I reside in Mount Juliet TN, a little city right outside of Nashville, TN. I am the sole owner and founder of Chinesha’s Closet, LLC. While running my Etsy Shop the last 6 years, I have also been working as a full time flight attendant for the last 23 years. Being a flight attendant is a great experience and really teaches you about customer service which I thrive on. The downside, is I rarely get to use my creative and artistic side that I strongly hold a passion for. I studied musical theatre and performed for many years putting that side of my life away once working in the airline industry. So I decided to take a leap and start Chinesha’s Closet, LLC. This business first started as a hobby that I quickly grew passionate about. When I joined Etsy, it revived and woke up that creative and artistic side I was struggling to find. I started my shop selling only candles, because at that time, I had an extreme love and strong addiction to aromas burning throughout the home in a variety of scents. I enjoyed aromatherapy and essential oils too. I purchased all sorts of candles throughout the years from all sorts of stores and manufacturers. The interesting thing was, I didn’t realize most of the candles I purchased weren’t that great. They would smell great in the store and once home, burned badly and had either a faint smell or no smell at all. Then, the materials used were not eco friendly such as soy wax or eco friendly cotton wicks which give candles a clean and toxic free burn. I decided to do research and create my own candle using the best and safest materials like 100% soy wax and eco friendly cotton and wooden wicks. I also wanted my candles to provide a clean burn, and give an extreme throw from beginning to end leaving no wax left inside the jar.

Over the years running this shop, my success with making quality soy candles gave me the courage to explore and expand my creativity in other areas such as Bath & Body. I have sensitive skin and in my early 20’s had acne issues. Lots of products I used only prolonged my acne not help it. I had dermatologists prescribe me expensive regimens and I went for the more expensive ones because they were marketed to work and clear your skin except for mine they didn’t. Many contained alcohol, salicylic acid which is very drying for sensitive skin, and other components I couldn’t even pronounce. Learning about natural skin care, it encouraged me to research and find ingredients that I could for one pronounce and secondly understand how they would work for someone who had sensitive skin issues. This is how I came to make handcrafted soaps, scrubs both for body and now face, body butters and shave butters for all types of skin. I use natural ingredients that hydrate and moisturize to keep the skin healthy. I explore new ideas daily while still perfecting what I do know.

Starting Chinesha’s Closet has been an educational, therapeutic, creatively challenging as well as emotional, and life saving experience for me.
After celebrating my shop’s first year of doing well, and excited to approach my second year, my health had other plans. I was diagnosed with stage 2 Colorectal Cancer in October 2018. I had to stop flying and rethink my life’s plan. My doctors didn’t recommend me being in that environment with what my body was about to endure. I thought things were going to come to a complete stop for awhile as I was instructed to do an extensive 6 week chemo/radiation treatment. However that wasn’t the case, I decided to keep my shop open since I’d be home and try to continue filling orders while going through treatment. I really believe my strong faith in God, and having this Etsy shop to keep me staying creative distracted from a situation that could have easily depressed me. Aside from faith and blessings from the good lord above, Etsy was one of the main reasons for getting me through that trying time and that aggressive 6 weeks. I was declared cancer free in February 2019 and I am now in my 5th year of remaining cancer free and stronger than ever in my faith.

Faith is an awesome thing, and if ever you’re in doubt and need some encouragement, just read my story.