About Us
Our Story of Light in the Hallway
Romalite Empowerment was born from the quiet space between caregiving and purpose — when one chapter ended and we had to write the next ourselves.
We’re a mother-daughter team who found ourselves standing at what we now call “the graduation cliff”. After years of IEPs, support services, and a structured educational framework, we watched as all those resources suddenly ended the moment our daughter, who has Down syndrome, received her diploma.
This is the story of how we built something meaningful in the hallway between what was and what could be. A gentle business ecosystem created between caregiving moments, designed to light the way for others on similar paths.
The Graduation Cliff
The moment that changed everything and set us on this path.
When my daughter Erica graduated from high school with her special education diploma, we celebrated her incredible achievement. Erica has Down syndrome, and this milestone represented years of advocacy, determination, and support.
What we didn’t realize was that the very next day, nearly all the support systems that had carried us for 19 years would suddenly vanish. The structured days, the IEP meetings, the transition planning — it all ended abruptly, leaving us standing at what we now call “the graduation cliff.”
Adult services had years-long waiting lists. Employment supports were minimal. The daily rhythm that had given our lives structure disappeared overnight. Erica was home with me full-time, and I had eventually left my position previously to focus on her needs and our health.
We were adrift, both of us searching for purpose in days that suddenly felt formless. As a caregiver, I had defined myself through advocacy for nearly two decades. Erica had defined herself as a student. Now we both stood in an unfamiliar landscape, asking: What next?
“The graduation cliff isn’t just about services ending. It’s about identity shifting. Who are we when the roles we’ve played for decades suddenly change?”
Finding Light in the Hallway
The first candle I made was purely therapeutic. I needed something to do with my hands during the long, quiet afternoons while Erica napped. I found an old candle-making kit in the craft closet — a gift from years before that I’d never had time to open.
I poured that first candle with no intention beyond filling time. But as I worked, something shifted. The methodical process, the focus on creating something beautiful and useful — it felt like a metaphor for what we were trying to build in our lives.
That evening, I lit the candle and journaled about our day. Something about the gentle light made the writing flow more easily. I found myself exploring not just our challenges, but possibilities I hadn’t considered before.
Over the next months, candle-making became my anchor. While Erica worked with her speech therapist or enjoyed her favorite shows, I experimented with scents and containers. I created a small ritual around each new candle — lighting it while setting an intention for what I wanted to create in our lives.
From Personal Ritual to Shared Light
How a therapeutic practice became a purpose-driven business.
The first time I shared one of my candles was with another mother at Erica’s dance class. She commented on how calming the scent was, and I explained my ritual of pairing the candle with intention-setting and journaling.
“I would buy that,” she said simply. “The candle, but also the ritual. Especially if it came with journal prompts for caregivers.”
That conversation planted a seed. What if the practices that were helping me navigate this transition could help others too? What if my experience could become a light for someone else standing at their own graduation cliff?
I began creating intentional candle and journal pairings. Erica helped with labeling, finding joy in helping and adding handwritten notes. We started creating more scents, then built a simple website.
Candles with Purpose
Hand-poured candles created with intention, designed to light specific transitions and practices in your journey.
Digital Resources
Workbooks, templates, and guides for building your own faceless brand and purpose-driven business on your own terms.
Gentle Community
A supportive space for caregivers and purpose-seekers to connect, share wisdom, and build something meaningful together.
We named our tiny venture Romalite® — a combination of (Roma) for Aroma and (Roma) also has a meaning of wandering spirit and “light.” Because that’s what we were creating: light in the hallway between what was and what could be.
Our first digital product was the journal I had created for myself, refined and expanded with prompts specifically for caregivers navigating transitions. We paired it with our “Becoming” candle, creating a complete ritual experience.
What surprised me most was how this work began healing something in both of us. Erica found purpose in her role with the business. I discovered that my experience as a caregiver had given me insights and skills that were genuinely valuable to others.
Our Approach
How we build and what makes our business ecosystem unique.
Building Between Moments
We create between caregiving moments, honoring the interrupted nature of our days. This isn’t a limitation — it’s our strength. It means everything we build is designed with intention and care, never rushed or forced.
Ritual Pairing
We believe in the power of ritual to transform everyday moments into sacred pauses. Our unique ritual pairing concept combines physical products (like candles) with digital resources to create multi-sensory experiences that deepen your connection to purpose.
Faceless With Heart
We embrace a faceless approach to business building, creating meaningful connection without the pressure of constant visibility. This isn’t about hiding — it’s about creating appropriate boundaries that make entrepreneurship possible alongside caregiving.
Gentle Growth
We believe in growing slowly, organically, and sustainably. Our business expands at a pace that honors our primary caregiving responsibilities. This gentle approach ensures everything we create is aligned with our values and truly serves our community.
Our Mission
“To create light in the hallways between caregiving and entrepreneurship, providing gentle guidance and practical tools for those building purpose-driven businesses at their own pace.“
We believe that caregivers possess unique gifts, insights, and perspectives that the world needs. Our mission is to help you transform your caregiving experience into purpose-driven offerings that serve others while honoring your primary role.
Through our candles, digital resources, blog content, and upcoming membership community, we aim to light the way for others standing at their own graduation cliffs or transition points, helping you find purpose and possibility in the spaces between.
Our Values
The principles that guide everything we create and share.
Gentle Authenticity
We believe in being real without being raw. Sharing our truth in ways that serve rather than overwhelm, creating connection without sacrificing privacy or boundaries.
Caregiving First
We honor the primacy of caregiving relationships. Our business practices, content creation, and community spaces are designed to support rather than compete with these sacred responsibilities.
Meaningful Simplicity
We embrace simplicity not as a compromise but as a strength. Our offerings are intentionally streamlined to provide maximum value without overwhelming those with limited capacity.
Inclusive Accessibility
We create with accessibility in mind, ensuring our content and community spaces are welcoming to people of all abilities. We believe everyone deserves access to purpose and possibility.
Ethical Sustainability
We build sustainably — in our business practices, our product creation, and our personal capacity. We believe ethical business means honoring the wellbeing of people and planet.
Generous Wisdom
We freely share our insights and experiences, believing that wisdom grows when it’s given away. Our content aims to genuinely serve, never withholding value to create artificial scarcity.
Looking Forward
Romalite has grown slowly, gently, between the rhythms of our care-centered life. Some days, Erica needs more support, and work pauses entirely. Other days, we find flow and create together for hours.
We’ve expanded beyond our initial offerings to create resources specifically for other caregivers wanting to build purpose-driven businesses that work with — not despite — their caregiving responsibilities.
Looking forward, we’re developing our Purpose Pathway membership — a gentle community for caregivers building something meaningful at their own pace. We’re also expanding our candle collection and digital resources, always with the goal of creating light in the hallways between caregiving and entrepreneurship.
We invite you to join us on this journey. Whether you’re standing at your own graduation cliff or any major transition in your caregiving journey, we want you to know: there is light ahead, even if you can’t see it yet.
A Personal Note
Dear fellow caregiver and purpose-seeker,
Thank you for taking the time to learn about our story. In sharing it, I hope you’ve found echoes of your own experience — the challenges, the unexpected gifts, and the quiet determination to create meaning from it all.
Romalite isn’t just a business to us. It’s a testament to the light that can be found in even the darkest hallways. It’s proof that purpose can be built slowly, gently, between the sacred moments of caregiving.
Whether you’re here for our candles, our resources, or simply because something in our story resonated with you, I want you to know: you’re not alone on this path. Your experience matters. Your constraints aren’t limitations — they’re the very soil from which your unique purpose can grow.
With care and gratitude,
The Romalite Team