Submitted photo Karrington Bostic stands inside her workshop where she makes candles and fragrances as part of her business, Karrington’s Place.

HUBBARD — Even as a child, Karrington Bostic knew she was going to have her own business.

“Karrington’s Place originated when I was a kid. I would turn my bedroom into a store and my family treated it as such. My mom made me business cards,” Bostic said.

Growing up in New Castle, Pa., she had examples of entrepreneurship close to home.

“My grandparents had a bar in New Castle called Gables for years. My mom had a thrift store / consignment shop, also in New Castle. So, entrepreneurship and small businesses run in the family,” Bostic said.

Her mom and grandma also were examples for her that women can be business owners.

“My grandmother did a lot of the back-end work at the bar. After my grandpa died, she kept it going as long as she could. Women, we hold just as much weight in business as men. We do it well,” she said.

After graduating from New Castle High School in 2013, Bostic crossed the border and enrolled at Youngstown State University as a fashion merchandising and business major. She graduated in 2017.

“I always knew I would have my own business. I held on to the idea (since I was young) and I felt it was the Lord’s providence even back then,” Bostic said.

When choosing a name for current endeavor, it was mom to the rescue.

“After graduation, I was thinking about businesses and names, and my mom said, ‘Duh. Karrington’s Place.'”

She appreciates her family’s support.

“My mom planted the seeds of the business and my dad was in sales years ago. This is his expertise,” she said.

Last month at the first Christmas in the Park in Girard, both of Bostic’s parents were there to help with anything that she needed as a vendor. She sells candles and fragrances.

“We won’t have our parents forever. I really want to cherish the time. When I look back on this, when I lose my dad or my mom, I can say they were here to help. They helped Karrington’s Place thrive. It was something that is supposed to be passed down for generations, that we are operating as a family,” she said.

After college graduation, she began her entrepreneurial dream.

“I started Karrington’s Place in 2018. I was selling stationery, notebooks, pens, all the stationary things,” she said.

When COVID-19 happened, it coincided with Bostic wanting to expand her focus from stationery items to other products.

“I think it was the prompting of the Lord because I don’t think I would have thought of making candles on my own,” she said.

Her first candle fragrance recalls a popular bakery item.

“Being shut down, I made a small batch of banana nut bread candles. I thought ‘I will see how it goes.’ I made over $1,000 with the first batch on launch day,” Bostic said.

That success led to expanding her 100% soy candle scents, as well as adding more products such as room sprays and wax melts. Banana nut bread candles remain a top seller.

By 2019, she was able to make Karrington’s Place into a full-time job.

“I was working at Dunkin at the time as an in-between job while I was figuring out what to do. I ended up quitting Dunkin a couple of weeks later and I have been doing this full time since 2019,” she said.

Although she creates her fragrances at her home — first in her kitchen and then in her basement workshop — Bostic thinks there is a possibility of that changing someday.

“I think if it is the Lord’s will that I have a brick and mortar store, then it will be Karrington’s Place,” she said.

The packaging of her products is very important to Bostic, especially with her university major.

“I came up with the packaging. I am a woman who wears many hats for my business. I used the skills I learned in college. When I thought of the branding, I wanted it to feel like me. If I had a brick and mortar, what would I want Karrington’s Place to feel like? I feel that the branding and the coloring is a true example of what Karrington’s Place is and who I am. I want to feel upscale. If you are paying $20 of your hard-earned money for a candle, I want you to feel that it is worth it,” she said.

In the short time that Bostic has been in business, she has still found a way to give back to the community and encourage the next generation of entrepreneurs.

“In 2021, at Chaney High School, it was a program called Schoolyard Rap. Each child made their own candle. We discussed mental health and how it is really important, especially in urban communities, to be confident in what you are doing and to chase your dreams no matter what and no matter how young you are. There is opportunity here for each and every one of us,” Bostic said.

She has come a long way in just a few years of operation since the little girl setting up a store in her bedroom. The future is bright because of her passion for her products, entrepreneurial spirit and her belief in the Lord’s guidance that can take Karrington’s Place beyond online sales, nail salons and other businesses now carrying her items.