ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — There aren’t many jobs that can help capture a moment in time or a memory quite like Samantha Cipriani’s.

What You Need To Know

  • Like many companies, Nightshift Wax Co. has had to make adjustments because of supply chain issues and inflation

  • The company, which has a brick-and-mortar shop in St. Pete, has candles in 500 stores globally

  • In her shop, the owner, Samantha Cirpriani, sells her products along with products created by people who are LGBTQ+ and people of color

  • To visit Nightshift Wax Co.'s website, click here. To see upcoming events at Cirpriani's shop, click here

“It will remind them of their grandfather or they will smell one of our candles and it will immediately transport them back to a fun memory with their mother,” Cipriani said in reference to the candles she makes with her business, Nightshift Wax Co. “That’s one of the coolest things to me about fragrance and scent to me is that it’s one of our biggest emotional sensors or triggers in our brain.”

Cipriani has a degree in perfumery. Using soy wax that’s 100% vegan, she’s gone from making candles out of her condo in 2018 to being featured in magazines, like Vogue and GQ.

She has gained so much popularity that Nightshift Wax Co. candles are now sold in 500 stores globally.

“With everybody staying at home, everybody wanted to treat themselves to more self-care items,” Cipriani said.

Things were going so well for her that in September, she opened up her own shop in St. Petersburg.

Despite the rise in sales, inflation and supply chain issues have been taking a toll.

“We’ve had issues with securing wax at a rate which is profitable,” Cipriani said.

Because her wax is soy, which has been impacted by the climate among other things, the prices for containers of it have more than doubled.

“We used to spend $70 for a case of wax — right now, that same case of wax is $190,” Cipriani said.

The people who grow the soy used in her wax were only able to produce about 70 percent of the crop.

“It really made an effect on how we were running and operating,” said Cipriani.

But Cipriani is an entrepreneur through and through, so even with these hurdles, she’s finding ways to make it work.

For example, she’s now considering using coconut materials which are still natural and vegan, but could lower the cost.

While inflation continues to burn up some profits, she’s determined to keep this space going.

She not only sells her own products but also others created by LGBTQ+, people of color or female-owned businesses.

“My intention with the store is to really create a safe space and a community with our shop,” she said.

That’s her ultimate goal: to keep Nightshift Wax Co. growing so more memories can be created, whether it’s through her candles or her shop.

Nightshift Wax Co. is located in St. Petersburg at 3034 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. St. N. To look at their items or upcoming events, visit their website.