Behind the Scenes with Manly Candles: A Father-Son Team Crafting Candles and Supporting Animal Welfare

In honor of Father’s Day, we had the pleasure of chatting with the father-son duo behind Manly Candles (father, Lance and son, Ridge), a local favorite known for their unique, handcrafted candles. In this interview, we delve into their creative process, their commitment to animal rescue, and their heart-warming support for Silicon Valley Pet Project (SVPP). Thank you Manly Candles for all you do to support SVPP's mission! 

What inspired the creation of Manly Candles?  How did your journey begin?  

“It originally started when Ridge was little and I used to take him into the soap stores to kill time while his mom was shopping.  We would walk around and smell all the soaps, candles, and bath bombs. About a year and a half ago, we were having a funny conversation on the way to school one morning and got on the topic of manly scented things. We started laughing about over-the-top manly scents like sawdust and gasoline.  I forgot all about it, but Ridge keeps a notebook of funny things and interesting ideas and about 6 months later he came home with the logo that he had designed in class, so we decided to make a few candles and see what happened.”

What is special about Manly Candles? 

“It’s special for us because it gives us something fun to do together and also allows us to give back to the animals we love by supporting the SVPP with whatever profits we make.”

Tell us about the “Manly” men.  

“I was a technical recruiter for 25 years and now work primarily as an artist specializing in oxidized copper.  I use that copper to make special one-of-a-kind pieces, from wall art and clocks, to guitars and ukuleles.  I have a few guitars in restaurants and bars around the world as well as museum exhibits.  Ridge just finished 8th grade and will be heading to Archbishop Mitty for high school. He enjoys video games, learning to play the trumpet, and making candles of course.”

What is the most rewarding aspect of running Manly Candles? 

“Getting to spend more quality time with each other and making something that we know has an impact on our community.”

How did your partnership with Silicon Valley Pet Project (SVPP) come about, and what inspired you to support the mission of SVPP?  

“We knew that we wanted to support animal rescue, so we did some research on the local organizations and felt like SVPP was the right fit, and by supporting SVPP we could support the larger bay area.  We really liked that SVPP rescues special needs and elderly animals.

Have there been any memorable moments or experiences from your collaboration with SVPP that you'd like to share?  

“We have had two events with SVPP - a puppy play date where we brought in a few candles to show and sell. We were able to meet a lot of good people like Kevin with Coffee Companions and several of the SVPP volunteers.  We also recently did our first candle making class with 10 people at Pup Plaza and it was a ton of fun.”

What impact do you hope to make through your support of SVPP, both for the organization and for the animals they serve?  

“We just hope to help in whatever way we can.  Obviously we would love to sell a ton of candles so we can continue to provide some financial support.”

Are there any future plans or initiatives in the works for Manly Candles? 

“Since we primarily sell our candles in our Etsy shop online, we hope to spend a little time this summer looking for a couple of local shops to carry our natural soy whisky glass candles and beeswax melts.”

We'd love to hear about your own pets! 

“We currently have one dog, a four year old Labrodoodle named Lucky who is super cute and goofy.”