When you talk to Kareem Wallace, his voice doesn’t rush. It doesn’t demand attention.
But it holds something a steady conviction, the kind that comes from a man who has walked through uncertainty and still chose purpose.
“My name is Kareem Wallace. I’m from Brooklyn, New York,” he says calmly, as if that alone explains the resilience in his tone. “I didn’t always know where I was going. I just kept trying to find something that made me feel happy and consistent.”
Today, Kareem is the co-founder of Tribe & Oak, a premium home-wellness brand changing the way we think about candles, fragrance, and the spaces that shape our peace. But his story didn’t begin with entrepreneurship it began with searching.
From Design Dreams to Redirection
Kareem grew up an artist literally.
He attended High School of Art and Design, then earned a scholarship to Parsons School of Design, one of the most prestigious art schools in the country. But after graduating, life didn’t unfold the way the brochure promised.
“I came out of school with a prestigious art degree, and I still didn’t feel like I found my place,” he reflects. “I was trying to find something to do that was going to make me feel happy not just pay bills.”
Retail jobs. Customer service. Freelance gigs.
It wasn’t failure it was formation.
Then came a pivot he never saw coming: IT.
“I feel like I found myself doing the IT work,” he shares. “And when Tribe & Oak fits in, is that I finally had a use for my art degree. It all came full circle.”
Nothing was wasted.
Every season was preparation.
A Candle That Turned Into a Calling
Tribe & Oak was never meant to be a business it was meant to solve a problem.
During the pandemic, Kareem’s fiancée Taylor began reacting to store-bought candles. Her asthma made even “clean-scented” products unbearable. So they started experimenting.
“We did some research and created our own,” Kareem recalls. “People loved it, and they pushed us to really make it a thing.”
The name came later rooted in intention.
“Tribe means our community… and Oak represents the natural materials we put in our products,” he explains.
Today, Tribe & Oak offers candles, room sprays, reed diffusers, body butters, and more all designed with wellness, safety, and integrity at the center.
They don’t chase trends.
They protect people’s health.
“We want to push the message of having wellness in your home,” he says. “A lot of companies put quantity over quality, and that’s why people can’t tolerate certain products. We’re trying to help.”
Building a Business With Love and Grit
Running Tribe & Oak alongside Taylor hasn’t just been a business move it’s been a masterclass in partnership, sacrifice, and trust.
“Working with Taylor is the best thing that could happen to me,” Kareem says. “We trust each other. We can lean on each other. I’d rather that than some random stranger.” That trust shows up in the everyday details: Taylor, the fashion and numbers expert, living in spreadsheets and budgets; Kareem, the IT and design mind, handling the photography, website, POS systems, and tech. They aren’t just co-founders they are a team, stitching their individual strengths into one shared vision.
But Kareem is clear this is not a romanticized grind.
“When you run your own business, it’s 24/7,” he admits. “You don’t clock out. It taught me perseverance, patience, and grit.” There are late nights pouring candles and early mornings printing labels. There are weekends that disappear into vendor events. There are moments at dinner, on vacation, or with family where a big order comes in and they have to shift from relaxing to executing. “An order comes in for like $400,” he explains. “Or a corporate gifting event needs 500 candles by Monday. You can’t say, ‘I’ll get to it next week.’ You have to move.”
And yet, in the middle of the pressure, there is joy.
“We’ve met so many cool people and been to a lot of amazing events,” Kareem says. “The product sells itself because people feel seen and helped.” Every customer who lights a candle without triggering their asthma, every person who says, “I’ve never had a candle like this,” reminds them why they started. Tribe & Oak isn’t just their business it’s their shared offering to the world, proof that love, creativity, and resilience can live in the same flame.
RETURNING TO THE HE DID THAT MARKETPLACE
For Kareem, being part of the He Did That Marketplace is more than vending it’s belonging.
“When I met the brothers at the He Did That Market, it was inspiring,” he says. “A lot of the markets are dominated by women, and men are kind of in the background. I’m glad there are male entrepreneurs out there who are successful and rising.”
His first experience left a mark so much so that he’s coming back.
“To this day, I still talk to them,” Kareem shares. “We built friendships and brotherhoods. I didn’t have that when we started Tribe & Oak. Now, I’m glad to return it feels good to bond with men who are doing great things.”
It’s not just participation it’s alignment in action.
It’s what happens when Black men create space for one another to build, belong, and become.
A Message for Anyone Still Figuring It Out
Kareem doesn’t speak like someone who thinks he has arrived.
He speaks like someone who knows what it feels like to be lost and wants others to know they are not alone.
“I tell people all the time do what makes you feel good,” he says. “Don’t let nobody discourage you. Don’t let nobody tell you you can’t do something just because you’re Black or because of what people expect.”
Then he says the line that defines him:
“It might look like I’ve been doing big things for a long time, but I had to find myself. It’s not going to happen overnight. Just do different things and find your niche.”
And perhaps the most powerful truth of all:
“You would imagine a man making candles I don’t think of it that way. I think of it as helping people. Focus on you, focus on your family, and focus on your goal. You’ll get there.”
THE LEGACY KAREEM IS BUILDING
Tribe & Oak is not just a business.
It is a quiet revolution proof that transformation doesn’t always arrive loudly, and purpose doesn’t always show up when the world expects it to. It reminds us that:
- purpose doesn’t expire,
- timing is not a race,
- and there is power in choosing your own path even when no one else understands it yet.
Kareem’s story isn’t the typical headline.
There was no overnight success. No straight line. No script to follow.
From a Brooklyn kid with a sketchbook,
to a Parsons graduate unsure where his talent belonged,
to a retail worker searching for direction,
to an IT professional rebuilding his confidence,
to an entrepreneur using every piece of his story
he is living proof that nothing in your journey is wasted.
“It might look like I’ve been doing big things for a long time,” he says, “but I had to find myself. It’s not going to happen overnight.”
And that is Kareem’s legacy:
Not just the candles,
not just the products,
but the message
that you are allowed to start over,
you are allowed to grow slowly,
and you are allowed to build something that feels like peace.
He didn’t chase a lane.
He created one.
He didn’t ask for permission.
He trusted the process.
And now—he is offering the world more than fragrance.
He is offering wellness, intention, and possibility, wrapped in flame and faith.
Kareem Wallace built something that doesn’t just light rooms
it lights the belief that every man, every dreamer, every late bloomer
deserves the space to become.
He found his lane.
He built his peace.
And now he’s sharing it with the world.
Not to be seen.
But to show others that they can rise, too.
Visit Tribe and Oak Website Now!
