WEBVTT 00:00:12.559 --> 00:00:15.300 Hello and welcome to the Smart Beauty Podcast. 00:00:15.859 --> 00:00:18.699 I'm your host, Viola Levy, beauty journalist 00:00:18.699 --> 00:00:21.640 and founder of copy led branding agency, Smart 00:00:21.640 --> 00:00:24.379 Beauty Creative. We're here to create your brand 00:00:24.379 --> 00:00:32.320 voice and craft the story behind it. Today I'm 00:00:32.320 --> 00:00:35.820 speaking with Sophie King, founder of Soki London 00:00:35.820 --> 00:00:39.359 Perfumes and YouTube content creator. Her journey 00:00:39.359 --> 00:00:41.719 to entrepreneurship is nothing short of extraordinary. 00:00:42.200 --> 00:00:44.420 What started out as a dream to be a Blue Peter 00:00:44.420 --> 00:00:47.799 presenter, transformed into a fragrance empire, 00:00:47.979 --> 00:00:50.240 but not before a life -changing health scare 00:00:50.240 --> 00:00:52.640 really gave her the courage to finally put herself 00:00:52.640 --> 00:00:55.929 out there. In this episode we look at how Sophie 00:00:55.929 --> 00:00:58.630 turned her passion for perfume into a really 00:00:58.630 --> 00:01:01.729 successful YouTube channel and later her own 00:01:01.729 --> 00:01:05.069 fragrance brand. We look at the challenges of 00:01:05.069 --> 00:01:07.129 being the face of the business, dealing with 00:01:07.129 --> 00:01:09.829 online criticism including fake reviews before 00:01:09.829 --> 00:01:12.450 her products even existed and why she believes 00:01:12.450 --> 00:01:15.909 authenticity wins over perfection every time. 00:01:16.549 --> 00:01:20.099 She also shares candid insights about the realities 00:01:20.099 --> 00:01:23.579 of self -funding a fragrance brand, why she reviews 00:01:23.579 --> 00:01:25.939 competitors' products on her own channel, and 00:01:25.939 --> 00:01:28.780 also how surviving meningitis really shifted 00:01:28.780 --> 00:01:32.359 her perspective on risk taking. And we also have 00:01:32.359 --> 00:01:34.200 a look at what she's got coming up next for the 00:01:34.200 --> 00:01:36.519 brand. This is a conversation about turning passion 00:01:36.519 --> 00:01:39.780 into profit and why some of life's biggest challenges 00:01:39.780 --> 00:01:42.140 turn into the greatest breakthroughs. Hope you 00:01:42.140 --> 00:01:46.060 enjoy it. Just... Sophie, thank you so much for... 00:01:46.079 --> 00:01:47.799 join me on the podcast. So it would be great 00:01:47.799 --> 00:01:50.079 to start with as a content creator, like how 00:01:50.079 --> 00:01:52.219 did you first get into that and what drew you 00:01:52.219 --> 00:01:55.560 to to that world? Yeah, so absolutely. So when 00:01:55.560 --> 00:01:58.859 YouTube sort of happened and started, I always 00:01:58.859 --> 00:02:01.140 thought, oh, that's something I could do. And, 00:02:01.340 --> 00:02:04.590 you know, my hobby, my sort of passion outside 00:02:04.590 --> 00:02:06.769 of work was always perfume. And I thought, oh, 00:02:06.829 --> 00:02:10.469 I could perhaps do something around that. But 00:02:10.469 --> 00:02:12.469 I never really had the confidence to do it for 00:02:12.469 --> 00:02:14.550 a while, because I guess with putting yourself 00:02:14.550 --> 00:02:17.289 out there, creating content, you always think 00:02:17.289 --> 00:02:18.849 that, you know, your friends will laugh at you, 00:02:18.889 --> 00:02:20.870 your colleagues will, you know, be watching it 00:02:20.870 --> 00:02:25.849 when you're not looking. And then I had quite 00:02:25.849 --> 00:02:31.349 a bad illness. I got meningitis. And I was in 00:02:31.349 --> 00:02:35.879 a coma for a week. And my prognosis was really 00:02:35.879 --> 00:02:37.919 bad. The