We were lucky to catch up with Brandon & Katie Rivenbark recently and have shared our conversation below.

Brandon & Katie, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s start with a story that highlights an important way in which your brand diverges from the industry standard.

Our story really gets its beginning from candles. Candles have a cult following in general – they create a cozy atmosphere, elevate your space, and can form a nostalgic memory just from your sense of smell. The research we did before starting to make candles really alarmed us. The ingredients used in mass produced candles have been proven to be harmful and not so great to breathe in. When we embarked on the journey of becoming candlemakers, one thing was for certain and that was using premium ingredients that were not only incredible scent-wise, but that were safe for your family. To this day, all of our home fragrance products are made with fragrance oils free of phthalates, carcinogens, or other toxins. We use cotton wicks that do not contain zinc or other metals, and natural soy wax in our candles. We have pride in creating an aesthetically pleasing product that is also “clean”.

Brandon & Katie, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

We’re Brandon & Katie, the makers behind Rivenbark & Company. Our home fragrance brand was established in 2018 on the east coast in Wilmington, North Carolina. We met and started dating in high school and always loved giving each other gifts. Colognes/perfumes were always one of the things we loved to gift one another. Katie’s signature perfume was Chanel Chance and it sent a blanket of calmness over me when I would smell it. Burning candles was another thing we loved to do. Depending on the mood or season, we had a rotation of scents we would use. The sense of smell was always something that interested us – immediately thinking of the times we would go to the fair when you would smell sawdust, grandma’s house when she baked pies, fresh cut grass brought back memories of our first summer together, things like that. So eventually, after a ton of research and planning, we decided to try out candlemaking and creating our own scents.

What started with candles evolved into a luxury brand of home fragrance products including linen sprays, reed diffusers, car fragrances, lotions, and hand soaps. The primary goal behind our fragrances are to develop a scent that triggers a memory and really places you in an environment all based around a smell. All of our fragrance names were thoroughly thought out and created to transport you to another time or place by taking a deep breath in. We’ve worked alongside several businesses to create their own custom blends and products based on their brand. What sets Rivenbark & Co. apart is the design that goes into each individual item we sell in addition to the clean fragrance oils we create with. Our attention to detail adds an extra layer of luxury, that any consumer loves.

Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?

To this day, we still make every single product ourselves and handpour every candle. In the beginning, we were just starting out and making small batches of everything. We had an “office” at Brandon’s parents house that was basically an open air room with a huge table in the middle. We used to have hot plates and using a double boiler method, melt down just enough wax to pour a couple of candles in the scents we were trying out. Boy did we make mistakes, but we learned how to perfect our craft and not waste as much expensive fragrance oil and wax. With time, we have accumulated a ton of equipment and melt down 50lb boxes of wax at a time in a huge electric wax melter. Our studio now features a shipping station, desks, cooling and storage racks, and industrial stainless steel tables. Quite the upgrade!

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Social media and networking has made an incredible impact. We love meeting new people at our popups and kindling relationships with our consumers. Wilmington is a huge community, but it is just that – community. We see the same faces coming out to support out small businesses and it is so heartwarming. Your customer is more than a number and we remind them of that with every interaction. Small gestures, hand written notes, social media presence, etc. It all makes the difference.

Contact Info:

• Website: rivenbarkco.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/rivenbark.co
• Facebook: facebook.com/rivenbarkco
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/rivenbark-and-co-wilmington

Image Credits
Allison Eding of Lightbloom Photography and Brandon Rivenbark