09/28/2026
Before Rustic Pine was ever a candle company, I think I was already collecting the pieces that would eventually become it. So, in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, and because there are quite a few new faces here lately, hi, I’m Melody, the owner behind Rustic Pine Candle Company and Old North State & Co
I was raised by Mexican parents, with Spanish as my first language and family at the center of everything. I grew up surrounded by a big family, spent my summers in Mexico with my grandparents, and some of my sweetest childhood memories are the simplest ones…gathered around the table, usually with something my grandma had just pulled from the oven.
Looking back, I can see so much of that upbringing in Rustic Pine. I’ve always wanted our candles to tell a story, to smell like a memory you didn’t even realize you had. Sunday Morning takes me to fresh brewed coffee and pan dulce. Farmhouse Citrus reminds me of a freshly cleaned home and open windows. Home Sweet Home will forever make me think of my grandma’s cinnamon cookies.
And now I get to carry pieces of that childhood into the home my husband and I are creating. Christmas Eve still means Tamales, family time is sacred, and Spanglish has officially become my language of choice (because apparently adult me can no longer argue entirely in Spanish).
The older I get, the more I appreciate where I came from. My dad immigrated here and worked to build a life for our family. My mom lost her parents young and built hers without the support system she deserved. And because of the life they worked to give us, I’ve been able to go further in my education than anyone in my family before me. I’ve become the first to open a business, and now open the doors to a storefront that involves so much family (with my bestie + sister in law Harmony & Co. | Handmade Bows + Children’s Boutique).
Rustic Pine has always been about home, nostalgia, family and the stories we attach to the smallest things, but also about the ones we’re still creating. There’s still so much of my story left to write, but I’ll always be grateful for where it began.