expectation was that I wouldn't make 00:02:37.919 --> 00:02:41.360 it. And when I did come through the back of that, 00:02:41.439 --> 00:02:43.819 I guess it gave me a completely different perspective 00:02:43.819 --> 00:02:48.639 on everything. And one of the things I decided 00:02:48.639 --> 00:02:51.120 is, right, I'm just going to make a YouTube channel 00:02:51.120 --> 00:02:54.219 and talk about perfume. And I don't care what 00:02:54.219 --> 00:02:57.949 anyone thinks anymore. And one of the ways I 00:02:57.949 --> 00:03:00.430 think my brain works is I like to just break 00:03:00.430 --> 00:03:03.449 things down and make things simple. And when 00:03:03.449 --> 00:03:06.270 I was a student, I worked in an independent perfumery 00:03:06.270 --> 00:03:08.889 and I found that the customer was just really 00:03:08.889 --> 00:03:12.650 confused by things like ranges. If you take something 00:03:12.650 --> 00:03:15.349 like Lancome's L 'avier Belle, you know, I think 00:03:15.349 --> 00:03:17.069 there are about 10 different versions they've 00:03:17.069 --> 00:03:20.039 had now. people just don't, you can't expect 00:03:20.039 --> 00:03:21.919 the average person to understand the difference 00:03:21.919 --> 00:03:25.360 between them all. So I started doing videos sort 00:03:25.360 --> 00:03:28.060 of breaking down ranges, explaining perfumes, 00:03:28.159 --> 00:03:30.900 this smells like this, is this worth the money? 00:03:31.039 --> 00:03:33.419 Can you get the same smell for something else 00:03:33.419 --> 00:03:36.110 that's similar? And so took it from there. And, 00:03:36.129 --> 00:03:38.389 you know, for a long time, nobody watched my 00:03:38.389 --> 00:03:43.030 videos. But it's been about 10 years now. And 00:03:43.030 --> 00:03:45.990 I've built up such a wonderful community on there. 00:03:46.389 --> 00:03:51.430 And I think I'm around 145 ,000 subs now. And 00:03:51.430 --> 00:03:54.090 I learned so much from like people commenting 00:03:54.090 --> 00:03:58.360 on my videos every day. And I sort of have involved 00:03:58.360 --> 00:04:01.259 them in the creative process with My Perfume 00:04:01.259 --> 00:04:04.539 brand as well, and sort of getting that community 00:04:04.539 --> 00:04:07.280 involved. So that's the sort of origin stories 00:04:07.280 --> 00:04:10.659 of where my YouTube channel came from. So it's 00:04:10.659 --> 00:04:12.939 come through something like that, and then go 00:04:12.939 --> 00:04:15.479 on to build a brand. I mean, that's just incredible 00:04:15.479 --> 00:04:18.860 on its own. So, you know, really inspiring. Yeah, 00:04:19.160 --> 00:04:21.860 definitely. Like before Meningitis, I definitely 00:04:21.860 --> 00:04:25.220 cared. to a fault what people thought of me. 00:04:25.639 --> 00:04:27.899 And, you know, I even remember at work in my 00:04:27.899 --> 00:04:29.860 corporate job, you know, I'd get one feedback 00:04:29.860 --> 00:04:32.600 from a manager telling me to do X. So then I 00:04:32.600 --> 00:04:34.160 just go and do X, then another manager would 00:04:34.160 --> 00:04:36.000 say, Oh, but you should do Y. And then I go and 00:04:36.000 --> 00:04:40.160 do Y. And, like, I just do whatever, like people 00:04:40.160 --> 00:04:43.519 wanted me to do, even if it was contradictory. 