Meet Rebecca Ciurdar | Founder & Owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Rebecca Ciurdar and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Rebecca, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I’ve always loved candles; smelling different scents and burning them at home, until I learned about all the chemicals in the wax and fragrances. After doing extensive research, I realized how bad burning regular candles was for you so I decided to stop buying them and at that time, I couldn’t find a local candle/home fragrance shop that was non-toxic so I decided to make my own candles at home in 2018. I had no intention of selling or starting a business, I just wanted clean candles for my home and then started gifting to family and friends. Two years later, after a lot of sourcing for soy wax and clean fragrances, I started Miros, started selling on Etsy, and doing markets. I’m now also selling room sprays and car fresheners that are non toxic and have ideas for more things to come!

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Miros is a non – toxic handmade home fragrance company, our goal is to bring clean scents into your home, office, or car. There were so many challenges, every step of the way had at least one. The first one was learning how to make candles and perfecting the craft, while sourcing the best materials, hours of watching Youtube videos and so much trial and error. Deciding to create a business, all the paper work that comes with it, and coming up with a name was one of the hardest, I needed a name that would represent me and my business, so I chose Miros, meaning “smell” in Romanian, which is my background and I’m still deeply rooted in the culture. I now sell in The Wander Shop, a boutique store in Fort Lauderdale, and in Superwow, a specialty coffee shop in Hollywood, I get a lot of repeat customers on Etsy because they get a chance to smell the products in person first.
My biggest challenge at the moment is learning how to juggle and manage mom life with a crawling/learning to walk infant and work life balance, since I make everything from home it’s a struggle to stay productive at times, but I’m blessed with an amazing husband that helps me out all the time! From filling up bottles to coming to my markets and hauling all my heavy boxes with products in and out of my car, especially while I was pregnant, I definitely wouldn’t be where I am today without his constant support.
Having a kid has made in more challenging to do markets/pop ups every weekend like I used to so I’m slowly moving my focus to more wholesale orders, custom favors for events, and room spray workshops. I’m still planning on doing pop ups but not as many as I did before.

But ultimately, it’s by the grace of God that I was even able to learn and achieve my goals!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I love supporting small businesses so we would hit up all the spots within the week!

For coffee, some of the best is found at Superwow Coffee in Hollywood. Then, go a few streets over for some fun local vintage/thrifting shopping at The Vibrant Village.

Brunch is next! Some great spots are: Ice Box, Mitch’s Downtown Bagel Cafe, Top Hat Deli, Java & Jam, or Cafe Bastille.
In Fort Lauderdale, we’d check out the Wander shop, a boutique store and the best place for clothes, accessories, and all things gifts, plus, the owner, Marisa, is the best! Also, Haute and Honey has the cutest clothes in Lighthouse Point!
If it’s the weekend I’d check if there’s any markets put up by Flamingo Flea or Sunny Side up to support all the small business we can!
For dinner or drinks, we’d hit up Social Room, Motek in Aventura Mall, Small Wine Shop, Carmela’s, Mister 01, or Kubo.
And the best place to watch the sunset on the beach is Sunset Club in Hollywood, great place for Happy Hour, followed by a Spumoni ice cream from Surf and Spray.

There are so many more but we can’t hit them all in one week!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I wouldn’t be where I am today without the constant love and support of my husband, he pushed me to start Miros and has been there every step of the way.

Also, business-wise, the Fort Lauderdale small business community, most importantly, The Wander Shop and The Flamingo Flea have been instrumental in helping me achieve my goals.

Website: https://www.etsy.com/shop/MirosCandles

Instagram: @miroscandles

Facebook: Miros Candles

Image Credits
LOC Photography