Memo Paris - - The Emotional Resonance of Fragrance

Memo Paris
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Ramon Vela: [00:00:00] Now, without further ado, let's get to the main event. I have with me John Malloy, who is co founder and CEO of Memo Paris.

Welcome to the show. 

John Malloy: Thank you very much for having me. I'm delighted to be here. 

Ramon Vela: Well, I appreciate your time. I appreciate we, we got to a little rocky start. I had a,~ uh,~ actually I was dropping off my, my daughter at school and I had to meet with the parent,~ uh,~ teacher real quick. ~Uh, ~so I appreciate you making a little bit of time for me.

It's morning time for me. I know. I think it's probably later in the evening for you. ~Uh, ~so I appreciate you making,~ uh,~ being flexible now. Let's dive in. ~Um, ~my first question is sort of like my signature questions when I ask everyone who's on the show. And the reason why I asked that is one, it's a gratitude question.

And I asked that because,~ uh,~ people are stressed out. And so gratitude is a great way to relieve stress. [00:01:00] I had a guest on the show who told me, and which I didn't know this. And,~ uh,~ I had been doing this whole gratitude question for a long time, but this was new to me. She said that neurologically is impossible for you to have.

Gratitude and anxiety at the same time. So there it goes. Neurologically, it works. ~Uh, ~try it with your meditator journal, whatever it is. I highly recommend it. Now, the other reason why I ask it is that I want you to know the listener that there are real people behind the brands that we Interview and feature on the show, people who care about what they do, care about their products and care about the consumers and finding out what they're grateful for is a great way to get to know the person that we're interviewing.

So, John, if you don't mind, share a moment or a memory when someone did something for you that just made you feel grateful because it meant that they believed in you, your vision or your potential. 

John Malloy: Well, thank you very much for, for, for the introduction. And I think. ~Um, ~it's a nice, it's a nice start because to be very [00:02:00] straightforward,~ um,~ it's probably being a common denominator in my whole life.

I think since, since being the fourth child, one out of, out of six children, the fourth, you've got to have people that look after you. People that care for you and believe in you. And,~ um,~ I think from the very beginning, I've been very lucky to find those people all throughout my life. I've always somehow stumbled upon,~ um,~ people who believed in me, mentors,~ um,~ and every boss I've worked for.

~Um, ~has given me throughout my life before becoming an entrepreneur has given me that belief and helped my own self belief to go forward. I can give you a mention of one. ~Um, ~when I was in university, I was studying in Dublin. I was doing a Bachelor of Commerce and,~ um,~ I was working at a department store.

Department store was quite famous called Brown Thomas, paying for my studies to put myself to university. And I had a boss there who, who, and I was running sort of a, a, a shop and shop,~ uh,~ clothing,~ um,~ corner in the store. And he kind of said to me, [00:03:00] John, you know, he said. Anything you see, I do that you want to do, you can do this, take it on any responsibility that I have that you want to do, go for it.

And,~ um,~ then he said to me, I was doing a project in my final semester and it was called enterprise development. We had to develop our own company. He said, okay, develop a company. Why don't we do it and go for it? And I developed the 20 years of age in university, and I was meant to go to London and be a banker.

And work in futures and options. And I ended up driving around the world, selling clothing. And that was the start of my sort of, you could say, salesman entrepreneurial beginning because,~ uh,~ a great boss believed in me and said, just do it. Go for it. If you've got the energy and you got the will, go for it.

We'll help you out and get there. 

Ramon Vela: Wow. I love that. And that goes to the heart of the question, which is someone saw something in you at your age and saw that you had the skills and you had a great foundation, I'm sure. And,~ um,~ and they encourage you to just kind of do what, what they saw in you. And a lot of times when that happens, [00:04:00] people see things in us that maybe we don't even see in ourselves.

And that's the, I think that's the magic of it. ~Uh, ~they see it,~ uh,~ because sometimes we're just blind to it. ~Uh, ~but I love those stories. So thanks so much for, for sharing that,~ uh,~ by the way, have you ever gone back to that particular professor,~ uh, um, ~individual and thank them for,~ uh,~ having that belief in you?

John Malloy: Oh, he's been part of my life. His name is Nigel, Nigel Caledon. He's been part of my life. He's been to my wedding. He, we keep in contact. We're on the phone maybe four times a year. And he still is to this day, a huge, huge,~ um,~ booster, a huge, never doubted once in belief and always telling me to push me to go further.

And he, he's been wonderful. So, ~um, ~it's been a cornerstone, you know, one of these people who believe in you. So I've been lucky to have people. ~Um, ~that I believed in me and I've been lucky to keep those relationships,~ um,~ because they're very special to me. 

Ramon Vela: Yeah. That's great. I always like to make sure that, well, I always like to hear when people close the loop on those types of things.

~Um, ~so let's get started. ~Um, ~so based on your answer, [00:05:00] you have this entrepreneur background, you, you started with fashion. I'd love to find out how you got into,~ um,~ your new, new role in your, in your company. ~Um, ~I love this industry because I find it to be fascinating. It's, it's sort of innate in us to have as humans,~ uh,~ to have a special connection with aromas.

With perfumes, with smells, with odors, it's not just that they smell good or anything like that, it's also because they trigger memories, they trigger emotions, they trigger all sorts of really interesting things. So I'm fascinated and I'm hoping we can dive in a little bit about how. You guys create your different aromas and perfumes and so forth and smells and whether it's art and science and or a combination of both.

