What started out as a marketing project for a college class has culminated as a business that has products placed in more than 500 stores nationwide. Broken Arrow's Johnson Bailey started the Original Man Candle in 2009. "I kind of built this product out of necessity because my dad, he was terrible to shop for," Bailey said. "He has everything, he didn't want anything. It was always difficult, going in picking out a father's day gift, picking out a Christmas gift.""I realized there weren't any interesting, unique gifts for guys."He didn't know why there weren't any actual "gift items" for men, equivalent to things such as candles for women.
And then the idea struck him: Candles for men, with scents that he considered "manly."And so the football-scented candle was born, smelling of leather. Bailey worked out of his home, mixing oils and other materials to produce the scents created by a chemist he was working with. Bailey's first batch of candles consisted of eight scents. Now, he has 23, including his Bacon, New Car, Fishing Dock, Roadkill and, what he says is one of the most popular, Fart. "It's just a good, 10-minute belly laugh," Bailey said of his product. "They're obviously not going to sit and light that in their house to provide aromatherapy, but it gives a good laugh."
His products are popular around Father's Day and Christmas. He's heard from many customers who told him the candles were the hit of their holiday parties. Bailey started small, selling the candles during Rooster Day and at the Tulsa State Fair. Local businesses then became interested. When Hallmark latched on, Bailey quit his full-time job at a mortgage company and focused on building the company.
In the fall of 2009, he applied to an ABC program called Shark Tank, a reality show where entrepreneurs try to convince multimillionaire investors - the "sharks" - to fund their pitches. When Bailey didn't hear back within a few weeks, he forgot about his application. One year later, he was called on the show. His segment was featured on Friday's episode. Although the investors didn't fund his idea, one of them ordered candles to send out as gag gifts to his friends. "I have penetrated high society," Bailey