Apr 08, 2013 8 Questions With: Yosh Han
Last year, Imprint’s founder, Julia Huang came back from a business trip after meeting YOSH and shared some of her Eau de Yosh samples and brand materials with me. When we finally met Yosh Han last fall, I was immediately struck by Yosh’s presence, openness, passion, and determination as she described the journey of her business’s growth. Yosh takes fragrances to a deeper, more personal level and approaches aromatic arts with heightened awareness of the physical and physiological impacts that can be transformative. And with perfuming workshops and custom blended fragrances, she creates signature scents that “entice the senses, fascinate the mind, and enchants the soul.” With a presence in Barneys New York and Anthropologie, Eau de Yosh has an impressive start.
How did you arrive at your company concept?
When I first learned to be a perfumer, I noticed that most people’s preferences in fragrances followed their personalities or lifestyle. Through creating hundreds of custom perfumes, I saw that people created their fragrances based on either their exterior persona or their interior private persona. As I developed my company, I wanted to create perfumes that resonated with people’s moods, personalities and inner landscapes. For me, the perfumes are really just the gateway to talking about what’s going on in someone’s energetic space. Fragrance allows us to talk about emotions that we otherwise might gloss over.
What have you learned as an entrepreneur so far?
The biggest lesson I’ve learned is that “No” really means, “maybe later.” So many young entrepreneurs give up when they hear the word “No.” Call me stubborn, but I’ve built my business on finding the “Yesses.”
What has been the best thing about the growth of Eau de Yosh?
As I grow my business, more like minded people gravitate towards me and I to them. As they say, birds of a feather, flock together. This is so true! Not just in terms of final end consumer, but the partners, suppliers and retailers who are the backbone of my business. Without these strategic partnerships, I couldn’t grow my business. At every turn, no matter how painful the growth period, it’s always been about resonating with the people I work with.
What are some projects you currently working on?
I have a new men’s fragrance coming out inspired by the Bavarian forest. It’s quite magical. Another project is four fragrances for Anthropologie – California Aromascapes. There are two inspired by Southern California where I grew up and two fragrances inspired by Northern California where I live now. I am inspired by this project because it feels deeply authentic.
What does your work day look like?
Some days, I have my artist hat on and I’m creating new fragrances and smelling new materials. Other days, I manage the day to day of my business. Sometimes it’s mundane but necessary like recording my entries in Quickbooks or checking on accounts payables and receivables. But when I’m traveling and meeting clients, I’m marketing myself through events with fragrance flights and scented aura portraits. This is the glamorous and fun part of my job that I look forward to.
Where do you find inspiration?
I love traveling and finding new adventures. I love meeting new people and having new experiences. Sometimes inspiration doesn’t come in exciting places though. Sometimes it’s the quiet moments that are reflective and profound. Someone recently sent me a video of a newborn dragonfly with wet wings. I found it deeply moving.
As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I wanted and still want to be a published author. I also wanted to teach and become a clown. I do teach and I love it but now, clowns scare me.
What is your favorite place to travel? Why?
I really love both Japan and Hawaii. Japan is so modern and traditional simultaneously. Tokyo is so intense yet graceful. When I travel outside of Tokyo, the rest of Japan is so peaceful and rhythmical. There’s no other place like it. I feel like I’m just part of the wave.
Hawaii is my other favorite place I go to recharge. The water, the mountains and the countryside are all so rejuvenating. The slow pace allows me to just be. The lush abundance of nature always reminds me of how plentiful life can be without any entrapments of money and modern society.
