Founder's Bio

Manifest Destiny

FOUNDER’S BIO
Meike Kopp

Meike Kopp, born under the sign of Aquarius in West Germany, is the third daughter of an organic chemist and his wife, who happened to be the proud daughter of the mayor of a German hamlet.

The family migrated to Long Island when Kopp was a baby. Her independent spirit encouraged by her family lead her on one wonderful adventure after another, which began when she ran away from home at age 13. Never to return, Kopp lived in New York City, Paris, Berlin and Los Angeles and worked as a music video producer, model, production designer, executive producer of an independent feature, and even as a phone psychic.

After a harrowing stint at a Fortune 500 company, Kopp vowed to never work for a corporation again and purchased the Huron SubStation in 2005, a historic trolley substation in the outback of Cypress Park in Los Angeles. Built in 1906, the substation had been designed to house equipment to convert high-voltage electricity to the L.A. Railway’s Yellow Cars. She has since rented the substation out to the likes of German Vogue, GQ, Hurley, Puma, and feature film and television productions; most recently renting to the feature, “Date Night”, the upcoming romantic comedy starring Steve Carell and Tina Fey. Kopp has also hosted numerous events there such as Oktoberfest at the Station - A Polka Dot Centennial and Art at the Station - Heavy Metal Unplugged.

In addition to her life at the substation, Kopp learned how to weld with a coven of women in the New Mexican desert and gave birth to her son alone in a bathroom with only a dog by her side. Naturally, she was compelled to chronicle her experiences through the written word.

Kopp came up with the idea of her Manifest Destiny line’s first product - luxury candles appealing to both feminine and masculine sensibilities - after realizing that not only was she overflowing with words and stories, but also that her sense of smell had guided many of her journeys through life. So strong was this sense that when she was young, she would follow her mother in the store via the scent of her German perfume. One day, another woman crossed their path, wearing the same German scent, inadvertently luring Kopp into following the stranger, only to become terribly lost.

Wanting to create artifacts that would evoke memories, both personal and collective, she pioneered a new kind of candle that was no longer just a feminine bath time accoutrement but a multifaceted human experience. She gathered antique photographs that provided her with a Rorschach of imagery with which to fantasize a life and a history, thus creating the fables that have become a part of the Manifest Destiny line.

Kopp lives at the Huron Substation with her son Anton Baptiste and her mother Hannelore.  
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For more information, photos or to set up an interview please contact Green Galactic’s Lynn Hasty at 213-840-1201 or lynn@greengalactic.com.

Copyright © 2009 Meike Kopp