Meet Olivia Abt | Artisan Candle Maker

We had the good fortune of connecting with Olivia Abt and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Olivia, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
As candle lovers ourselves, we constantly were finding new ways to repurpose used candle vessels. What fascinated us was how timeless they were, being used before electricity as a means to see in the dark, whereas now they are more used for self care, relaxation, & spiritual practices. We thought, instead of jumping through creative hoops to repurpose the vessels, wouldn’t it be great to create a candle that could easily be refilled in our own home. This led us down the rabbit hole of creating our first ceramic prototype, as well as figuring out how to pour our refills so they can work reliably in each one of a kind vessel. From there we also realized that we wanted to make the cleanest & lowest impact candles on the market, from our supply chains to giving back to social & environmental causes we believe in. Not to mention owning your own business gives you the ability to make your own hours, so we may not be rich, but we love our time that we get to spend outdoors whether it be surfing when the waves are good or hiking & camping.

What should our readers know about your business?
Initially the focus was on creating value through innovation of an everyday product. As ferocious consumers ourselves, we decided upon candles as the mechanism through which to imbibe those values. From there we took on a stance of constant improvement. Not through the lens of harsh criticism, in fact we try to celebrate even the smallest of wins, but just knowing that we are never done and that the product is never perfect and we are never perfect is the operating philosophy. A good friend who was in a similar position to us once said that you get out what you put in. This may seem like a cliche bumper sticker or platitude, but in fact is has been our mantra. We can often go to places in our minds and shoot down our best ideas, saying to ourselves, “why even try, this isn’t going to work”. When instead, if you can turn the volume on that down somewhat and focus on what you can do to improve the brand RIGHT NOW, you truly do get out what you put in. It has been our experience that luck really does happen when preparation meets opportunity. The opportunities you cannot really control, but you can control your preparation. Making 5 more pieces, sending a few more emails, going out of our way to genuinely thank a customer for their order, these are all examples of putting in. And it has also been our experience that the more we do and the more we show up the more our customers love and reward us for that.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
We would most definitely have to hit some of our favorite spots to eat and drink in Asbury! Lunch at CRDNAL, a morning coffee at Cafe Volan, and morning smoothie at Pulp. There are so many amazing eateries in town R – Bar for the best cheese plates and insane cocktails, The Galley for some of the best pizza or our favorite Ethiopian food spot Adas Gojo.

Besides foodies we are avid surfers! We would take our friends surfing, out on the hobie cat and if they were feeling very adventurous mike would take them free diving and spear fishing! We would also most likely hit Island Beach State Park for a long beach day with a good sandwich and hopefully some fun waves.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would have to say, when we had our initial prototype in a glass jar with a label that Mike created himself on Adobe Illustrator, I was not so sure this was going to take off. I would have to say that my mom Michele completely changed our lives when she taught us some basic pottery handbuilding techniques. This enabled us to create our own vessels instead of having to import them from overseas. This also helped set us apart aesthetically, while also being a great material for temperature fluctuation through refills over time.

The other game changer for Mike was reading Let My People Go Surfing by Patagonia Founder Yvon Choinard. This gave us a roadmap for being a low impact sustainable company focusing on quality handmade products.

Website: https://lovelighthandmade.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lovelight_handmade/