00:04:44.339 --> 00:04:48.100 And I think, yeah, when you have these kind of 00:04:48.100 --> 00:04:50.379 experiences, you just sort of lose that sense 00:04:50.379 --> 00:04:54.300 of caring about other people's thoughts of you 00:04:54.300 --> 00:04:57.220 and that sense of like embarrassment or searching 00:04:57.220 --> 00:05:02.560 for like approval and like you I just like the 00:05:02.560 --> 00:05:04.939 the number one thing I remember is when when 00:05:04.939 --> 00:05:08.370 I came out of hospital is Getting back into my 00:05:08.370 --> 00:05:11.649 own bed with like, you know the cotton sheets 00:05:11.649 --> 00:05:14.870 and you're like more than one pillow Oh my gosh. 00:05:15.009 --> 00:05:17.250 Yes and not having the the ward lights on like 00:05:17.250 --> 00:05:24.389 shining. Yeah This is such a comfy bed like I'm 00:05:24.389 --> 00:05:29.050 so like what I literally live in paradise You 00:05:29.050 --> 00:05:31.449 know and it just makes you see everything so 00:05:31.449 --> 00:05:35.490 differently And yeah, it just gave me it was 00:05:35.490 --> 00:05:38.209 positive in the end because it gave me a different 00:05:38.209 --> 00:05:40.350 lease of life I guess, a different perspective. 00:05:40.790 --> 00:05:43.410 Yeah and a huge sort of mindset shift I imagine 00:05:43.410 --> 00:05:46.930 as well. Yeah yeah and I don't feel like embarrassed 00:05:46.930 --> 00:05:50.250 by things anymore or you just don't take yourself 00:05:50.250 --> 00:05:53.610 as seriously because I guess you I feel very 00:05:53.610 --> 00:05:58.079 privileged to be okay and Also, you do realise, 00:05:58.079 --> 00:06:00.579 you know, that famous saying, or you could be 00:06:00.579 --> 00:06:03.360 hit by a bus any day, you realise that that really 00:06:03.360 --> 00:06:07.319 is true. How do you balance sharing a personal 00:06:07.319 --> 00:06:09.959 narrative with building a fragrance brand? Because 00:06:09.959 --> 00:06:12.560 I imagine that there can be a bit of a conflict 00:06:12.560 --> 00:06:15.060 sometimes talking about your own life and the 00:06:15.060 --> 00:06:17.600 journey that you've been on. I think for me, 00:06:18.220 --> 00:06:21.660 I'm probably quite sort of upfront and I wear 00:06:21.660 --> 00:06:23.839 my heart on my sleeve, probably to the point, 00:06:23.899 --> 00:06:27.339 like to the point of a fault. So I think if I 00:06:27.339 --> 00:06:30.379 was ever gonna have a brand or make a brand, 00:06:30.480 --> 00:06:36.160 it was always gonna be me as part of the brand, 00:06:36.339 --> 00:06:40.319 just because I can't really like detach myself 00:06:40.319 --> 00:06:44.189 from. this is the brand and this is me, my personality, 00:06:44.810 --> 00:06:46.930 like I've never been very good at it. And back 00:06:46.930 --> 00:06:50.889 when I was in the corporate world, that was one 00:06:50.889 --> 00:06:54.009 of my major feedbacks that I used to get that, 00:06:54.009 --> 00:06:56.790 you know, like everyone can tell what Sophie's 00:06:56.790 --> 00:06:58.709 thinking and she wears a heart on her sleeve. 00:06:59.129 --> 00:07:01.389 And probably what was the biggest eye opener 00:07:01.389 --> 00:07:05.209 for me was when I did my first perfume empress. 00:07:06.459 --> 00:07:10.420 it was announced on Fragrantica, which I'm sure 00:07:10.420 --> 00:07:13.180 lots of your listeners will be aware of, sort 00:07:13.180 --> 00:07:16.959 of Wikipedia perfumes, a couple of weeks before 00:07:16.959 --> 00:07:20.939 it came out, before I even had any of the bottles, 00:07:21.100 --> 00:07:23.819 like no one had it. And people started putting 00:07:23.819 --> 00:07:28.180 negative reviews about it. And I thought, well, 00:07:28.560 --> 00:07:32.339 there's no way you've got it, like no one has 00:07:32.339 --> 00:07:35.379 it. So I think that was a big learning for me 00:07:35.379 --> 00:07:38.180 that, you know, hashtag hate is going to hate. 00:07:38.339 --> 00:07:40.740 I mean, there are a lot of founders who didn't 00:07:40.740 --> 00:07:44.740 have your background as an influencer and maybe 00:07:44.740 --> 00:07:47.259 aren't sure about putting themselves out there 00:07:47.259 --> 00:07:49.560 as the face of the brand or as an ambassador. 