Member Stories
Love, Daisy
From the stage to the studio, Kyonne Smith has always been a storyteller. A New York City-based actress turned candle maker, Kyonne founded Love, Daisy during the height of the pandemic while living in a small Harlem apartment with three roommates.
“To make my one-windowed space feel more inviting and cozy, I turned to candles and was amazed by how much a scent could enhance a space,” says Kyonne. “However, most of the candles I found on the shelves were, to be honest, boring. So I decided to make my own, and that’s where the magic began.”
Born out of a desire to bring humor and joy into everyday life, Love, Daisy creates a multi-sensory experience—pairing unique scents with playful label designs and curated playlists. “We’re not just selling scents, but an experience,” Kyonne explains.
On being a Black business owner, she shares: “To me, being a Black-owned business means doing what I can with the resources that I have and turning that into something beautiful, because that is what Black people have always done. I may not have all of the money and space in the world to scale Love, Daisy right now, but I have my creativity, laptop, wifi, and home studio, and I’ve reached some pretty awesome milestones with those things over this first year of business.”
Kyonne hopes her journey inspires others to take chances. “I want to show other people that it’s possible to create their own opportunities and take their future and happiness into their own hands. If you’re waiting for everything to be perfect before you launch your business, you will be waiting forever! Just bring your idea to life first and you can learn and improve as you go.”
This Black Business Month, we’re celebrating Kyonne and Love, Daisy for proving that creativity, resilience, and joy can turn even the smallest space into something extraordinary.