About us

Christina Whelton loves a project. She also loves making things. When Christina sets her mind on something, she goes all in. When her daughter was born, she started sewing her clothes. When she needed new curtains and placemats, she made them. She rewired lamps.  She retiled her bathroom. She knit baby sweaters for her friends. So, when she found out that her friend's 4 year old daughter had cancer and a large brain tumor, she started thinking about her environment. She thought about the candle from a well-known name brand that she would light in her office every day. She looked up at the giant black circle on the ceiling and thought, "Wow, I am breathing that." She knew there must be a way to make a cleaner candle. So she started tinkering, researching and playing around. She made one candle. And then another. Each batch got better in quality and aroma. She also realized that she really liked making candles. And she was good at it. As a single mother and former lawyer, Christina saw a business opportunity to make money on her own terms doing something she loved.

Living in Vermont, Christina was inspired by all of the crafters. It seemed that everyone had a business making something - soap, socks, pottery. So she founded Hayden Rowe Candle Co, named after her family's farm in Hopkinton, Massachusetts. She signed up for a local farmers market and was so moved by how welcoming and supportive people were and how excited they were about her candles. The community in Vermont is small and powerful so Christina went to local stores and got to know everyone by name. They bought her candles. They sold out fast. So they bought more. Now, Hayden Rowe Candles are in over 20 stores and growing fast. 

Hayden Rowe Candle scents are inspired by Christina's life. Scents of her Vermont life. Scents from her beach memories from her childhood house on the Cape, and dreams of her favorite foreign city, Paris. Entrepreneurialism is in her blood. Her grandfather started the Boston Celtics, helped create the Boston Marathon and created the NBA. You could say it "runs" in the family.

You might see Christina at craft fairs and around town. You may catch her skiing her favorite slopes at Stratton. But usually, she is either at her shop making candles or at home by the fire with her two big dogs texting her daughter silly memes and planning their next visit.