March is National Women’s History Month! March 8th is International Women's Day, a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. We celebrate everyday that The Candle Pour is a female-owned business located in Hyde Park Village in Tampa, Florida.

We would like to introduce you to Misty Akers, she is the founder of The Candle Pour, a wife and mom to two little angels. Misty grew up in Ruskin, Florida and attended the University of South Florida where she was student-athlete on the softball team and graduated with a Business Degree. She then went on to graduate school at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas to pursue a master’s degree in Sport & Leisure Service Management.  School, sports, and balancing life is a challenge at any age but, Misty always had the drive within her to be successful & excel at everything she does.  

She began her career in Las Vegas, where she served as a single location sales consultant for a franchisee with Ideal Image.  Within a year, she was promoted to a manager, then the Regional Sales and Operations Manager for the west coast locations.  The following year, she was offered the position as the National Sales & Operations Manager at the corporate office in Tampa, Florida.  During her time working in a corporate environment, she gained an incredible amount of business experience & had several mentors that provided great guidance and education for her career.  Her teams were highly successful in sales and operations and experienced a rapid growth over the next several years.

While thriving in the corporate atmosphere, Misty has always had an entrepreneurial spirit she learned from her father, Sonny, who was a successful entrepreneur in the farming industry.  She took a step back from Corporate America, after she and her husband Dennis were married and began their family together.  After having their first child, The Akers’ decided to begin a new business concept in Tampa and The Candle Pour brand was born!

Misty has always had the drive and ambition of a strong successful woman. She has over 15 years of business experience in sales and operations. One of her biggest passions in life is providing opportunities for others to grow & be empowered.

We want to honor our female-founder, and all the fierce females in history who paved the way for future generations of women to have more opportunities and rights than they themselves were afforded.  Many worked tirelessly and risked everything to fight for equality and civil rights for women.    

For the month of March, we are featuring a limited edition 12oz Matte Black candle vessel etched with an inspirational quote by the great Maya Angelou.  We are proudly donating 25% of every candle sold to University of South Florida Bulls Club, Stampede for Women. USF Athletics Stampede for Women was founded to help support USF’s 10 women’s athletic programs and provide opportunities including scholarships & career development opportunities for the 200+ female student-athletes.  As a former student-athlete, Misty understands the unique challenge that athletes face once their athletic career comes to an end.  She explained that college athletes are not able to gain work experience or do internships like other students due to the time constraints their sport requires.  Female athletes also face the reality of their athletic career coming to an end due to the limited number of professional sports available to women.  “You graduate feeling behind everyone else and lost, because of the lack of experience in the workforce,” she explained. “This program provides much needed financial support & guidance for female athletes to have more opportunities as they get closer to beginning their careers.”

Misty is incredibly excited about partnering with USF’s Stampede for Women and hopes that our community will support by purchasing one of our limited-edition candles or donate to support the female-athletes and programs at the University of South Florida.

Please join us as we celebrate the amazing women from the past, present, and future.