Conversations with Taylor Bruzzi

Today we’d like to introduce you to Taylor Bruzzi.

Hi Taylor, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
During the 2020 pandemic, I was working full time as a Special Education teacher in Rhode Island (my home state). Teaching virtually striped away alot of the creativity and art that was present in my classroom, creating a void in my expressive outlet. I began making candles as small gifts for the people in my apartment building, hoping to create a small amount of joy during an isolating time.
The overwhelming feedback I received from my friends, family and neighbors about the candles encouraged me to start selling my products at local art markets and online. After a few successful months, I decided to follow my happiness and leave teaching to pursue my small business full time.
In 2021, my husband and I left our jobs, packed up our lives and moved across the country to Colorado. Once settled, I began reaching out to local gift shops and eventually found myself in over 10 stores within the state. I formed communities within these stores and was surrounded by hundreds of small business owners working to make their art their full time careers. After two years, I was able to hire a part time employee and sell my products in over 30 stores across the country.
While this felt incredibly fulfilling, I also began to feel like a machine, making the same product over and over and felt I needed to expand my personal art journey by learning a new medium.
I signed up for ceramic classes at my local recreation center as a way to disconnect from my work……but that didn’t last long. I quickly realized that ceramics is an endless medium, with so many styles and infinite possibilities, and I couldn’t soak it up fast enough. I spent every spare minute at the pottery studio and eventually purchased my own pottery wheel at my house. From there, I began throwing almost 100 pieces per week and slowly introduced my pottery into my business.
Making candles was cool, but taking a ball of clay and turning it into a finished, glazed vessel felt primal and powerful. I began turning the clay vessels into reusable candles, which aligned with my personal sustainability goals and they quickly turned into my best selling products. As my ceramic skills advanced, I began creating planters, vases, ornaments and other decor items that have expanded my business into a home goods brand.
In 2023, I gave birth to my son, which caused a halt in my production as I shifted my focus to support my family. I pulled back from stores and temporarily closed my online shop until I felt more balanced in my new role as a Mom. In 2025 I was finally starting to get back into the groove…until a spinal injury left me unable to work. This September, I underwent spine surgery and have spent the last three months healing. NOW, I am slowly getting back on my pottery wheel and am re-entering my business with a brand new outlook.
Fleetwood Candle Co. is entering the new year with a focused goal, to offer slow made, high energy pieces that feel loud. They are a love letter to color and a true representation of real hands making unique gifts.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has definitely NOT been a smooth road.
When I started Fleetwood, I had zero understanding of running a small business. I loved making art, but I did not love filing taxes, tracking inventory, managing finances, etc.
There were so many learning curves along the way and profits were not always high enough to support business expansion. It’s a big risk to leave your stable career and hope that your art connects enough with people for them to spend their money on it. There are many moments of self doubt, imposter syndrome, competition and feeling like you’ve failed if numbers aren’t where you expected them.
Then there are also life obstacles, like babies and surgeries that come out of no where and take you in a completely different direction.
But, with all of these struggles comes the freedom of being your own boss, creating your own schedule and waking up every day happy instead of dreadful. In my opinion, the good outweighs the struggle by a long shot.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
To me, the easiest way to stand out is color.
I wear it, I study it, I live my life praising it. I’m not afraid of maximalism and when it comes to colors in my artwork, there’s definitely no shortage.
I think as we become adults we’re marketed products that are a little more muted and “mature” . This style often makes people afraid to dive into color because it could look childish or out of place, but it doesn’t have to!
By combining the raw elements of clay with vibrant hues of color, two opposite styles are being blended. The textured clay connects with the Earth tones of minimalist design while the bright color pallets spark joy for the lovers of maximalist style. I’d like my pieces to make people from both ends of this design spectrum to think “maybe this bright orange candle IS just the thing I need for my space”.
What sets me apart is that when I say my candles are completely handmade, I mean it.
Each one of my ceramic candles starts as a raw lump of clay. I throw this clay onto a spinning pottery wheel, mold it with my hands, trim it, glaze it and fire it. I then melt down candle wax, hand blend my own fragrances and fill the clay vessel with the candle wax I have mixed. From start to finish, every single part of the candle comes from my two hands and I take immense pride in this process.
I truly believe that handmade objects contain energy. I can look at a finished candle and remember what song I was listening to when I shaped it on the pottery wheel. I can hold a vessel and feel the excitement I felt the first time I saw it come out of the kiln. This energy passes through my hands and into my pieces, something that is impossible to transmit through a machine made product.

Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
My main piece of advice would be to throw yourself into as many “maker spaces” as possible.
When I moved to Denver I did not know anyone and deeply craved a community of artists to learn from. I began applying to every handmade shop I could find (and in Colorado, there’s ALOT).
I formed relationships with shop owners and hundreds of artists who also sold goods at these stores. I learned so much about setting up displays, getting into markets, business licenses and filing LLC’s, and all of it came from people just like me who were trying to turn art into their full time career.
While there can certainly be a bit of competition in these settings, there is also an immense amount of support and knowledge willing to be shared.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.etsy.com/shop/FleetwoodCandles
• Instagram: @fleetwoodcandles