Kere Baker’s candle brand, Loobylou, began in an isolation room at the Royal North Shore hospital in 2011, where she was fighting stage 4 lymphoma.
Lying in her hospital bed, Baker, who was a retailer at the time, told one of the nurses she planned to start a candle business once she was out of hospital.
“She didn’t say much, but the next day the transplant psychologist came in to see me,” says Baker. “The nurse, bless her, was concerned that I wasn’t fully aware of how sick I was, and that my future wasn’t assumed.
“Fortunately the gorgeous psychologist was aware this was an important part of my recovery. In the background of this idea was the desire to get Loobylou to a point where I could somehow give back in the future.”
While Baker was in hospital her retail business folded and she lost everything.
“We were selling stock from our shared studio space in Balgowlah [in northern Sydney] with some gorgeous people we shared the studio with helping out.
“One day one of them said we were low on candles, and they were still selling. Having had no income for months, we couldn’t fulfil the minimum order with our suppliers.”
This is when the idea for Loobylou, a chemical-free, hand poured candle brand, came to Baker. “I was really passionate about no chemicals or additives, and that the person making the candles loved them, and in the act of making them was putting something good in to the world.
“I wanted every part of our business to do its best to ‘tread gently’.”
Once out of hospital, Baker began developing candles with her friend Emma. “We used recycled baby food jars from [Emma’s] girls, Moccona coffee jars and anything we could get our hands on while we explored,” she remembers.
“It’s still just me doing the making with occasional helpers. I still love doing what I do, and the growth has been organic and comprised of repeat business, and word of mouth which I’m really proud of.”
The candles are created using Loobylou’s own fragrances, with some candles containing as many as 11 different oils to get the scent just right.
“We don’t offer pre-packaged blends that anyone can make,” says Baker. “We really celebrate the artistry and uniqueness of our ranges.
“It took two years for me to find frangipani oil that I believed actually smelled like frangipani, and I still don’t have a gardenia candle—despite it being one of my favourite scents.”
With the creation of Loobylou, Baker wanted to put something good into the world, and five years on she has found the perfect way to give back.
She will launch a new range of two candles, called ‘I am…more than this’, at Life Instyle Sydney, and is donating profits to the Leukaemia Foundation. “It’s humbling to have reached this place both professionally and medically, so this is a huge time,” she says.
“Loobylou gave me a project, and a reason. It allowed me to see a possible future, which was entirely medically in doubt.”
By Ruth Cooper
