At her “Wicks End” Whyalla’s Kylie Hughes started a side-hustle, a decade later she’s burning a candle to celebrate
Behind every small business, there’s a unique story, and the Harvesting Hope SA campaign is about showcasing country creators, their products and their own individual journeys. Whyalla’s Kylie Hughes’ appropriately named small business “Wicks End Candles” is about more than the delicious smelling candle range she’s been pouring in the back shed for a decade.
The mum of two was forced to think ‘outside the box’ when she was diagnosed with the brain disorder, Intra Cranial Hypertension. The 400 kilometre round-trips between Whyalla and Adelaide for treatment and specialist appointments were costly. Suffering from debilitating headaches and deteriorating eyesight, it was a “no brainer” (pardon the pun) that medical intervention was essential. And where there’s a will there’s a way!
Kylie began making scented candles from home and selling them to family and friends. She transformed her husband Kev’s shed into a sweet smelling candle-making factory, and now 10 years later, she has her very own range of soy based candles and wax melts in over 100 different fragrances.
A side-hustle on top of her full-time job at Whyalla Post Office, where she’s a familiar face to locals, Kylie had to think outside the box again during the Covid pandemic. Knowing plenty of other businesses in the region would be feeling the pinch as well with no markets to attend, she came up with a brilliant concept to keep makers and creators in business.
With a similar model to a garage sale trail, Whyalla Stall Crawl was born! In 2021 the innovative “progressive market”, where shoppers follow a map from house to house to check out everything from locally made clothing, pet treats, baked goods and jewellery, was awarded Whyalla’s Community Event of The Year.
Her health condition has forced her to take a year off from the Stall Crawl. She’s recently undergone a second brain surgery, but Kylie hopes to get it back up and running next year.
In the meantime, the Hughes family, who say they’ve received wonderful support from locals, are busy preparing to celebrate 10 years in business for “Wicks End Candles”. On November 30, the shed doors will open up to the public, with 20 per cent off “shed wide”, free cupcakes and cookies, and the official release of the Christmas range of gingerbread and candy cane scented candles and wax melts.
