She's the #Boss: Spotlight on Perfumer Mair Emenogu

My journey into perfume making and business ownership is far from a traditional one. I don't come from a long line of perfumers and I wasn't formally trained overseas in the art of perfume making. For me, it all started with a former coworker seeing my signature and telling me he could one day see it on a perfume bottle.

In the moment nothing happened, but shortly afterwards and for the next three years, every time I would hear my name, I would hear perfume instead.

Of course this new venture was met with a lot of opposition and heat from people close to me; however the desire and will to do something outside of the monotonous 9-5 was just too strong, I had to do it, so I did.

I studied every perfume book I could get my hands on and watched hundreds upon hundreds of hours of videos on how to master the art of fragrance making and train my nose. Some might call it luck, but it was destiny; one day, when calling different chemists to help me create my scent collection for women, I landed on Fred Cohen, a world renowned nose and master perfumer for several well-known global brands. It was an instant connection, he said yes upon hearing my story and passion to make it happen.

And there you have it, that's how I got started and created my first eau de parfum fragrance called Remember When. I decided to build my brand differently from the other scent pros that give you their scent collections first and accessories last. I built out the Remember When line with an Italian silk scarf, a travel size fragrance and a hand cream (launching in August 2017). I'm currently working on scent number two which is an aquatic scent set to launch in the fall of 2018.

The biggest lesson owning and operating a business taught me is that risk is always going to be a part of the process and being comfortable with it is necessary. Living in partial or total fear is the worst thing you can do to yourself. Calculate your risks, weigh the pros and cons of the risk(s) at hand, then either go for it or bench it. If you choose to go for it, go all in, there’s no room for doubt.

My MAIR brand is definitely my legacy.

I've been enjoying the process by taking my time in building out my collection & brand. My commitment is to the women and men I create for. High quality is what my brand is after. At the end of the day when you wear or use a MAIR product is going to leave you feeling better about yourself and I hope just a bit more confident.

My advice to business owners and those wanting to start their own companies is to be proactive in all aspects of your business. Don’t wait for the opportunity to come to you go out into the marketplace and make it happen. If you have a product based business work daily to get the maximum amount of eyes and hands on it. If you have a service based business work daily to get the word out about what you do and how great and better you are than your competitor. The opportunities will soon follow!

As a socially conscious fashionista, my favorite charity is A21 led by Christine Caine. Their team effort in putting an end to human trafficking is huge and their attitude towards saving young women from their current atmosphere is relentless and nothing short of inspiring, world changing and just amazing.

Houston native Mair Emenogu, is the owner of MAIR a fine fragrance brand. She travels all over the world in search of exclusive exotic oils to incorporate in her product line and creates her scents based off life experiences & adventures. Find out more at www.mairfragrance.com