To celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month (AAPI), we are highlighting local AAPI small business owner + community member Glenda La Rue. Glenda is a Filipina American born in Virginia and living with her family in Johns Island.

She moved to the Lowcountry in 2012 to lead a program at The Citadel encouraging young women to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering + math. Glenda founded the Charleston STEM Festival to celebrate these fields — an annual event that began in 2014.

In 2015, Glenda started a small business with her husband, Jeff La Rue, creating custom candles at farmers markets and breweries. The couple opened their first store — Palmetto Scent Studio — in Kiawah’s Freshfields Village in 2018 which offers pre-made + personalized candles, fragrances, and bath products. The second location opened last year in the French Quarter.

Today, Glenda spends time with her family + manages the 2 fragrance studios. According to her husband, Jeff, “Glenda has transformed her analytical background into an outlet for her creative expression while helping customers explore their own creativity.”