Einnim Creative Studio Is A Labor Of Love For The Owner

Elita – Elita Selmon is the owner of Einnim Creative Studio. She started the business five years ago. Photo provided by Elita Selmon.
Elita – Elita Selmon is the owner of Einnim Creative Studio. She started the business five years ago. Photo provided by Elita Selmon.

Einnim Creative Studio Is A Labor Of Love For The Owner

By Tia Carol Jones

Elita Selmon began Einnim Creative Studio, her candle and apothecary company, about five years ago and opened a location in Oak Park in 2021. Now Selmon is focusing on providing e-commerce and events, along with a move to Oakbrook. 

“For the past five years, I’ve been working hard to build something that will have longevity, as opposed to just a niche opportunity in this specific period of time,” Selmon said.

Selmon has always had an entrepreneurial spirit and knew she would start a business. Einnim, which is named after her grandmother Minnie, sells candles and bath bomb making kits, as well as hosts off-site candle making, bath bomb making, incense making and soap making  events.

Selmon was inspired to build Einnim into something that would be sustainable, not just for herself, but for her employees, after being furloughed during the COVID-19 pandemic. She wanted to be able to create jobs and opportunities for people. Working in roles in different industries where she was able to gain experience in what it takes to run a business from the ground up, helped her with creating, developing and sustaining Einnim. 

“I wanted to really make sure I had a wealth of knowledge before jumping into creating my business, because one thing people will probably say about me is I don’t stop, I don’t quit, I put my heart and soul into everything that I do. I knew that if I was going to start this, it wasn’t something that was going to be taken lightly, it was going to be something that was going to be an ongoing challenge for myself and the growth of the business, as well,” she said.

Selmon learned that someone else nominated Einnim to be included in the Illinois Made Program. She said being a small business owner, it is easy to miss opportunities. She is glad that someone saw her and her business and wanted to support her with the nomination. She said it opened the door for her to see that she had built an entire business by herself.

Selmon said that being part of the Illinois Made program has really helped Einnim gain the visibility she needed in order to help her business grow. She was featured in a video for the Illinois Made Program where her candle bar was highlighted which resulted in increased foot traffic. It gave her the confidence to put herself out there and represent her brand on a larger scale. She is hoping by continuing to be part of the Illinois Made Program it will help her sustain her business as she transitions to fully e-commerce and wholesale. 

Selmon said that her identity as a Black woman has significantly shaped her mission and vision as an entrepreneur. Starting her business, going through the pandemic and being able to work with other women of color, she has learned more about herself, her identity as a Black woman, than she had in all of her work experiences. She has been able to understand who she is culturally, and her work ethic.

“Owning your own business, it’s no small feat. The more you are invested in it, the more you realize there are certain aspects about you as a person, you as a woman, me as a woman of color, there are so many pieces of it that play a role in how I operate the business,” she said, adding that all of that makes her very intentional in how she presents her brand and herself to the public.

Selmon said what makes Einnim unique is that it is a labor of love. She used to say it was unique because it was a custom experience, where people could make their own candles. Now, as she is moving into the next step of her business, the unique element of Einnim is that she put everything she has into it. It is more than just a business transaction, it means so much to her emotionally. She said it is a safe space for people. That is something that people who she has done the private events, bridal and baby showers have told her, that she created a safe space for them. It is something that she takes great pride in.

Selmon said that the opportunities she has been given and the customers she has gained are a true testament to why she is where she is today with Einnim. She is grateful to meet people who want to get to know her, her brand and her product. She is confident that she can continue to build Einnim into something big.

For more information about Einnim, visit www.einnim.com.



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