Lilin+Co founders Marcus Khoo and Julie Yim on their scent-sational journey

Getting Lilin+Co off the ground was only half the battle because both Khoo and Yim were still attached to their day jobs. For the first couple of years, they struggled to juggle their then-employments and the side hustle. But the pivotal moment finally came when they had to decide–day jobs or Lilin+Co? “Right before the pandemic, we ran some numbers and realised, ‘Hey, it looks like we could do this full-time,’ but we still weren’t sure. In 2019, I took a three-month sabbatical to see how much we could push Lilin+Co if we were to do this and to see what the returns were like,” Khoo reveals.

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To their surprise, unlike other businesses, the pandemic had a reverse impact on Lilin+Co, and sales started to climb unexpectedly. That’s when they decided to take the leap of faith to move into the business full-time, signing the lease for their first showroom–the Ol-Factory 1.0 by Lilin+Co–after the first lockdown. “For me, the decision to do this full-time was because… it got real. There’s rent to be paid and expenses so I thought I’d better dedicate myself to this full-time. I saw a lot of growth and potential in the brand as well so I was excited to see what we could do together,” Yim said.

Starting from scratch and going through the pains of research and development, sourcing, importing, and sacrificing their time and finances paid off. What started as a passion project soon became a leading brand and household name in the local market, widely praised for its steadfast commitment to championing sustainability and eco-friendliness.

“It isn’t just a candle brand but a soy candle brand, which was very unheard of among Malaysians at that time. There was already a rising consciousness among people about what they consume or eat, opting for a healthier food option route. So, why not incorporate that healthy lifestyle with candles as well?” Yim shares.

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Lilin+Co’s soy candles are eco-friendly and non-toxic, and their diffusers use a plant-based solvent that evaporates slower compared to alcohol-based diffusers so they’re safe to use at home even around pets. The wicks are responsibly sourced from FSC-certified mills, their online orders are packed without any plastic bubble wrap and using 100 per cent paper material, and even right down to the packaging tape that they use is paper-based. “Because our products are in glass jars, we encourage customers to bring the jars back to us–clean–once they’re done. Our team will then recycle them by using them for tester candles or any other purpose that we can turn them into,” Yim adds.

As their business continued to progress and grow, so did their relationship. Now, running Lilin+Co together as husband and wife, Khoo and Yim admit it has its challenges, but they’re very clear-cut regarding the rules to avoid arguments. Khoo handles most of the production and operational matters such as finance, accounting, logistics, supply chain, research and development, and stock case management. Yim takes on the human aspect of the business, such as customer experience, retail experience, e-commerce, marketing, branding, creative direction, business-to-business (B2B) sales, and human resources.

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“We talk about work 24/7, but I’d say that after years of working together, we’ve learned to trust each other more, especially when it comes to our roles. If Khoo wanted to invest and upgrade new machinery which would cost quite a lot of money, in the past, I’d say, ‘No, it’s a lot of money, let’s not spend it,’ but now I’ve learned to discuss it with him before making a decision,” Yim says.

“Vice versa, he lets me handle anything creative-related and trusts my decision. It’s a lot of setting boundaries for what each other would take care of, making it clear that one person would be responsible for certain areas of the business. Yes, we do argue, but we also learned to listen to each other a bit more and I think that has helped us in our relationship as well.”

In speaking about what’s next for Lilin+Co, Yim reveals, “This year we’re looking to expand our product range beyond just home-based fragrances so that Malaysians can enjoy our fragrances regardless of where they are, be it in a public setting or their cars. We’re also looking to go out regionally, namely in Singapore, as we want to do more activities and pop-ups there. We also have a collaboration–a custom scent with Shake Shack Malaysia so we’re excited about that. It proves that a local brand is considered good and worthy enough to be associated with such a renowned international brand and we’re really proud about that.”

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