Cork & Candles co-owner Kenny Straub was recently featured in Today at Elon, the Elon University newspaper. Original story here – https://www.elon.edu/u/news/2024/08/29/kenny-straub-15-and-his-father-turn-family-trade-into-a-community-experience/
With the help of his business degree from Elon and a family tradition of craftsmanship, Kenny Straub ’15 and his father utilize their artisan skills to share their passion with others through their business, Cork & Candles, that has grown into a franchise.
Kenny Straub ’15 grew up in West Chester, Pennsylvania, thinking he wanted to go to college to play baseball. Little did he know that this pursuit would lead him to Elon, but for different reasons.
A natural passion for business
During his junior year of high school, he and his dad toured colleges in the southeast, visiting different baseball camps and universities with strong programs. Along the way, Straub met Elon’s baseball coach Mike Kennedy and he quickly fell in love with Elon’s campus and academics.
“I was blessed to be offered a spot within the Business Fellows Program, it is really what sealed the deal for me along with Elon’s amazing faculty. So, I traded in baseball to pursue another passion in business,” says Straub.
Growing up in a household where his parents owned and operated several businesses, Straub had a natural passion for learning more about the business field.
“When I was 12, my parents opened two Bruster’s ice cream franchises, so my high school years were spent working in those stores, interacting with customers and learning what it took to build a business in our local community,” he explained.
Straub ultimately decided to major in finance and accounting to follow in his parents’ footsteps. During his undergraduate career, he also took advantage of opportunities to become more involved on campus.
As a member of Beta Alpha Psi, the accounting fraternity in the Martha & Spencer Love School of Business, Straub helped organize The Elon Network, a professional networking event held in Alumni Gym once a year.
But, Straub is never happy to be working on just one project at a time. So, he also worked in the Office of Residence Life and part-time off campus doing various odd jobs like buying and reselling textbooks from students at the end of each semester. It was in this job that he met his wife, Lauren, when he bought her textbooks her first year of college.
Straub was also one of three students admitted as a Doherty Scholar through the Doherty Center for Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
“This scholarship opened doors for me to explore entrepreneurship, where I built relationships with investors in the Piedmont Angel Network and organized a ‘Shark Tank’ like event with them to benefit other business students on campus,” explained Straub.
He also traveled to Utah to attend the University Venture Fund conference where he learned about venture fund models. “I am forever grateful to Ed and Joan Doherty for the opportunities they made available through their generosity,” he said
Learning abroad
Straub’s scholarships from the Dohertys and the Business Fellows Program gave him the chance to study abroad as well. He traveled to Poland his first year of college and was introduced to a passion for travel.
“I went on study abroad four times while at Elon, once every year,” said Straub. “I studied microfinance in Argentina, attended Nanyang Business School in Singapore and traveled to Turkey and Dubai during my senior year (Winter Term). These study abroad opportunities taught me valuable skills and helped me become increasingly resilient even outside of my comfort zone.”
All of these undergraduate experiences prepared Straub well for a career in business following graduation. Straub started his career with GE Capital as part of their leadership development program and later moved over to BMO Bank where he spent two years before moving back to North Carolina.
A homecoming
He quickly landed a job with Winston-Salem-based private equity firm Five Points Capital where he worked on control equity buyout transactions and made credit investments out of their two funds. A few years later, he left North Carolina once more for a new job at Corporation Service Company in the Philadelphia area, where he still is today, closer to his own family. He currently serves as director of corporate development and helps evaluate and execute strategic acquisitions for this firm and provides support on various strategic initiatives for the company.
Straub’s real passion, though, lies in his work with his dad in their Cork & Candles business they started together soon after he moved back to Pennsylvania.
“In 2021, my dad, Dave, and I started talking about building a business together. When my dad was young, he made candles with his father, and the idea of starting a candle-making experience-based business was one we began to explore,” said Straub. “In the wake of the pandemic, we believed people were craving quality time together with friends and we felt that building a business that offered guests a creative outlet and a safe space to gather was the foundation of a winning concept.”
Straub and his father signed a lease to open their first Cork & Candles location in June 2021, opening their doors the following March. The goal from the start was for the business to become a franchise opportunity to expand to more communities.
“There is a complexity to selecting the best supplies for the chemistry behind candle making – from getting the right wick, wax and fragrance combination, it’s not as easy as YouTube might make it seem and there’s a lot of testing behind the scenes,” said Straub.
With his Elon business education and the experience he received through work following graduation, combined with the craftmanship knowledge passed down from his grandfather, Straub was able to bring the perfect blend of skills needed for their startup.
Not a class, an experience
Today, guests are welcomed with a signature smell when they enter their stores. Each store is designed to have a rustic Napa Valley feel, with a small retail section for novelty candles that have been designed by his father. More important is their space for guests to gather and spend time together learning this fun craft.
“It’s not a class so much as it’s an experience,” he said. “You can bring your own beverage or wine, explore our scent library where our staff helps you pick out what you like, and then you get to enjoy the art of candle making with friends, family and others.”
The original storefront also has some handmade furniture made from wine barrels that Straub’s father made, a woodworking skill that he learned from his own father. Guests can also admire the candle-making memorabilia that Straub’s father and grandfather used when Straub’s father was young and originally learning the craft. Each store also has a storyboard that provides a history and gives a nod to the role of Straub’s grandfather in passing down his skill set.
Together, Straub and his father have built a team around them with general managers who run the individual stores, a marketing coordinator and a regional manager who supports operations. Meanwhile, Straub and his father focus on the vision for the company, designing the intricacies of the guest experiences and testing out new recipes for the many signature scents that the stores offer.
“The most rewarding part of this journey has been building something alongside my dad,” he said. “Sharing this experience together has been more than I could have imagined. Equally rewarding, building a business where our employees can come to work and have fun and getting to watch our guests enjoy themselves and interact with our employees is fulfilling. It’s the realization of a vision we had when we started – build a space where friends gather and watch the impact it can have in our local communities.”
Be proactive
Straub feels Elon prepared him well for the many opportunities that he has had since graduation. His love for working on multiple projects at once and operating in a space outside of his comfort zone all stemmed from his time at Elon.
“Elon has a tremendous number of organizations and ways to get involved both on and off campus. As a student, I often said ‘yes’ to so many things and juggled a lot at the same time. In hindsight, these competing priorities helped prepare me to multitask well and handle multiple business ventures at once,” Straub said.
Just last year, Cork & Candles began franchising and they sold their first franchise this year. The goal is to grow the brand nationally now that they have the licensing to franchise across the United States. As they grow, they are excited to support their franchises, helping them as they build their own love for business in their own communities across the country.
Straub hopes that all budding entrepreneurs dive in and pursue their passions. His advice to Elon students following in his footsteps is to network and just get started.
“Being proactive will set you apart from others in your field,” said Straub. “Find someone that is doing what you want to do and take them to lunch, then ask them about their experiences and learn from them. Don’t be afraid of negative feedback – the toughest feedback usually highlights your biggest growth opportunities.”