Today we’d like to introduce you to Danielle Mccann

Danielle, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?

Our candle making journey started 3 and half years ago in January of 2021. Our daughter Rian was born with a very rare epileptic genetic disorder called CDKL5 Deficiency Disorder. She started having uncontrollable seizures at 3 months of age and at 8 months finally got her diagnosis. CDKL5 comes with developmental delays, cognitive impairment, visual impairment, feeding difficulties where most children have feeding tubes, heart problems, children are non verbal, and cannot walk. This neurological disease causes 24/7 care for our children.
In the fall of 2019 I had to leave my job as an Art Teacher to take care of Rian full time. My husband is Active Duty Military and we decided that this was the best thing for our daughter because we did not know how much time we had with her. We wanted to find a way to spread awareness about this unknown disorder and to spread the love that Rian shows us everyday. She is the light of our lives and what better way than to represent her than with a candle. Our main mission is all about Rian; advocating for her and raising awareness about her condition.
Fast forward to present day and we have grown so much as a small business. We were able to get the title ‘Service Disabled Veteran Owned’ company, to represent my husband. We have become a family run business where everyone pitches in to help. My father helps me at the craft fairs and does our local deliveries, my mother watches Rian, and my husband – a disabled veteran handles the packaging and shipping. We have over 65 scents in a variety of jars and vessels- some hand made by a local potter. Our candle sales have tripled and we now ship out across the US and parts of Europe. We have several large wholesale accounts across the US as well as local shops in our area. We offer candle making classes in home for private parties and at local businesses.
We ( as a business and family) have shared so much light and love on this unique corner of the special needs world. Once you educate people, you never know what it might lead to and shedding a little light and love about our little Rian is what we are all about.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?

These past 3.5 years have been an extremely bumpy road. From navigating how to run a small business all on your own with no background knowledge, to doing your business taxes on your own, working with a variety of different personalities and finding your space with them, is hard hard work. But our small business works through every challenge , every hiccup and it makes us a better business from all of that. When we first started in January of 2021, that February, Rian was admitted to the local PICU for a month and then transferred to Boston Childrens hospital. I had numerous orders that I had come in the DAY of her admittance and I panicked not knowing what to do as I had to stay with my daughter. Communicating with our customers and explaining our situation – everyone – even people whom we have never met were so understanding , and they all became part of our Rians community. We have had so many set backs from so many hospital stays with Rian- but our customers are the real mvps here because they stuck with us through all of it, strangers who we didn’t even know – showed us so much support -who are now our good friends. I am a firm believer that it takes a village – and it really does! Rians village gets bigger and bigger as each year goes on and we can only hope to continue that.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?

We are a small batch hand poured soy wax candle company who makes candles in a variety of different vessels. We specialize in a variety of scents from seasonal to specialty scents. We design our own labels and are always coming up with new ideas and fragrance combinations. Our scents are clean burning, non toxic and phthalate free. We make custom candles for all different types of events . We work with a local potter who creates custom designs for some of our jars and we love collaborating with local artists. We specialize in some ‘nordic themed’ candles as well as ‘locally themed’ themed candles and custom labels and scents.
We are most proud of how much advocating and spreading awareness about our daughters diagnosis. We have been sponsors at numerous events to support local and far events. What sets us apart from others is that we donate a portion of our sales to the International Foundation for CDKL5 Research. We believe research matters and any little bit helps our CDKL5 children for better treatments and therapies and hopefully one day to find a cure.

Any big plans?

Our plans for the future right now is to take everything day by day the best we can. There are so many unknowns in this world of Rian and CDKL5 that it is in our best interest to live in the moment and enjoy everyday the best we can. We are looking forward to spreading more awareness about CDKL5 to each and everyone that we meet.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.thelittlenorwegiancandleco.com
• Instagram: the little norwegian candle co
• Facebook: little norwegian candle co