Lighting the Way: How Carroll Alum Owen Hawver Turned a Candle Hobby into the Oren + Olive Brand

Some people may say it’s bizarre to believe a candle has a personality. Anyone who knows Oren + Olive will respectfully disagree.

At the age of 21, Carroll University alum Owen Hawver '23 was melting wax and building a candle business in between internships and classes. The young business, Oren + Olive, already has customers from Milwaukee to Detroit, Miami to Los Angeles, and beyond. Not bad for an idea that came to Hawver one day when he experienced frustrations as a frequent candle customer himself.

“I didn’t want to buy the same candle over and over anymore,” Hawver said. “I wanted to make something that was my own. I seemed to be burning through them so quickly, and I was never quite satisfied.”

Hawver ordered his own wax melter and supplies, and began collecting unique, repurposed vessels to pour the wax into. He kept the hobby to himself, simply refilling and reusing the vessel once the candle burned through. “I was really just doing it for myself,” he said. “People started asking me, ‘Where did you get that? That’s when it hit me that I could start a business. I’m going to do this and I’m going to do this right.”

Hawver took five months to curate the perfect scent and collect repurposed vessels – thrifted glass jars and bowls particularly selected to be sure they can withstand heat. He finalized his limited liability company, got his seller’s permit, built his website and contrived his brand. Oren + Olive sells candles online and in select retail locations throughout the Greater Milwaukee Area. His candles are currently available at Industri Salon in Hales Corners, Aspen Medical Aesthetics in Mequon, Gallery 505 in Whitefish Bay, Stone House Collective in Shorewood and Indigo Plant Collective in Milwaukee. He hopes to expand to several more locations by the end of the year.

Amy Brunner-Koch, who owns Aspen Medical Aesthetics, has become a customer herself. “The candles have the perfect amount of fragrance inside an elegant yet simple concrete container. (The design is) sleek and sexy, the scent is beautiful and the aroma fills my entire house. The perfect cross between Anthropologie and Restoration Hardware.”

All candles are hand-poured in Hawver’s apartment in Milwaukee’s Walkers Point neighborhood. Brick walls and historic beams backdrop the modern, fifth-floor apartment. Hidden in the media console is most of the supplies used to make the candles. A 45- pound bag of soy wax is nestled behind the same closet doors that hide a washer and dryer. Hawver gathers his supplies. In a matter of minutes, his kitchen is transformed into a candle making studio.

The process starts with melting the wax beads with a wax melter. The tool resembles a boiling pot with a spout on the bottom, sitting in its earned spot on Hawver’s stovetop. The wax reaches nearly 200 degrees and the oil is mixed in. It took Hawver one month of trial and error to figure out the best wax-to-oil scent ratio. He presses an adhesive dot to hold the wick in place into the bottom of each vessel. He threads the wick up a metal straw and firmly presses it into place to prevent the wick from lifting up when the hot wax is poured in. A wick-centering tool is placed on top of the vessel to keep the wick secure and centered. Hawver’s brother, Jake, 3D printed three of these tools customized with the Oren + Olive logo. The wax now resembles melted butter and Hawver pours it into the vessel. They are left for at least three days to fully cool. Even perfectly poured candles sometimes display imperfections after cooling. To make the candle smooth and clean looking again, Hawver uses a heat gun to melt the top layers of wax. “It’s like a hairdryer, but it’s hotter and heats quicker,” he said. “Candle manufacturers would have their candles on a conveyor belt with a larger heat source.” He plugs it in on his kitchen counter and aims it at the candles. One can’t help but notice the stark contrast between the orange heat gun and the gold champagne glasses and crystal cocktail shaker next to it.

What sets Oren + Olive apart most is the distinguished brand Hawver created. He describes the scene as, “A flirty dark bar with a dirty martini on the counter, with lights super low and a candle lit in front of you.” The candle’s design and marketing is subdued, sultry and moody. Hawver takes all of his pictures in his apartment and incorporates them into his email marketing campaigns, website and Instagram page. Though the moodiness of the candle is one of a kind, anyone who knows Hawver can see his personality freckled throughout the brand. While appreciating the uniqueness of having a name that starts with an O, he wanted to name his brand something similar yet different than his own name.

“My favorite drink is an extra dirty martini made with Hendrick’s and three stuffed olives, so I named it Oren + Olive,” said Hawver. News of his product spread like a game of telephone starting with Hawver’s closest friends and soon mimicked a web spread across the country. The brand made a splash. He has so far sold over 500 candles since Oren + Olive launched.

“People will walk into a dimly lit art museum and send it to me and say, ’Oren + Olive vibes’ and I love it because I know my vision is on someone else’s mind,” said Hawver. “It happens all the time.” The brand doesn’t miss a beat when it comes to details. All orders include custom packaging and boxes of matches featuring the Oren + Olive logo. Hawver’s laptop even has an Oren + Olive sticker on it. For Christmas, Hawver captured aesthetic images of gifts wrapped under the tree adorned with custom Oren + Olive ribbon. Hawver is focused on ensuring the brand offers a “premium experience.” Oren + Olive has recently released multiple unique candles that are hand painted by Zara Rose, a local artist from the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design. “I really wanted to work with local artists and businesses,” Hawver said.

Hawver didn’t picture himself as an entrepreneur when he started his journey at Carroll University more than four years ago. The New Berlin native felt college was what his peers were pursuing, so he followed suit. With an interest in architecture and real estate yet a slight hesitation to commit to either, Hawver decided to study marketing. Craving the experiences that come with adulthood, Hawver began living alone in a downtown Milwaukee loft at only 19 years old, quickly gaining independence and building a community. He began befriending slightly older and successful young professionals who happened to have experiences starting businesses. With one year before graduation, he wanted to find something he knew would continue to serve as a new passion and fill his time after graduation. When the idea for Oren + Olive was sparked, Hawver’s entrepreneurial mindset was put to work. “You kind of have to be willing to work all hours of the day, especially as an entrepreneur,” said Hawver. “It takes a toll but you get used to it. It becomes a part of your circadian rhythm. I have five minutes of free time and I’m like, ‘I’m bored!’”

“He consistently seeks ways to enhance every aspect of his business,” Ammu Rajeishbabu, Hawver’s colleague and friend said. “It takes immense hard work and an exceptional entrepreneur to build a thriving business and Owen makes it look effortless.”

“Being an entrepreneur requires you to think differently, and that was never something I sought out as a child,” Hawver said. “I didn’t want to be different. I felt I was different enough already.” Now, Hawver isn’t afraid to pursue whatever makes him happiest. Following his graduation from Carroll University, he accepted an offer as a data analyst at Northwestern Mutual’s headquarters in downtown Milwaukee. He enjoys living downtown – a place he’s called home for nearly four years.

Hawver is constantly thinking of the next big thing he can do with the brand and beyond. As for now, he’s basking in the glow of his newfound passion. “When I see my logo on the side of a candle or on a box sitting on a retail shelf, I know that it is there because of me and the work that I have put in,” he said. “People see value in that and they pick it up and buy it. Forget the profit. It is so cool to have something of mine that I made with my two hands in someone’s home. And they love it. And I know that the best is still yet to come.”