It started with a kitchen table and a lot of wax

In the middle of lockdown, I started making candles at my kitchen table in a flat in Islington. There was little else to do with my hands or my mind at the time, so I listed a few on Etsy with no particular plan — just something to fill the days that wasn't doomscrolling.

On the fourth day, Bella Mackie bought some. I hadn't anticipated that, and the orders that followed arrived far faster than I was prepared for. I cleared the table, ordered enough wax and wicks to fill the flat, and began making candles continuously.

That is genuinely how the business began: not with a plan, but with a kitchen table and more orders than I could keep up with. The twisting and bending that nobody else has replicated — that's where Bendy Boy was born, long before it had a name.

I was asked to host a workshop for the first time. My instinct was to say no — I had only ever made candles alone, and hosting felt like an entirely different undertaking.

I said yes regardless and worked out the details afterwards. That has more or less defined how this business has grown from the beginning.

We started in London before expanding to my home country, Australia — first Sydney, then Melbourne. What began as one person working alone is now a team of nine genuinely excellent teachers, hosting workshops across three cities.

We've brought a sense of enjoyment into workplaces with workshops for major brands, and hosted hundreds of hen dos — one of the most meaningful parts of the work. There's something special about a group of women setting aside an afternoon to celebrate one another, with no pressure to be good at anything.

Habit Haus is female founded and entirely female run. Outside the business, I'm a mother to twin girls and a female dog, so it's fair to say I love The Girlies.