Set Forth NY: How Karen Arcilla and Renata Rads Are Creating Light Through Grief, Stillness, and Resilience

By She Rises Studios Editorial Team

In a world that often rewards speed, performance, and constant motion, Karen Arcilla and Renata Rads have created something intentionally different. Through Set Forth NY, the co-founders have built a brand centered on stillness, remembrance, and emotional presence. What began as a deeply personal ritual rooted in grief has evolved into a nationally recognized brand that speaks quietly yet powerfully to women navigating loss, transition, healing, and resilience.

At the heart of Set Forth NY is a belief both women carry closely: light does not disappear during difficult seasons. Sometimes it becomes buried beneath grief, exhaustion, heartbreak, or uncertainty, but it remains there waiting to be rediscovered. That philosophy has shaped not only the candles they create, but the emotional experience they hope to offer every person who encounters the brand.

For Karen, the inspiration behind Set Forth NY emerged after the loss of her mother in 2021. In the quiet aftermath of grief, she found herself returning to one small but meaningful ritual: lighting a candle in remembrance. During moments when language failed and emotions felt too heavy to explain, that simple act became grounding. Over time, she realized the candle itself was not creating light. Instead, it reflected something already existing within her, something she was slowly learning how to access again. That realization became the emotional foundation of the brand.

Rather than building a company centered solely around her own story, Karen envisioned something broader and more inclusive. She wanted Set Forth NY to become a space where others could find companionship during their own difficult seasons. Every candle was thoughtfully created not as a solution to pain, but as a quiet companion through it. Each detail, from scent to presentation, was designed to reflect remembrance, continuity, and care.

As the brand launched in March 2024 and quickly gained recognition across major platforms, Karen remained focused on authenticity rather than visibility alone. What mattered most was whether people could see themselves reflected in the rituals Set Forth NY offered. That emotional honesty became one of the reasons the brand resonated so deeply with women searching for comfort, reflection, and meaning.

Alongside Karen stands Renata Rads, whose partnership helped shape the emotional backbone of the company long before the business officially existed. Their relationship was built through years of friendship, trust, shared experiences, and mutual understanding. While Renata’s own experience with grief came through the loss of her father, her journey unfolded differently from Karen’s. Still, that shared understanding of loss created a deeper sense of empathy between them and strengthened the foundation of both their friendship and future collaboration.

Together, they learned that meaningful collaboration is not built on perfection or constant agreement. 

Instead, it requires honesty, respect, consistency, and trust. They describe their partnership as one rooted in kindness, but not in a superficial sense. For them, kindness means being able to challenge one another honestly while still protecting the foundation of respect underneath every conversation. It means understanding that neither person needs to compete for visibility or importance in order for the partnership to thrive.

That emotional maturity is woven into the very identity of Set Forth NY. The brand reflects not only Karen and Renata’s individual experiences with grief and resilience, but also the strength that can emerge when two women bring different perspectives, stories, and emotional truths into a partnership grounded in support and trust.

Karen and Renata are also deeply aware of the pressure many women face to move quickly past pain. Through their own separate life experiences, both have witnessed how grief and hardship are often expected to become manageable on an acceptable timeline. Society frequently encourages women to carry emotional burdens quietly while continuing to perform strength for others. Set Forth NY pushes gently against that expectation.

The co-founders hope their candles offer permission to pause. Not to fix grief or erase hardship, but to create moments of stillness where women can reconnect with themselves honestly. They believe there is value in simply being present with what hurts rather than rushing to transform pain into something inspirational before a person is ready. In this way, Set Forth NY becomes less about distraction and more about presence.

Even as the company continues to expand and receive national recognition, Karen and Renata remain protective of the original intention behind the brand. Growth, they explain, has not changed their mission. 

If anything, it has made them more intentional about preserving it. Every decision, whether involving scent development, design, or messaging, must remain aligned with the emotional honesty that inspired the company from the beginning.

They resist the pressure to expand simply for the sake of growth. Instead, they choose to move carefully, ensuring that every part of Set Forth NY continues to feel grounded, personal, and true. Their commitment to staying connected to their own lived experiences, both shared and individual, helps preserve the authenticity that customers have come to trust.

Perhaps the most powerful aspect of Karen and Renata’s message is their recognition of the unseen resilience carried by countless women every day. They speak openly about the reality that survival is often quiet, heavy, and far from glamorous. Strength, they believe, is not always visible. Sometimes it looks like simply waking up and continuing despite exhaustion, heartbreak, loneliness, or uncertainty.

Through Set Forth NY, they remind women that their light is not gone, even when it feels distant. It may be buried beneath grief, pain, or life’s overwhelming demands, but it still exists. Their message is not one of forced positivity or polished inspiration. Instead, it is a compassionate reminder that healing does not require perfection, and becoming does not happen on anyone else’s timeline.

In creating Set Forth NY, Karen Arcilla and Renata Rads have done more than build a candle brand. They have created a quiet refuge for reflection, resilience, and remembrance. In a noisy world that constantly asks women to move faster, they offer something profoundly different: permission to pause, feel, and slowly rediscover the light within.