A lawyer by trade, Celia Loves founder Stef Kerby realised after becoming a mum that she missed her independence and being in control of her own finances, so she started making candles as gifts, which are hand-poured on Victoria’s Surf Coast.
She also started dabbling in label design as well as showing at local markets and from there just kept evolving.
“I was really proud of the fact I could contribute to our family financially besides being a mum,” she enthuses.
“Still working on my packaging and product development we got picked up by Myer. I didn’t appreciate at the time what a great opportunity this was as I was so green—I was doing it part-time, from my garage and kitchen.
“However, I saw a need for beautiful packaging at an affordable price and I think that’s where the brand really stepped into the market.”
While Kerby was still working full-time she had two team members working from her garage and decided it was time to resign and go all in with her brand Celia Loves.
When Covid hit she saw it as an opportunity to work really hard on her brand, listening to customer feedback every step of the way.
“All our product development is now consumer-led. When we released our room spray it went viral because everyone was using it as perfume. It freaked me out as it wasn’t developed for that, but it inspired the development of our perfume collection.”
Kerby knows that price point is everything for the brand and the new perfume range did well at the recent Life Instyle in Melbourne.
“I actually didn’t bring enough order forms. I thought the uptake might be a bit slow as it is a different product line for our brand, but we stayed true to our DNA when it comes to our branding and storytelling, which resonated with customers.”
The brand’s name Celia Loves is all about Kerby’s alter ego, Celia. “I created a world that I wanted to live in and what she would do, how she had this charismatic larger than life energy, she’s that go-to friend, the one that will come to your house never empty-handed, always considerate and thoughtful, really fashion-forward, creating her own style and identity and we really inject and embrace that in our brand,” she explains.
Celia Loves is also very community focused, recently raising just over $10,000 for the local cancer centre.
“Community is at the core and heart. We are a soulful brand, we don’t follow trends, we set the trends and try to disrupt things by being creative in packaging and design authentic products while having a good time along the way as well.”
