No matter whether you are making a romantic dinner for your husband, or your best friend is graduating from the Faculty, or even your sister is giving birth, a candle is a perfect gift that you can personalise, embellish, or pair with other gifts to make someone feel happy and special.
Believing that candles are not only for lighting, a 31 years old Egyptian woman, Aya Maklad founded her brand “Yoby’s,” in Cairo, which is a project for handmade home accessories, organic candles (Pure Beeswax Candles), and paraffin wax Candles.
Maklad manages to bring together both brilliant aesthetics and personalised, sentimental value to any would-be candle enthusiast.
Yoby’s owner is a graduate of the Faculty of Commerce in 2009 before working as an accountant for a year. After toiling away behind a desk, she decided to focus on her passion and love for candles. She was soon able to start her own small business, Yoby’s Candles.
She started telling her story to DNE, narrating her journey with Yoby’s by how she’s loved candles since she was a little girl and even now still enjoys buying them. However, there was something missing from them. She’s never found a truly artistic candle or a candle that touches her.
“After my resignation from work, I searched and learned a lot about how to make designs on the candles, the challenge was that everyone in my family is an engineer or a doctor, meaning they have no information on the industry, so it was my passion and drive that pushed me to reach my goals. I took various online courses to make the best deigns. I also took a marketing course in order to know how to market my brand,” she said.
“ I started on my brand in 2012, at first I used to make Gel candles, after that I found that Gel candles contain a substance that is also used in manufacturing ceramics and is a Carcinogen, so I decided to replace it with organic candles to be safer in addition to the Paraffin wax Candles line. Then, in May 2018, I added a line also for home accessories,” she recalled.
She explained that organic wax burns with almost no smoke or scent and is cleaner for the air by releasing negative ions. Beeswax candles are often also helpful for those with asthma or allergies and are effective for removing common allergens like dust and dander from the air.
After starting the project, Maklad used to take the customer’s feedback, and ask them how the candle was after burning it. She found that their responses were the most surprising thing; customers would find the candle so beautiful that they didn’t want to light it all! They wanted to keep the original designs.
“From this feedback, I decided to go from making the actual candles into making the actual frames that can hold shape for years. I designed the frames in their preferred shape for their own personal home décor. Meanwhile, if the customer wanted to see the frame lit, all they need to do is put a tealight inside and enjoy,” she said with a glint in her eyes.
Maklad said with a romantic voice that she’d always believed that a candle is not only a lighting tool, but a home decor tool, too. She believes that every candle has its own story, and that every piece in a home speaks about the soul.
She explained that her inspiration comes from situations in her everyday life or sometimes even from the stories she listens to when doing consultations. Lately, she says, she’s been finding inspiration from the pharaonic era.
She said with a glint in her eyes with passion in her voices, she tells us that what always distinguishes her candles from any other artist is her candles’ custom uniqueness.
Maklad pointed out that the competitive advantage for Yoby`s candles is the unique design and the reasonable price.
Concerning Yoby`s marketing, she pointed out that she promotes her products through social media, as well as conducting various collaborations, and showing up in different events.
Maklad`s dream is to make Egypt a world exporter candle designs through Yoby`s products.