So I'd love to kind of dive into that, but let's start off. First of all, like, how did you get involved in something like this? [00:06:00] 

John Malloy: Well, ~um, ~it wasn't a plan. I think always plans always written afterwards. ~Um, uh, ~so how did I, how did I get involved in this? ~Um, ~I started off in fashion and I set up a brand when I was 20 and went around the world with that brand.

And then,~ um,~ I felt by the age of 26 that I I'd worked from 2026 and I was really had worked hard. I took a break and I went around the world for the year. Wanted to visit all the countries that I wouldn't visit normally on business. And,~ um,~ came back and went to France and did an MBA. And then I joined a big French luxury group, very big one.

I ran a fashion brand there for five years. And,~ um,~ then I met my wife. And I think when you fall in love, you know, you say crazy in love, or you become a bit crazy. My wife and I met up, we said, look, we'd love to have a lifestyle where we could make our own decisions and have absolute freedom. So we thought when you're blindly in love, why don't you set up your own company, our own company together, and that would give us the freedom to do whatever we want?

Weren't we naive? [00:07:00] So basically, that was in 2005. We set up the brand 2007. My wife ran the brand and I, I worked for another group and I was afraid to leave my job and a big cosmetics group. I had a very good job and I had a very good career path and I really was afraid and I couldn't leave because,~ um,~ I was afraid not to look after my wife, my children.

And it was a big factor. And then one day I was sitting down and my father in law said to me, look, John, He was an entrepreneur. He said, now you got to go for it now or never, because otherwise you're going to regret it. And he said, if you want, I'll sponsor your first year salary to keep you going so you don't have any problems with your family.

And then I took that jump. Luckily, I didn't have to ask him for that first year salary. It all worked out, but I took the jump. But I was afraid. I think, again, without having people that believed in me. At that time, it would have been maybe I would have stayed working in corporate life for a bit longer because it is very hard to leave a good job where you've [00:08:00] got your family and you're looking after and everything's growing and suddenly go back to two people in an office again and going to the post office and doing everything yourself to build it up.

So, ~um, ~I was lucky again and I've had a lot of luck. Maybe it's the Irish, the Irish luck coming at each time. ~Um, ~and then. We set up the brand and when I, when I joined Clara, my wife in 2012,~ um,~ the brand had just developed, you could say, in a few local markets in Europe,~ um,~ Paris and London, Milan, and a few partners like that.

And I just started internationalization of the brand at that stage. And so now I've been full time running the brand since 2012. So it's roughly been, you know, 11 years and this will be the 12th year of taking the brand and now we're in 60 countries around the world, but why did we do it? It really was just that idea of having a lifestyle together where we could make our own decisions.

~Um, ~which is very different when you have a brand, but it was, [00:09:00] it was fun and it was,~ um,~ it was great. And I always loved brands. I always loved playing with Lego as a child. I love building things. I love people. And I think when you can join your different passions in life about traveling, meeting people, being curious, meeting other cultures, other people.

And, and that's what kind of has always kept me. In a high energy sector, I'm traveling the world and talking about our brand with also entrepreneurial partners 

Ramon Vela: And you know If I was to unpack a little bit about what you just said right now, you know, I think a lot of times people have a misconception about entrepreneurs or people who, who,~ uh,~ build brands.

I don't know. They, they see the app, they see it afterwards, right? They see once you've already created, they see that, you know, you're successful or you're, you're, you're, you're,~ uh,~ successful. are seeing some success and they think, Oh, well, that's easy for them to do, right? It's easy for them to make those [00:10:00] decisions.

It's easy for them to,~ uh,~ to take that leap. And the reality is it couldn't be, you know, more different, right? It's,~ uh,~ it's the opposite. Like, you know, you just described right now that you have, you had hesitation. ~Um, ~so many people, Kind of live that life of quiet desperation because they want to start something, but they already have a job and they feel secure and they feel like they can't give that up or they feel like if they do, they're going to fail.

And then what's going to happen after that? ~Uh, ~so for me, that little moment in time and those moments where. For whatever reason, you jumped off the fence, maybe because, you know, you had a,~ uh,~ some potential money coming in or you, or you felt like a little bit more secure, whatever it was. I always find those moments to be really interesting, but it's a great example for those who are feeling that way and who are fearful of making that jump.

John Malloy: Well, I, one thing I've learned in life, cause you know, if you're not humble, life makes you humble. And. I learned. It's, you can't judge. ~Um, ~people can say, you [00:11:00] know, people say, well, why don't you become an entrepreneur? Why don't you, you know, there's a lot to be said for having a very good job and a company and going forward in a corporate job.

There's, you know, there's, there's, yes, being an entrepreneur, but there's very few entrepreneurs that actually can make it and be successful. You learn a lot, you learn a lot of experience, but it's really tough. And I've seen my dad. ~Um, ~go through financial problems when I was young, and I just did not want to relive that.

And I think it's, it's, it's, it's very difficult. So I really respect people who are working,~ um,~ any sort of job, you know, doing what their duties are, because, you know, taking that jump can be great,~ um,~ but all can be difficult, and you need a lot of luck and support. And I think you really need a good family network around you.

People often ask me, how did you get through all of that? I think because I had a great family. I've got So,~ Um,~ four fantastic sisters, a fantastic brother, two fantastic parents, and people who've always kept saying you'll make it, pushing through,~ um,~ and back from Ireland, a lot of prayers as well. Yeah. 

