Hi Olivia – as you know I’m a big fan of your candles & the scents are divine, so tell me…

Hi there, it’s a delight to meet you! As you know I’m a big fan of your brand, tell me what or who inspires you?

Lovely to meet you too and thank you so much! I am so glad you are a fan. I am inspired by so many things and people every day. In terms of my fragrances I take a lot of inspiration from the world around me, from my own life events and the people I meet.

What’s in a name? Why Haven?

The fragrances I have created all celebrate people, places and things that I love. I wanted a name that represented that and I really thought Haven was the perfect fit. It’s Olivia’s Haven as I am bringing scents from my world to yours.

You draw much inspiration from you home in Northern Ireland, what do you think is unique to Ulster compared with the other provinces?

I feel so lucky to be from Northern Ireland and draw lots of inspiration from the country as a whole. The landscape around my home on the North Coast of Northern Ireland is particularly beautiful and I love living so close to the sea. We also have so many wonderful country walks. One of my favourites from childhood is Downhill Forest which I have captured in one of my scents and named it after this special woodland using notes of wood, moss and fern.

Which is you favourite candle in your collection and why?

I couldn’t possibly pick a favourite. I love all my children equally. Seriously though I truly believe that they are all brilliant for different spaces and times of the year. If you really pushed me I love more masculine fragrances, so The Secret Library and Midnight Carols from the Christmas range really stand out for me.

I think with many of us still working from home after a gruelling 2 years, we still need things that make us happy and scent evoke feeling of nostalgia, would you agree?

Oh absolutely! When I know I have an admin day ahead I always get a candle lit. It just makes me happy to have a scent in the room along with the glow from a candle. I know lots of our customers do the same as we quite often get sent desk selfies on Instagram.

Your background is Marketing, what made you take the leap to creative?

My Marketing path has been very creative so it doesn’t feel like a big leap in that way for me. I would say the steepest learning curve for me has been learning the non-creative parts of running a business such as accounting and HR.

Do you think candles are still the perfect go to gift and if so why?

Who doesn’t LOVE a candle? I honestly do believe it is the perfect gift and you can certainly  never have too many.

What does a day in the life of Olivia look like?

There is no typical day for me and I like to be involved in absolutely everything. I would say that social media, emails and zoom meetings do tend to take up the majority of my days but I enjoy doing all those things which is great.

Every now and then we do ‘day in the life’ videos on our Instagram page and show off behind the scenes at our workshop. If you are interested in following what we get up on a regular basis then follow along on our Instagram page @olivias_haven.