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MARATHON – Two years ago, before co-founding the Wisco Scents candle company, friends and sisters-in-law Kayleigh Frieders and Jamie Natzke said they were looking for an excuse to hang out together.
The two said they had met in college at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and soon became best friends, with Natzke later marrying Frieders’ brother and moving to Frieders’ hometown of Marathon.
But even living in the same small town, Natzke and Frieders said work and family obligations would keep them so busy that they weren’t able to get together very often to simply hang out like they did in college.
Two years ago, though, the duo said they decided to team up to make 40 candles to give out as Christmas gifts.
“People really loved them,” Natzke said.
Frieders and Natzke said they likewise loved the process and the chance to spend time together – with the positive feedback they received serving as a bonus – and saw no reason to stop making candles.
“Not that we had the time for it, but the idea of having a hobby was super fun to us,” Frieders said.
A few months later, the two said they decided to take their diversion to the next level and try their hand at selling their works.
Natzke said her mother owns The Hair Project salon in Eau Claire, where she let them display a few candles.
It didn’t take long for those to sell, the candle-making pair said.
Natzke and Frieders said they then made plans to take their candles to a market at The Copper Mug in Marathon.
There, they said they aimed to sell 25 candles – but ended up selling 80.
One thing led to another and the duo said they formally opened Wisco Scents in September 2023.
Shortly after launching their website (wiscoscents.com), the pair said they saw their first order roll in.
Now, in just more than a year, Frieders and Natzke said they’ve sold more than 3,000 candles.
The candlemakers said Wisco Scents offers high-end, coconut-soy candles in Wisconsin-centric scents, with seasonal collections and new varieties created and rotated regularly.
Candles are available in two sizes, seven ounces and 13 ounces, with other products including wax melts and four-ounce room sprays featuring all of the candle scents, as well as premium wick trimmers.
Selling memories
Both hailing from Wisconsin, Natzke and Frieders said they want to share what they love about their state with others – through scent.
“Wisco Scents (has) scents inspired by Wisconsin, so all of the scents and how we arrive at them are things that remind us of memories that we have, specifically in Wisconsin,” Frieders said. “We think a lot of people will relate to that.”
Golden Bluff, for example, Natzke said, reminds her of riding along with her dad to rural implement stores near Elk Mound, where her family farmed.
Lakeside Sunset Glow, she said, reminds her of summers relaxing on the water with her family.
Spritz Cookie, Frieders said, is her ode to making the traditional cookie with her daughters, while she credits local maple syrup producers for the idea for Spiced Maple Cream.
Natzke said the co-founders regularly hear comments such as: “That brings me back to my childhood when we used to go to my grandma’s house.”
“It’s nice that you can take somebody back to that moment in time,” she said. “I just think that is special, and it’s not something that we would ever expect to do, but it’s cool when you hear that.”
A peek behind the glass
Candle-making, Natzke said, involves olfactory science.
Having minored in chemistry in college, she said her skill set fits with the measuring, weighing and assessing the process entails.
“Scent is one of the biggest sensory things related to memory because of where it’s located in your brain,” Natzke said. “So that is what we’re trying to evoke.”
Her quality assurance process involves doing four-hour burn tests on the candles, she said, wherein she tests each scent and candle size every two hours for:
- Flame height
- Wax melt and temperature
- Scent intensity
- If and how the wood wick interacts with the scent
- Whether it emits soot or overheats the glass container
Natzke said she then adjusts the recipe accordingly before giving a test candle to Frieders – who has a business and marketing background – to assess whether she likes the scent and how well it fills a room.
What’s in a name?
Frieders and Natzke said once they’ve both agreed on the scent and determined the candle performs well, they give it a name.
Sometimes the name comes before the scent, sometimes not, they said, but some – such as Tom & Jerry, Autumn Apple Bourbon, Caramel Pumpkin Kringle and Our Tree Farm – speak for themselves.
“When somebody lifts one of our candles off the shelf, before you even smell it, it brings you to a place, like a memory,” Frieders said.
Others – like Loon Call, Northern Lights and Fireside Flannel – the co-founders said, make their own statements.
Wicks, wax and looks
Natzke and Frieders said to bring a little bit of the outdoors inside, Wisco Scents candles use wood wicks.
“When you’re burning it, it has a crackling to it and an ambience,” Frieders said. “It’s as if you’re sitting at a campfire and hearing that crackling wood that is similar to the sound that our candles make – a nice, soft crackle.”
Their overall processes have improved since their initial gift-making endeavor two years ago, the two said, when they would melt the wax on a stove and, at top speed, couldn’t make more than 12 candles an hour.
They said they’ve since upgraded to a pair of wax melters that can each hold up to 35 liters of wax.
“Now in 20 minutes, if all the wax is melted, we can make like 50 candles in 20 minutes,” Natzke said.
The look and brand of Wisco Scents have also evolved, Frieders said, as she leverages her marketing background for social media promotion, product photography, label design and finding new markets.
“Helping create that brand and the overall way that we bring ourselves to market is really kind of my strong suit,” she said. “Together, we just blend really well, and we feel that makes our business successful.”
Frieders said she designed the candles’ neutral-toned labels to look crisp and clean.
“When somebody brings a candle into their home, I want them to be able to display it and for it to fit well with their overall aesthetic – that clean aspect of it, just simple and striking and bold,” she said. “Not only does it smell good when it burns, but it also looks nice when it’s sitting on your shelf and doesn’t just get stashed away. That clean aspect of it… just simple and striking and bold.”
Passing the smell test
So far, Frieders and Natzke said seven retailers across the state carry Wisco Scent candles.
They said retailers discover the candles via word of mouth or will often see the candles at markets and stores and place orders for their own shops.
They’re trying to expand their reach further, though, as Frieders said she’d be happy if people throughout the state knew about Wisco Scents and owned, or even smelled one of their candles.
“It’s just something that brings us so much joy that our product goes into people’s homes and just warms their homes, not only with the scent but with the nostalgia and where that specific scent profile brings them, like with a memory,” she said.
Science of scent
In candle making, the percentage of fragrance-to-wax is called fragrance load.
Paraffin, Natzke said, is the most common wax used in candles, and can hold between 2-5% fragrance.
“That (2-5%) is fine, but when you burn it, you’re not going to really fill a room very well,” she said.
On the other hand, coconut-soy wax can hold up to 12% fragrance, Natzke said, which suits the higher range Wisco Scents seeks.
“We think that’s what makes us more of a high-end or luxury candle, because you’re getting a really good (amount of) fragrance,” she said.
The type of wax used can have an impact on the way a given candle behaves, Natzke said.
She said for Wisco Scents, she finds the coconut and soy blend to be smoother and easier to work with than pure soy wax.
“Soy is good because it’s clean, but I have found that it’s not very user-friendly for customers because it’s super chalky,” Natzke said. “I feel it’s very temperamental.”
She said paraffin candles often “tunnel” as the wax around the wick burns down, leaving the rest of the wax stuck to the sides of the jar.
However, with coconut-soy wax, Natzke said the candles soften up and burn more smoothly than – “like butter.”
“That’s the only way we can describe it – smooth as butter,” she said. “We think that’s pretty fitting for Wisconsin.”
Wisco Scents products can be found online at wiscoscents.com or in shops, including The Local in Weston and Eagle River, Grebe’s and The Norwegian Wood in Wausau, Beaver Creek in Athens, Blu VeHive Esthetics salon in Eau Claire, It’s My Lucky Day Unique Boutique in Chetek and Grant Regional Health Center Auxiliary Gift Shop in Lancaster.