Ramon Vela: So, ~um, ~and so when deciding, okay, and I love [00:12:00] this aspect of it because I think a lot of people start off like this, and I think that's also the dream, which is I want to control my time.

You know, I want to be, I want to,~ uh,~ You know, plan, you know, be able to person to plan my schedule and so forth, which I think, you know, there, there is that component of it, especially depending on how large the enterprise or what you're doing, there's always that component of it. And I think a lot of people,~ um,~ are drawn to that, that 1, that 1 aspect, but what was it about?

That particular brand that you started or the category that drew you because you already hadn't, you already were in fashion. You already were running some fashion brands already. You had that experience. ~Um, ~but why the perfume space? Why the, why this area? 

John Malloy: Well, my wife is a French pro and she had her own company and she was,~ um,~ you know, working and advising different companies.

And at the time she wrote a book about the noses, the [00:13:00] perfumers, when you go back to back to 2005, no companies ever. Put forward the noses of the perfumers. They always talked about the fashion designer was behind the perfume because you focus on one person in communication and the nose or the perfumer, we say nose in French, we call it now nose or the nose of the perfumer.

was considered someone who wore a white vest and was like a chemist working with molecules. And it wasn't someone that was promoted to the outside. And so Clara was quite,~ um,~ taken back by this. And then she went and visited 22 of the world's best perfumers back in 2005 and brought out what was maybe a Bible in our industry was called 22 perfumers in creation.

And she spoke about how they were creative. And it was kind of like interviewing each one on what, where their creativity came from to show that they were a creative force. And it wasn't just the fashion designer. It wasn't just the owner of the [00:14:00] brand, but there are these really creative individuals called perfumers or noses and how do they work.

And that kind of really brought the, this, this population of creative talent to light around the world in our sector, be it in our sector, our business sector. And that led to Clara meeting the 22 best perfumers in the world. And that was like having an amazing MBA in perfumery because when you met these people and you spoke to them and interviewed them and got to know them,~ um,~ she came back and said, this is an amazing world.

~Um, ~and she being a poet and having an amazing imagination and writing said, With your brand building and your 20 years experience in fashion, my, her love of brands, words, and creativeness. We said, why don't we put our talents together? And we were thinking about what we do. And then we said, let's do a fragrance brand.

And a friend of ours said to us, we're talking about our ideas. I was Irish. I'd visited a hundred countries. My [00:15:00] wife's of Spanish origin were born and reared in Paris. And the person said, why don't you know, talk to settle. We're talking about names. You're sort of brainstorming in this person. Why don't you call a memo and memo and memo Paris and like memo from your olfactive memory.

Because the best memory of your five senses of your sight, your smell, your taste, your touch,~ um,~ your hearing is your actual nose. And so your olfactory memory is your best memory and it's used a lot in the world to help people who've lost their memories today. And so as we came to memo, your olfactory memory, memo paris.

And we wanted to recapture memories of places that we visited from around the world. And so someone could actually travel there by just wearing the perfume, closing their eyes and hearing the story. And so that's how we started in the beginning. It was Memo. We started with four fragrances, four Memo Paris, four destinations.

And from there, now we've got 48, 42 destinations of fragrances in our collection today. We're in 60 countries around the world. And [00:16:00] Memo Powers has kind of developed into a brand where we, we are customers. ~Um, ~who are our clients and who are our, our, our, our, you could say they are people who feel part of the brand is their brand because they, when they meet us, they, they talk to us as if the places they'd been, how they've interpreted those places to the fragrances.

And so it's amazing. Our customer, but you asked me who are our clients around the world, I would say they've one common larger is that they're curious. They're curious about the people, they're curious about the cultures, and they're curious about the places. They don't have to be avid travellers. They can maybe travel to reading or travel to film, but they are really curious.

And we're sort of with those people who are curious about the people, regardless of politics. regardless of religion, regardless of whatever's happening in the world. These are people who see the world, see the world through with the glass half full,~ uh,~ and they see the beauty [00:17:00] everywhere. And we try to share the beauty of every place in the world.

And that's what we do. We're sharing, creating bridges by sharing the beauty of places in the world. And that's what we, we kind of like doing through fragrances. So our kind of small way of connecting people. 

Ramon Vela: Wow. And,~ uh,~ in terms of this brand, and I thank you, by the way, I love that, that,~ uh,~ I love the description of why the word memo in the name was the brand, was the brand, or how different was this category and what you were building from the fashion world on the surface?

It feels like it would be very similar, but did you find that to be the case or was it vastly different? 

John Malloy: ~Um, ~I think there are some similarities. But I found it vastly different because in fashion, you have four to two years and every year you either got four or two collections and it's new and it's finished, it's gone and you start again.

As for in our business, you're building, we've got for only 17 years now, remember nearly, nearly, we've got the same fragrance in our collection. [00:18:00] You're building a relationship with a fragrance. And your client and you're keeping that relation going because they fall in love with a fragrance. You're not changing every day, a new one, which has this fashion happening.

And in fashion, you've got this, I love fashion. There's a speed. There's an energy in it because you keep changing. You know, you it's six months time. You have a bad season, the next season can be better, but in the fragrance, it's a long term game. It's, it's a long term relationship building. And usually when a, a client tries a fragrance, they remain loyal to it.

They may have many, but they will still buy that fragrance two years later, three years later or every month, but they still have that. It means something to this part of their fragrance wardrobe. And, and so you're building these lifetime relationships all around the world. ~Um, ~and I think it's got this continuity, which maybe fashion doesn't have.