00:07:49.939 --> 00:07:51.339 I mean, what are the main things that you've 00:07:51.339 --> 00:07:54.560 learned just from having that background? I think 00:07:54.560 --> 00:07:57.379 just be yourself. And I know that's such a cliche 00:07:57.379 --> 00:08:00.990 thing. But I think you can spend a lot of time 00:08:00.990 --> 00:08:04.509 trying to overthink and curate what's the message 00:08:04.509 --> 00:08:06.589 I want to bring across and what are my like key 00:08:06.589 --> 00:08:09.490 themes and things like that. But I think if you're 00:08:09.490 --> 00:08:13.790 just yourself, then that's what people will connect 00:08:13.790 --> 00:08:18.649 with. And, you know, it's really easy to be yourself. 00:08:18.709 --> 00:08:21.189 You don't have to remember anything. Yes, people 00:08:21.189 --> 00:08:23.329 like authenticity, don't they? They like to feel 00:08:23.329 --> 00:08:26.500 that they can relate to someone. Yeah, I think 00:08:26.500 --> 00:08:29.939 so and I think like don't be afraid I think it 00:08:29.939 --> 00:08:33.440 is really important like and don't overthink 00:08:33.440 --> 00:08:36.659 things like You know what could happen or what's 00:08:36.659 --> 00:08:38.500 the worst that could happen? I think just do 00:08:38.500 --> 00:08:41.299 it and you know, whenever I post something I 00:08:41.299 --> 00:08:44.779 just Like close my laptop or my phone or whatever 00:08:44.779 --> 00:08:47.580 and walk away. I'm not sat refreshing the comments 00:08:47.580 --> 00:08:54.299 That can be quite like toxic just think, you 00:08:54.299 --> 00:08:58.549 know, just do yourself, do you and... If the 00:08:58.549 --> 00:09:01.309 world likes it, then that's great. And it seems 00:09:01.309 --> 00:09:03.830 like a lot of people are buying and engaging 00:09:03.830 --> 00:09:06.649 with the perfume world online through channels 00:09:06.649 --> 00:09:09.210 like YouTube and social media. Why do you think 00:09:09.210 --> 00:09:13.570 that is? I think that, you know, perfumeries, 00:09:13.850 --> 00:09:16.950 perfume shops can be quite intimidating for people. 00:09:18.210 --> 00:09:20.370 And especially places like Duty Free, where you 00:09:20.370 --> 00:09:25.129 have quite aggressive sales people. because like 00:09:25.129 --> 00:09:28.529 it is often quite a complex thing to break down 00:09:28.529 --> 00:09:31.250 and to choose what you want, and you want to 00:09:31.250 --> 00:09:33.850 have a more considered experience, we try things, 00:09:34.190 --> 00:09:37.610 I think having access to that kind of information, 00:09:37.610 --> 00:09:41.110 you know, from home on your phone, on the couch 00:09:41.110 --> 00:09:44.269 is just making it more accessible to people. 00:09:44.429 --> 00:09:49.309 And I think also, one thing I hear a lot in comments 00:09:49.309 --> 00:09:52.379 from people is that they feel that they haven't 00:09:52.379 --> 00:09:55.299 got value for money. So they might see a beautiful 00:09:55.299 --> 00:09:58.440 advertising campaign from a big designer and 00:09:58.440 --> 00:10:01.539 sort of get sucked in with that and then spend, 00:10:01.539 --> 00:10:03.639 you know, a hundred pounds on designer perfume 00:10:03.639 --> 00:10:06.419 and nobody compliments them. They can't smell 00:10:06.419 --> 00:10:08.500 on themselves after like an hour and they feel 00:10:08.500 --> 00:10:12.220 like they've kind of been duped in a way. So 00:10:12.220 --> 00:10:14.740 I think people are looking for more like independent 