Not Just Candle Talk: Burn the Rules. Build Your Legacy
This isn’t your average business podcast.
Not Just Candle Talk is the unapologetic, unfiltered audio home for ambitious entrepreneurs, creatives, and side-hustlers ready to do business on their own terms — no fluff, no fake motivation.
Founded on real experience and raw truth, this podcast dives into the real-life challenges behind the candle business and beyond. Whether you’re just starting out or scaling your empire, every episode is packed with lessons, strategies, and mindset shifts to help you build a business and a life you don’t need to escape from.
Hey, I’m Toni, and I know what it’s like to start from scratch.
When I launched my candle business, I had big dreams but limited resources — no investors, no fancy marketing team, just grit, Google, and a lot of trial and error. I built my brand from the ground up, burned out more times than I can count, and learned to pivot, scale, and get smart about what really makes money in this game.
Not Just Candle Talk was born out of my journey — the highs, the hustle, the hard lessons — and the deep desire to have conversations no one else is having in entrepreneurship. The stuff beyond the surface. The why behind the work.
This Podcast Is For You If…
- You’re tired of overnight success stories with no receipts.
- You want to make real money while staying true to yourself.
- You believe business can be both profitable and purposeful.
- You’re building your brand while managing your real life.
Not Just Candle Talk: Burn the Rules. Build Your Legacy
Navigating Success PTSD: The Side of Winning On One Talks About
The rush of hitting your goals, watching your launch go viral, or finally receiving recognition feels incredible—until it doesn't. That's when Success PTSD kicks in: the anxiety after achievement, the burnout after breakthrough, the identity crisis after the win.
We chase milestones relentlessly, but nobody prepares us for what happens when the applause stops and the dust settles. Suddenly you're wondering: Was that my peak? Can I ever do it again? What if I can't keep up with the version of me people now expect? Your brand grows while your bandwidth remains the same, and creativity starts feeling like it's on a timer. You begin overdelivering out of fear rather than joy, saying yes when your soul is begging for rest.
The most painful part? Your public persona can become disconnected from who you truly are. You show up on autopilot while internally screaming "I miss me." Like musical artists who create breathtaking debut albums only to struggle with sophomore releases, the pressure to duplicate success can paralyze your authentic creativity. But healing is possible. Stop performing versions of yourself that kill your joy. Embrace quiet periods as necessary resets, not failures. Reconnect with what brings you fulfillment outside the public eye. Most importantly, redefine success entirely—if it costs you your peace, it's simply too expensive.
You have permission to evolve, pause, and change direction, even after a win. You can be simultaneously healing and successful, broken and brilliant, exhausted and still enough. Download our free Success PTSD Recovery Map from the show notes to help reset your relationship with achievement. If today's message resonated, share it with someone who needs to hear they're not alone. Success isn't just about the next goal—it's about staying whole while you chase it.
Collect all free downloadable checklist and access to other items including the featured Stanley on the go tumblers. https://linktr.ee/notjustcandletalk
Hello world, welcome back to Not Just Candle Talk the real, raw, no-fluff podcast for creators, entrepreneurs and anyone brave enough to chase purpose and profit at the same time. I'm your host, toni, and today we're talking about something nobody warned us about. Nobody warned us about Something that sneaks in after followers came, after the sales hit, after the launch goes viral. We're talking about success, ptsd. Yeah, that part, the anxiety after achievement, the burnout after the breakthrough, the identity crisis after the win. So let's get into it. We are wired to chase, chase goals, milestones, numbers and impact. And don't get me wrong, it feels good when you finally hit one of those goals, when that launch finally lands, when people finally see what you've been building in the dark, when the money, the engagement, the recognition all pours in. But no one ever talks about what happens after, after the highs fade. After the highs fade, after the applause stop, after the dust settles, that empty feeling. That's not failure, that's success, ptsd, and it's real. You start asking Was that my peak? Can I do it again? What if I can't keep up with the version of me that people now expect? And suddenly you're not celebrating, you're surviving.
Speaker 1:Here's the ugly truth about winning in public. It adds pressure. Now people are watching. They expect more. Your brand is growing, but your bandwidth isn't and you're terrified to slow down. You start over delivering out of fear, not joy. You say yes when you want to just say I need a break. The scary part even your creativity feels like it's on a timer, like if I don't post, I'll lose momentum, if I rest, I'll be forgotten. So let me tell you something Relevance is not more important than your peace. Your business cannot thrive if you don't Some of you listening.
