North aisle, by Morris and Co, 1937 : detail - Solomon, by Burne Jones (first use 1874, Calcutta)

Chapel of St George, north window (easternmost) by Morris and Co, 1903 : detail - St Martin, by Burne Jones (first use 1880, Brampton)

P.F. Candle Co., once known as Pommes Frites Candle Co., was founded by Kristen Pumphrey in 2007 as a DIY blog simply called 'Pommes Frites.' Since then, Pumphrey’s DIY craft making has been narrowed down to the luxurious candles that P.F. Candle Co. now creates. With the help of her boyfriend-turned-husband Tom Neuberger, Pumphrey has managed to get her small personal project off the ground and into stores nationwide. The company’s signature scents range from Teakwood + Tobacco to a beautiful and cheerful Summer Breeze scent. P.F. Candle Co. has now expanded into a space in Downtown Los Angeles’ Arts District, and has several employees. We visited Kristen, Tom, and their staff in DTLA to check out how P.F. gets their magical soy candles cooking and what their road to success looked like. Photos by Juliette Cassidy How did this all start? KP: After I graduated from college, I got a job at a craft magazine in New York. It was there that I was inspired by makers and wrote about people who did their craft for a living. After the magazine folded, I relocated to Austin to start my own business. Pommes Frites was officially born in late 2008, right around the time I met Tom. The P.F. Candle Co. line as is it is today was introduced in 2012 after we relocated to Southern California. Tom was always helping behind the scenes during this time (he calls himself the “grumpy craft fair boyfriend”), but when he finished school and we got married he decided to come on board full-time. It was then that the business really blossomed. What's been the hardest thing about starting your own business? The easiest? KP: The hardest part is work/life balance. Because we're married, there’s not a lot of time that our brains turn off from thinking about the business. We'll have a full work day, go home, and discuss plans, the day’s events, and develop new ideas and projects. We essentially have a 2 hour manager meeting each day after the close of business. Obviously this is a huge benefit as well - since we're both so passionate about the business and growing it, it’s never a boring subject and some of our best work gets done when we are unpacking things at the end of day. But sometimes we have to say “no emails, no social media, let’s just go camping and turn our work brains off”. The easiest is that because things move so quickly, it never feels like a slog at work. If you could do it all again, what would you do differently? TN: There’s not a lot we would change, but it would have been great to have a business plan. Our business plan was pretty much “Say yes to opportunity until we can’t physically say yes anymore!” It was born out of a real need to make ends meet - we didn’t use loans to grow the business. KP: I would also tell myself four years ago to have more confidence in both my own and our businesses’ abilities. Everyone and their mother wants to tell you how to run your own business, but ultimately, the most important person to listen to is yourself. Do you have any advice for other people looking to start their own business? TN: Don’t be afraid to do the hard work. We grew our candle business extremely quickly, so we had to put in the hours ourselves. We used our own “free” labor until we physically couldn’t do it alone anymore. It’s not a joke that it takes blood, sweat, and tears, but if it’s something you’re passionate about, it’s worth it. Be cognizant of what you’re creating for the marketplace, and be real with yourself. Is there a need or hole that your item can fill? If something like your product already exists, what makes yours different? Your business will have more sustained growth if you focus on creating a genuine brand and product, rather than following marketplace trends. How did you name it Pommes Frites Candle Co.? KP: The background of Pommes Frites is that my last name is Pumphrey, and I started the business when I was 22. I started it as just a cute DIY blog, and I named it Pommes Frites because that was my nickname: Kristen Pommes Frites. It was back in the MySpace days. It was really goofy and I just said I’m gonna name my business that, not really understanding that 5 years later I would be selling scented candles that people would think smell like French fries. We started going by P.F. to kind of simplify it. That’s just the quick background! Tell us a little bit about how you blend scents and decide which ones work? KP: This year has been a huge year of growth in terms of our blended scents. I took a perfume making class earlier this year to learn some fragrance fundamentals. I came to this company knowing about candles, but the scent side of things has been a whole new adventure. I love to create scents that offer a little escape or glimpse into a certain place. Our Neroli & Eucalyptus candle was inspired by the state we live in - California. At our old apartment in Long Beach, there was this eucalyptus tree that would drop its branches into the water of the pool. We paired eucalyptus with neroli (orange blossom) for a touch of California citrus. In terms of working with scents, we always do lots of testing to see how it transforms on the burn, how much or little the scent throws, and what improvements we can make before we release it. Personally I like a scent to linger in the air, but not be overpowering. It's the difference between a heavy hand of perfume and a little mysterious whiff. The latter to me is infinitely more sophisticated. TN: When it comes to the concept behind many of our scents I like to dig from the culinary wold and tell a story. In the culinary world you would mix different elements: savory and sweet, acids and fats. With scents I think about mixing herbal, smokey, and sweet scents. When telling a story I think 'What does this scent remind me of? Where was I, and what was I doing?' Right now Kristen and I are trying to create a scent that reminds us where we met in Texas. We're also trying to keep away from the novelty and campy scents, with exception to our campfire scent. We want the scent to stand on its own because it smells great. How did you choose this certain spot in DTLA? Kristen: the Arts District in DTLA is a mix of high-end restaurants and lofts and still functioning manufacturing facilities. Around the corner there are $2mil lofts; across the street there's a Chiquita banana produce warehouse. We really had to find a place that allowed us to get dirty, play loud music, but wasn't too terrifying for our customers to come visit. Tom: I'm in love with DTLA. Kristen and I got married just down to street from our studio. Since then I've had a hard time leaving. I'm not sure if people realize that Los Angeles is still the leader in manufacturing I'm the US. Much of that is in DTLA and we love the access to that. Being here has given us to connection and supplies. Where do you see the company going in six months to a year? TN: Yikes, funny thing is if you asked me this last year I would have said I would have been hopeful just to hire our first employee. Now, I'm hoping we get to start looking for a new production facility soon because I can't stop daydreaming about that. This next year my main goal is to keep our candles accessible while keeping our company values: handmade, quality, responsibility and authenticity. KP: We're looking to move into a bigger space that will allow us to continue growing our little operation! We have some new products up our sleeves, including some exciting collaborations, but we're also focused on making the company great and helping to improve our community. A year ago, the company was just Tom and me. Now, we're a team of nine. I never thought I'd have the opportunity to create a company like this, so we're focused on making it a good one - the type of company we’d want to work for, that makes you excited to come in to work every day. Shop PF Candle Co.

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Ingrid Goes West

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