00:10:14.740 --> 00:10:18.960 advice and looking to just investigate. like 00:10:18.960 --> 00:10:21.600 in a comfortable way where they like can find 00:10:21.600 --> 00:10:24.340 a safe space online where they can look into 00:10:24.340 --> 00:10:26.799 it rather than being watched at by people in 00:10:26.799 --> 00:10:30.139 store it can be very difficult especially online 00:10:30.139 --> 00:10:32.860 to convey obviously it's impossible to convey 00:10:32.860 --> 00:10:35.320 what something smells like and to know whether 00:10:35.320 --> 00:10:37.259 someone will like it or not i mean i've bought 00:10:37.259 --> 00:10:39.440 perfume online and then just been sorely disappointed 00:10:39.440 --> 00:10:41.100 because i've been like oh okay that's got gardenia 00:10:41.100 --> 00:10:42.899 in it i really like gardenia let me buy that 00:10:42.899 --> 00:10:44.759 and then it's like oh no it's too sweet this 00:10:44.759 --> 00:10:46.659 isn't what i imagined at all i mean how do you 00:10:46.659 --> 00:10:49.340 overcome that I think, I think that's true. I 00:10:49.340 --> 00:10:51.779 think the fragrance notes that are listed themselves 00:10:51.779 --> 00:10:55.059 are part of the marketing. So they're not a scientific 00:10:55.059 --> 00:10:58.720 description of perfume. And you're right. People 00:10:58.720 --> 00:11:01.179 can read it as if it's just going to explain 00:11:01.179 --> 00:11:04.720 what it does smell like. And I think what I'd 00:11:04.720 --> 00:11:07.639 like to do a lot is say, this is similar to this. 00:11:07.779 --> 00:11:10.039 You know, this reminds me of this. You know, 00:11:10.059 --> 00:11:12.320 if you like Ariana Grande cloud, then you'd probably 00:11:12.320 --> 00:11:15.000 like this. If you like something oody, you might 00:11:15.000 --> 00:11:18.490 like this. And then also just like real life 00:11:18.490 --> 00:11:22.330 situations. So for example, in Artemis, I have 00:11:22.330 --> 00:11:25.529 a peach note. And I think sometimes when you 00:11:25.529 --> 00:11:27.929 say peach, people's brain goes straight to like 00:11:27.929 --> 00:11:31.990 a Haribo peach smell or like an artificial like 00:11:31.990 --> 00:11:35.570 sugary peach. But to me, the peach that we created 00:11:35.570 --> 00:11:39.279 in that is um reminds me of going to like the 00:11:39.279 --> 00:11:41.659 supermarket and buying a punnet of peaches and 00:11:41.659 --> 00:11:45.000 like that smell like it's crisper and sharper 00:11:45.000 --> 00:11:48.000 and greener so i'll sort of talk about it like 00:11:48.000 --> 00:11:50.580 that like go to the supermarket yeah i've got 00:11:50.580 --> 00:11:52.559 that so it's absolutely gorgeous i'm obsessed 00:11:52.559 --> 00:11:55.059 with it it is like my fragrance like you say 00:11:55.059 --> 00:11:57.639 that peach note it just cuts through now that 00:11:57.639 --> 00:12:00.070 you have your own brand and obviously you're 00:12:00.070 --> 00:12:02.309 essentially competing with the brands that you're 00:12:02.309 --> 00:12:04.710 reviewing on your channel. So how do you manage 00:12:04.710 --> 00:12:06.789 that kind of potential conflict of interest? 