In Luminous Color: How Glassybaby Helps People Heal With ...

Lee Rhodes was a mother of three toddlers when she was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1998. During that grueling, years-long time of her life, she often lit a candle in a handmade glass cup at night – a small gesture that provided enormous hope.

“It changed how I felt at the end of every day, having this colorful, bright, dancing light,” Rhodes says.

In 2001, the experience inspired her to start glassybaby, a Seattle-based company that makes and sells beautiful, handblown votive holders and gives 10 percent of all sales to charities. While undergoing chemotherapy, Rhodes had noticed that some patients missed appointments because they couldn’t find childcare, or didn’t have money for parking or bus fare. She knew she wanted her company to give hope to others.

“The power of giving at glassybaby is the heart and soul of who we are and what we do,” Rhodes says. “The way we measure how well we do every year is by how much money we give away. That is our absolute motivation.”

“At the same time, we have to stay in business. My CEO is constantly saying, ‘OK, that’s great, but remember we need to pay the bills and keep the lights on,” she says with a warm laugh.

Twenty years after Rhodes first lit candles as a cancer patient, glassybaby’s lights are definitely on. The company that began in her garage now has four stores in Washington, three in California and one in Oregon and is closing in on a lifetime total of $9 million in charitable giving.

Its formula for success combines the centuries-old craft of glassblowing with a modern workplace of new technologies for firstline workers – all infused with purpose and compassion.

“Being able to help people with our mission is what drove me,” Rhodes says. “It is the silliest business model in the world! I mean, giving away 10 percent of revenue. But the one thing we’ve never done at glassybaby is change lanes. It’s kept us authentic and real.”

The company makes and sells only two products: votive holders and drinking glasses. Each item requires the intricate teamwork of four glassblowers twirling, cutting and shaping molten glass heated in 2,300-degree furnaces in one of glassybaby’s two “hot shops.”

There’s no mass production or diverse line of housewares – only artisanal glasswork in hundreds of colors and the fact that glassybaby isn’t really about candle holders, but experiences.