The Interview —

Abigail Cook Stone, Founder of Otherland

I’ve always been a lifelong lover of art; it’s something that was instilled in me by my mom at an early age. Flash forward to when I was in business school in my 20s, and candles became part of my everyday self-care routine. I realized that the brands I gravitated towards—the ones with fresh, sophisticated scents and designs—were too expensive. So I saw an opportunity to build a brand that combined unique scent combinations with design and transportive storytelling while also bringing candles into the digital age. Hence, Otherland!

We’re a modern brand with high-quality fragrance at an accessible price and with a focus on art. Think of us as a consumable, experiential objet d’art (visual, olfactive, tactile) that incorporates storytelling and community through digital channels.

We’ve always taken a visual-first approach to selling candles online, working with different artists to create unique designs for each candle. To overcome the challenge of getting customers to purchase a scent online, we also recently launched a Scent Sampler to take some of the guesswork out. It’s a kit of pretty, printed “Scent Coasters” that provide our customers with a unique try-before-you-buy option of our five Core Collection scents. 

We’ve been so lucky to see Otherland resonate with our millennial audience right off the bat; watching the brand grow since we launched in 2017 has been one of my proudest achievements. Because Otherland combines art and scent to tell stories around the different collections, people gravitate towards us to achieve their own transportive, at-home experience.

Each Otherland scent is inspired by a vision or nostalgic memory, creating complex, unexpected scent combinations that naturally lend themselves to storytelling and artwork. I often like to start by collaging together moodboards for future Otherland candle collections. We also work with master perfumers to develop the fragrances behind each scent!

It’s impossible to pick a favorite—it’s like choosing a favorite child!—and I have heart for every single candle we’ve created from our year-round Core Collection to our limited edition offerings. We just launched our first decade-inspired collection, Carefree 90s, which, as a child of the 90s, I’m particularly proud of. But for a first-time Otherland customer, I’d point them to our top-seller, the dreamy sandalwood-infused Rattan, as a starting point.

No day is the same! Whether I’m meeting with my team to discuss an upcoming campaign, testing fragrances with our perfumers, or reviewing artist portfolios to create our next collection, there is truly no such thing as a “typical” workday, which I love. 

My mom’s favorite saying inspired me to start Otherland: the extra verve of the added touch. It’s all about a little extra effort that elevates the every day, like buying clementines and putting them in a bowl. It’s simple, but makes a big difference! Small touches to spark joy.

Absolutely. As a maximalist myself, we are all about maximalism at Otherland! We combine expressive color, pattern, and design to communicate the experience of each Otherland scent.

Otherland has a bright future ahead! Two weeks ago we started doing Fireside Chats everyday at 6pm ET on Instagram Live to connect with our community and I’m interviewing special guests like Rebecca Minkoff, Sophia Amoruso, Haylie Duff and more! We’re making a donation from orders to support the Food Bank for NYC, and working on some other philanthropic ideas to support our community. And finally, we just re-released our Awakening Collection in time for spring, and with more to come! Stay tuned!