Mary Propes, CEO of MVP Group International, addressed CSU students receiving bachelor of arts and bachelor of science degrees.

Propes currently employs six Charleston Southern graduates and serves on the University’s Board of Visitors. She is a firm believer that God uses every day, ordinary people, and His timing is always right.

MVP Group International is the parent company for numerous divisions, including Olde South Candle Company and Carolina Candle. Propes’ journey to international business woman began when she was trying to create jobs in a small, economically depressed Kentucky county.

As the director of the Chamber of Commerce in Mayfield, Ky., a town of 10,000, Propes began looking around for ways to create jobs in the rural area. After researching, she decided that food processing, agriculture or both would benefit the area. She contacted the top 10 chicken processors in the country. Number seven came, looked and built. “It was the most successful new agriculture start up plan in the world, then my phone started ringing,” said Propes.

Her experience led to consulting jobs for companies such as Perdue, Cagles, Claxton, Avian Farms, Sara Lee, Jamaican Broilers and Charoen of Bangkok.

She had one son graduating from college and another son about to enter college. Propes said, “I kept thinking passive income, passive income as my health was not the greatest, and I knew I would always have to work to make a living.”

Propes talked her friend, Bobby Turner, into selling her an old building, contract for deed. “The problem was it was a wreck, it had been storage for the scrap from the t-shirts (Bobby owned a clothing company that made t-shirts.) which were bagged and all the way to the ceiling and moldy from the leaky roof. We creatively got rid of the rags and were left with a whole wall, floor to ceiling, of baby food jars. This was the beginning of MVP Group International, and we didn’t even know it,” said Propes.

She said, “I tried everything to get rid of those (jars).” With the help of family, friends and neighbors, Propes and her crew filled all the baby food jars with blue wax, all the same scent, all poured from metal Kool-Aid pitchers. “We sold all, 250,000 plus, to Garry Tittle with Value City Department Store. They called back and said they would buy all we could produce,” said Propes.

Propes was suddenly in the candle business.

Today MVP, headquartered in Charleston, is the largest private label candle company in the world; the family is in multiple businesses including textiles, marble and granite fabrication and is part of the group that just bought Eclipse jet.

The University awarded Propes an honorary doctor of commerce.

Propes had a commemorative candle for graduates to pick up with their diplomas. The commemorative candle included the Bible passage Matthew 5:16 which read, “In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”