#2 | Éléonore de Staël, independent perfumer

Welcome to POING FORT, the podcast that will give you the weapons of self-confidence. In this first season, 10 guests remove the mask to speak to us frankly about the failures and doubts they had to overcome to achieve their ambitions.

For the 2nd part of POING FORT, we go to meet Eléonore, an independent perfumer. From our first meeting thanks to a mutual friend, I was immediately won over by her sunny personality and her big, infectious smile.

Since her childhood, Eléonore has had a passionate dream of becoming a perfumer. His path to realizing this deep desire is not a straight line. She had to face a series of obstacles and demonstrate unwavering resilience to hold on to her ambition...

I hope that his testimony will show you that with unfailing determination and trusting yourself, you can succeed in achieving your dreams!

Margaux: Did you have any small passions, any dreams? Did you already know what you wanted to do or not at all?

My dream presented itself to me very quickly. The perfume, the smells, were immediately, at a very young age, a source of life, a reason to breathe, almost a reason to be. Today, that's why I get up, that's why I live and I weigh my words when saying that. And yes, I had that in my heart. I said I wanted to be with smells, I wanted to live with smells.

LARGE ITO EAR SCULPTURE

Margaux: Would you say that smells are closely linked to memories and emotions?

Yes, they are an echo, a materiality of the past. They allow us to return to a more than emotional state, a state of being. And I also like to recreate these states of being, so that as soon as we smell the perfume, we plunge back into this state even if we are going through delicate, difficult things, or a little everyday stress. We feel it and it immediately soothes. I like this approach to perfume which ultimately re-anchors us.

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Margaux: You are now an independent perfumer. You've taken flight, and it's still a bit of rebellion compared to this rather tidy upbringing. Where do you think you found the strength to launch yourself as an independent?

The dream is very strong . I was allowed to dream for a very long time because it was cute, because I had this dream for a very long time and I dreamed it day and night, for I don't know how many years. Five years, six years, something like that. And when I was told, no, ultimately you won't go in that direction, I very wisely gave up. But I had had so much time to feed him that he had taken up a lot of space.

And the second thing is that my father is still an entrepreneur. And I saw that it worked for him. Even if I had to give myself permission as a girl, as a woman, to do it. That was something else again. But yes, I was also inspired by the way my father had a career.

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Margaux: What is your creative process? How do you create a perfume, in conjunction with a brand?

I'll take the example of Mara Lafontan, who is completely passionate about perfume. His dream was to find a perfumer who stands out, who knows how to completely put his skills at the service of his vision, his look. And that’s an exercise that I really like. We drew a lot with Mara, we talked, we felt a lot. And straight away, it creates a formula, because we know which ingredients hit the mark. And then, it's up to me to resonate with them and create something out of them.

Margaux: Is there a failure that taught you the most, that made you stronger?

That's such a difficult question, because I don't necessarily consider failure. I think we fall and get up again, but the word failure doesn't mean much to me. In any case, what I remember from the latest difficulties is the importance of human relationships and forming strong partnerships based on values. I'm picking up on what Agathe said earlier, on how to do commerce and business tomorrow. I think we almost become best friends with our partners and our customers. Those words don’t even come to me anymore. I say never again supplier, I say partners and customers, even perfume lovers. Because we find ourselves in a verticality of relationships where everyone has their expertise and hand in hand, we create a network.

ITO EAR RING AND LARGE ITO EAR SCULPTURE