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hi there
nice to meet you
I'm Nikki, the dreamer, maker, designer, and creator for all things The Happy Elephant! I've always been candle obsessed, for as long as I can remember. There's just something about the coziness, the comfort, the nostalgia that candles bring.
silver linings
Like a lot of others, my professional career got turned upside down in 2020. I was also going through several challenging things on a personal level. After several months of soul searching, and finally realizing that life is far too short to always wonder "what if", something in me changed. I knew that going back to my "normal" job was no longer my path. I've always known, deep down, that I was put on this Earth to express my creativity and share it with others. I've always had an entrepreneurial spirit and no longer had an excuse for not pursuing it. With more time on my hands than ever before, the experimenting began. And OHH boy, were there experiments... hey, you only learn by failing, right? Creating beautiful, clean products has brought me so much joy and has filled a void that I always felt was missing. I was offered my old job back in 2021 and after a ton of thought, I decided to turn it down. I've always been an "all or nothing" kinda gal and I knew if I didn't pursue this path, i'd regret it for the rest of my life.
After four years of slinging candles out of my guest bedroom and one year of taking my candle making classes on the road, I knew I had reached a turning point. Renting other peoples spaces for the classes was a tremendous learning experience, but I knew the experience could and would never live up to what I knew they could be.
Enter: our brick and mortar era (HUGE sobbing face lol). Bringing this vision to life has been the hardest, most grueling, but absolutely the most amazing experience of my life. A few months after starting the (HUGE) renovation on our building, my husband and I found out we were finally pregnant! Both prayers answered at once, did not see that coming LOL. We opened in August of 2024 and our beautiful perfect baby girl was born three months later. These first few years have been a whirlwind to say the least but having my mini bestie along for every single step is something i'll cherish forever.
Fast forward to present day! I am eternally grateful to have built the absolute BEST team that I get to work with day in and day out. Check out a photo of us below enjoying a recent team outing!
After four years of slinging candles out of my guest bedroom and one year of taking my candle making classes on the road, I knew I had reached a turning point. Renting other peoples spaces for the classes was a tremendous learning experience, but I knew the experience could and would never live up to what I knew they could be.
Enter: our brick and mortar era (HUGE sobbing face lol). Bringing this vision to life has been the hardest, most grueling, but absolutely the most amazing experience of my life. A few months after starting the (HUGE) renovation on our building, my husband and I found out we were finally pregnant! Both prayers answered at once, did not see that coming LOL. We opened in August of 2024 and our beautiful perfect baby girl was born three months later. These first few years have been a whirlwind to say the least but having my mini bestie along for every single step is something i'll cherish forever.
Fast forward to present day! I am eternally grateful to have built the absolute BEST team that I get to work with day in and day out. Check out a photo of us below enjoying a recent team outing!
life's about happy moments
our mission is to create handcrafted products that bring you ✨joy✨ and that spread ✨happy✨
beautiful + responsible
Clean ingredients
Our candles are made from 100% natural, vegan soy wax with clean, premium fragrance and essential oils (free from all carcinogens, mutagens, and toxins that are present in most big box store candles) and our wicks are made of toxic free cotton. Our soy candles even comply with the Proposition 65 warning in California, which if you looked at most of your household product labels, you would be surprised that the vast majority do not! They are also 100% phthalate-free.
One of the catalysts for starting this business was stumbling upon blog posts detailing the dangers of big box store candles. I looked around my house and saw about 6 of them. I knew I needed to educate myself. The ways in which these companies manipulate their marketing and show no care for excluding *extremely* harmful chemicals was baffling (just one example: toxic chemicals like benzene and toluene, which are known carcinogens and can also cause headaches, nausea, respiratory problems, and birth defects.) Not cool.
For all of our products, I source as many things as possible from local companies and small businesses throughout the US. All products are handcrafted in Troy, IL at our brick and mortar! (15 minutes from downtown St. Louis, MO.)
discover happy moments
One of the catalysts for starting this business was stumbling upon blog posts detailing the dangers of big box store candles. I looked around my house and saw about 6 of them. I knew I needed to educate myself. The ways in which these companies manipulate their marketing and show no care for excluding *extremely* harmful chemicals was baffling (just one example: toxic chemicals like benzene and toluene, which are known carcinogens and can also cause headaches, nausea, respiratory problems, and birth defects.) Not cool.
For all of our products, I source as many things as possible from local companies and small businesses throughout the US. All products are handcrafted in Troy, IL at our brick and mortar! (15 minutes from downtown St. Louis, MO.)