Mei Xu
Creator and CEO - Blissliving Home

A visionary for modern living with global inspirations, Mei Xu is the Co-Founder and CEO of Pacific Trade International and the Creator & CEO of Blissliving Home.

Born in Hangzhou, China in 1967, Mei was selected at age 12 to be trained for a career in diplomatic services. From 1979 - 1985, Mei attended the Hangzhou Foreign Language School, one of the first seven Foreign Language Schools in China. Upon graduating from Hangzhou Foreign Language Schools in 1985, Mei continued her education at Beijing Foreign Studies University majoring in American Studies. While pursuing her degree at Beijing Foreign Studies University, Mei accepted a part-time position as a Project Officer for the World Bank in 1986. In this role, Mei visited Britain, Sweden, Bangladesh and Mongolia, and discovered her passion for social work, world cultures, and travel.

In 1991, Mei relocated to the United States to pursue a graduate degree in Journalism at the University of Maryland while continuing her work for the World Bank, headquartered in Washington, DC.

In 1994, shortly after graduating with a Masters of Arts in Journalism from University of Maryland, Mei founded her first company Pacific Trade International together with her partner David Wang. Pacific Trade International is today a fully integrated global marketer of candles, home fragrance, and home décor products, and the company behind one of the most popular home fragrance brands in the United States and around the world: Chesapeake Bay Candle.

Driven by their entrepreneurial spirit and passion for design, Mei Xu and David Wang created their first Chesapeake Bay Candle collection in their Annapolis, Maryland home, using Campbell’s soup cans as candle molds. Over the years Chesapeake Bay Candle established partnerships with America’s most renowned retailers, including Target, Kohl’s, Dillard’s, Hallmark and Avon. Season after season Chesapeake Bay Candle provides style, fragrance, and ambiance to millions of families around the world, and is recognized as an industry leader in design, fragrance development, and product innovation.

With operational headquarters based in Rockville, Maryland, Chesapeake Bay Candle has five global locations and employs nearly two thousand people worldwide. In June 2011, the company opened its first U.S. factory in Glen Burnie, Maryland.

In 2007, Mei launched Blissliving Home, a premium interior lifestyle brand for the stylish consumer seeking modern design with a global influence. Blissliving Home was inspired by Mei’s passion for global travel, contemporary art, fashion and design. The brand has earned the reputation as a trend leader in the home lifestyle industry and is available through high end department stores including Bloomingdale’s, Nordstrom, and Neiman Marcus as well as a direct-to-consumer catalog and e-commerce business. In 2014, Blissliving Home transitioned from a vertically integrated B2B/B2C business model to a licensing business model.

Building on the success of Chesapeake Bay Candle and seeking a unique way to fuse art with fragrance, Mei launched Alassis in January 2013. This unique home fragrance brand is a celebration of high end fragrance and is available exclusively at luxury boutiques and department stores.

Leadership & Speaking Engagements
•Mei’s work has resulted in noteworthy partnerships, collaborations and speaking engagements.
•In 2010 First Lady Michelle Obama invited Mei to create an exclusive candle as a special gift for foreign dignitaries on the occasion of the 65th United Nations General Assembly.
•In January 2012 Mei participated in the “Insourcing American Jobs” forum hosted by President Obama at The White House. The event focused on the increasing trend of companies choosing to bring back jobs and invest in growing in the United States.
•In 2012 the White House invited Mei to create a custom Blissliving Home embroidered sheet set with the Camp David seal for the world leaders attending the 2012 G8 Summit.
•In March 2014 Mei participated in a congressional hearing examining the state of domestic manufacturing. The hearing was held by The Small Business Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Tax and Capital Access, led by Chairman Tom Rice.
•Mei has participated in numerous business conferences at high profile institutions including Wharton Business School, the Robert S. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, Tsinghua University in Beijing, and the Department of Commerce. Mei’s presentation topics include women business leadership, entrepreneurship, and business development in China.