Today we’d like to introduce you to Larry Ross.
Hi Larry, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Burnable Bouquets started about two and a half years ago after direction from a therapist to “get a hobby” led to a simple purchase of a candle-making kit off amazon.
One candle in; something shifted within me. I began filling random vessels I would find at thrift stores and estate sales through Instagram stories. I was between jobs due to a mental health breakdown and struggling to pay my bills.
After gaining a small following, I asked a local health food hippie store if they would let me do a pop-up. It was a success and I gained a little confidence. I applied to do pop-ups around town until I felt secure enough in my small business to try an outdoor vintage market. I decided others could do the same healing in their own lives and deserve such.
This is where it ALL came together. Meeting the community, discussing all things with the customers at the booth, sharing life stories and explaining why they are attracted to the cup and the healing journey they are about to embark upon. Each interaction is unique and special to me. All walks of life looking to live with intention made me believe in what I was doing and it’s far more than candles to me.
Last year, I grew to selling in retailers around the state and expanded into uniform vessels but each candle is still hand-poured ensuring its special touch.
Recently I collaborated with a local potter to make one of a kind vessels. I want to uplift other small business owners, especially other queer-owned business’.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Before my first candle sale, I came out as transgender, Non-Binary. The past couple of years have been a growing process. I spent 36 years as someone I didn’t want to be. Making poor choices to validate the persona I felt would shield me from being seen as the real me. As Larry.
I navigate CPTSD and clinical depression under the care of qualified doctors and am heavily spiritual but also pro-medication. I believe each person needs to do what works for them. Once I was stable on medication, I was able to see clearly and come out of hiding.
I moved from Los Angeles, California to Birmingham, Alabama with my partner. I had no friends and no sense of security upon arrival. I hid in my house the first year and then the second and third years were COVID.
We’ve been impressed with Burnable Bouquets, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
One day I filled a tea set and that shift deepened. I immediately felt transported to a space where I could feel the memories attached to the cup.
I believe in energy, both physical and spiritual. I believe that energy is attached to everything on this earth both living and nonliving. Energy flows through us and allows us to have experiences and remember them.
The ancestral trauma passed down through this china set filled my spirit and I knew if I poured intention and love into these candles it could heal not only me but everything and everyone attached to the cups history.
I began focusing on filling teacups and with each one began to feel FREE. I do not measure, I pour off intention and guided intuition and each candle is one of a kind, just like the person who picks it. The crystals I put on top are charged under the sunlight and the rose petals on top are locally sourced, and some are from my own garden. These candles carry an abundance of energy.
Burnable Bouquets formed community around me. It created a solid network of other LGBTQIA + small business owners and friends I work closely and collaborate with. In the end of 2022, I began teaching candle-making classes. There is about 45 mins where the candles cure in which I collaborate with another local creative who shares their talent during that time. Sound baths, cacao ceremonies, tea services, all which resulted in people coming together for a common cause: healing. Watching people talk at the tables about the oil scents and where they are ‘transported to through smell’ and laugh and cry together during a guided meditation; my goal is to empower you to be YOU and learn something new. Be curious and always evolving.
Burnable Bouquets is continuing to grow… let’s heal together through intention.
Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
My partner and I joke often about each new skill we learn at a market from one of the other vendors. My biggest advice is to take every chance you get to put yourself out there. You never know who you will meet or what you will learn. Some of the closest people in my life I met as a direct result of that first pop-up I asked to do. As long as you show up, with passion, a positive attitude, and are eager to learn, you will continue to expand.
Contact Info:
- Website: Burnablebouquets.com
- Instagram: @burnablebouquets1.0
- Other: @larryross1.0
Image Credits
Jade Bradford
