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City Life spent a pleasant hour with Cardiff's organic candle guru, Spiro Gauci. Here, Spiro waxes lyrical about coffee, chocolate, hi-fi, Mediterranean food and even Greek music.
THE LAST WORD
Tell us a bit about yourself...
I am born and raised in Cardiff. One of three and I'm the middle one.
What do you do...
I own and run a small but wonderful organic candle business in Cardiff called Gauci Organic Candles. Visit my website at www.gaucicandles.co.uk - had to get the plug in!
We hand-make our candles here at our small workshop in Cardiff. No fancy packaging, just beautiful, organic candles. I have happy customers all over the UK and beyond.
We make green candles. We also make lots of other colours too but when I say 'green', I mean that our candles are environmentally friendly. We don't use paraffin or any other nasty chemicals. Our organic candles are all hand-made with soya wax. This is as green as candle-making gets and we're proud to be making them right here in Wales.
How long has the company been established?
Two years now.
What did you do before?
I ran a building company with my dad. I'm still involved with that too - so if you need some work doing.
What do you do when you're not working?
Resting and catching up with good friends. Going to the cinema - I like action movies but no chick flicks.
What do you like about Cardiff?
Cardiff is a fantastic place, lots to see and do - it's got great parks, fabulous cafés and coffee shops, bars and a good selection of restaurants. One of my favourite places is Cardiff Bay. It's always buzzing.
What do you do to relax?
Light a relaxing Gauci Organic candle of course (laughs). To be perfectly honest, I don't relax that much. My mind is constantly working on new ideas. You will see in my next range of candles to be launched in the spring. I like to meditate sometimes and a good blast in the dojo.
Do you have a pet hate?
Poor excuses - for anything.
Who do you admire?
The old tradesmen and craftsmen who built Cardiff's Cathedrals and other famous landmarks - the old stonemasons were true craftsmen. We've lost that and it's really sad. We should be bringing these skills back again - more vocational training and more apprenticeships.
Favourite music?
I like all types of music - even Greek! No offence to the Greeks.
Favourite food?
Mediterranean food is great; my wife is a fab cook. Having said that, I must say I do like a good curry! Not too hot though.
Favourite tipple?
A sneaky Vodka and Red Bull. I also like a good bottle of red wine occasionally.
What do you love/hate?
I'm a bit of a hi-fi freak - I love good speakers... so I suppose I hate bad speakers (laughs even more). Oh and paraffin candles.
I never leave the house without.
Locking the door. And like my dad always says, "Get some money in your pockets son!"
Sum yourself up in three words?
Happy, helpful and always optimistic!
I'm very good at...
Listening.
I'm very bad at...
Saying no to chocolate, and coffee... hmm... (starts to glaze over).
In a nutshell, my philosophy is.
If you think about something too long it will never happen. Don't think - just do it, deal with it and keep smiling.
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