About MOC

Hi! I'm the Mountain Otter. I'm a queer educator in Asheville, North Carolina, and I have recently fallen in love with candle-making as a way to find peace, feed my creativity, and bring joy to others.

I like the name Mountain Otter because, well, I love mountains and I love otters. I grew up in the Black Hills of South Dakota and after several years in the flat Midwest found my way back to mountains here in Asheville, North Carolina. Otters are playful and curious, like my approach to candle-making. They don't really belong in the mountains, per se, though of course we do find plenty of them around here. And that's how I usually feel. Like I've never really belonged in any place I've ever lived, and still I can make a new home. Each new place brings new friends, adventure, and curiosity, and I want to share that story with you through my candles.

Products and Practices

I use a natural soy wax and cotton wicks to make my candles. The fragrance oils are free of phthalates and toxins listed under California's Proposition 65. I don't use any dyes.

I ship using recyclable or biodegradable packing materials (yes, even the packing peanuts! they're made of starch and dissolve in water!), and I reuse materials shipped to me whenever I can.

Proceeds

Your purchase not only helps support my new passion, allowing me to experiment and share creative new scent blends, but will also support a local non-profit organization. 10% of proceeds go to rotating local queer-focused community orgs:

  • Youth OUTright, an advocacy and support organization for LGBTQIA+ youth in Western North Carolina.

  • Tranzmission Prison Project, an organization providing resources and support for incarcerated queer and trans folks.