Ramon Vela: ~Um, ~I, I love what you just said,~ uh,~ the, the phrase fragrance wardrobe. ~Um, ~I don't think I've ever heard it [00:19:00] that way, but I, I, I really liked that because That is so on point with how people, I think, use their fragrances. ~Um, ~you know, it's for every, I don't know what you, what the word,~ uh,~ description is, but for every mood, you know, sometimes you wear certain clothing.

Sometimes you're, you're in the mood to wear sweaters or you're in the mood to, you know, look very serious, you know, intellectual with your glasses and your, you know, your And your sweater and so forth, your tweed jacket, whatever it might be. And then there's other times where you're more playful or it's summer or whatever it is.

And along with whatever the clothes you're wearing, you're, you have a different fragrances for your wardrobe, which is the reason why I liked that term that you just used. ~Um, ~I think that you're exactly right. And I, I think I know from my experience, Once you find a fragrance that you like you never really actually leave it like you might change it or you might not wear it Every now and then but you always keep it because there was something about that fragrance that [00:20:00] just whoa just kind of blew you away and What I love is when I'm walking or if I'm around people or at a meeting or whatever and I smell someone's fragrance and it's so compelling, I always usually have to ask, like, what is that?

Like, that smells so good. Like, what is that? That's triggered something in me. I'm not really sure what it is, but it's like, wow, it's, it smells so good. ~Um, ~I love that discovery and I love,~ uh,~ and I, and I think that kind of plays a part into what you're talking about, which is, you know, curiosity, not just curiosity for locations and places they haven't seen, but it's a curiosity of like, wow, what, what does that smell bring back?

What memories does it bring back to me? Or maybe You can't think of the memory, but it just, you know, you feel something that's, that's an incredible thing that, that you do for other people. I don't know if you've ever thought of it that way.

John Malloy: Well, I think fragrance,~ um,~ I think very good fragrances. And we talk about luxury fragrance to what people talk as a niche fragrance industry, which has become the new [00:21:00] luxury fragrance industry. ~Um, ~I think those fragrances do ignite. ~Um, ~emotions very strongly in people. And I think when the more fragrances you smell, so give an example, when you're working in fashion, you see 20 different colors of black in fabrics.

You can see there's many colors. You can see 20 colors of blue when you're working outside of fashion and you don't work and you see black is black, you know, it's one color. The same thing in fragrances. When you're working in fragrances, you can have a thousand different roses, but outside, if you're not working in fragrances, you're not used to fragrances.

Oh, that smells like a rose. You know, you become very gentle, but the more you wear fragrances, just like the more you wear fashion, the more you wear clothes. The more you develop an eye, the more you develop your nose, the more you can decipher things, the more fine tuned you get to your actual, real loves.

And, and that's what fragrance is great about, this fragrance and how it's become, from having your singular fragrance you had, because maybe [00:22:00] your father had it, your mother had it, or you were given it, and you stuck with it all your life, to having this wardrobe, through your emotions. And I think this was no better demonstrated than during COVID, when people were at home, fragrance sales went crazy because people wanted to,~ um,~ to, to express their emotions in one place by trying different things, by having their moods.

And I think it's,~ um, uh, ~it's, it's a great, I think it's a great, it's a nice way. We are the, the emotive animal, the human beings, we have to express our emotions. We don't,~ Uh,~ you suppress them, you got other problems, so you got to let the emotions get out there. And I think fragrance is a great way of doing that.

It's a simple way. It's a joyful way. It's a happy way. And,~ um,~ I think that's what's happened in our industry, that people now have this tool they can use to really express themselves. And the more they get into it, the more they appreciate it and the more they, they really like it. And I think it's kind of a fun thing.

A lot of fun fragrance aficionados out there now. 

Ramon Vela: Yeah, no, I love that. And, you know, like I said earlier on, it's so innate in us. ~Um, ~my [00:23:00] father passed away when I was young, and ~um, ~and he used, I think something like, probably a very, I know what it is, like a very inexpensive, sort of cheap aftershave. And,~ uh,~ And every now and then, like, I'll pass somebody and I will smell that, that,~ uh,~ that aroma, that fragrance from that cheap aftershave, but it brings back so many great, great memories, right?

Like it just, it triggers all those things. So I love that aspect. ~Um, ~so. As I was thinking about this interview earlier this morning, I was wondering, because for a lot of us, we don't have that developed nose. ~Uh, ~we, we smell things and we like them, but we're not really sure sometimes why we like them and, and, and, and, or how it triggers these memories and so forth.

So in the creation of these aromas, these fragrances, is it, I mean, is it both science and art? I know that it's highly, I mean, there's, there's chemists that work in this and so forth, but I'm just wondering, like, is it, how much of it is, [00:24:00] You know, ~uh, ~the chemists or whoever they're creating the recipe, how much of it is a science aspect of it?

You know, the chemistry part of it and how much of it is just, I don't know, the art component of it. And is there an art component of it? 

John Malloy: Well, I would say yes, there is. Is it an art component or is it's a point of view? ~Uh, ~if you look at, let's say we draw the parallel with fashion, a fashion designer has a certain point of view, they do things in a certain way.

And you like that and you like that designer because it touches you and you like what they do. I think it's, it's quite similar in a, in a, in a fragrance house. ~Um, ~you know, Clara looks after all of our olfactory fragrance development. She will never bring out a fragrance. She can't wear herself. So first of all, she doesn't like it.

