A life’s dream was realized when Abigail Cook Stone’s company, Otherland candles, was acquired in June 2023 by Curio brands---the umbrella company behind Anthropologie’s famed Capri Blue candle with a fierce following. The founder and CEO of Otherland is as passionate about candles as it gets, and her success since 2017’s launch reflects that. On the podcast she shares just how she was introduced to candles, and how she went from a round of roles at Ralph Lauren to pitching her brand and starting up. Abigail explains how she gathered her research for how she was going to make her mark in an oversaturated space, creating candles that would look and feel like luxury, yet weren’t too precious to burn.  We get into the olfactive creative process, some little- known details around candle making and manufacturing, and of course, scent. We do a deep dive into story and scent, and Otherland’s most popular and most interesting ones. Abigail describes how a collection comes together, the one place that she gets all her best ideas,  her arts-immersive upbringing, talks about her own scent memories, and that it’s not necessarily about replicating scent memory, but about reinterpreting it.  We talk Otherland’s distinct artwork and how Story + Rain and Otherland share part of their brand build story. The entrepreneur lets us in on her biggest learnings, talks trends, candle culture, “me time”, and plans for brand expansion.  This, #Obsixed obsessions, and much more. Our conversations with creatives continue, as Story + Rain talks to
Abigail Cook Stone of Otherland.