A Note from Our Founder
Chiije was born from a simple but radical belief: that the things we bring into our homes should nurture us—deeply, sensorially, and sustainably.
I am an economist and strategist. I've spent decades designing global conferences, advising Fortune 100 executives, building companies, investing in women-led ventures, and speaking on stages about economic development, leadership, climate sustainability, and mental health. I work at the intersection of systems, equity, and possibility—thinking at scale, designing for impact.
And I also light candles daily. Set tables with intention. Create spaces of softness that ground me.
For years, I kept these parts separate. The strategist and the homemaker. The economist and the woman who believes in the power of slowness. Not because they couldn't coexist—but because the world expected me to choose one. To have one niche. One story. I'm done with that lie.
Chiije is my refusal to separate strength from softness. To pretend that designing systems and designing sanctuary require different versions of myself.
Working in global systems taught me that most organizations optimize for growth, not nourishment. Working in global systems showed me how often we prioritize scale over care. And becoming a mother sharpened everything—I became hyperconscious of what I allowed into my space, my skin, my air. I started reading labels. Researching ingredients. Refusing products I'd used for years.
The wellness industry had been lying to us. Brands preaching values they didn't live. I couldn't participate anymore. So I am building the opposite.
Chiije is where my economics training meets my belief that wellness is foundational, not luxury. Where ritual meets strategy. Where things are made to last because I refuse to create objects that deplete you.
We're starting with candles—made with only natural waxes: soy, rapeseed, coconut. Never paraffin. Our vessels are designed to live beyond their first use—to hold flowers, jewelry, small treasures.
This is my offering to the world. A reminder that you don't have to choose between serious and soft, between scale and slowness. You can be both. You are both.
And maybe this can be a little sanctuary for you too.
Chiije is an invitation to slow down.
To return to yourself. To Savour. To reconnect.
To embody presence, clarity, and ease in the everyday.
To live intentionally with objects that don’t just serve a purpose – they hold one.
It is how we inhabit space, how we honor the objects we live with,
and how those objects, in turn, care for us.
Every Chiije piece begins as a ritual — a candle lit after a long day, a vessel filled with tea, a scent that reminds you to breathe.
But it never ends there.
Chiije is not about more.
It is about meaning.
It is about softness that endures.
A reminder that you deserve a life that feels like yours.
A life that does not rush you.
A life that allows you to breathe.
A life with moments that bring you back to yourself.
