Holly Singer
Founder of Milk Jar Candle Co.
Milk Jar Founder, Holly Singer, started making candles in her kitchen in 2014 as a way to get in touch with her creative side, and experiment with natural candle wax after learning most common candles on the market are filled with toxic paraffin wax bases.
After a year of making candles as a craft for herself and her friends, paired with feeling that her career path was not meeting her desire to help people, Holly came up with the idea of Milk Jar; a company that blended her love of creativity and passion for lifting up and giving back to the disability community.
5 years later Milk Jar has become a household name in Calgary that’s been regarded for their yearly donations to non-profit programs that support disabled people in Alberta, and being a role model for inclusive employment.
consisting of two lines of candles: one with plant-based essential oils, and the other with phthalate-free fragrance oils, each candle is hand poured, features double-ply wooden wicks, and 10oz glass for a quality burn time of 50-60 hours.
Milk Jar remains locally manufactured, and a staple in Canadian apothecary with stockists across the country.
What inspired you to start Milk Jar?
I was inspired to start Milk Jar Candle Co. as a way to give back to the community. Back in 2016, I was making candles in small batches of 8 for my friends. When the Fort McMurray Forest Fires took place that year, my friend was hosting a market to raise money for the families affected by the fires and offered me a spot. At the time, candle making was just a hobby. I didn't have insurance or a registered business, let alone a business plan! This was the first inkling of wanting to start a business, knowing my hobby had a greater purpose and would allow me to give back to the community. My drive of wanting to give back to the community through the making of candles has now raised approximately $166,000 since 2017.
Milk Jar has donated the dollars raised over the years to a variety of non profit organizations that support individuals with disabilities. CADS Calgary, Pace Kids, Cerebral Palsy Alberta, Ups and Downs, Step By Step to name a few. These donations have purchased essential supplies such as sensory tables, books, chairs, adaptable ski and snowboard equipment and have sent kids to camp in the summer.
It is our mission to ‘Create Inviting Spaces’ and we do this in two ways. Milk Jar is proud to focus on inclusive and diverse hiring practices where ⅓ of our team has a disability. We also donate $1-2 of every product sold to support the needs of other companies and employees to be inclusive spaces and successful employees. We believe that this will spread our mission even further.
What values drive you in your day to day business?
I have always valued connection with other people. When I first started Milk Jar, it was important to me to have custom candles as one of our offerings. It has created a community and allows other businesses to be highlighted. Our factory also went through a massive renovation and expansion last summer. This was essential as our space has created a community of its own.
We offer workshops weekly for the public to come in and learn how to make candles, a retail space where customers can come shop, and a workplace for our employees to grow and develop. At Milk Jar, we celebrate people for who they are. Our factory brings people together to provide a sense of purpose and belonging.
How did you decide on a visual direction for the brand?
The visual direction for Milk Jar at first was clean and simple. The country look was in, back then. It seems humorous now as we have changed and evolved so much. It has always been the forefront priority to have our mission known on the box and label, so simple seemed like a good way to highlight that. It’s hard to come up with a visual direction at first when you are still establishing a brand and vision. Now that Milk Jar has flourished into a unique business, we have so much to base our company on. In terms of our core values, people, mission statement and culture we are confident in the brand and business we are. We like to describe ourselves now as off beat, optimistic and inviting. If anything, I’ve learned that a brand and visual direction can change, just like people.
How do you see your personal lifestyle reflected in the brand you've built?
I see it day to day! I don’t change as a person when I am teaching a workshop and treat our customers like my friends. Some of our customers have even become good friends! I care so much about bringing people together in my personal life (events, parties, planning trips). This is directly reflected in my drive to host weekly workshops at Milk Jar and throw birthday lunches for all of our staff members. I enjoy people’s company and celebrating milestones in my personal life and I feel as though I have brought that to Milk Jar.
How do you balance work and rest?
I bring people to work at Milk Jar to spread the workload! Milk Jar has become a tight knit family of employees and our staff members treat it like their own. We believe in empowerment, growth and development and when you have passionate employees who care, work doesn’t seem so much like ‘work’. I also take weekends off and make it a priority to have fun and not take life so seriously.