She's not going to, someone told her this is the best seller tomorrow morning. She will not do it if she can't wear it herself. So that's one thing where you have this sort of. Again, the sort of in house rules. And if you look, go [00:25:00] back and you see about brands, all great brands were built by families. And they're usually built by two people.

~Um, ~they can be couples of any store. We had a yin and the yang. You had someone who could help in one part. And you had this, this ping pong going backwards and forwards to make sure you kept the brand with its vision going in its direction. And that's why great brands have lasted. And then they've been built, built up by corporations afterwards.

But at the beginning, it starts off by You know, usually one or two people being very focused and keeping their vision to get back to answer a long winded manner. Your question. ~Um, ~you need to have a point of view. You need to know what you really like, and you need to have a vision of what that can be.

And you need to have the strength and the audacity to say no, try it again, change it. We have so many fragrances. That have never come out of a drawer. You know, we tried them, we tried them, we worked in [00:26:00] for a year. It didn't work out. We put it in a drawer. We said, look, let's leave it. We'll come back again.

~Uh, ~and then sometimes we've come back two or three years there and said, you know, that fragrance we were making, this was the part we think was missing. We go back to the nose again. Can you retry with that? Because sometimes you get a bit of fatigue. You try it so many times you lose it. You can't, you're going to try again.

So I think if you have a vision. If you have,~ um,~ a, a, a, and you have your own olfactive mapping with your own taste, I think your clients, your customers fall, follow your taste because they see, wow, that's interesting. And you're taking them somewhere different each time. And you always know by good fragrance house.

~Um, ~is that they are, when you smell a fragrance at first, sometimes you may not understand it straight away because when you smell something new, your nose rejects it because we're made as an animal instinct to reject something we don't know. 

Admin: So 

John Malloy: you reject a new smell. If you smell something, you like it straight away.

It's usually because you've smelt something very similar to that before. [00:27:00] And that comes from our animal instincts. ~Uh, ~as you see a human's got a big head with a big brain and a small nose, a dog has a small head. With a long nose and usually animals, you know, they smell for three things, reproduction for fear or for eating it.

And that's how they stay safe. As for a human, our brain is so much bigger. We can take it. We can have poison. We can do anything, but if it smells good, makes us feel good. We know we don't have to eat it. So it's a whole process. ~Um, uh, ~and, and, and our nose and our mind is, is wonderful in that way. And just takes you on wonderful journeys.

Ramon Vela: Oh, I love how you describe that, but the nose,~ um,~ and when you start a new fragrance, do you start off with a concept in mind? And then work, work backwards from that, like for instance, you know, maybe it's a place in Madrid that you went to that, that you really enjoyed that area or a forest and in some other part of the world, Sub Saharan [00:28:00] Africa, whatever it is, do you start off with a concept and say, we love this place that we went to and the smells that we encountered.

Now let's work backwards and create a,~ uh,~ a fragrance around that. 

Admin: ~Uh, ~

Ramon Vela: is that part of the, part of the process or do you start off with the smell first and then kind of work, work your way through that? 

John Malloy: ~Um, ~well, I think, I think it's, it's, it's, it's a, it's an alignment of the stars really coming together.

~Um, ~you can, you can visit a place, you can love it, and you may not be able to get the fragrance right about it straight away. ~Um, ~you can read about a place and suddenly you've got a fragrance in mind for it. It's a question of aligning your imagination. your passion, your understanding of the place and putting those emotions together.

So it's kind of like a mapping of the emotions of what a place. So for giving an example,~ um,~ my wife, Clara, we love traveling for her. She hates having A, if I take her on a, [00:29:00] on a secret journey, don't tell her where she's going and she only finds out in the airplane, it would not be a good event. She likes to think and to imagine a place and read about it for up to six months before she goes.

She likes to let her mind play, let her mind wander about the place. That's as enjoyable as getting there and going to the place, the imagination before about it. So that, you know, if you can really think, dream. Capture the words, and when you got, that's why I think my wife's a poet, why she's very good.

She can capture the words,~ um,~ and capture the emotions that go with those, and then she's very good at capturing those words and those emotions, and briefing them. the noses, the perfumers that she's been working with for a long time, and they understand what she wants. And that's, that's the, that's the real sort of synergy or the real sort of alchemy is the way Cara works with these noses that she's known with known and worked for a long time.

And she can really [00:30:00] capture the emotion, the words, and then between them, they bring around getting the molecules. of the ingredients together, and then it goes to a sort of ping pong until they get it right, if they get it right. 

Admin: I 

John Malloy: think that's the magic about it. I think you're right. It can be a place, but it also the name of the place.

We always say that memo starts with a place of grace, because you just talked about earlier on that graceful feeling you have when you smell the fragrance your dad wore. So that for you is sort of like, it's a grace. So we start with a place of grace. So these, all of the memo destinations are places of grace.

And we ask her our clients, when they come in, where is your place of grace? And then I say, it's Paris. Remember, so we show you, we go through a Parisian fragrance with you. So we like to help people find their place of grace.~ Um, ~cause that's what it is for us. Fragrance is about a lifestyle. Fragrance is about feeling good.

Fragrance is about smiling. It's about, we call it internally is, is taking someone on a motion, a memo motion. Yeah. [00:31:00] And when someone can think of that place of grace, they smile and they smell the fragrance. Well then we think we've done our job because we've helped someone to smile, feel good, thinking about a place and, and enjoying those emotions and those descriptions.

