Today we’d like to introduce you to Abby Senger.
Hi Abby, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Thirdseer started with a simple idea: that a candle could hold an intention the same way a prayer does.
I have been working in the essential oil candle industry for about five years, and for a long time I felt like something was missing. Most candles are beautiful objects. But I wanted one that meant something. Something you light with purpose, not just to make a room smell good.
Growing up Catholic, lighting a candle for someone was a real act. You did it for a loved one who had passed, or for someone you were holding in your heart. That gesture stayed with me. Now, in my mid-thirties and on my own spiritual path, I still wanted that. A candle with weight to it. But I did not want the traditional framing to leave anyone out.
The word “intention” felt right because it holds the same energy as prayer without requiring a particular belief to enter. It is yours to define. And once I saw it that way, I could not unsee it. I set out to make a candle others could find real meaning in too. Clean burning, non-toxic, scented with essential oils, and built around a mantra instead of a saint.
I run Thirdseer alongside Sunsejoy, my botanical skincare line, both under Third Sun Wellness Studio here in Austin. The two brands look different on the surface but share the same foundation. A love of natural ingredients that come from plants. Pure essential oils, plant wax, botanical oils. Things that are honest about what they are and where they come from. Purposeful making. Things that ask you to slow down.
Thirdseer is still early. But the people who find it tend to find it at exactly the right time. That tells me it is doing what it is supposed to do.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has not been a smooth road, but I would not trade it.
The biggest challenge is time. I am still working a day job at another small business here in Austin while running two indie brands on my own. On any given day I am showing up as a mom, a wife, a manager, a co-worker, a friend, a daughter, a Nia dance instructor, a workshop host, a market vendor, and an entrepreneur. Not all days look the same. Most days are full.
Building an audience online as an ecommerce brand is harder than most people realize. It takes a lot of time and energy just to get noticed. I have never put money into ads or influencers. Everything I have built has been grassroots, and I am proud of that. In the beginning I was excited and optimistic about how quickly things could grow. Over the past year I have settled into something more grounded. Slow, organic growth is not a setback. For most small businesses it is actually the healthiest path. I am okay with moving at this pace. These brands are built to last, and that means building them the right way.
What keeps me going is the community here in Austin. People show up for small businesses in a real way. Being located here has made a difference.
The bigger picture is this: Sunsejoy and Thirdseer are not side projects. They are my life’s work. I plan to keep building them for as long as I am making things. These early obstacles will eventually give way to different challenges as the brands grow. That is what keeps it exciting. Whether a moment is hard or good, it all makes the brand stronger. It makes me stronger too.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Thirdseer?
Thirdseer is an intention candle company based in Austin, Texas. Every candle is made by hand, by me, in small batches.
The candles are named like mantras. With You. Within. This Moment. Short, present, and personal. Each name is meant to be something you can actually say to yourself and mean it. The intention is built into the object before you ever strike a match.
Every scent is crafted exclusively with pure essential oils, chosen with purpose. With You is blended with frankincense and lavender. Frankincense has been used in sacred ceremony and ritual for thousands of years. It is grounding, meditative, and deeply connected to prayer and remembrance. Lavender brings calm and comfort, the kind that wraps around grief or love without words. Within is blended with peppermint, rosemary, and cedarwood. Peppermint for mental clarity and focus. Rosemary carries a long history tied to memory and remembrance. Cedarwood is grounding and stabilizing, like finding your footing again. This Moment is blended with eucalyptus, lemongrass, and clove. Eucalyptus opens the breath and invites presence. Lemongrass is uplifting and clarifying. Clove is warming and anchoring, something that pulls you back into your body.
The soy wax is plant based, which burns cleaner and cooler than paraffin and holds essential oil scent without the additives that come with conventional candles. When you light a Thirdseer candle you are not filling your space with anything you would not want there.
I am most proud of the fact that this brand is built on intention at every level. The ingredients, the names, the label, the reason someone reaches for it. People tend to find Thirdseer at a specific moment in their lives. That is not an accident. That is the whole point.
Thirdseer is a one-woman operation. I make every candle, write every word, and pour everything I have into this brand. It is small by design and meaningful by choice.
If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
My upbringing was unconventional from the start. My father passed away at just 23 years old while my mother was pregnant with me. Before I was born she moved back home to northern Minnesota, into her parents’ house, leaving behind the life they had been building together in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I grew up in that home, looked after by my grandparents, surrounded by a lot of love.
I was a quiet child. Grounded, but carrying more than most kids my age knew how to name. I had a lot of anxiety growing up, though nobody called it that then. Navigating that without language for it, as a child and then as a teenager, was hard. More hardships followed. But through all of it, two things stayed constant: art and dance.
Creative expression was not a hobby for me. It was how I survived. It was therapy before I knew what therapy was. Movement and making things gave me somewhere to put everything I could not say out loud. That has never left me. It is why I teach Nia dance today. It is why I make things with my hands. It is woven into both of my brands.
My household was loving and that shaped me too. The warmth I grew up in made me the woman I am. But so did the hard parts. I would not separate them. The suffering and the love together made me someone who understands why ritual, intention, and creative expression matter. Not as luxuries. As necessities.
Pricing:
- Single candle: $40
- 3 candle bundle: $100
Contact Info:
- Website: https://thirdseer.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thirdseer/
