AN UNEXPECTED SPARK: HOW LARRABEE WAS BORN

When Your Closet Stages an Intervention

My journey to creating a candle company wasn't a straight line; it was more like a game of drunk connect-the-dots. Larrabee was a happy accident, years in the unintentional making.

The pivotal moment was a spring cleaning intervention—my packed closet was about to reveal what had been hiding for almost a decade. Behind an archaeological layer of MTV swag and a now entombed, but meticulously archived CD collection, I re-discovered boxes of candle-making supplies—survivors of an old craft class and abandoned handmade holiday gift ambitions. They'd been patiently waiting while I chased my storytelling dreams through the labyrinth of television production.

Jeffrey (Your Candlemaker) & Betty White (K9 Comrade)

Plot Twist: When Reality TV Gets Too Real

Television producing had been my dream job—until it wasn't. The reality of reality TV felt increasingly uncomfortable, a values-mismatch-fueled unraveling (to borrow a phrase from Brené Brown). To put it bluntly, I was over that bull**it!

The Accidental Aroma-therapist

Amidst this unraveling, I found myself in my makeshift candle studio, surrounded by ancient supplies and a determination born of a need for distraction. The first pour was a disaster—sinkholes in the wax, a wick off-center, and the scent all wrong. But there was something mesmerizing about watching liquid transform into solid, chaos into order. While my TV career crumbled, I found peace in the precise measurements, the careful pouring, and the subtle art of blending fragrances. My little workspace became an accidental laboratory where failures were experiments and successes smelled like hope. It was in that space that I truly became a candle maker.

The first few batches of Larrabee Handcrafted candles

From "Thanks, I Made It!" to "You Should Sell These!"

The transition from hobby to business wasn't a lightning bolt moment. It was a slow burn, sparked by friends whose reactions went beyond polite appreciation into genuine excitement. "You have to sell these" became a persistent chorus, and suddenly the idea didn't seem so crazy. Like the mountains surrounding LA that only emerge clearly after a big rainfall, some opportunities become visible only after we’ve weathered the storm.

Bottling Lightning (And Other Happy Accidents)

From the beginning, I followed my nose, not market trends, creating scents that told stories. Each Larrabee candle became a bottled memory, from the smoky incense of my first "Midnight Mass" (a fragrance that captures the hushed reverence of Christmas Eve)

Midnight Mass Candle inspired by my first midnight mass as a kid.

to the warm vanilla and evergreen embrace of "Snowridge" (inspired by childhood adventures at my family's Christmas tree farm).

Snowridge Candle inspired by my family's Christmas tree farm

When Stories Add New Chapters

What started as personal nostalgia evolved into a shared experience. And unlike a book or a movie, these fragrant tales refuse to be contained by a single narrative. They’re living things, constantly gathering new layers. The scents and stories behind the candles had revealed their power to spark human connection.

Over time, fresh chapters have been added to these scent stories, including a revelation that recently blindsided me. It involves an iconic New Jersey factory, its controversially delayed implosion, and its surprising connection to the very first Larrabee candle. (Hint: it involves a very specific smell.)

The first Larrabee scent created, Get Baked Candle

Intrigued? Explore the full Larrabee collection and discover your own bottled memories. Find your story.

-Jeffrey
Your candlemaker