Laura Kalkman, who owns and manages both Daddy Van's All Natural Beeswax Furniture Polish and Bear Creek Candle Company, grew up in Florida as a horse crazy kid dreaming of the wide open spaces of the Great American West. Room to ride...room to roam. In fourth grade she fell in love with the idea of living in the mountains, living off the bounty that the Earth provided, and she spent her library time assembling a card catalog of medicinal plants to use when she finally grew up and moved Out West.

Laura finally arrived in Colorado in 1997 with her wonderful husband Van. Moving to Evergreen in 2000 was a dream fulfilled - nestled on a hillside with Bear Creek flowing under foot. Wild flowers all summer long, and yes, bone chilling blizzards in the winter to keep everything real.

Laura founded Bear Creek Candle Company in 2002, after journeying through a self guided apprenticeship that taught her the healing properties of aromatherapy, essential oils and the wonderful feeling of holding a big chunk of unrefined beeswax in her hands. She knew that the natural purity and complexity of Beeswax Aromatherapy Candles would be a hit with those in the know - people who understood that each object they brought into their home could enhance their family's well-being while bringing in a shining light and incredible fragrance at the same time.

2006 was the beginning of something new. Loyal candle customers, beeswax fans all, were asking about a non-toxic beeswax furniture polish. They told her, "We used to have a wonderful beeswax polish when I was a kid - and it didn't give off all of those fumes that you smell today." Laura developed a non-toxic, solvent and chemical free recipe that became Daddy Van's All Natural Beeswax Furniture Polish.

The sucess of Daddy Van's has enabled Laura to experience the joyous challenge of managing two companies while still making time to spend with her family.

And she always finds time to ride.