It’s been five years since Courtney Ikerd launched Somerset Candle Co., and business is on fire. The luxury candle company, started in Ikerd’s basement in Somerset, Kentucky, is poised to expand beyond central Kentucky. Having recently moved into a warehouse to accommodate increasing orders and inventory, the company has transitioned from a side hustle into a full-fledged business. Now that Ikerd has delegated responsibilities at her other businesses, she is ready to take Somerset Candle Co. to the next level.
Ikerd
It all started with a dream, she said. During the COVID-19 pandemic, having never made a candle before, Ikerd woke up one night with an idea. “It literally just came out of the blue in my sleep in the middle of the night,” she said. “I woke up, and it was ‘Somerset Candle Company.’ I knew the aesthetic. I could see the logo. I got up at 4:30 that morning and started designing. By 9:30 that morning, I had my logo created.”
Within a few months, Ikerd had researched candles, candle making, materials, and scents to create her own line of luxury items. With scents like Cumberland Bourbon Trail—with notes of honey, orange marmalade, bourbon, brown sugar, and tobacco reminiscent of Lake Cumberland—and 606, with notes of saffron, tobacco, vanilla, and tonka bean, Somerset Candle Company stands out with uniquely Kentucky fragrances. “I try to focus on a more luxury line of candle,” she said. “We have the crackling wooden wick, the coconut soy wax, and the luxury fragrance oils, along with the black and white aesthetic. It’s not a candle that you could just go and purchase anywhere. I wanted a clean, modern aesthetic that would match anyone’s décor.
“There really weren’t souvenirs for the Lake Cumberland area… so the thought behind Somerset Candle was to create a unique gift that people could take back home to remember their time here.” Ikerd handcrafts the candles and develops their scents herself. Each scent takes months to perfect, ensuring that the product meets her high standards of craftsmanship and is neither too overpowering nor too weak.
Having helped her husband at his business and run her own Airbnb business — as well as taught business education at Somerset High School — Ikerd was familiar with entrepreneurship. However, she had never made a candle, created a product, or dealt with materials and inventory before. “I think growth and inventory management go hand-in-hand, and they’re both something I’d never dealt with before,” she said. “Keeping a handle on inventory and systems and processes that are constantly changing and evolving as you grow has been a challenge.”
Available in Somerset-area businesses and in the Market Grove in Fayette Mall, Ikerd said her 606 area-code candle is her most popular item. What drives sales, she said, is her presence. “I am the founder and the face of Somerset Candle,” she said. “I found through doing different events that people are more drawn to sales when I’m present. I’ve had my intern work a market in Somerset while I worked a market in Lexington, and there are more sales when I’m present.”
Kentucky locales and specific sense memories inspire Somerset Candle Co. scents like "Cumberland Bourbon Trail" and "Waitsboro Winter."
Still, she said, building the business over the last five years has not been easy. “The growth is going in the direction where I’m going to need to hire more people. I’m not going to be able to manage this on my own,” Ikerd said. “Figuring those things out while still trying to stay in control and handle the other businesses has definitely been a balancing act.”
But taking the company through the next five years, she said, looks like it might pay off. “Somerset Candle is on the verge of becoming something bigger if I put my time and dedication into it. It’s a big leap of faith,” she said. “I took a leap of faith in 2020, and I feel like I’m taking this leap of faith again. Is it able to provide for my family right now? No, because I’m continually reinvesting back into the business. But I feel like putting this time and investment in is what’s going to pay off.”