Ramon Vela: Wow. I really love what, how you just described it right now. ~Um, ~and,~ uh,~ and the words you guys are using memo emotion. I love that. ~Um, ~so in terms of,~ uh,~ well, first of all, let me make sure that the audience knows. So if you're listening to this and you want to check, take a look at what we've been talking about, you can go to memo, paris.

com, memo, paris. com. So two words memo, M E M O. M O, and then the word paris. com. And you can take a look at what we've been talking about. ~Um, ~so in terms of the website, you've got a variety of different products. ~Um, ~you have different perfumes. Is there one in particular for you that really stands out?

Like if someone's listening to this and they're, they love how you've just described,~ um,~ You know, the, the imagination as [00:32:00] part of this process,~ uh,~ the memo emotion, as you mentioned, or any of the other things that you, you discuss and they want to, they're fascinated by what you just said, where would you have them start in their journey?

Like, is there a particular product? 

John Malloy: Well, I'll, I'll, let me just jump into one or maybe do one or two even. So for example,~ um,~ A fragrance that always makes me smile,~ um,~ because I'm Irish, but I haven't lived in Ireland for many years. So Clara came to Ireland being Latino, being of Spanish origin, coming to this wet, sometimes very sunshiny, but wet, windy country.

She never understood what people loved about Ireland. And ~um, ~she went out, my brother's a racehorse trainer, my father breeds horses in the countryside. She woke up very early one morning and went out and saw my brother working the horses on the gallops. And as he was bringing the horses back in, she smelt the warm leather, the fresh cut green grass.

And,~ um,~ she kind of thought, wow, this sort of bittersweet wind coming across [00:33:00] Ireland. And she kind of thought about Irish leather. And she made this fragrance all about that energetic, young, youthful, green, it was the first ever green fragrance, fresh, fresh. And Clara hated leather fragrances before that.

But for her, before she made Irish leather, leather fragrances were for men only clubs, the inside of old fashioned cars, and,~ um,~ it wasn't really her thing. And so she made a youthful, playful, green, fresh leather, and it kind of broke the ice. Sort of a lot of the areas and sort of olfactory mappings and things, and it became something that meant a lot to me.

So whenever I wear it, of course, I'm thinking about my father breathing horses, my brother training the horses back in Ireland. And I've got this beautiful green, fresh, dynamic fragrance. And so that's something that touches me. And I can give you another story where, you know, we went on a road trip. So we got a, we rented a Cadillac.

We, I, we flew into Dallas and we, we drove to a tiny place called Marfa. And Marfa's on the west coast [00:34:00] of Texas, on the border of Mexico. And because Clara started an art magazine when she was in university, she's always been involved in contemporary art. And so she always wanted to go to Marfa. So we drove with our kids to Marfa.

It's a long drive. And we arrived there. And we've heard about the Marfa lights. And I don't know if any of your listeners know where Marfa is. I think you know about Marfa for three reasons. Once, if you're, if you're born there, you know Marfa. The second one is if you've heard about the Marfa lights. And what are the Marfa lights?

They are, you're looking out your window at night in the hotel, and you see these cars drive up the mountain. In the morning, you open your curtains, And actually, you look out, you know, there's no mountain there, it's just the stars are moving at night. So it's in the middle of the desert. It's called the Marfa Lights.

And the third reason you like, you know, Marfa is because of contemporary art, because Donald Judd,~ uh,~ was from Marfa and he set up his, his foundation there. Many other foundations went there. So Clara was thinking about Marfa. And she wanted a fragrance that could, [00:35:00] could capture Marfa. So she'd worked on a tuberose because the cactus plant not too far away in the desert and tuberose is quite close to cactus.

She worked on that. She worked on a, an orange blossom and a wonderful musk. And she brought it together. She got this wonderful,~ um,~ dynamic tuberose fragrance called Marfa. And then afterwards, and this is only after that, we found out why Marfa was called Marfa. And Marfa was actually called Marfa because the train engineer who was building the railway line throughout Texas, he asked his wife.

What should we call this stop and she was reading the book and the main character was called Martha, which means Martha in English, the name, a woman's name. So he said, that's what it was called. So then suddenly you have a relevance to this and we find out lots of things. So what's lovely would work in our fragrance is that you, you build the fragrance around the place.

That's very special. And you touch people's hearts and minds, and then you learn so much more about the place when you start talking and you [00:36:00] meet people around the world who can add their flavor and values to the place. So, we're always delighted,~ um,~ to learn more about the places that we've chosen for our fragrances, and it's really great.

So, you want to try two out there? Try Marfa, wonderful tuberose with orange blossom, and think of going to West Texas, and then you can try Irish Leather. 

Ramon Vela: And I love these stories. ~Uh, ~do you guys capture these stories,~ um,~ on the website so that people can can read them or on social media or videos or anything?

John Malloy: I may, they, they, they might be part of the story there, but,~ um, um, ~mainly not exactly what I say. Cause I probably go a bit off track sometimes. 

Ramon Vela: Well, I have to say that the way you described it right now,~ uh,~ it's, It sounds really enticing. So, ~uh, ~I'd love to see something like that,~ uh,~ someone on the, on the website or something written about it.

