Dariel & Tiffany, Owners
Durham, NC
When Dariel and Tiffany started their family business, they wanted to do more than sell candles. They wanted to effect change and help create a world where their daughter has positive representations of people who look like her. The Black Diaspora can represent beauty, strength, joy, collectivism, and thriving. They use candles to share those positive representations.
Why candles? Across the centuries, people have embraced candles as a gateway to connection, joy, spiritual growth, and understanding. Candles speak deeply to the soul, something a meaningful dialogue around Blackness needs.
The company’s journey began when Dariel and Tiffany started dating and discovered they both loved candles. A fun couple’s activity transformed into a hobby, yielding gifts for friends and family. Candle-making was a peaceful activity for Dariel, and scent artistry a creative outlet for Tiffany. Fast forward to the end of 2018. Looking to create more freedom in their lives, they remembered the candle company they’d once imagined. Tiffany wrote a business plan while furloughed during the government shutdown, and Bright Black began!