The Lighthearted Story

I never intended to start a candle company.

I was a high school English teacher. I loved my job and was certain that I would retire from it.

But then I watched my first daughter meet my second daughter, and something shifted in me. I knew I could not go back to my job. In that moment, I realized just how precious and fleeting my time with my little girls would be.

My husband and I decided we would figure out how to make it work for me to stay home with them.

And in the space created by staying home with my girls, I began to create.

What started with making dog collars for a friend’s new shop eventually became a small collection of handmade goods that were close to my heart. I called my business Lighthearted because it captured the joy and gratitude I felt for the chance to be home watching my babies grow.

I tried a little bit of everything in those early days.

But the candles soon stood out as my favorite.

Candles Built Around the Little Things

When I created my first line of candles, I wasn’t trying to make fragrances that simply smelled good.

I wanted them to remind you of something.

A morning cup of coffee. Sharing a stack of pancakes with your family. Cutting flowers from the garden. Coming home after a long day and settling into the place where you feel most yourself.

Scent has an incredible ability to connect us to our memories — to people, places, seasons, and moments that make us feel most alive.

That idea became the heart of Lighthearted Candle Company.

We create fragrances that celebrate those little moments and bring a piece of them into your home.

Made by Hand. Drawn by Hand. Built by Family.

Lighthearted has grown quite a bit since those first handmade products, but the heart behind it hasn’t changed.

I still pour our candles by hand. I still sketch and paint the artwork that becomes our labels. New products are often dreamed up at our kitchen table, in the studio, at markets, or somewhere in the middle of everyday family life.

And while Lighthearted began with me, it has never really been something I’ve built alone.

My husband, Clayton, has been beside me through all of it, and our girls have grown up right alongside this business.

They are a huge part of why Lighthearted exists in the first place.

More Than Candles

As Lighthearted has grown, so has our hope for what this business can be.

We want to make beautiful things, of course. But more than that, we want to create something that brings joy into your home and feels meaningful.

Something that connects people.

Something that creates moments.

And, whenever we can, something that makes a small difference along the way.

Before Lighthearted, I spent six years teaching high school English. Books, stories, creativity, and imagination shaped so much of who I became. Now, as a mom and business owner, I get to watch those same things shape my daughters.

It has been a beautiful surprise to discover that the different chapters of my life were never quite as separate as I thought they were.

Teaching. Motherhood. Art. Fragrance. Storytelling. Community.

Somehow, they have all found their way into Lighthearted.

And that might be my favorite part of this story.

Thank you for being here, for supporting our family, and for celebrating the little joys of life alongside us.