Listen for the whisper
Find Esperanza Jimenez’s candles at the Oceano Seabreeze Market (410 Air Park Drive) on May 30 and at the Route One Farmers Market. Discover all her products online by visiting whisperingwoodsboutique.com and on Instagram @whisperingwoodsboutique.
The warmth of a yellow flame. The crackles of a wooden wick. The enchantment of a scented candle.
That’s what Esperanza Jimenez thinks about as she pours wax into empty vessels for Whispering Woods Boutique, her COVID-19 hobby turned small business. She sells candles, glass tumblers, bookmarks, and other goods that evoke a similar coziness.
“The vibe that I try to bring in is just a sense of comfort and calm, like the peace and warmth when you light that candle, or a hot cup of coffee in the morning watching the sun rise,” Jimenez said. “Those are the kind of moments that I want to capture in our products.”
Find it all in her online shop or at the Route One Farmers Market and the May 30 Oceano Seabreeze Market. Jimenez said she’s hoping to soon sell candles at Lompoc’s One Room Escapes and Coffee, too.
The hobby followed Jimenez from her native Maryland to Florida to the Vandenberg Space Force Base in Lompoc.
‘That moment of just sitting down, lighting a candle, hearing it crackle in the back while reading a book is really comforting and cozy and kind of calms the mind and the body.’
—Esperanza Jimenez, owner and candle maker
“I have always been candle and book obsessed,” she said with a laugh.
Today the business owner’s house is lined with samples from Whispering Woods’ three main candle collections: Chapters of Desire, Sweet Nothings, and Where the Land Breathes. The themes inform the scents, going down the line from woodsy and masculine to coffee and caramel to floral and breezy. She tests each scent to make sure the recipe is perfect before releasing them to buyers.
The candlemaker’s favorite collection is Chapters of Desire. With romantic scents like Sacred Bond and Whispers After Dark, any jar from the five-candle grouping is perfect for a warm night tucked away.
After becoming a mom, Jimenez realized she took those coveted minutes with a book and a candle for granted.
“That moment of just sitting down, lighting a candle, hearing it crackle in the back while reading a book is really comforting and cozy and kind of calms the mind and the body,” Jimenez said.
Before that can happen, Jimenez is hard at work. She sticks each wick inside a warmed vessel before pouring in the hot wax and fragrance. Everything must cool before Jimenez releases any air bubbles that got stuck, but then the candles sit for two weeks to make sure the scent is fully trapped inside.
“You have to have the right wick to wax to vessel to fragrance ratio,” Jimenez said. “There was a lot of testing my candle fragrances for that.”
The first three candles she started selling—rose, lavender, and jasmine—are still her top sellers. Occasionally Jimenez puts seasonal offers on her website, too.
She and her husband moved to Lompoc almost four years ago, and she’s been working her way into the community since then. The artisan said it was challenging to find her place at first because of how small the town is. As she’s gotten to know more neighbors, she said everyone has been nice and supportive, especially at makers markets.
“I also really love meeting new people and hearing what they like and what they think I should bring because I want to give back to the community as much as I can,” the business owner said. “When they tell me, ‘Hey, I want to smell a cherry scent.’ I’m most likely going to bring in a seasonal collection, a cherry scent.”
One particularly popular new offering is a blind date with a book. Jimenez bundles a gently used surprise novel with a pen, sticky notes, and a highlighter. She sells them by genre, and it’s quickly become a top seller in Lompoc. At the moment, readers can enjoy thriller and dark romance genres, but Jimenez is hoping to bring in a self-help category.
Everything Jimenez sells aims to remind busy customers to slow down and take a breath. The vendor balances parenting, running a small business, and earning her bachelor’s degree, but at the end of the day she knows what’s waiting for her: a candle and a good book. She invites everyone to join in.
Highlights
• The Cabrillo High School Aquarium is hosting its last open house of the school year on May 20 from 6 to 8 p.m. See projects made by graduating seniors and all of this year’s additions. The aquarium is free to the public and is located at 4350 Constellation Road in Lompoc.
• Join Santa Ynez Valley Pride at the LA Dodgers Pride Night game on June 5. Tickets are on sale at syvpride.org and include a bus ride to the baseball stadium. Follow @syv.pride on Instagram for more.
Reach Staff Writer Madison White at mwhite@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in May 14 – May 21, 2026.
