Kudzi Chikumbu has never been just one thing. Not as a kid in South Africa, balancing choir rehearsals with math competitions. Not as a Deloitte accountant running a YouTube channel back home on the continent. And certainly not during his eight years as a TikTok executive, where he was quietly building a fragrance platform on the side. “I was born multi-hyphenate,” he said. “As a kid, I was both analytical and creative. People thought it was unusual; to me, it was natural. And I noticed something—when you show up in full bloom, others are inspired to do the same.”

Today, the highly sought-after influencer and lifestyle creator known as Sir Candle Man has turned that bloom into a full garden—more than 838,000 followers across social media, a bestselling Nordstrom candle in partnership with

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