When I first set up the business, I found myself completely stuck on the brand name. I knew I wanted something that reflected the professionalism and quality of the fragrances, certainly nothing twee like “Sally’s Candles.” But inspiration did not come immediately.

In the end, I had a bit of fun with it and landed on the phonetic spelling of candle: KAN-DL. It was quirky and held people’s attention, as it often took a moment for them to realise what the brand name meant. At the time I was only making candles, so it worked perfectly.

Then I showed my prototypes to my friends Romy and Julian, owners of the wonderful Loft & Spires gift shops in Bury St Edmunds and Cheltenham, and their very first question was:

“Where are your reed diffusers?”

I had not even learned to make them yet.

So off I went to train to manufacture diffusers. While I was going about it, I also learned to make soaps, room mists, lotions and more. Suddenly the brand was about far more than candles and meant the name no longer quite fitted.

The artwork had already been designed and there was very little space to add anything else. Once again I was stuck.

Then my husband stepped in with the idea of ÉLAN.

He said it reflected my personality and the energy I had poured into building the brand, excuse the pun. I immediately checked whether ÉLAN Home Fragrances already existed. It didn’t!

By Monday morning I had applied for, and now own the trademark for ÉLAN Home Fragrances in the UK and Europe.

And that is how I named my business. One that has grown with us ever since.