00:12:07.730 --> 00:12:10.590 I personally don't really see it like that. Like 00:12:10.590 --> 00:12:14.750 I think anyone's boats ever rose by plugging 00:12:14.750 --> 00:12:18.730 a hole in someone else's boats. So and I also 00:12:18.730 --> 00:12:21.830 think people have more than one perfume. So it's 00:12:21.830 --> 00:12:25.159 not like buying a car where you could discover 00:12:25.159 --> 00:12:27.279 the most amazing car the day after you just bought 00:12:27.279 --> 00:12:29.440 one but you're not going to buy another car because 00:12:29.440 --> 00:12:31.419 you just bought a car whereas with fragrance 00:12:31.419 --> 00:12:34.679 people will have you know fragrances for different 00:12:34.679 --> 00:12:38.259 moods people talk about the fragrance tray fragrance 00:12:38.259 --> 00:12:42.159 library so i don't think it's a zero -sum game 00:12:42.159 --> 00:12:45.639 i don't think it is like a direct competition 00:12:45.639 --> 00:12:49.799 in my view and i also think like i want to help 00:12:49.799 --> 00:12:52.220 people so if the right perfume for them isn't 00:12:52.220 --> 00:12:55.090 one of mine then they should get the one that 00:12:55.090 --> 00:12:59.029 is right for them if that makes sense. And I 00:12:59.029 --> 00:13:03.529 think that sort of advice and sort of helping 00:13:03.529 --> 00:13:06.490 people navigate is what sort of I'm all about 00:13:06.490 --> 00:13:08.629 and what people know me for. So I wouldn't want 00:13:08.629 --> 00:13:12.710 to sort of be insincere and shift away from that. 00:13:13.460 --> 00:13:15.039 and suddenly be like, no, you should just get 00:13:15.039 --> 00:13:18.080 my perfumes, no one else's. I think people appreciate 00:13:18.080 --> 00:13:20.279 that as well. And I think it's, it's kind of 00:13:20.279 --> 00:13:22.279 a nice way to approach it because you're operating 00:13:22.279 --> 00:13:24.559 from, I know this is an overused phrase, but 00:13:24.559 --> 00:13:26.720 an abundance mindset that there's enough business 00:13:26.720 --> 00:13:29.000 out there for everyone. Yeah. Fighting over the 00:13:29.000 --> 00:13:32.080 same customers. Yeah. Yeah. You people can buy, 00:13:32.340 --> 00:13:34.679 you know, people buy more than one perfume and 00:13:34.679 --> 00:13:37.120 if they like something a lot, they'll get it. 00:13:38.269 --> 00:13:40.929 So it's not the kind of item that you only need 00:13:40.929 --> 00:13:44.330 one offer any one time, like a car. So I don't 00:13:44.330 --> 00:13:48.470 really think about it too much. And yeah, I don't 00:13:48.470 --> 00:13:51.309 really worry about that. I've got too many other 00:13:51.309 --> 00:13:53.330 things to worry about. Yeah. And it seems to 00:13:53.330 --> 00:13:57.350 be working for you. So, you know, no need to 00:13:57.350 --> 00:14:00.870 revisit it. And a big question that a lot of 00:14:00.870 --> 00:14:03.490 founders are talking about, it seems, is fundraising. 00:14:04.250 --> 00:14:07.509 How have you found that? And what are your main 00:14:07.509 --> 00:14:11.230 learnings from having done all of that? Well, 00:14:11.370 --> 00:14:15.690 so I'm completely self -funded. So I put all 00:14:15.690 --> 00:14:18.750 my life savings plus many, many credit cards 00:14:18.750 --> 00:14:23.470 and loans into starting up the business, which 00:14:23.470 --> 00:14:25.629 obviously gives it a whole new edge because it 00:14:25.629 --> 00:14:29.389 literally is your personal money on the line. 00:14:30.610 --> 00:14:35.009 And in terms of sort of getting funds, investors 00:14:35.009 --> 00:14:37.330 in the future. It's definitely something I'm 00:14:37.330 --> 00:14:41.750 thinking about and considering, because I think 00:14:41.750 --> 00:14:45.129 obviously a huge, you know, today I've not spent 00:14:45.129 --> 00:14:47.950 any money on marketing. It's all just been me. 00:14:48.389 --> 00:14:52.389 And I know that every other brand spends a fortune 00:14:52.389 --> 00:14:56.149 on marketing. And, you know, I think in order 00:14:56.149 --> 00:14:58.669 to reach customers that aren't on YouTube, that 00:14:58.669 --> 00:15:03.360 would never come across me. and naturally organically 00:15:03.360 --> 00:15:06.980 on social media, then I might need to start investing 00:15:06.980 --> 00:15:13.220 in marketing. And therefore, I would need investment 00:15:13.220 --> 00:15:16.059 in order to do that. I think, you know, one of 00:15:16.059 --> 00:15:18.399 the big challenging things around having a fragrance 00:15:18.399 --> 00:15:20.659 brand, which is probably similar to lots of other 00:15:20.659 --> 00:15:26.409 sort of, I don't know, sort of beauty or FMCG 00:15:26.409 --> 00:15:29.809 brands is you have to buy all the stock upfront. 