Candles and connection: Childhood crafting sparks fulfilling side business

FRANKLIN LIVING SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2024

STORY BY MARÍA CAMP

PHOTOS BY DAN BUSEY

After 25 years working as a teacher and administrator, Robynn Bragwell became the child nutrition program director for Franklin County Schools in 2017. She’s now in her 32nd year working in education, and it’s a career she loves. Like many people these days, though, she also thrives in a side venture that brings a little extra light to her life – as well as the lives of her customers.

Bragwell said although she loves her work in her primary profession, she also enjoys keeping busy with Oak & Sun Candle Co., which she formed in November 2023. While the business is less than a year old, the inspiration goes back to her youth. When she was a little girl in the ’60s, Bragwell would visit her grandmother’s house in Mississippi, where she learned the foundational skills that got her started in candle-making.

“We always had something to do,” Bragwell explained. “She had 30-something of us grandkids, and there was always something to do. Playing outside and climbing trees was a big part of that, but we also did crafts.”

Bragwell said her grandmother was a retired schoolteacher and always had paper and crayons and other such things on hand – including paraffin wax to seal jellies and other things. “She would get her paraffin wax out and take old milk cartons and other paper cartons, and we would pour candles.” Her grandmother would let her have broken crayons to melt for the candle-making process, too. “It’s just a really good childhood memory,” she added. “I’ve always known how to make candles.”

Bragwell started pouring candles in adulthood as something “to do for fun,” and when she offered some of the products to friends and family, the ensuing demand turned what had been a hobby into something more. It doesn’t stop at candles, either; she has added other products over time, as requests have come her way.

For Bragwell, it’s not just about the business side of the venture but also about the connection with people. “I love doing festivals because I meet so many people, and it’s just fun to connect,” explained Bragwell, who recently set up at the Franklin County Watermelon Festival. “All of my products have a Bible scripture on them, and they’re not always the same, but they’re all favorites of mine.” She said at some point in her life each of them has been very important to her.

Bragwell uses organic soy wax for her candles. Her product line also includes a magnesium cream and spray, eczema relief cream, beard butter, a lip line eraser, nighttime face cream, linen/pillow spray, car diffusers and wax melts. She doesn’t use any chemicals in her products.

“One of the most important things I do is magnesium cream and spray because that really has benefits if you use it for sore muscles and aches and pains,” Bragwell explained. She also makes a skin balm for pets that’s also meant for pads and noses, and she has started making a liquid laundry detergent scent booster.

In her free time, Bragwell enjoys traveling, reading and spending time with family and friends. She and her husband, Roger, live in Belgreen, and together they boast “three beautiful children and an adorable granddaughter.” They have a cattle operation, too, as well as four dogs and a number of barn cats.

“I think the key to all of this is I’m a firm believer that God puts us where he wants us,” Bragwell explained, “and when he needs us to be there. That’s all I attribute it to – the Lord gave it to me.”

She has her products in some local stores, including Farmhouse Table Cafe in Russellville, GiGi’s Unique Finds in Phil Campbell and Studio 23 in Florence. She also markets them at festivals, with plans to be at Red Bay Founders Day Sept. 28 and Spruce Pine Day Oct. 19.

For more information, contact Bragwell by phone at 256-810-4875, by email at oakandsunathome@gmail.com or on Facebook at Oak and Sun Candle Co., LLC.