smarter Aishah Coleman, an architecture and interior design business owner, taught an audience through the tools and habits that have reshaped how she runs her marketing — no technical background required.
Indonesia’s Cosmetics Exports Rise 13.7% as Government Ramps Up SME Support and Tightens Regulatory Oversight Indonesia’s cosmetics exports reached $473.8 million in 2025, a 13.7% increase from $416.8 million the previous year , as the country’s Ministry of Industry moves to strengthen support for the small businesses that dominate the sector and help them compete in international markets, according to Personal Care Insights.