Meet Elizabeth Carrier | Founder, Sales & Marketing Coordinator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Elizabeth Carrier and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Elizabeth, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Chandlerie was born out of two major necessities in the special events industry: an abundance of waste after events and a lack of candle colors reflective of current trends and natural flowers. When I set out to experiment with the concept, I was shocked at how many local florists in Colorado wanted to order candles immediately! My goal was to source used wax and start understanding candle making, as I’d never made a candle before, but the demand was there and I jumped in head first.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
It sounds trite, but I have always been in love with flowers which certainly grew into an obsession. Since I was a little girl all I wanted to do was be surrounded by them. My career started as a teenager in a grocery store floral shop in Iowa. I’ve worked in studios in Eugene, OR; Honolulu, HI; Munich, Germany and Boulder, CO. The height of my floral career was as Studio Manager at Plum Sage Flowers in Denver. We specialized in the events industry, particularly weddings. The owner at the time, Erin, was remarkable with budgets and processes. This element is so important in an artistic business. It’s so easy to want designs to be more beautiful. Having in-depth planning and budget control is paramount to the success and longevity in an artistic field. I will carry the business lessons I learned from her with me for the rest of my life.

I encourage everyone to critically think about the field they are in. Possibilities for innovation surrounds us constantly and there’s opportunity to improve processes and options. If entrepreneurship is something that interests you, capture those ideas and start experimenting. Prior to the idea of Chandlerie I had never made one candle, but my obsession with flowers and colors led me to exploring the possibilities. Now I can’t image designing an event without our candles as a design element. My experience in weddings was what brought me to the much needed option of nuanced candle colors and a use for waste wax. This journey has been a testament that an idea is worth perusing.

Considerably the most important aspect of Chandlerie is our mission to keep waste wax out of landfills. We have upcycled thousands of pounds of wax over the past four years and this is an area we continue to increase. Weddings can create a lot of waste and we created a product that our clients can feel good about.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I am at home with my children, so it’s been a while since I had a night out on the town! However, you can’t come to Denver and not eat at Sushi Den, grab a cocktail at Williams & Graham, and have high tea at The Brown Palace. See a play at the DCPA or a concert at Red Rocks. Enjoy drinks and appetizers at the Cooper Lounge in Union Station, eat at The Kitchen, and my holy grail of where to take visitors is the Denver Botanic Gardens. I’m a flower geek, so it tracks. See a professional sports game (go Nuggets!) and enjoy an afternoon on the Linger rooftop.

Head up to the Boulder area and take a hike to Long’s Lake in Brainard Lake Recreation Area and you most certainly will see moose, elk, and beautiful wild flowers up to a stunning alpine lake on a moderate hiking trail. Head back down to Avery Brewery or Mountain Sun. Then, just find a place to porch sit and reflect on your amazing trip to Colorado.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Founding a business is extremely personal. Not only is the idea itself up to public scrutiny, but the financial risk is really scary. My main gratitude is to my business partner, Cindy Ollig of The Perfect Petal, for having the vision and skills to take Chandlerie to the place it is today. Gaining immediate support from the Colorado floral industry was– and continues– to be deeply humbling. My biggest thank you is first to the florists who blindly supported the idea: Caitlin at Vintage Magnolia, Kit at The Perfect Petal, and Casey at La Rue Floral.

Our local wholesalers unwaveringly allowed me to collect wax at their locations and take shipped candle orders along with their wholesale flower deliveries; the support from Stevens and Son Wholesale Florist and M&M Cutflora was monumental to the inception of the company.

The book I read to motivate me to just go for it was Your One Word by Evan Carmichael. This book helped develop my vision, my compass for growth and so importantly my boundaries for myself and the business.

Our business coach, Remy with Starling and Associates, has structured the runway we are on and she offers so much inspiration and guidance to our journey.

And of course, my family. I commandeered my husband Jake’s beer brewing equipment and turned our garage into a chandlery, a big thank you to him for tolerating and encouraging an idea. My mom and dad for their support and guidance throughout the process and being the best parents in the world. And my baby girl, Charlotte. I left the floral industry to stay home with her and because of that Chandlerie was born. 

Website: www.chandlerie.com

Instagram: @chandlerie_

Image Credits
Head shot: Cindy (L) Elizabeth (R) Mackenzie Smith Photo 1. Candle table: Frances Photography 2. 4 candles: Frances Photography 3: Tablescape with overhead installation: Frances Photography, Laurel & Rose, The Perfect Petal 4. Orange candles: Frances Photography, Calluna Events, Wandering Poppy Co. 5. Whimsy tablescape: Sarah Porter Photography, Bello & Blue Events 6. Pink candles: Cat Galetti, The Borrowing Bride