00:15:30.529 --> 00:15:34.370 So it's not like building an app or a service 00:15:34.370 --> 00:15:38.330 thing, industry, like you have to buy thousands 00:15:38.330 --> 00:15:41.929 of a unit upfront before you've sold any of it. 00:15:41.929 --> 00:15:45.669 So and then you have to hold that stock. So it's 00:15:45.669 --> 00:15:49.470 a very capsule like very, it's very cash intensive 00:15:49.470 --> 00:15:56.139 business, which is you know, frustrating, and 00:15:56.139 --> 00:15:59.600 it's not something I fully realized when I started 00:15:59.600 --> 00:16:03.340 out. So again, investment would help with something 00:16:03.340 --> 00:16:06.899 like that. So something I'm thinking about. But 00:16:06.899 --> 00:16:09.679 I think, you know, fundamentally, the brand is, 00:16:10.120 --> 00:16:12.120 you know, I wouldn't want someone to come in 00:16:12.120 --> 00:16:16.120 and want to change the brand or influence it. 00:16:16.990 --> 00:16:19.870 So it's something I'm not familiar with. I've 00:16:19.870 --> 00:16:21.929 never worked or done anything in the investment 00:16:21.929 --> 00:16:24.230 world. I don't know very much about it. I find 00:16:24.230 --> 00:16:27.850 it quite scary. But it's something I'm thinking 00:16:27.850 --> 00:16:30.889 about at the moment. And what about like crowdfunding 00:16:30.889 --> 00:16:35.129 and stuff like that? Yes. So I did do a Kickstarter 00:16:35.129 --> 00:16:38.409 campaign for my first fragrance for Empress. 00:16:39.730 --> 00:16:44.039 That ended up raising less than half of what 00:16:44.039 --> 00:16:47.299 I actually needed to spend. But you know, the 00:16:47.299 --> 00:16:50.000 Kickstarter was amazing. And I think what was 00:16:50.000 --> 00:16:52.740 really rewarding was, you know, the amount of 00:16:52.740 --> 00:16:56.340 people that ordered when it was still a, like 00:16:56.340 --> 00:16:58.320 idea, it wasn't a physical product, it didn't 00:16:58.320 --> 00:17:02.039 exist. Yeah. Like that support was really overwhelming 00:17:02.039 --> 00:17:07.039 and really, like humbling. And, and yeah, I wouldn't 00:17:07.039 --> 00:17:08.880 have been able to do it without the Kickstarter. 00:17:09.180 --> 00:17:12.940 So I do recommend that. definitely if people 00:17:12.940 --> 00:17:17.299 do have an existing community and like it's fantastic 00:17:17.299 --> 00:17:20.359 that something like that exists. And what's next 00:17:20.359 --> 00:17:22.640 for you like what is the big picture like and 00:17:22.640 --> 00:17:24.779 then what is what is kind of next on the horizon 00:17:24.779 --> 00:17:30.109 that you're allowed to? Yeah so My next perfume 00:17:30.109 --> 00:17:34.190 is coming out in a few months so that's all going 00:17:34.190 --> 00:17:36.589 to be arriving here with me soon and then I'll 00:17:36.589 --> 00:17:40.829 be bottling all my 50 mil travel sprays and samples 00:17:40.829 --> 00:17:43.309 myself so that's going to be coming out soon 00:17:43.309 --> 00:17:45.470 so definitely watch this space for more information 00:17:45.470 --> 00:17:51.380 on that and I am in conversation with a few retailers 