~Um, ~in very similar ways, because I love the way that you just described it. So I wouldn't, I wouldn't count your count yourself out there. ~Um, ~and then the. Fragrance arena has really, I think, evolved [00:37:00] and changed in the last probably 10 years. I've seen a lot of fragrance companies come up with different things like,~ uh,~ candles and things of that nature.

How has the brand evolved since you've started,~ uh,~ in terms of fragrances and aromas? Are you adding different form factors like candles and other things like that? 

John Malloy: Well, ~um, ~as you grow,~ um, um, ~your, your, your, your clients. ~Um, ~often looking for other products, they want to be at home, they want to bring the product more at home.

So we've developed a line of candles, diffusers, we've even got a car diffuser. ~Um, ~and we've also got, developed over the years, different body lines. So you can have your, your, your, your shower,~ um,~ moisturizing gel, your body cream. ~Um, ~so there's a lot of products like that we've developed as well. We, we also make silk scarves.

~Um, ~with certain limited editions, and then we do special, very unique versions of the fragrance as well,~ um,~ which are one offs,~ um,~ made by artists, because one link that Memo has had is that every Memo fragrance we make, we invite an artist to make illustrations [00:38:00] of the place, and we invite a writer to write a story about the place.

~Um, ~so we've always had that link with wonderful artists and poets over the last 17 years. So we have this collection of, of, of, of, of,~ um,~ illustrations and stories on each fragrance. So with that, we've been able to develop unique pieces with some of these artists,~ um,~ which are collector items as well. So we've gone from home fragrances to body, body line to your core fragrances.

And then we also have books,~ um,~ and things that we love. 

Ramon Vela: Yeah. And I have to say that I'm looking at just some of your products right now on the website, which is memoparis. com and the bottles,~ uh,~ you know, the, the artwork on the bottles are really,~ um,~ they're really amazing. Thank you. There's a lot of care and feeding that goes into this.

I'm looking, I'm looking for instance, at the African leather. I'm looking at,~ uh,~ the Irish leather. I'm [00:39:00] looking for the Terram,~ uh,~ Terram, Marindo, Terram Marindo. ~Um, ~the Italian leather. The artwork on this, I think is really amazing, and I, based on what you just said and, and how you described your, your wife, I can kind of see where this, maybe where the art background kind of adds to the, adds to this and adds to the, to what you've created.

I mean, it's really stunning. I mean, there's really nice artworks. The Sicilian leather has an amazing, ~uh. ~Artwork on it the winter place the odian. Is that what you have pronounced it? ~Um, ~yeah 

John Malloy: odian. Yeah, 

Ramon Vela: and Yeah, I mean the yeah, there's some names in there I can't pronounce but I mean the argentina one on there looks amazing.

~Uh, ~Is it am I right to assume that your wife has a big part in? ~Um ~giving her background with art and so forth that she You know, is she the one that 

John Malloy: Exactly. She's, well, [00:40:00] she's, she's, she's our, she looks after our five senses. So everything you see, hear, smell, taste, it's Cara. So, ~um, ~yes, she's always worked with artists,~ um,~ all her life.

~Um, ~it's part of her. She loves art. She loves creative. She loves,~ um,~ people who are very creative. And I think,~ um,~ that's one of the joys of having your own company. We have, we do all of our artwork in house as well. We employ artists working for us, and they've also got their own secret gardens where, where, where, where they,~ um,~ do their own artwork as well.

So that's, and actually in our office,~ Um,~ in the center of our office, there's a, it's the, it's the, it's the, the, the creative room and that's in the center. We've always had it in the center. So it's everything we do has to start from there. I think that's really for it. It's in our, our values of the company.

The creativity has to be in the center of everything we do. ~Um, ~and that's why we enjoy it. And we feel it's a moment of truth and it looks, we feel it, it fits with the brand and what we do. 

Ramon Vela: Yeah, it feels like not only the, or the aromas or the fragrances really,~ um,~ you know, unique in [00:41:00] how you create them, but also the, the bottle is also seems like it would be like, almost like a, a collectible,~ um,~ piece of art.

I'm looking at the one that you were talking about, Marfa, and that is so unique. It's, it's kind of different. ~Um, ~it's very artistic and,~ uh,~ it just, it, I think it stands out in terms of, you know, what about what I would believe a bottle of fragrance or perfume would look like.

It's really amazing. ~Um, ~yeah, quite frankly, I mean, these are like, you know, if these are almost like collectibles. And some of these artworks, some of these, some of these look like,~ uh,~ you'd want to collect them,~ uh,~ to the, unto themselves, just the way they look.~ Um, ~so this is amazing. ~Um, ~Thank you. I want to be respect for your time and this has been amazing.

A conversation. ~Um, ~like I said, in the very beginning, the fragrances and the perfumes and these aromas are also innate in us. And it's just wonderful how [00:42:00] you've put together, not only these amazing fragrances, but you've like, you just said a second ago, it's like, you're touching all sorts of different senses, the artwork on the bottles, the fragrance, the story behind it.

Just really,~ um,~ Really just, you know, I think I, you know, honestly, I feel like I just got an education from you on the fragrance on fragrances, and I'm just pleasantly surprised at how deeply you and your wife look into this, into these products, into what you're creating, and really have done a magnificent job of creating something that like, like you said a second ago, touches all, all senses,~ uh,~ of, you know, humans and so forth.

So thank you. Thank you for sharing that. I,~ uh,~ I feel like I've learned something new about fragrances today. 

