KILKENNY DESIGN

From her college summers in America, Orla brought her love of fragrances, simple elegance, and artisan candles home to the Wicklow mountains. Exchanging work shifts for hands-on tuition she dived into mastering the design of candles. After a few fire-raising beginnings in the family kitchen, Max Benjamin evolved and was named in honour of Orla’s twin sons; Max and Benjamin. Growing up and living in the Wicklow mountains Orla had a huge appreciation for the outdoors and our environment which inspires all elements of our design today.

Even though David is the youngest sibling in the Van den Bergh family he brings a sense of calm and structure into the team as he oversees the sales and operations functions within the company. After studying Finance & French in university David started his career in the software industry while living in Australia. When he returned to Ireland in 2003, Mark and Orla asked him to join them to help make their plans for Max Benjamin come to life.

Mark started his career in sales working abroad in Germany selling Irish Beer before making a shift to acting where he delved into theatre and some TV work, which comes in very handy when we need him in front of the camera! Coming from an entrepreneurial background Mark always had the desire to run his own business and after Orla had set up Max Benjamin, Mark took the opportunity with both hands to join her and put his selling skills to the test.