We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Rose Swarbrick a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Rose, so great to have you with us and we want to jump right into a really important question. In recent years, it’s become so clear that we’re living through a time where so many folks are lacking self-confidence and self-esteem. So, we’d love to hear about your journey and how you developed your self-confidence and self-esteem.
I am so fortunate to have come from a great family, two parents who were taught that there were no limitations in life beyond their own belief in themselves. My mother, in particular, was a force of nature – she came from a small country town in Australia, had a poor childhood but a mother who was driven and would roll up her sleeves and do whatever it took to build a better life. My grandmother, Noel, showed my mother that through determination, smarts, positive energy and perseverance we can do anything we set our minds to.
My mother adopted this attitude and after traveling extensively through her 20’s and 30’s, started a family and had me (the youngest) at 40. Once I was in Kindergarten, she finally started her own business at 45. This business thrived and snowballed into many more and after a while my dad quit his job as a geologist to join my mothers ventures.
Even in retirement they hustled and made smart moves and were driven by the desire to try new things and chase dreams. I was able to both observe and absorb this throughout my life as we always sat down together as a family every night for dinner and my parents would talk about their day, their businesses, their challenges and wins and it gave me so much insight into business and life as a young person, far more than most other people my age.
What is interesting, now that I stop to consider this, is that I am also finally starting my own venture at 45 in City of Scents, after my own child has started kindergarten. While I have been a managing partner (but not Founder) in a Communications agency in NYC for many (18!!) years, I have recently launched a modern incense brand with a friend and it is absolutely thrilling to start to see it have success.
In the end, I have a long line of women to thank for building this kind of ‘generational wealth of confidence’, if you will, and self esteem that was bequeathed to me, and I am deeply grateful for it. I can only aspire to pass this trust on to my own daughter, Delphi.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
In mid 2023 a dear friend, Sebastien Courty (a French artist), and I got together for lunch and conversation turned to our deep connection to food, travel & exploration and our shared appreciation of the power of scents to evoke memories. Talking about our travels and adventures – the wine, food and spices, the flea markets and gardens, nightlife and galleries – evolved into a study of the olfactory markers and notes that brought those experiences to life. Incense — a daily ritual and luxury for us both — was the perfect vehicle to carry those evocative scents into their own homes, and the homes of others. We developed a concept of a Modern Incense brand – the idea being that we fuse the ancient ritual of burning incense with fresh, vibrant scents that you would usually associate with scented candles and home fragrance. We developed the fragrances with inspiration of some of our favorite places around the world, and the concept of City of Scents was born.
Each unique city scent is an aromatic homage to the beautiful culture and customs of each of these remarkable cities, carefully crafted to transport you on a journey with every fragrant stick.
We are so delighted to have just been awarded a Fragrance Noteworthies Award by Elle Magazine (publicly announced in late May 2024) and to have received the praise and following of a growing list of media and influencers who appreciate our concept and scents.
We are exploring expanding our product offering in late 2024 and are so excited to keep growing this exciting brand together.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
1. I was so fortunate to set myself on a path early and stick to it – at only 15 years of age I chose PR and Communications as my career path and I worked towards it with zeal from that moment on. I was doing internships every single holiday period from High School.
2. I made my own path. After knowing what I wanted to do at 15 years old, I also knew I didn’t need to spend 4 years at college learning how to do it – so I instead, after a couple years of work experience, started my own little agency/consultancy at the age of 21. I continued taking chances when I left Australia at 26 and just moved to NYC, knowing that this was a town for someone like me who had the moxie to follow my dreams.
3. I am a strong and decisive person and I stand up for what I believe, but I also try to be fair. I think being fair goes a long way in business.
I have all of my own usual fears and challenges but I am so lucky to have confidence to trust that I am capable of whatever I truly set my mind to. I think it’s key to make well informed decisions, but then stick to them and ride it out.
Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?
The most impactful think they did for me was imbuing me with confidence and an understanding of business & entrepreneurship, as I have outlined previously, but I was so fortunate to have had the opportunity to travel a lot when I was young. It gave me such a broad perspective, and now looking back it set the stage for my first venture with City of Scents!
Contact Info:
- Website: cityofscents.com
- Instagram: cityofscentsnyc.com
- Linkedin: roseswarbrick
