About Me

I named my small business “Spa Bakery” because it felt right, among other things. It also feels right to begin this short story of my journey, and the inspiration behind Spa Bakery, with introducing my beautiful son, Charlie; a happy, bright light on the spectrum.

After Charlie, my leading inspiration was the self-healing journey that led me to peace, tranquility, and following the bright lights in my soul (more on that later). In 2020, due to severe childhood trauma and PTSD, I received intense trauma therapy which took “all” of me to work through. During those difficult two years, every fiber of my being believed that I would find nothing, other than Charlie, that would spark joy in my life. I stayed in my room, had severe anxiety, and did what we all do as a form of escapism, watched all 16 seasons of Grays Anatomy twice! Their lives, their stories were somehow easier to be involved in than my own.

They say art is rooted in human experience, including pain. Through my pain, I noticed a whisper of my desire to create art and so, with unsteady fingers at first, I started painting. With each stroke of my brush, I felt a tiny, firefly sized light flare up within me. This flicker of joy, of light carried me through each day of work till it was finally 5 PM and I could paint some more. Each day I would notice more fire-fly sized sparks light up within me as I researched more ways to be creative and eventually stumbled upon brambleberry.com (if you haven’t tried them, please do!) Looking at candles and bath bombs brightened my light which was affirmation enough to know I was right where I was meant to be. I leaned heavily into finding my joy and in the following days and weeks, I would wake up before the sun and learn as much as I could about making candles, scrubs, bath truffles and, my favorite, body butters. I would anxiously check the time so I could get back to my joy after work was done at 5 PM. With each experiment, with each nuance I learned, those firefly lights grew brighter and stronger. Soon, I was fully immersed in it and I let the joy of creating molds and designing soaps wash away my worries and doubts. I dove deep into learning, experimenting with temperatures and tinkering with measurements until I made my first candle and lit it with trembling hands. As the flame took and flickered, I felt like I had finally found myself completely. In the following weeks my house smelled amazing as I perfected my craft which left me with so much light and validation that by the time our helper turned to me and said, “Irum, even your trash smells good,” I didn’t even try to be humble about it. The knowledge that I can bring something simple, serene, and tranquil into the world swirling in the aroma of lavender and freesia made me feel peace beyond measure.

At that point, I didn’t know how to stop. I researched and tried all kinds of recipes and failed more than I succeeded. Each failure excited me to try again, which had never happened before. Discouragement wasn’t even an afterthought as I would clean up a spilled mess or a cracked bath truffle and rearranged my ingredients to try again. I was bursting at the seams with light and joy and had to share some of the products I made with my family. The response was unexpected – everyone loved my candles and products! Soon I was receiving requests and being asked to make their “favorite scented shower vapor.” Shortly after, I was convinced to make this a small business where I get to live in my happy place and share a slice of my bliss with anyone who’d wish to have some.

This, along with being a mother to the most amazing boy ever, has been the most authentic journey of my life. My products are more than just wax, aromas and oils mixed in a tin jar – it’s hours of lovingly wiping away wax from the lip of the jar just like I had wiped Charlie’s mouth after too much chocolate, as I carefully and gently pry apart delicate bath truffles from their mold in the same way I’ve pulled Charlie’s shoes off after he falls asleep on the couch for the night, and fussing over the placement of each label just as I have fussed over Charlie’s hair dozens of times. What you will find in my products is pure love.

My light led me to creating Spa Bakery and I invite you to let Spa Bakery light your days and nights too.