I started Thoughtfully Established (formerly Acacia Accents) in a small apartment kitchen with very little storage and hardly any workspace. At the time, I was working toward my Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) in Elementary Education and was looking for a creative outlet. I've always loved candles, so I began experimenting with making natural soy candles.
In the fall of 2017, I decided to list them on Etsy just to see what would happen. To my surprise, orders started coming in almost immediately. Over the next several years, the business continued to grow. What began as a small Etsy shop expanded into wholesale partnerships with boutiques across the United States. I also had the opportunity to partner with brands such as Causebox and have my products featured by outlets including BuzzFeed, Apartment Therapy, and POPSUGAR.
However, as the business grew, I realized I wanted it to become something more than a candle company. There are countless candle brands, and if I was going to build a business for the long-term, I wanted there to be a deeper purpose behind both the products we created and the mission we pursued.
In the spring of 2026, I officially renamed the business Thoughtfully Established. The new name reflects who we are more clearly and captures the heart behind everything we create. Our desire has never been simply to make beautiful products. We want to create high-quality, meaningful resources that inspire and equip people to thoughtfully establish the everyday. Whether through gospel reflections that encourage you to think deeply about how the gospel transforms ordinary life or thoughtfully designed products that serve as daily reminders of God's truth, our goal is the same: to help you connect your theology to your everyday life.
The inspiration for many of our products and resources came from my own everyday life. I wanted our home to be filled with pieces that were not only beautiful but also meaningful—simple reminders of God's truth woven into the everyday. I also longed for practical resources that would help me steward my responsibilities well, keep what matters most at the center, and cultivate meaningful rhythms with my husband and children.
Rather than creating products simply because they were popular or would sell well, we've chosen to create the kinds of resources we genuinely use in our own home—products designed to encourage intentional living and help others thoughtfully establish the everyday.
My hope is that, as you read our reflections or bring our products into your home, you'll be inspired and equipped to thoughtfully establish your own life on the gospel. I pray they encourage you to build a life that is rooted in Christ and lived out faithfully in the ordinary moments of every day life.
