Behind the Brand: The Story of California Handcrafted

Sometimes life doesn't go as planned — and sometimes, that’s exactly what you need.

In 2013, I was an IT executive at a major bank in Chicago when I was laid off. While it could’ve been a setback, it opened the door to something unexpected. My wife received a job offer from Disney, and we made the move to California in 2015. What followed was a decade of running a successful men’s lifestyle and travel blog called Suburban Men, where I had the chance to race BMWs on a track in Indio, camp under the stars in Joshua Tree, and even sit trackside in a million-dollar motorhome at the Talladega 500. It was a wild ride — but after ten years, it started to feel a little repetitive. I was ready for something new.

One night, my wife and I were watching YouTube, and we somehow ended up on a string of candlemaking videos. I joked, “I could do that.” She laughed. Challenge accepted.

I ordered supplies, poured a few test candles, and signed up for a local Etsy pop-up at the mall on Saturday, March 7, 2020. My candles were a hit. I was fired up, already planning my next show… then the world shut down four days later.

With nowhere to sell in person and everything on pause, I pivoted. I launched my Etsy store on July 13, 2020, and followed up with Amazon in October of that same year. In November 2021, I got my first wholesale order on Faire — from a shop called Duck Egg Blue in Lincolnshire, UK. Since then, my candles have been sold in all 50 states and 12 countries around the world. I’ve partnered with California State Park gift shops and Visit California to provide custom candles for conferences and events.

Every single candle — tens of thousands of them — has been wicked, poured, labeled, and shipped by hand, by me. It’s humbling. It’s surreal. And it’s proof that you don’t need a factory to build something real.

The biggest lesson I’ve learned? Don’t be afraid to fail. I’ve made some incredible decisions and some pretty rough ones, but I kept going. The business survived and grew just fine. If you’ve got a vision — and I had a crystal-clear one for what I wanted California Handcrafted to be — stick with it. Don’t let anyone shake that.

I’ve always insisted on quality — it’s why I transitioned from soy to coconut apricot wax: it burns cleaner, it’s healthier, and it’s more sustainable. We use recyclable cardboard, biodegradable packing peanuts, and kraft-paper bubble wrap. No plastics. No shortcuts. And yes, I think a bit of that Midwest customer service still comes through in everything we do.

I'll always love Chicago — it's where I'm from, and it's part of who I am. But there's something about the mountains, the redwoods, and the ocean out west that touches my soul in a different way. Through my candles, I try to bring a little bit of that feeling to you — the scent of adventure, the calm of nature, the warmth of California light.

And now, after a nasty fall and six months away from the business, I’m back — and more passionate than ever. This relaunch means the world to me. I’ve rebuilt, refreshed, and returned with renewed energy, fresh photography, and a clearer-than-ever vision for what California Handcrafted stands for.

This business started as a way to keep my mind occupied during one of the hardest moments in modern history. But it became something more — something lasting. Something meaningful.

Thanks for being part of this journey.

— Greg, Founder of California Handcrafted