Dennis Akers, 37

Dennis Akers readily admits his career trajectory has not exactly been linear. 

He has worked in photography, real estate, marketing, health care and more. He’s cold-called for sales and sales leads, and he’s founded and run a nonprofit running-race event dedicated to funding and finding a cure for Alzheimer’s disease. And for the past five years, along with his wife, Misty, he has owned and operated The Candle Pour, a pour-your-own candle experience with three locations in the Tampa Bay area and more on the way, including one in Sarasota. 

Photo by Mark Wemple

“As far as writing a straight line about my career,” says Akers, “it is anything but that.” 

The Candle Pour’s three locations are in Hyde Park Village and the Oxford Exchange in Tampa and the Edge District in St. Petersburg. The model is to combine a top-shelf guest experience with a product people use every day. Akers says he and Misty learned about the concept, but “we wanted to make it more of a high-end date night kind of spot.” They also wanted to create an experience-based business that gets people out of the digital world. 

They’ve accomplished that, and the locations are bustling, especially on weekend nights, with couples and families. The Candle Pour offers more than 100 unique, premium fragrance oils to choose from, where customers can design their own scent blended into a candle. Fragrances range from earthy and masculine to floral and fruity. 

Akers, in any of his businesses, has looked to his dad, Dean Akers, for mentorship and guidance. The elder Akers has had a long business career in the Tampa Bay area, including stints as CEO of medspa company Ideal Image, Sims Crane and Equipment Co. and Airdome Tire Co. 

“I’ve heard my dad on his business soapbox my entire life,” says Dennis Akers, one of five Akers brothers. 

Lessons include treating people — customers, employees, vendors, everyone — with kindness and respect; taking calculated risks; and a big one, for what seems like an overwhelming task: “The only way to eat an elephant is to take one bite at a time.”