Speaker 1:Right now you've built something amazing, right, it's great. People know your name, you're making your money, and yet you don't feel like you anymore. That's the part no one prepares us for. Your brand becomes bigger than your identity. Your audience starts to expect a version of you that no longer aligns with who you've become. You keep showing up on autopilot and deep down you're screaming I miss me. Let me tell you something you are more than the version of you that people clap for.
Speaker 1:Success isn't self-connection, it's just performance, and eventually you burn out playing a role you never wanted to audition for. So what now? First you breathe when your feeling is not human. Here's how we start healing from success. Ptsd. Number one just stop performing. Okay, you don't owe anyone a version of you. That's killing your joy.
Speaker 1:Number two get quiet. Silent isn't stagnation, it's a reset. Number two rebuild rivals. That's number three. Reconnect with what brings you joy outside of the matrix. Number four normalize therapy, boundaries and slow seasons.
Speaker 1:There's power in pacing yourself. I believe in that. Number five redefine success. If it costs you your peace, it's too expensive. I believe in that as well. If you have permission to evolve, to be soft, to change direction, to pause, even after a win and here's the part most people miss you don't need to prove that you're healed to take a break. You're allowed to be healing and successful. It's really a thing Broken and brilliant, successful. It's really a thing Broken and brilliant, exhausted and still enough. That's what you want to be. Okay, it's the same thing.
Speaker 1:A good example when I think of this, when I'm saying these words, and I'm also thinking about an artist, a musical artist. So, thinking about an artist, a musical artist how they put their first album out. Ok, they got 13 songs on the album and it's a hit, right, they didn't know it was a hit, they was doing it from the heart, right, and they put the 13 songs out and the world is amazed by this project that they did. Every song is a hit, every song on the project is a hit and they're world-renowned. Fame Can't get enough of them. And that lasts for however long it lasts, right, and they enjoy the ride, they enjoy success. They're going on interviews, concerts, all of that good lasts, right, and they enjoy they. They enjoy the ride, they enjoy success. They going on interviews, concerts, all of that good stuff, right. And. But then it's time to start this, the second project, the next album, and and this album, the second album, is not as good as the first Because, along all of that, the praises and the wins and the success and the attention, they go into the studio and they cannot get that vibe back from that second album. And it's not as popular as maybe one or two hits are on the album and it's not as popular as maybe, maybe one or two hits are on the on the album. And then, next thing, you know, it takes them three to four years, maybe five, to make another album.
Speaker 1:That's what this episode reminds me of. You, you hit a peak, you hit it, you hit your high peak, and then it's hard to duplicate that sometimes and people try and try and try, but sometimes it's just it's not it. So always keep peace at your center. I don't like giving advice, but when I think of something like this, when I think of success, ptsd, that's the first thing that comes to my mind. But you have to center yourself right. You have to be centered within yourself first before you put out any type of project. I use music as a good example because that's the first thing that came to my mind, but it could be anything. I'm a true believer that peace and knowing who you are and building the foundation first before you step foot out into the public, is very important and it's a must for you to keep your sanity and just to know your direction and where you're going, because you can get lost.
Speaker 1:So I just want to hit on this episode because I, you know it's, it's felt and I see it a lot. Um, I talk to a lot of people. I see it, um, all the time, I hear it all the time People sometimes it's hard to duplicate so and you and you know, you see that person. Like I said, you see them all the time on social media and they, they're gone or whatever, but that's it. That's because they have. They cannot duplicate that, that thrill that that they were, they had at the beginning. And it's not easy because we're human, right, we're not machines. So, anyway, I just want to hit on this real quick.
Speaker 1:If today's episode hits something deep, I want you to sit with that. Don't rush Post it. Replay this episode, let it validate what you've been afraid to admit that success comes with shadows and you're not broken, uh, fulfilling, overwhelm by very things you ask for. Okay, if this resonates with you or you want to, um, you know, have, have a reference or anything, I'm going to do a download, a free download, um, the success, uh, ptsd recovery map, Uh, so one pager to help you reset, reflect and protect your peace, and you can find you will find that in the show notes at the end of the episode.
Speaker 1:This one got me kind of fired up because it's real and it's relatable, right, it's so relatable and is relevant to what's going on today. And if you're nodding your head, whispering, this is me right now. Do me a favor and share this episode. You can tag us on Instagram, leave a review, if you will on the website and let someone else know they're not alone, because success isn't just about the next goal. It's about staying whole while you chase it. Until next time, take care of you and talk to you soon. Bye.