We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Marike Anderson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Marike, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.
Every year I hold a women’s Winter Solstice retreat. I decided I wanted to create a candle for the event to symbolize the coming of light in the darkness. Though I did not figure out the process in time for the retreat, I found the process of candle making soothing and was intrigued by the art of evoking mood and emotion through scent. Last May I held an art show called GRIEF to share works I painted to process the loss of my husband, Edwin. I made candles with my artworks on them. This was my first time making a large quantity of candles, and I realized it’s something I can do at home that fits in well with my life as a single mom. Bodhi, my son, enjoys making candles, and I can make batches in-between the many mom tasks of the day. My friend Pauly, who also owns a small business in Altadena, encouraged my to start selling the candles as a business. As a side note, the Beach Day candle was designed for him to smell like his surf wax. I started doing some research about local candle makers and was surprised to see that there wasn’t someone already making candles as Altadena Candle Company. Altadena is full of artisans and I was sure the name would be claimed. I felt a huge sense of responsibility using the name Altadena Candle Company to make high quality candles that capture the beauty and unique spirit of Altadena. Collaborating with local businesses to design special candles for them was part of my vision, and I’m excited to say that I’m doing that now.
A deeper inspiration to commit wholeheartedly to a local business, was a reaction to a national social & political climate and economic reality that has felt confusing, disheartening, and committed to atomization of communities. I started the company in September, and after the election in November, I decided to focus on living hyper locally in the Altadena community that I love and resonate with, one that celebrates inclusivity and creativity. I said to myself in November, “I am fully committing myself to Altadena.” Obviously the irony is that a significant portion of my community was ravished by fire a month or so later and I was displaced geographically. Interestingly enough, I have found more and deeper connections with fellow Altadenans since, from those still there and those of us in the current diaspora. My candle company is a conduit to collaborate with locals, to provide meaningful gifts or little pieces of home. It’s the connection I was craving, though developed through an event more devastating that I could have ever imagined.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
One element of my brand is to be centered in community, to reflect the natural beauty of Altadena and to collaborate with people from the area to create candles for their own brand or important life events. I want to be a local craftsperson that people can go to to create something special or call last minute for gifts that they know people will love. I’ve even created a candle set called Whisper Flame which is based on my own experience with grief and loss. I want it to be a candle to help someone feel loved in their deepest moments of loss. It is important to me that my brand feels personal, because it is.
Another element is that I am an artist. My recent background (since Covid) is in portrait painting. Visual art evokes certain emotions or moods. I’ve realized since making candles that it is an olfactory art, one that uses fragrance to evoke memories and emotions, and to elevate space to a particular mood. Though it’s not necessarily cost effective or efficient, I am constantly creating new candles as an exploration of what brings different people peace, joy, nostalgia, or any other number of other emotions. It’s a craft that allows me to (hopefully) make money while continuing to be creative and alive in my work.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
On January 7th the wind conditions in Altadena were so fierce that I decided to stay inside and focus on candle making. I was so excited by day’s end that I’d filled my candle rack with a rainbow of beautiful labeled candles. In the early evening I sent my 7-year old son to be with family because I thought the power would go out. By 8pm the wind was so strong I had to screw my back doors shut, and when I began to see fire from my back yard, I had a deep understanding that my house would be burning down that night. I called a friend from Topoanga who had evacuated many times and asked what to do. She said to take a video of the whole house for insurance, which I did, and to grab a few things that captured the essence of the house as I would not be able to take everything. I walked around packing things and then taking them out of the bag, thinking things could be replaced later. In the end, I grabbed some paintings, my husband’s urn, and my son’s bedding. I thought to take my candle making materials, a proud collection of fragrance oil, tools, and freshly finished candles; but in the end I left it all there along with almost everything that amounted to my life. I picked up my son and we went to my mom’s in North Pasadena. At some point around 3 or 4am, my neighbor called to say he was abandoning ship; our houses were on fire. We were evacuated from North Pasadena by police at 5am, exiting through an armageddon like cloud of smoke. We went to my brother’s house a little ways east and after a short cry at the dining room table, my nephew said, “Auntie Marike, your house probably smelled really good when it was burning down,” I had a good laugh, and that was the start of this new era of life and new phase for my candle company.
It’s not lost to me that candles involve a flame and I’m a company named after a town that’s just burned down. It speaks to the many elements of nature that can both be harnessed for our survival or devastate us without mercy. Though candles can seem mundane today, summoning fire is a ritual that connects to something deep within us, something primal.
I started reordering candle supplies the night after the fire as I laid awake in my brother’s guest room, my son sleeping at my side. I wanted to make Altadena candles for people who, like me, were scattered to some place unfamiliar or unchosen. I needed a sense of purpose in a moment of almost complete powerlessness. We moved into a new place a couple weeks later, a small two-bedroom apartment. In one room I began to assemble my supplies, and soon enough was back to making Altadena Candle Company candles.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
My background is public education. I taught at Pali High in the Palisades for 9 years, and then was an assistant principal at an LAUSD high school for for 7 years. I loved my work and still talk with students that were in my class 20 years ago. When I was six months pregnant, my husband, Edwin, was diagnosed with heart and kidney failure. A month later he had a stroke and lost peripheral vision and his ability to drive. He started dialysis two weeks before our son Bodhi was born. When we brought back Bodhi from the hospital, both he and Edwin were wearing hospital wristbands, each for their own reasons. The stress of becoming a mom, working full time (I went back after six weeks), and caring for my husband had me in a fragile mental and physical state. It’s an amount of pressure I barely survived. When Edwin passed away three years later, I knew I could no longer handle the demands of my career and I went on leave and eventually resigned.
I had started painting portraits when Covid shutdown happened. People were surprised as I had never in my adult life expressed any artistic side. That year I painted 20 portraits, many which were commissions. Edwin was an animator, but had a background in fine arts. He spent that year coaching me in painting techniques. My 20th painting, which he did not help me with, was a portrait of him holding a giant bouquet of sunflowers. A month later he passed away.
Shortly after Edwin’s passing, an animator friend of his called to say that I need to start painting. I replied, “What am I going to do? Paint myself in the fetal position?” Yes, he said, do that. So began a journey of painting my grief through a series of portraits that helped me heal. Last May I held a show in downtown LA sharing 15 works. The previous year I had taught myself how to make candles as a side project. For the show I made candles with the artworks on them with fragrances that captured the essence of each painting. I liked that I could make candles throughout the day in the kitchen while taking care of Bodhi and various other tasks of the day. I also loved that power of different fragrances to evoke different emotions.
The response to my candles was positive, and a friend in Altadena who owns a small business encouraged me to start selling them. By last August I decided to call myself Altadena Candle Company. Really from then it’s been a whirlwind journey to say the least. I am also painting again and organizing an art show for Altadena artists to share the ways they are processing the fire and its aftermath through creative expression. I hope to hold that in August in Altadena.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.altadenacandleco.com
- Instagram: @altadenacandlecompany
- Other: Instagram art page @marike_creates
Image Credits
Peter Borrud took the photo of me in front of the house.