00:17:51.380 --> 00:17:56.579 who have physical stores here in London. So hopefully 00:17:56.579 --> 00:17:59.420 soon I'll be able to let people know places where 00:17:59.420 --> 00:18:01.480 people can actually go and physically see the 00:18:01.480 --> 00:18:07.259 product. So that's super exciting. And, and then 00:18:07.259 --> 00:18:10.680 the next step really will be working on future 00:18:10.680 --> 00:18:13.720 releases next year. I'm hoping to do two releases 00:18:13.720 --> 00:18:16.819 next year, fingers crossed. So everything will 00:18:16.819 --> 00:18:19.259 sort of start on them after my next release. 00:18:19.589 --> 00:18:22.369 That's really exciting. And obviously mergers 00:18:22.369 --> 00:18:24.430 and acquisitions is making big news at the moment. 00:18:24.529 --> 00:18:28.150 Could you ever see yourself being bought by a 00:18:28.150 --> 00:18:32.130 large conglomerate in the future? Crikey. Gosh, 00:18:32.329 --> 00:18:34.329 I don't know. I don't know who would want to 00:18:34.329 --> 00:18:41.509 buy me. I think it would be quite depressing 00:18:41.509 --> 00:18:46.490 to see your own brand. being run by someone else 00:18:46.490 --> 00:18:48.769 and you're not remotely involved. And I know 00:18:48.769 --> 00:18:51.309 Jo Malone has spoken about that a lot, how, you 00:18:51.309 --> 00:18:53.369 know, she didn't know she's not been involved 00:18:53.369 --> 00:18:55.470 with Jo Malone London for long. I mean, some 00:18:55.470 --> 00:18:57.089 founders still stay on board, don't they, as 00:18:57.089 --> 00:18:59.730 like a director and things like that, so. Yeah, 00:18:59.950 --> 00:19:04.690 so potentially that could be really cool. I find 00:19:04.690 --> 00:19:09.289 that all that world highly mysterious and unclear, 00:19:09.289 --> 00:19:11.349 and I don't know what it would actually look 00:19:11.349 --> 00:19:19.109 like. So I honestly, I honestly don't know. And 00:19:19.109 --> 00:19:22.609 I'm just gonna keep on doing my thing at the 00:19:22.609 --> 00:19:25.549 moment and, and see what happens. But yeah, that 00:19:25.549 --> 00:19:29.029 whole sort of M &A, investors, all that sort 00:19:29.029 --> 00:19:32.529 of financial world, I find very scary and alien 00:19:32.529 --> 00:19:36.230 and I don't. but anything about it but I guess 00:19:36.230 --> 00:19:38.349 never say no it's nice the idea of being able 00:19:38.349 --> 00:19:42.470 to retire one day and well quite like I am getting 00:19:42.470 --> 00:19:45.109 married next year and oh congratulations you 00:19:45.109 --> 00:19:48.150 think about you know other life things beyond 00:19:48.150 --> 00:19:51.950 you um but yeah I can't imagine that would happen 00:19:51.950 --> 00:19:56.150 anytime soon yeah see what see what the future 00:19:56.150 --> 00:20:00.460 holds yeah yeah Well thank you so much for joining 00:20:00.460 --> 00:20:02.539 me Sophie, it was really lovely chatting with 00:20:02.539 --> 00:20:05.380 you and congratulations on the brand and can't 00:20:05.380 --> 00:20:07.779 wait to see what you get up to next. Ditto, thanks 00:20:07.779 --> 00:20:23.839 so much Viola, really enjoyed it. I hope you 00:20:23.839 --> 00:20:25.920 enjoyed that episode. All links will be in the 00:20:25.920 --> 00:20:28.980 show notes and feel free to visit smartbeautycreative 00:20:28.980 --> 00:20:32.000 .com or visit us over on Instagram to find out 00:20:32.000 --> 00:20:34.400 more about what we do. And if you enjoyed listening, 00:20:34.799 --> 00:20:36.619 please don't forget to rate and review Smart 00:20:36.619 --> 00:20:39.099 Beauty on iTunes as it helps people find us. 00:20:39.480 --> 00:20:40.220 See you next time!