Hyues

By Meghan Javier, Staff Writer | February 7, 2023

Photo Courtesy of Instagram

During quarantine many high schooler students at Carson High had to find ways to pass the time other than going out with friends. Our Vice President, senior Hesha Jaranilla, was one of the students who found a hobby that turned out to be a money maker and a huge success.

Her small business “hyues” was created during the heart of quarantine. She sells an assortment of candles topped with crystals as well as jewelry. She also incorporates seasons and holidays during the peak time of the year and releases new lines and products regularly.

Her most recent incorporation of the holidays was items created for Valentine’s Day. She released crystal love boxes that were in heart shaped containers similar to those that contain chocolate. But of course, she added her own little twist and included an assortment of crystals instead of chocolates.

“I came up with my small business in 2020 during the pandemic. I was really bored, and I was really into collecting crystals at the time,” said Jaranilla.

While exploring, she found candles that were topped with crystals and was astonished at how expensive they were. She then figured that she should just make them herself but for half the price, bringing the beauty of candles and crystals to a wider audience.

She explained that at first, she just made them for herself. She would post the finished product on her Instagram story. She got many direct messages from her friends complimenting her creations and many said that they would be very interested in buying what she made. This sparked the idea of the small business we now know as hyues.

“It first just became an Instagram small business, where people would DM me to order, and I really enjoyed the idea of it being sustainable,” said Jaranilla.

Jaranilla had humble beginnings as a small business owner. She explained that before becoming professional, with an actual website and candle containers, she first started off by going to the thrift store and buying used glassware. She repurposed them and used them as candle containers.

During this time, her biggest supporters were her family and community. Her mom gave her some financial freedom, and her father drove her everywhere. From thrift stores to the post office and to customer locations, he helped get her to place in order for her to succeed.

As her small business advanced, she was able to find a website that allowed her to wholesale professional candle tins. She was really excited about this idea because the tins would display her custom logo. The upgrade is what excited her as she felt her ideas come to life.

“My biggest achievement was definitely opening my own website and seeing where everyone else in the world was trying to order my stuff. That was like the best feeling,” said Jaranilla.

Seeing her small business shift from local to global was exciting for her. Though everything seemed to be going well, owning a small business came with its challenges.

Jaranilla explained, “I was doing everything by myself. Advertising, customer service, shipping, creating the product, the financials, everything! I was doing it myself.”

It was difficult because she loved what she did and where her business was going, but she had so many other responsibilities. Time management played a big part in her success because aside from her business, she needed to go to school and wanted to maintain a social life.

Furthermore, when school became in person again, it made it even harder for her to keep up. Ultimately, her business slowly declined because a lot of her attention and effort went into college apps and school.

“Because it started off as a small project, I never found a reason for it to be a full-time thing so that’s definitely something I regret,” Jaranilla explained. “Not committing to it and not pushing through with the business because it definitely had a lot of potential.”

Jaranilla said that she simply shifted back to “normal life.”

Though her business has been put on a temporary pause, she definitely plans to commit later on in life especially during the holiday season because that’s when she made the most sales.

What about others who would want to start their own business?

“Be very organized and to just go for it!” Jaranilla said.

The importance of marketing, in terms of selling the right products at the right time and finding the right people to talk too, is essential according to Jaranilla.