Inside My 10-Year MAIR Journey as a Founder
Ten years in, and this does not feel like crossing a finish line. It feels more like standing still for a moment, taking in every setback, misstep, and unexpected win along the way. We're not a polished ship here at MAIR. From time to time, the screens still freeze, links break, and I still make mistakes, but the difference now is the softness in how I hold it all; there's less shame and more “this is what it looks like to build something real while being fully human.”
This 10-year milestone feels less like a glossy success story and more like a deeply personal reflection. This is the version you won’t find in a press release; it's the one for founders, dreamers, and anyone who wants an honest look inside a beauty founder’s journey.
The Truth About My 10-Year Journey
Though incredibly rewarding, MAIR has been beautiful and brutal at the same time. It has stretched my mind, my heart, and my finances.
There have been more sleepless nights than I can count, tech issues, team issues, and decisions (just to name a few), I wish I could redo. On the flip side, I’ve also walked through moments that felt like quiet miracles, where people I got the chance to be in the same room with people I never imagined I’d meet, emails that arrived right when I needed encouragement, and small yeses that turned into big pivots for this fragrance brand I love.
The Lessons That Built MAIR
Most of the rewards I’ve received along this road were not flashy. They weren’t “look at me” moments; they were “keep going” moments. A DM from a customer who told me, “I wore your fragrance and finally felt like myself again.” Someone who said, “I put it on before a big presentation because it makes me feel powerful and beautiful at the same time.”
In the middle of building MAIR, it became abundantly clear that this was never just about perfume for me. But about why people reach for fragrance, and based on what I'm hearing and reading from my customers, it's to feel powerful within, beautiful, grounded, and sure of themselves. Once a woman has that, she can make the speech, ask for the promotion, make the pivot, or walk away from what doesn’t serve her. The scent is the tool; the transformation is the point. That belief has shaped every bottle and every decision in my fragrance journey.
The Pothole That Changed How I Build
One of the biggest potholes in my journey came from a business decision I made with a lot of hope and not enough structure. I entered into an agreement with a sales agency because I believed we were aligned. I trusted the pitch, the polish, the promise. But I didn’t set benchmarks. I didn’t define what success needed to look like for MAIR. I trusted the relationship more than the framework.
Months passed, and no deals were closed. The communication stayed hopeful & smooth, but the results stayed empty. That experience hurt. It forced me to admit that the “handshake and good faith” model I watched my parents use to build their businesses doesn’t fully work in today’s reality. I learned that my trust has to be partnered with guardrails, clarity, and contracts that protect what I’m building.
That pothole pushed me to one of my core convictions as a founder: ownership. I need to own my audience, my data, and the path to my customer. I can’t lean so heavily on third parties that prevent my brand from breathing on its own. Social media, email, and SMS are not side projects for me; they are infrastructure. A single honest message to my community can do more than the fanciest morning show mention, because it’s direct and it’s mine. If you’ve ever read my early reflections in “My New Normal,” you know I’ve been learning this in real time.
The Review That Took Me Back In Time
On the other side of the hard lessons are the moments that feel like a hug from the universe. One of them was a “scent of the day” post about Remember When that still gives me chills. She described it as a warm, citrus-fresh floral that took her straight back to the mid-to-late 90s—from the first sniff.
She painted scenes I could see in my mind: Bath & Body Works and Victoria’s Secret scents in the air, junior and senior balls, skating rinks, good music, first kisses, the simple joy of that first steady paycheck. She talked about a time when fragrances could stand on their own, no complicated layering needed. While elegantly breaking down the notes. I felt like a proud mom in this moment.
Reading her words, I realized again why I do this. I created Remember When specifically to hold memory and emotion, but seeing someone experience that so vividly reminded me that fragrance is time travel. It carries you back to who you were and walks with you into who you are now. That review wasn’t just about longevity or projection; it was about her life. That’s what moves me as a founder.
The Rooms This Journey Has Opened
Over these ten years, MAIR has taken me into rooms I used to read about only. I’ve sat with CEOs and executive leaders of major beauty brands (the kind whose products are already in so many households). What surprised me the most was their openness and their willingness to stop and really talk to me, to give me time and attention without making me feel rushed.
I felt their humility, but I also felt their fire. They are not chasing the status quo; they’re chasing new ground. They’re thinking about how to crush their quarterly goals, yes, but also how to win in ways they never have before. Being in those rooms reminded me that MAIR belongs at those tables, not because I say so, but because I’m building with that same mix of humility and hunger.
“ We're not a polished ship here at MAIR. From time to time, the screens still freeze, links break, and I still make mistakes, but the difference now is the softness in how I
hold it all; there's less shame .”
A Defining Turn In My Vision
Along the way, my vision for MAIR has evolved. Early on, certain placements and partnerships looked like the ultimate goal. Over time, I started to see more clearly who I’m really here for and how I want to show up for her. That meant rethinking what “luxury” looks like and asking myself: Is this decision bringing me closer to my customer, or just closer to someone else’s idea of prestige?
The answer led me toward more direct paths, more intentional retail, and more alignment with the everyday life of the woman wearing MAIR. I shifted from primarily focusing on hospitality to a broader, more traditional retail model. It was becoming apparent that my brand couldn't just be what you encounter on special occasions in faraway places. I want my customers to be able to grab it on a weekday, spray it before a Zoom call, a date, a doctor’s appointment, or a hard conversation. I want it woven into her real life. That’s the kind of brand story I also hinted at in “Advice to Me” on the MAIR blog.
Remembering My Early Days
When I think about the first blog I ever wrote, I can still feel the emotional texture of that season. I was hopeful, nervous, and a little naïve, but I was also bold. I didn’t know everything about distribution, retail, or scaling. I didn’t have all the contacts or the playbook. But I had a conviction that my new normal needed to be betting on myself.
If I could talk to that version of me now, I’d say: thank you. Thank you for being brave enough to move even when you didn’t know if you would win or lose. Thank you for not waiting for perfection before you started. Those early steps, those imperfect blogs, those first pitches were the seeds of everything I’m celebrating now with MAIR as a fragrance brand.
What Ten Years Really Means To Me
Ten years of MAIR isn’t a medal on my shelf; it’s a promise I’m renewing. I am recommitting to helping women feel like themselves—but more anchored, more radiant, more sure of their own power. I am recommitting to building with integrity, with intention, and with a deep respect for the women who choose to make MAIR part of their story.
To me, ten years means I have seen what happens when you stay. When you stick through the confusion, the disappointments, the slow seasons, and the pivots. It means I have more wisdom now and not just about fragrance or retail, but about myself as a human being and as a founder. And I love everything I have become because of it.
The Road Ahead
Looking forward, I’m not interested in doing “more” just to say I’m doing more. I want to be more precise, more strategic, and more aligned. Retail expansion, new products, and new ways to experience MAIR are coming. But every move will be rooted in the same heart that started this: helping women feel powerful within.
If you’re a founder, a dreamer, or someone in the middle of your own messy, beautiful journey, I hope this gives you a real glimpse into how I think, how I’ve learned, and how deeply grateful I am for every step, including the ones that hurt. This is not the end of my story with MAIR, but a constant evolution leading into its next chapter.
For the next decade to come, I’m walking into it with gratitude, grown-woman clarity, and the same boldness that got me started, but with a little more wisdom in my bag.
