The owners of Door County Candle Company kept a million dollar secret for six months, but celebrated Wednesday with family and coworkers, after the season premiere of the NBC-TV game show “The Wall.”
Christiana and Nic Trapani won $1.3 million on the trivia-based show.
The couple taped the show in Los Angeles in August, but were required to keep the results secret until the show aired. Chritiana’s parents who attended the taping were in on the secret, but also had to keep it to themselves.
“It was very tough to keep quiet,” Christiana said.
They watched the show with a small, but excited group. Employees cheered when they showed up to work the day after the show and Christiana said people had stopped by the business to congratulate them.
The Trapanis were invited to be on the show after producers learned about Door County Candle’s Ukraine Candle Project. The fundraiser began in February 2022 with the creation of a yellow and blue candle (the colors of the Ukrainian flag). All profits from sale of the candle have been donated to Razom for Ukraine, raising more than $1 million, the initial goal for the project.
Christiana said they had some doubts about taking time away from their business to appear on the show. But in the end she said they decided, “Its another way to promote our mission.”
That mission gets a boost with the influx of cash. The Ukraine Candle Project strained the company’s resources.
“We’re really using this money to reinvest in our business,” Christiana said.
In addition to repairing or purchasing new equipment and expanding from the current 6,200 square feet, they plan to grow the philanthropy side of the business and make it easier for charitable organizations to raise funds through Door County Candle products.
“We want to be known as Door County Candle Company, the philanthropy candle company,” she said.
Christiana was recently named one of Insight Publications’ 40 Under 40 recipients.
