Candace Cameron Bure, an accomplished businesswoman, actress, producer and director, serves as a role model for aspiring actresses and aspiring entrepreneurs. Most know her from her staple characters on the Hallmark Channel, Full House and Fuller House. However, for over a decade, she has built a reputable brand behind the camera through an array of successful entrepreneurial endeavors, including Candy Rock Entertainment, iCandy Productions and Candache. Additionally, she’s established prominent partnerships domestically and internationally, including DaySpring and CookCraft.
“It’s been my whole life,” Cameron Bure states. “I have always had that entrepreneurial spirit. I’ve always been a very driven person. I took a 10-year break from acting to stay home and raise my kids. I am so glad that I chose that and would not change a thing about it. But, at the same time, I could not wait till the day I was able to go back to work because I never stopped thinking about it.”
Cameron Bure’s launch into fame came in 1987 with her break out role as DJ Tanner in Full House. Although she starred in a few productions when TGIF’s favorite family wrapped up in 1995, Cameron Bure took a hiatus in the late 1990s to raise her family. Entering back in the spotlight, Cameron Bure strategically entered into partnerships with brands aligned with her values and lifestyle. “It has to be 100% authentic for me,” she explains. “That’s the first criteria. Do I actually use this product? Is this something that is real that I love?”
More recently, in 2018, DaySpring, the world’s largest Christian-message product provider acquired by Hallmark Cards, Inc. in 1999, announced a multi-year licensing partnership with Cameron Bure. The line includes multi-category, faith-based product formats focused on providing consumers with products that will help them live and express their faith and represent their interest in strong family values. They recently launched a new curated collection Love Over All. The products’ line was created to encourage, bring hope, remind us to love one another and feature modern designs and meaningful messages.
“I’ve dreamed of having this lifestyle brand and collection of products that share my faith, share inspirational messages that are kind, that are positive, but that are also aesthetically pleasing and contemporary,’ she states. “That was the whole reason why I have been wanting to do this and then partnered with DaySpring several years ago. The Love Over All collection is based on Colossians 3:14. That verse tells us to put on all these different virtues, put on compassion and gentleness and kindness and patience, and forgive one another. But, above all, these things put on love because it binds these virtues in unity.” The brand will be launching a Christmas collection in November with an expansion into retail stores in 2021.
As Cameron Bure pivoted into her new role as an entrepreneur, she found it difficult managing work-life balance. She strived to put her family first, but at the same time, she knew that to build and create a successful brand, she would have to put in the hours and grind. “That was my biggest struggle,” she comments, “especially when my kids were younger. When I decided to go back to work, I turned down quite a bit of jobs because I knew they weren’t good for that very reason earlier in my career.”
Besides starting her own companies, she’s also a New York Times Best Selling author and has now added producing and directing credits to her portfolio. “Producing has come quite naturally,” Cameron Bure shares. “I like making decisions. Ever since I’ve been on set even as a kid, but especially when I came back in my early 30s as an adult, every time I was on set, I’m always looking at it from a producing point of view…I realized it was the natural progression for me to go into producing and produce all the movies that I’ve done.” Over the past couple of years, her production company has expanded. She and her team are producing several movies where Cameron Bure serves strictly as the producer. She was able to direct her first episodes of Fuller House with her television family, which gave her a sense of security.
Becoming an entrepreneur takes grit, determination and perseverance. Cameron Bure shares the following essential steps for anyone looking to transition to entrepreneurship:
- Believe in your vision and purpose. Only you know where you want to go. Stay the course.
- Know who you are and what you’re creating. There will be people who will tell you that you won’t be able to accomplish it. You have to believe in yourself more than anyone else.
- Stand your ground and fight for what you want. Don’t take the first, second or third ‘no’ as an answer.
“I’ve had a 40-year career,” Cameron Bure concludes. ” I feel like I hit my sweet spot in the last few years, which is remarkable. I look back at all the things I’ve accomplished and pinch myself. Sometimes people think it just happens overnight or that you just got lucky. That’s always the part where I want to list off my resume because I want to say, ‘this didn’t happen overnight. It’s been 40 years of really hard work.'”
