Why are we even doing this?

February 27, 2018 2 Comments

Happy Day Everyone! Today I’m going to focus on why we started the candle company. I think it’s important to know WHY... it’s fundamental to understanding who we are.

So let’s start with the fact that we didn’t start this company... He did! It is God’s plan for us to be doing what we are doing and while it has taken almost 2 1/2 years to see WHY, I think we finally have the answer... but more about that in a minute. I’ll now tell you what steps took place to get us here.

I know there’s this great story on our website about me as interior designer providing candles for my clients and while all of that is true... there is much more to the story! When I decided to open our home decor retail store (also known as Oliver Henry), I was told by several of my large furniture suppliers that I needed a small priced item that would be disposable....something that would bring people into our store over and over again to walk past that sofa they didn’t even know they needed. It would be our hook to “catch” the eye of buyers. So... being the smart business woman I am 💁🏼... I listened to those who were much wiser than me in this category. I mean this whole retail stuff was new to me, I needed all of the help I could get. I decided candles would be my “hook”! Who doesn’t need a great candle in every space of their home... my clients sure did! I at least had that knowledge 😉.

So I began to search for someone who could private label for me... I also wasn’t going to put just any candle in my store... it had to be one that you could only find by visiting us (again, brilliant right? 💁🏼). With the help of one of my industry partners, I found a company to pour for us and it was working!! Everyone loved our candles and we had a following!! All the while, quality began to deteriorate... labels weren’t applied straight, wicks weren’t always centered, the fragrance wasn’t as evenly distributed as it could be and the wax started yellowing.

The product was no longer something I could live with and as I do in this world... if I think I can do it better...then that’s the answer... I’ll just do it myself! Yep, I (with the help of Andy) decided we would we start a company we know nothing about, I mean it’s just candles, it couldn’t be that hard, we’re smart people right?! Well, it was hard. The candle line spent just over a year in development before we ever placed our first candle on the shelf.

We wanted to do this right if we were going to do it... that’s why we started in the first place. It was a struggle. Financially, we had to put a lot into this... everything had to be purchased in large quantities that we weren’t expecting. We couldn’t just buy 100 containers to try this out, we had to buy 5000, and so on and so on. Emotionally, Andy and I started working very closely together on something we both were trying to figure out... neither of us had clear answers... causing much frustration... we’re "get it done now" type of people... not patiently wait for years for something good to develop... who does that?! Well... God does that! He has a plan that we have to trust in and wait for.

Bringing us to the clear WHY of this whole thing (or at least the part of it I can see for now). God has shown Andy and I that we are able to help others and here’s how we are going to do it! Starting now, (because this was literally revealed to us about three weeks ago), a portion of the proceeds from every candle sold will go to pay the power bills of others. It’s our “buy light, to give light” project. You can find out more about it here:

So that’s it! We/God started this business to help others while giving Andy and me something we can hold firm to and develop with our family. The candle company has a big future but more on that next time 😉...