Off The Grid: Leaving Social Media đŻď¸Centering Your Values & Staying off Social Media â with Harry Doull of Keap Candles
Feb 11, 2026
Harry Doull, co-founder of Keap Candles and former Google and UN staffer, left tech to build a Hudson Valley B Corp making thoughtfully crafted candles. He discusses launching via Kickstarter, a subscription-first model, in-house production, choosing fewer SKUs for quality, moving toward natural fragrances, and deliberately growing without social media or Amazon.
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From Family Hotel To Candle Business
- Harry grew up in a small family hotel in the French countryside and later worked at the World Food Program and Google.
- He and his coâfounder then turned a shared candle obsession into Keap after leaving tech.
Metrics Can Sacrifice Human Wellbeing
- Data and internal critiques at Google revealed how attentionâoptimizing metrics like watch time prioritized revenue over wellbeing.
- That realization pushed Harry toward alternative business models prioritizing values over growth metrics.
Kickstarter Launch And Nonprofit Pivot
- Keap started via Kickstarter and early experiments included forming a nonprofit partnership that felt too disconnected.
- They refocused on placeâbased impact and inâhouse production after learning from those false starts.
