Kellee VanValkenburg, owner of Cereal City Candle Co., is featured in this SW Michigan Second Wave article. Kellee went through our Business Planning Cohort in Battle Creek in 2022.
Not long after this initial foray into candlemaking, VanValkenburg says other people started expressing an interest in her candles and she realized she had an untapped market that was worth exploring and the idea of becoming a business owner seemed doable.
“I asked myself why I was putting it off and why not now,” she says.
In early 2022 she participated in a 10-week program offered through Northern Initiatives for those like her who were interested in starting their own businesses.
“I saw an ad for Northern Initiatives. I’d never taken any business courses or thought seriously about owning my own business. When I saw this ad, it was like well, that could really help me,” she says. “It was a really good program. I couldn’t recommend it enough for people who have an idea and don’t know how to get started.”
