Every year, Emerging Prairie works to support and grow our entrepreneurial ecosystem. One way they do this is through their cohorts, which are 16-week programs designed to help companies ensure that they are being built upon a firm foundation.
Just like emerging Prairie, we at Fargo INC! want to celebrate and support the entrepreneurial ecosystem. That’s why we teamed up with them to introduce you to a number of entrepreneurs involved in their cohorts!
Debbie Osowski is a former counselor and school counselor and current Owner of Do Good Adventures, a local soy candle company. She is also a wife and mother to three girls (ages 19-25).
Debbie was able to resign from her day-time job and work full-time on do good adventures starting in September 2020.
“I am proud of the fact that, despite the pandemic, I have been able to continue to grow my business and audience,” said Debbie. “However, I am most proud that I have been able to make donations to organizations such as the Edith Sanford Breast Cancer Center, American Heart Association, Salvation Army Red Kettle Campaign, Ladyboss Midwest, BioGirls, Conscious Kid, GoFundMe, and Feeding America.”
What does your organization do?
We are a soy candle company that sells thoughtfully curated soy candles to elevate the everyday. We have several different containers. Our “classic collection” is always available and comes in 10 oz mason jars or 3 oz jelly jars. Our “modern collection” is also available year-round and is growing.
These scents are more sophisticated and rich and are sold in sleek black straight-sided tumblers. Throughout the year we launch seasonal collections in different vessels and price points. Do Good Adventures also offers a subscription box program that ships quarterly.
Each box has three candles with additional gifts and discounts included. Do Good Adventures has both an online store dogood-adventures.com and in person presence at events like Unglued Craftfest. Being able to talk to customers directly is what truly fills my cup. I am proud of the fact that a portion of our profits go to charity to help others.
How did you get into what you are doing/how and why did you form your organization?
I started making candles as wedding favors for my daughter’s wedding in August 2018. I loved the process but loved even more seeing the excitement and reaction of the guests at the reception. I have memories of people sharing their scents with each other and checking to see if there were other scents on other tables. People will still comment on those candles and it makes me, and my daughter, so happy to know that there is such a fun memory attached to that special day. After the wedding, I kept making candles as I wanted to try more scents heading into fall and the holidays. I shared and sold them to co-workers and started an online store. I heard about the Unglued Holiday Market at Drekker and applied to be a vendor. That was my first in-person event and it was so incredibly fun! Things have just continued to grow from there. I resigned from my career as a school counselor last year to focus on this business full-time.
There are so many pieces of this that drive me. I like beautiful things, so creating the products, photographing them, and marketing them is so fun for me. I also love that the business is able to help others. I also love that I can incorporate my background as a counselor into my brand to help others think good and feel good.
What did you learn from the cohort?
I am continuously amazed by the awesomeness of women building businesses! This group is so supportive of each other and truly embodies the concept of, “Collaboration over Competition.” I learned a lot about how to really talk about my brand and what message I want to convey in a precise way.
What else should we know about you/your organization?
Do Good Adventures is more than a candle company. I believe that scents are strongly associated with memories of people and events as well as emotions. I want to create a brand and product that transforms people into happy memories and inspires them to elevate their every day and live their best life.
What advice do you have for other entrepreneurs out there?
Keep moving forward. Every day is a new day to do something that helps build your business. Even on those tough days, don’t give up. Just keep moving. Momentum is everything and once you get momentum in your business, it’s really fun to see what can happen!
Even though all of the entrepreneurs in this article were part of the Women’s Cohort and the Social Entrepreneur Cohort, Emerging Prairie also hosts a New American Cohort and will be kicking off a Native American Cohort and Black Founder Cohort soon. Stay tuned to our magazine for future updates on participants in these programs.
