Meet Brandon Leung | Founder & CEO

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

Hi Brandon, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Prior to launching Baisun Candle Co, I was working in digital marketing helping my company’s clients optimize their website’s SEO and Google search rankings. With the covid-19 pandemic simultaneously developing, I was unfortunately let go, which ultimately gave me the time to reflect on what I had just learned and was empowered to build my own business & website. This period of time coincided with when I was rediscovering my roots and heritage. Every product we make is inspired by the Eastern flavors and aromas I grew up with living in my 1st generation Chinese-American household.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
(How did you get to where you are today business-wise. Was it easy? If not, how did you overcome the challenges? What are the lessons you’ve learned along the way.)

I’ve learned that almost every founder I speak with agrees that “none of us know what we’re really doing.”

As a first time entrepreneur, I’m incredibly fortunate and blessed to already have a circle of other friends and founders I can always rely on whenever I hit a hurdle or simply just need help. I’d like to think that staying curious and being open to feedback helped tremendously in the early days, especially operating as a solo founder.

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(What do you want the world to know about you or your brand and story?)

Growing up in the US with a Chinese-American background, I found it difficult to connect with my culture while balancing my first-generation American identity. As I grew older, I realized that  food had played an essential role in my appreciation and understanding of my heritage and where my roots come from. I had developed an association of comfort with the familiar Asian flavors that I could always come home to.

I founded Baisun Candle Co. in 2020 in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, in hopes to reconnect with my culture & heritage. Whenever I felt homesick, my instinct would be to go to the closest Chinatown market or H-mart. I would indulge in Asian snacks like haw flakes and Melona bars while breathing in star anise and dried chrysanthemum– ingredients not typically found at your local “international foods” aisle.

Since transitioning to working on Baisun full-time, I’m fortunate to be able to share the lessons and history behind the Asian scents and flavors we enjoy while making “this smells like home” a more accessible phrase to the AAPI (Asian American Pacific Islander) community & allies with our hand crafted, clean-burning, phthalate, and paraben-free soy candles.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Not local to LA, but I’d personally like to explore K-town more!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Yes! Shoutout to my good friend & mentor, Travis Atreo. Although we were brought up from the exact opposite sides of the US, we immediately clicked once we met each other for the first time at a mutual friend’s launch party!

Website: baisuncandleco.com

Instagram: instagram.com/baisuncandleco

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/baisuncandleco/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BaisunCandleCo