the sugar & grace co. story... 

Erica Parham is a self proclaimed candle hoarder who took an unusual route to starting her own candle company.

When Erica found herself suffering from chronic migraines, her doctor encouraged her to keep a daily log to get to the root of what was triggering them. Once it became obvious that her migraines were only happening at home, they guessed it might be the candles that were causing her headaches.

Erica was challenged to go candle-free for a week, and that was coincidentally the first time in a long time she was migraine free. They concluded it was her toxic candles that were causing her headaches.

Giving up candles wasn’t an option, so she took a class to learn how to make her very own non-toxic options.

While working as a nurse in a doctor’s office, she’d bring in her samples. The orders started rolling in right away. It took off right from the start. Erica quickly became the candle lady for all the local doctors’ offices.

Sugar & Grace Co™ was born right after the birth of her baby in 2017 when she decided to quit her nursing career and launch her candle company full time.

Erica started doing pop ups inside Selden Market, a small business incubator in Norfolk, VA, and after a year applied to be one of the store fronts. She got accepted, opened in the middle of the pandemic, and outgrew that space within 4 months. She is now in a larger location inside the market where you can stop by to shop candles or make your own!