JACKSON, Mich. — Veteran Ron Proffitt served in the Navy from 1985 to 1993 and has been making candles for more than 20 years. He, his wife Amy and their daughter Madison Dunlap sell the candles and more at their new storefront in Brooklyn, Come to Your Effin Senses.
Amy, whose roller derby nickname is F-Bomb, and the rest of the family come up with the candles' signature naughty names for scents like coffee, grapefruit, lemongrass, blood orange and even brand-name perfume.
"I love 'Feed Me Grapes and...' it crosses off, 'take' and says '*** ** out,'" Dunlap laughed. "We have 'Fruit Lube' and 'Big **** Energy' are also my favorites."
The store also sells apparel, vintage items, stickers, wax melts, greeting cards and succulents in a wide assortment of pots, like Baby Head Planters.
"Veteran businesses have kind of went to the wayside for a little bit, and they came back hard during the pandemic because you have a lot of guys that are coming back from Afghanistan and Iraq that think, 'Well, what do I do now?'" Ron said. "They need to have something."
Not all veterans have an Amy.
"It's overwhelming at times, if you're looking to open a business as a veteran, and you come off and you think about, 'What are the assets that are there for me?'" Joe Saur, an employment analyst for the Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency, said.
Saur said what the more than 530,000 veterans in Michigan do have, however, is access to help. In his role, he has helped several veterans open their own businesses and others find businesses that hire veterans.
"One cool thing about the state of Michigan is we take a lot of extra steps to employ veterans," Saur said. "We currently have over 560 certified veteran-friendly employers in the state of Michigan."
Now, make that 561.
For more information on Come to Your Effin Senses, click here.
For more information about veteran employment resources, click here.
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