Nicole Eckels, Founder of Glasshouse Fragrances
Name: Nicole Eckels
Founder: Glasshouse Fragrances
Who is Nicole Eckels?
I am a native New Yorker who left the city in 2005 in search of adventure, became enchanted with the scents that permeated the Australian state of New South Wales on a mission to give American’s an olfactory vacation with a wanderlust inspired collection of home and personal fine fragrances. I launched Glasshouse Fragrances in my kitchen in Australia in 2006 to encapsulate my own scent memories from the most vibrant and exciting cities around the world. After nearly two decades, I boomeranged back to NYC with Glasshouse Fragrances in tow, to help consumers transport themselves to different destinations using solely their sense of smell. In the US, Glasshouse has grown rapidly, with retail partners including Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdales, and Saks, and a collection that features Triple Scented Candles, Diffusers, Eau de Parfum, and Bath & Body.
In less than three sentences tell us about your company and what you do.
I am the proud CEO and Founder of Glasshouse Fragrances, an international fragrance house which was started in Sydney Australia and has now launched across the country here in the US. We create a multitude of fine fragrances that take every form, each of which is designed to electrify you through your sense of smell.
What does BEING a FoundHer mean to you?
Being a female founder, I do think we have a responsibility to be more visible about our success, so other women and young girls see this as normal and more possible for them.
I think, as often as we can, we should be highlighting and celebrating female leaders and founders — across all sectors — and the language used by media particularly should be positive.
How do you support other female founders and women in business?
One of the things I love to do most is to assist other women, in particular, budding female entrepreneurs. It’s wonderful to watch how empowered they become once they feel a sense of confidence. This sense of strength is the platform which encourages women to be their best self.
How did you land your first client?
When I first started Glasshouse Fragrances I targeted a select number of beautiful retail stores that I wanted as distribution partners and sent them products free of charge. I asked them to burn our candles in the store so that they could experience the fragrances and the performance of our candles first hand. Retailers had never heard of Glasshouse at that stage, and I didn’t expect them to. I simply gave them an assortment of our candles with a note asking them to display the product and to pay if they were able to sell the products. Fast forward 17 years, and we work with many of the world’s leading retailers such as Neiman Marcus, and Bloomingdales.
What is something you do differently from the industry standard?
We believe that your sense of smell is the most powerful one of all and that fragrance should do more than just smell good. Each scent should take you somewhere and send you off feeling and thinking differently than you did before. When it comes to fragrance and products, we continuously hunt the convergence of unique fragrances, great product performance, and the effect that the fragrance has on our customers.
Do you want to share your story and advice with the Dear FoundHer… community? CLICK HERE to submit your information.
Follow us on Instagram @dearfoundher and join our Facebook community for more conversation.
Make sure you tune in to Dear FoundHer… for new episodes every Tuesday and Thursday.
