About  Us

Hand-poured from scratch. Literally.

I didn't start Candles By Chris because I had a business plan. I started it because I needed something — anything — that felt like forward motion.

About four years ago, I got seriously hurt at work. A neck injury that doctors told me would likely end my working life as I knew it. For someone who had always been the person everyone counted on, the one who showed up and handled things, being told I couldn't do 80% of what I used to do was devastating. I didn't know who I was without that.

What followed was a long stretch of closed doors. Job after job, nothing stuck. I eventually landed something at a wing restaurant — a manager there, a former Marine, saw something in me and built a role around what I could actually do. I worked there for about three months. Then they let me go. Kept the younger guys who already had other jobs and places to live. I went home and told Kristie. I didn't have the words for how low I felt that night.

The next morning I went back on the job sites for exactly one day. Then I said forget it.

I don't know exactly why I landed on candles. I think it was something I'd carried in the back of my mind for a long time — this idea that someday I'd try making them. With my last $250, I ordered some starter kits and got to work. My first attempt was LML — lilac, magnolia, and lavender. I showed it to twelve people. All twelve said they would have bought it. That was the moment I knew I was onto something real.

I started with seven scents. Narrowed it to five — a few of the others were too expensive to produce without cutting corners, and I'd rather offer less and do it right. I began selling one or two candles at a time and reinvesting everything back into the next batch. Then my settlement from the injury came through, and I was able to upgrade the whole operation: better supplies, better process, better everything.

Here's what I use, because I think you deserve to know: organic soy wax sourced from a supplier in West Virginia, all-natural cedar wicks, and fragrance oils from P&J Trading Company. Every candle is 7.5 ounces, hand-poured, and $15. No shortcuts, no cheap substitutes.

Every scent is a mood. LML is the one that started everything — soft, floral, spring. Citrus Sunshine is for the days when you need energy in a room. Pacific Twilight is for the evening you want to disappear into. Summer Garden is the backyard in bloom. Tropical Escape is the vacation you haven't booked yet.

None of this would exist without Kristie. From the logo to the color scheme to every moment I wasn't sure whether to keep going — she was there. She is my Amazing Gorgeous Goddess and without her Candles By Chris wouldn't exist. The promise I made to her to give her and Rori a good life is what drives and fuels me, cause I always keep my promises. Candles By Chris is my business, but it is also, in every real way, ours.

And then there's Rori. Our daughter. The VP of this whole operation — and I mean that seriously. Rori is non-verbal and uses a wheelchair, but don't let that fool you for a second. She communicates in ways that matter more than words ever could: a look, an expression, a shift in her whole presence. When Rori lights up, you know you got it right. When it's wrong you know as well — a crinkled nose, a foul look, a heavy sigh. She's really the one that runs the show. Nothing gets done without the VP's approval....Nothing.

Kristie is the heart. Rori is the soul. And I'm the engine that drives it all.

I'm still figuring this out as I go. The website is new. The brand is new. But the candles are real, and the story behind them is real, and I think that counts for something.

If you've read this far, thank you. Go take a look at what we've got. I think you'll find something you love.