History & Philosophy
Our candle-making history started in the year 2000 in Annapolis, Maryland out of our love of candles and the desire for a natural, top-quality candle that we could feel good about burning. During these years, we have evolved from a small, family-run business to an international company, respected for its naturally inspired, hip products. We believe in giving back to our society. That is why our products are: environment-friendly, animal-friendly, people-friendly and help to support national charities that we feel are so important. A portion of each sale is donated to various causes chosen by our customers and employees.
Many people are curious about our name, DIRT CANDLES. It was inspired by the origin of all things natural. The special ingredients used to make our products all come from this natural source. We also are a young, hip company that wanted to portray this in our name and packaging. We feel "DIRT" is the perfect choice to accurately depict our products and mentality.
Co-Founders...
James Eric New
"Eric" brings the style, edge and discriminating taste to the product line of Dirt Candles. Eric's worldliness and experience draws from his days as a child living in Europe and the many places he has lived throughout his life. His business knowledge from Penn State and sense of humor from his partying days at Ohio State also resonate in every aspect of the business.
The quirky names of the candles and edgy packaging come from this sense of humor. Eric also brings his creative juices culminated from his work as a talented guitarist and music engineer days at Mission Media in Baltimore, Maryland. Eric has written music for commercials, artists, movies and countless of other media projects through the years and to this day writing a new bluesy-rock song characteristic of Jimi Hendrix is still his #1 passion, behind being a new father and business owner. Eric also spent time working as an options trader for the Chicago Board of Trade. Eric learned a good deal of business through this experience that he has brought to Dirt Candles and Dirty Baby. The altruistic side of Dirt Candles comes from both Kelli and Eric. They both have a passion for giving back to the world. Eric has been a supporter of Big Brothers Big Sisters donating time from his current hectic schedule to help reach out to less fortunate kids. Some of the other charities close to Eric's heart include: Habitat for Humanity, Rottweiler Rescues, and local animal shelters.
Kelli Palmer Kennedy
Kelli brings the science, health, quality and creativity to the product line. Kelli brings with her a keen sense of smell since a very young age and a life-long love of candles, so much so, that the walls to her bedroom where black from burning candles and had to be completely redone when she moved out for college! She then began to wonder what this was doing to her own health...
Kelli studied the health sciences in college at Bucknell University and Temple, taking extensive courses in chemistry, organic chemistry, biology as well as design courses, before earning her degree in Health Information Science. These courses and interests have helped to perfect the Dirt candle formula so that there is a perfect balance of scent to wax, good burning character, and sense of style. Kelli is also known for her eye for design. She has done design work for businesses and done custom invitations, etc. for family and friends by word of mouth. Health has also been a huge factor in Kelli's life since her father almost died when she was just 8 years old. Kelli made it her mission in life and promise to her father to live as healthy as she could and to make healthy choices, whenever possible. Her love of nature and animals has also contributed to their natural product line and socially-conscious attitude. The company operates each day with these principles in place and hopes to spread goodwill through knowledge and attainability. Some charities close to Kelli's heart include Hunter's Hope, National Cancer Society, Susan B. Komen Foundation, World Wildlife Fund, Nature's Conservancy, City of Hope, and Make a Wish Foundation, to name a few.
Together, both Kelli and Eric formed the perfect union (as husband and wife) and business partners. Their combined experience, knowledge, compassion and creativity helped to form two socially-conscious, environmentally-friendly, hip companies with products that stand out in the marketplace.