John Malloy: No, thank you very much. I'm, I'm, I think I'm, you know, besides having a lot of luck, I think I married very well. So, you know, so I think I'm very lucky. They're a very talented wife and who can put up with me.

And I, I think if you're looking back at building up the brand now, you know, we're [00:43:00] about 30 people in the company and we've got a fantastic team and these people are just amazing and they help us in every way. And they, and they, they live. And Dream Memo as well. So Memo Paris is, is I think it's people feel part of it.

I think if you like, again, you like other people and you're curious, you and you like to see the world and you're creative, you're part of the Memo family. That's kind of what we have today. We've got a great team of people, a community of people who love that. And we're very lucky and privileged. 

Ramon Vela: Yeah, well, I think you guys are doing a magnificent job.

So I definitely would look into it if I'm listening to this and I'm interested in looking at it as well. ~Um, ~so let us know,~ um,~ where you want people to go. Like, are these available on, in retail outlets or is it on the website? 

John Malloy: Well, ~um, ~in, in, in, in the, are your listeners mainly in the U S 

Ramon Vela: ~uh, ~they're all over the world, but,~ uh,~ mainly in the United States.

Yes. Okay. Thanks guys. 

John Malloy: Well, all over the world, they're on our website, memoparis. com,~ um,~ and otherwise, I think in the main, what we call specialty stores, department stores, so in the [00:44:00] U. S.,~ uh,~ we're with,~ um,~ Neiman Marcus, and,~ um,~ Bloomingdale's, and,~ um,~ Bergdorf Goodman's, these sort of stores,~ um,~ where we are, and some very, also some very,~ um,~ exclusive, independent stores.

~Um, ~perfumeries who love perfume and who've been our partners for a long time as well. So we're, I think if you find a passionate perfumery store where they love,~ um,~ luxury fragrances, hopefully you should find a member there. 

Ramon Vela: That's great. Well, thank you for that. And is there any place on, on social media that you want them to go to?

John Malloy: I think there's, we've got the Memo Paris,~ um, uh, ~Instagram,~ um, uh, ~page, and you can have a look and see and keep up to date what's happening there as well. 

Ramon Vela: Wonderful. ~Um, ~is, before we leave, is there any thing that people should know about any products,~ uh,~ anything happening in the next year or so? 

John Malloy: Well, we've got a great,~ um,~ fragrance that's going to be launching,~ um,~ this spring.

It's called Cappadocia. It's all from Turkey,~ um,~ and it's a wonderful place and it is an amazing fragrance based around,~ um,~ this extraordinary place. ~Uh, ~and [00:45:00] it's,~ uh,~ Where it's got a wonderful saffron and it's got a base of saffron,~ um,~ I think, which is very unusual. It's like a cream of saffron. We call it a, a, a, a, a sunset saffron.

And I think that's what's going to, you know, it's going to be something very new, very different. And it's got these wonderful ingredients in it. And I think that's what people should look out for, have a look out for the latest fragrance. And then again, you want to be curious, go try Martha or Irish leather or African leather or Sicilian leather.

We specialize in leathers. I think we're probably, we're known around the world for having leather fragrances. We've got a flower collection as well. Marfa's in our flower collection. And then we also have a seed collection of grains and seeds. So three, three groups of fragrances, of families that we love are leathers, seeds and grains and flowers.

So they're the three sort of pillars of our collection. ~Uh, ~so if anyone's really likes beautiful flowers, beautiful leathers or seeds and grains, you can find it in MemoParis. 

Ramon Vela: Well, wonderful. Well, this has been a very enjoyable conversation. Like I said, I feel like I've learned something [00:46:00] new about the fragrance world and,~ uh,~ and quite frankly, I'm just blown away with the end product that you guys have created.

I mean, the bottles, the packaging, the, the look, the artwork on it, the fragrances sound amazing,~ uh,~ the concept and the philosophy around it. And,~ uh,~ of course your wife. Like you said, I think you married very well. ~Uh, ~she sounds like an amazing individual. So thank you so much for, for being on the show. I truly appreciate it.

John Malloy: Thank you, Ramon. Thank you for your time. And thank you for the amazing job you do in giving a chance to entrepreneurs to, to, to, to share their stories. And,~ um,~ and it's always great to, to help out. And I spend a lot of time helping out other entrepreneurs as well. I want to start off and want some advice.

I think it's really great. So I'm very admirative about what you do. And,~ um,~ thank you very much for. Taking this time out, spend some time with me as well. 

Ramon Vela: Oh, thank you. Everyone out there. We have just had John Malloy, who is co founder and CEO of Memo Paris. Go check them out. Amazing company. As you just might've [00:47:00] heard,~ uh,~ you will have the link to the website, to their social media on our podcast description, which you could find at Google, Spotify, Apple, which is our preferred place, but you can go anywhere you listen to podcasts.

Simply type in the story of a brand show and you should be able to find it. Beyond that, everyone. Stay safe, stay sane, stay healthy again, and go check out the website. Probably the best thing to do,~ uh,~ go to memo, paris. com, sign up for the newsletter, and that way you keep up to date on all the different products that are launching later this year and in the future,~ uh,~ beyond that, everyone.

Let's do ourselves a favor. Let's remember that we're all going through something, whether it's anxiety around geopolitical situations, the economy, inflation, whatever it is, we're all going through something. So let's just be cognizant of that and be a little kinder to each other. Cause I know if we do that, we can make this human experience a much better one.

Beyond that, thank you from the bottom of my heart for listening to another episode of the story of a brand.