The candle-kit start-up supporting mental health - Meet UoB graduate Munieba Khalil

Munieba Khalil completed a degree in Nuclear Science and Materials in 2019. After graduating, Munieba joined the nucleargraduates scheme - which as the name suggests helps graduates from the nuclear sector develop and grow, specifically by offering work placements and encouraging graduates to launch their own businesses with support from industry.

We caught up with Munieba (far left of picture) to find out about her very own start-up business Authentin - a candle making social enterprise which supports a mental health charity.

Munieba: Authentin is a business selling candle-making kits, with 100% of the profits going to our mental health charity partner, The Mosaic Clubhouse. We offer 3 scent varieties for our candle making kits, these are 'Coming Home' (a warm, vanilla scent which provides a moment of comfort and familiarity), 'Being Together' (a cinnamon-orange scent which evokes a festive moment, the season of family and friends) and 'Starting Fresh (a rose and germanium scent which embodies the season of spring, providing a moment of freshness, of new beginnings and of revitalisation). By centring our candle-kits around the moment of creating the candle, we hope to encourage our customers to adopt a healthier mind-set, one of embracing the little things in life and reclaiming time for themselves.

No description of our business would be complete without a commentary on the amazing work our charity partner does. The Mosaic Clubhouse is the only accredited clubhouse within the
UK, it offers its members a home outside of their physical abode, a family bonded through this common home and a place to work and develop their skills.

Many members are referred by their GP due to their poor mental health, and by providing them with a purpose and a place to develop, the clubhouse seeks to rebuild their confidence and self-esteem. The clubhouse is run by both staff and members, and there's so much to get involved with from the logistics and admin side to helping out in the café or gardens, it offers its members a breadth of activities to try.

My team and I started Authentin as part of the nucleargraduates scheme. It's a really unique scheme and is sponsored by a number of companies within the nuclear sector including Rolls-Royce, Sellafield, Magnox, Jacobs and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority. The scheme itself allows graduates to work on multiple secondments within the industry. I spent my first
two secondments at Rolls-Royce as an additive manufacturing engineer and core design engineer. I’m currently within the Nuclear Medicine department at Russell Hall Hospital in Dudley, so we’re given a lot of flexibility in that sense.

We have set training zones where we undergo core training on subjects like commercial awareness, we sit the APM Project Fundamentals Qualification, attend training around leadership etc.

The scheme's approach to corporate responsibility is by making graduates launch their own small businesses, whilst on the scheme and donate all profits generated to a charity of their choice. Graduates must develop their idea within teams, in the first 9 months of starting, developing a formal business case and a pitch which must be delivered to a panel of industry experts.

As well as the SME component, we’re also required to dedicate a portion of our time to STEM outreach activities as a form of giving back to our communities. It’s a pretty intense and complex scheme but it’s really rewarding!.

When we first started thinking of business ideas, we were still in the throes of lockdown and it felt especially important to create something which was relevant and reflective of the trying times we were in. Before we came up with a product idea, one of my team members suggested the slogan 'Spark a Moment'. This really resonated with the whole team, and became the centre-point for our branding efforts.

Our initial thought was to create our own hand-made, sustainable candles as we felt candles-linked well to the slogan and really brought to life, the 'spark' element. However, as we started developing the idea, it dawned on us that the pandemic had been a time where people had sought to learn new skills from making banana bread to crocheting or DIY nail art. As a result, we changed course and decided to sell candle-making kits, allowing people the opportunity to buy an experience, learn a skill and create many more moments from the moment of satisfaction as they watch their wax melt, to the moment of pride and joy when they view their finished candle for the first time.

Another thing I've really enjoyed that I think is common to small business is the bonding experience it offers to you and your team. Most businesses start off with a small team or a single person, and slowly evolve into a small team. The earlier you can get other people involved, the better, as these people bring a new perspective and a new thought pattern.

We've had so many challenges to overcome from procurement to logistics, and it's been incredibly valuable to work with each other, seeing how we each approach a problem and adapting to one another. Each team member brings their own strengths, and through understanding each other, you're able to both exploit those strengths and also to develop your own self.

However, by far the most gratifying aspect of running your own business is getting to see the impact your product has had on a customer (and beyond). We’ve had many customers say they were pleasantly surprised at how simple the candle-making process is, particularly with our handy guide. It's really rewarding to see the satisfaction and pride our customers take in showcasing their candles on social media, or sending us pictures.

Beyond that, as all our profits are going to charity, there’s a real sense of satisfaction there, too. We’ve had the opportunity to visit The Clubhouse in person, and partake in activities with members. The Clubhouse supports so many people with a diverse range of disorders, empowering them through the work and purpose it offers them. It’s such a unique initiative, and it’s really gratifying to be able to contribute to it. When we started, we really wanted to ensure all our efforts were environmentally-friendly from the wax we use to the packaging the kit came in. This turned out to be more of a challenge than we thought, as our research led us to the discovery that though soy wax is championed and readily available, much of it is sourced in South America, there’s also social impacts, soil erosion and many other factors at play here. Beeswax wasn’t 100% vegan-friendly, and coconut wax tends to be really expensive. It was a real challenge to decide on which wax to go with, but after much thought, we selected a blend of rapeseed and coconut wax..

I think the biggest takeaway is that when starting a business, you should never lose your "why". Your "why" embodies the reason you chose to start your business and the reason you think your business can stand out and make an impact on the world. It’s your conviction in your purpose and your product which sells it, and which helps you make it through all the challenges that you have along the way.

I would just like to say if you’re reading this, and want to try something new, buy one of our candle-making kits and spark your own moment at www.authentinltd.com.

You can follow Authentin on Instagram: @authentinltd

With thanks to Munieba Khalil Edited by Bob Lee