Jim Correll, director Fab Lab ICC at Independence Community College, Independence Kansas 

Brian Hight, co-owner and proprietor of Magnolia Scents by Design did not start out with aspirations to be “the world’s best smelling scent shop artisanally handcrafting natural candles and soaps,” but that’s what happened. And the business, at its current and original location, 106 N Penn, Independence Kansas, was started just before the “crash” of 2008. Yet, customers liked the offerings and Magnolia grew. Today Brian would say he’s an entrepreneur by design. 

An Independent Marcher 

Brian Hight has always had an independent attitude and "marched to his own drummer." Growing up in Cherryvale, Kansas, Brian never did fully buy into the message about going to school, getting a degree and getting a job working for someone else his whole life. Still, he did well in school graduating third in his class in 2000. He was always creative, and he had a passion to design and build things. He settled on the idea of becoming an architect so he could design great buildings. He attended the college of Architecture at Kansas State University where he was disheartened to learn that he would have to “design door jams and girders for large firms in large cities for many years before he could actually do the kind of design he wanted to do.” In addition, the huge university environment was overwhelming, and he returned to Cherryvale to live at home and was graduated from Independence Community College in 2003, deciding to attend Emporia State University. 

A Career in Hospitality? 

In 2005, he finished an undergraduate degree in business from Emporia State.  Brian had worked at the popular Independence Apple Tree Inn and really liked the aspect of helping guests in the hospitality environment. Ready to conquer the hospitality industry, Brian went to work for a hotel chain based in Wichita.  He climbed the ladder quickly but as he was headed toward managing a property, he started to notice the politics, in-fighting and positioning typical of corporate America.  He realized at that point that all the hard work to endure would yield only the realization that all his hard work would be for someone else's benefit.  He moved back to Independence in 2006 and with partner Ryan McDiarmid, purchased a large house on Park Boulevard with the idea of opening a bed and breakfast.  After all, he had a degree and had written a masterful business plan. He and Ryan also enrolled in the Successful Entrepreneur Program at ICC as Brian began to realize that while his business degree provided good background information, it didn't include the knowledge needed to own his own company. The recession of 2008 reduced the needed extended stay business lodging to nearly zero and Magnolia Inn was not to be at this time. 

The $50 Candle Business Launch 

After making Christmas candles for family members in 2006 and 2007, people started asking to buy candles to give to others.  With a $50 investment, the two began making and selling candles from the Park Avenue home. After that side business grew to the point of overtaking the house with equipment and inventory, the two rented the Penn Ave. location early in 2008.  Magnolia Health and Home became Magnolia Scents by Design in 2014.  Brian sought equity financial investment in 2014 and opened a second store in Greenville SC in October of that year.  Both stores featured micro-factories where the candles and soaps are all made in-house so the customer can be a part of the process.  

The Greenville customer base relied heavily on tourism so was hit hard by the pandemic of 2020. The store was completely shuttered during the first part of the year, Brian having made the gut-wrenching decision to lay off the employees. Brian’s Greenville store manager had an idea of re-branding the store using the Greenville name (something Brian couldn’t really do) and the two negotiated a sale agreement and all the laid-off employees are back at work the Greenville Soy Candle Company. 

Reinforced Entrepreneurial Mindset 

In addition to having participated in the Successful Entrepreneur program, Brian was in the inaugural Entrepreneurial Mindset class (featuring the Ice House entrepreneurship program) in the fall of 2012. He says even though he’d had five to six years of business experience by then the class provided value in him learning that many other entrepreneurs had thoughts like his, he was not the only one. Also, never short on new ideas before, being in the class and interacting with the videos, the other class members and the entrepreneur guests, Brian says his idea generation increased by 10-fold. 

Brian believes in giving back to the regional community, offering a fundraising program in which organizations can sell their products to raise funds. He is active in both the Independence Chamber of Commerce and Independence Main Street. He is truly an entrepreneur by design. Looking back, he can see that it really could not have been any other way. 

You can hear my two-part podcast interview with Brian at https://fablabicc.org/Correll-Files and see more of the story of Magnolia at https://magnoliascents.com/about . 

Jim Correll is the director of Fab Lab ICC at the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship on the campus of Independence Community College. He can be reached at (620) 252-5349, by email at jcorrell@indycc.edu or Twitter @jimcorrellks. Archive columns and podcasts at www.fablabicc.org.