03/12/2026
Meet Maddie Kirlin, artisan and founder of this woman-owned business. It’s an honor to be spotlighted for Women’s History Month and to share the heart behind the craft.
Bee the light — kindness is the brightest light in the dark. 💛🐝🫶
In honor of , we are going to be featuring strong women that help shape our community all month long. This week we are featuring Maddie Kirlin:
Maddie Kirlin is a native of Gastonia, North Carolina, where her love of community, creativity, and history first took root.
She attended the University of Colorado Boulder, earning her undergraduate degree in Italian before continuing her studies at Middlebury College in Vermont, where she completed a master’s degree in Italian linguistics. After graduate school, Maddie spent several years living in Italy, deepening her connection to language, culture, and traditional craft.
Eventually she returned home to Gastonia and became deeply involved in her community. Over the years she has served as Chairwoman of the Board for the Gaston County Museum of Art & History, President of the Gaston County Jaycees, and as a board member for both the American Red Cross and the Animal League of Gaston County. She continues to share her love of traditional craft as an active member of the Historic Village Artisans, where she demonstrates traditional candle making at the Historic Village in Dallas, NC.
In 2017, Maddie survived a life-threatening brain hemorrhage that required emergency craniotomy surgery. The injury, resulting from domestic violence, permanently changed the course of her life. She lives with ongoing PTSD and neuropathy, challenges that require strength, patience, and daily resilience.
Today, Maddie is first and foremost a mother to two young children, whom she raises with deep intention, love, and care. When her health allows, she continues her creative work making candles and soaps, finding healing and meaning in the quiet rituals of craft.
Her message to other women:
You don’t have to wait for permission to step into your own life.
You are allowed to change.
You are allowed to start over.
You are allowed to create a life that feels true to you — even if no one around you understands it yet.
Strength doesn’t always look like doing more. Sometimes it looks like healing. Sometimes it looks like protecting your peace and choosing a different path than the one you expected.
If you are surviving something difficult — seen or unseen — know this: your story is not over.
Be the light. In a dark world, kindness shines the brightest.
