VIDEO TRANSCRIPT: Local business woman highlights Cuban culture with candle business
ISABELLA GALAN, REPORTER: In snowy Syracuse, everyone can use a little bit of warmth during the holidays, and Norka Pena Udria, does that one wick at a time
NORKA PENA UDRIA, OWNER OF NORKA ALMA CANDLES: When I tried my first candle, I was like ‘Oh my God. This is beautiful.’ Really, and in that it started everything.
UDRIA: Yea pour all the scents.
GALAN: From simple candles to elaborate bouquets, she only started her business 4 months ago after learning from TikTok videos
UDRIA: Doesn’t matter if you use this or this. It doesn’t matter. We are going to press ‘on’.
GALAN: But there are more components to owning a business than meets the eye
UDRIA: It’s not only, ‘I am going to do candles’ and I forget about it. I have to sell the candles. And I have to start to learn about social media. And I have to start to know about sales too.
GALAN: And on top of that, doing it in a new country
UDRIA: Back to Cuba wasn’t like a possibility for me. Because I didn’t feel well in Cuba anymore.
GALAN: However, she still keeps her culture at the forefront of her brand, using captions in both Spanish and English
UDRIA: I know for me was like, okay. First of all, I’m in the United States. Here we speak English, you know. and, yeah, I have to. I have to. and i need to improve my english. But I can’t forget my community. you know, and they follow me. They follow me from the United States but in Latin America too.
GALAN: Allowing her spark to ignite a flame. Isabella Galan, NCC News
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) – As snow has already started to blanket the Syracuse area, candles serve as a tool to bring a little bit of warmth into one’s home. From peppermint to pine, scents transcend people, places and even cultures, and one local businesswoman is doing just that with her candle business Norka Alma Candles.
Norka Pena Udria said she always had an appreciation for candles, but it wasn’t until she started to make her own that something truly lit up something inside her.
“When I tried my first candle, I was like “Oh my God. This is beautiful.” Really, it started everything,” Udria reflected.
Udria made her first candle in May after watching YouTube and TikTok videos online. Inspired by others’ creations, she enrolled in a candle-making course, allowing her to hone her skills in addition to what she learned online. From elaborate floral bouqets to the more traditional candles you seen in commercial stores, Udria started selling her candles this summer through her social media account @norkaalmacandles.
However, there were other components of the business Udria had to learn along the way.
“It’s not only, “I am going to do candles” and I forget about it. I have to sell the candles. And I have to start to learn about social media. And I have to start to know about sales too,” she said.
While balancing social media and a brand new business has been a challenge, Udria said it has also been a wonderful thing to have been able to learn.
“You have to do life, you have to be a TikToker, you have to take pictures. Oh, you have to design your logo first. You have to do many things and it’s only one person doing many roles. It’s really hard, but it’s beautiful too.”
But that is not the only challenge for the local businesswoman. On top of running every aspect of her company, she is doing it in a new language. Udria is originally from Cuba and moved to Peru for 15 years. However, when she decided to leave Peru, Cuba was not an option for her.
“Back to Cuba wasn’t like a possibility for me. Because I didn’t feel well in Cuba anymore,” Udria said.
She then moved to Florida before coming to Syracuse two years ago. Since then, she has learned, especially as a business owner, who makes up the Syracuse community and how to best cater to their interests.
“Each market is different. and each community is different. I know for Cuban people what they like, but now I live in Syracuse and most of the people are American people. And they have different tastes. I started to learn about how they like scents, about how they spend their money,” Udria said.
While Udria noticed the hispanic community in Syracuse to be on the smaller side, it is still very important to her to highlight her culture as much as possible. For her, the best way she can do this is by posting her content in both Spanish and English.
“I know for me was like, okay. First of all, I’m in the United States. Here we speak English, you know. and, yeah, I have to. I have to, and I need to improve my English. But I can’t forget my community. you know, and they follow me. They follow me from the United States but in Latin America too,” she said.
Her work can be found on Instagram and Facebook @norkaalmacandles.