Ragine Williams, chief of staff for the Global Diversity and Inclusion Center of Excellence at Merck, the pharmaceutical giant with sizable operations in West Point, turned her hobby into a business by starting Blissful Belle candle company, writes Lisa Dukart for The Business Journals.

Williams started dabbling in candle-making after she completed her master’s degree at La Salle University. She gave them to her family as gifts and in turn they started encouraging her to pursue it as a business.

When the pandemic began in 2020, Williams realized how important mental health and self-care are, and how positively candles can affect both.

“Candles for me, they provide a type of therapy,” she said.

She named her Philadelphia-based business using her middle name which honors her grand-grandmother. While she started the company in 2020, it took her two more years to enter the market.

Currently, she is working on building her company to become sustainable, both financially and environmentally. To achieve this, she uses soy wax and wood wicks, which are environmentally-friendlier options than their alternatives.

The company started with five scents and has recently debuted a seasonal collection. Williams aims to release future lines seasonally.

Read more about Blissful Belle in The Business Journals.