December 10, 2025 • 34 mins
Scent isn’t just beauty—it’s memory, mood, and identity. And Sue Phillips has turned it into a science.
Internationally renowned fragrance expert Sue Phillips joins us to share how scent can elevate confidence, trigger healing, and reconnect you with the parts of yourself you’ve forgotten. From her beginnings in South Africa to creating fragrances for Tiffany, Burberry, and celebrities around the world, Sue’s journey is a masterclass in reinvention.
We explore how fragrance taps directly into the brain’s emotional center, why bespoke scents are rising, and how Sue helped hundreds of people regain their sense of smell after COVID. She breaks down fragrance families—fresh, floral, woodsy, ambery—and explains how to choose a scent that reflects your personality, lifestyle, and mood.
Sue also shares how she rebuilt her career multiple times: from global beauty executive to founder of Scenterprises and The Scentarium, to pioneering smell-retraining therapy during the pandemic. Her story is a reminder that your senses can guide transformation at any age.
You’ll leave with practical tools: how to pick a signature scent, how to use perfume for grounding and energy, and how a simple scent ritual can shift your emotional state in minutes.
Tap play to rediscover your senses—and maybe yourself.
Resources
For a similar stories on changing your mood quickly, check out episodes 145 and 154 of Aging with Purpose and Passion and sign up for alerts
Sue Phillips – Fragrance Expert & Scentrepreneur™
📧 sue@suephillips.com
🌐 https://www.suephillips.com
📸 Instagram: @scentfullysue | @scenterprises | @suephillipsfragrance | @therealsuephillips
📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SuePhillipsFragrance
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/suephillipsfragrance/
▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/SuePhillipsFRAGRANCE
🐦 Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/scentfullysue
Beverley Glazer MA– Transition Coach, Psychotherapist & Host
📧 Bev@reinventImpossible.com
🌐 https://reinventImpossible.com
💼 https://www.linkedin.com/in/beverleyglazer
📘 https://www.facebook.com/reinventImpossible
👥 Women Over 50 Rock: https://www.facebook.com/groups/womenover50rock
📸 https://www.instagram.com/beverleyglazer_reinvention/
🎁 BONUS: Take your first step to clarity, courage and momentum. Your free checklist: → From Stuck to Unstoppable – is here.
https://reinvent-impossible.aweb.page/from-stuck-to-unstoppable
Have feedback or a powerful story that's worth telling? Contact us at info@Reinventimpossible.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Announcer (00:07):
Welcome to Aging with Purpose and Passion, the
podcast designed to inspire yourgreatness and thrive through
life.
Get ready to conquer yourfears.
Here's your host,psychotherapist, coach, and
empowerment expert, BeverleyGlazer.
Beverley Glazer (00:34):
Can the perfume that you're wearing reveal who
you are?
Welcome to Aging with Purposeand Passion.
I'm Beverley Glazer, atransition coach and catalyst
for women who are ready to raisethe bar in their own lives.
And you can find me onreInventimpossible.com.
Sue Phillips is aninternationally renowned
(00:57):
fragrance expert, anentrepreneur, and one of the
most celebrated figures in thefragrance industry.
For over the course of 35years, she has elevated
fragrance from a luxury productto a personal art form and a
tool for healing.
(01:17):
She was the creator offragrances for Tiffany,
Burberry, Diane von Furstenberg,and the founder of
Centerprises, where she'scrafted perfumes for
celebrities, Fortune 500companies, and thousands of
people looking for their ownsignature scent.
So meet Sue Phillips, a womanwho's reinvented herself across
(01:43):
continents, careers, marriages,and industries, all through the
power of perfume.
Sue Phillips (01:51):
Welcome, Sue.
Oh my goodness.
Thank you for that amazingintroduction.
I'm looking around.
Who is she talking about?
It's you, my friend.
Beverley Glazer (02:01):
It's you.
So what was it like growing upin South Africa?
You had a creative mother, youhad an entrepreneurial father,
and there was you, and you werein South Africa.
What was your life like?
I love to start there.
Sue Phillips (02:20):
You know, when I was a little girl, um South
Africa was wonderful.
Um, my mom, as you said, was anamazing artist and a
calligraphist and a beautifulhomemaker, and my dad was an
entrepreneurial business maker.
So, you know, we had awonderful upbringing until I
realized that that wasn't whateverybody was having.
(02:44):
And uh it was very politicallydivided.
And I went, I leftJohannesburg, I went to Cape
Town to study drama because Ihad always had a natural
theatrical bent.
And when I left Johannesburg togo to Cape Town, it really
upset me that we were notallowed to go to the, you know,
(03:05):
after a theater or a show or acommunity event uh with uh
acting, we weren't able to goand celebrate each other at the
same restaurants with my with myyou know um other uh uh actor
friends, uh blacks or colored orIndians, and it really guiled
me.
(03:25):
And so I went to um England andI just felt that it was
important that I showed my youknow my allegiance to everybody,
not just um the South Africanum regime there.
But um, and I auditioned forRada.
And so because I was from SouthAfrica, unfortunately I didn't
(03:46):
get a post because they onlywanted to give it to British
people and certainly not toSouth Africans at the time.
So, on the one hand, lifegrowing up in South Africa was
wonderful as a young girl, andthen suddenly I became aware of
the situation, and I realized itwasn't for me.
And so uh I have very goodearly memories, but they were
(04:08):
clouded because of the politicalsituation.
And then uh my brother wasliving in New York, so after I
didn't get into Rada, I decidedthat okay, America is for me.
And I came on a vacation in1976 for the bicentennial
celebration.
Oh my goodness, what a magicaltime that was.
(04:30):
America was on fire.
It was the time of this 200thanniversary, it was celebrated
in every city, and of course,living in New York at the time,
uh, the big ships and thefireworks was just great.
And so I came here in 77 uh toemigrate, and I've been here
ever since, since 1977.
Beverley Glazer (04:52):
And when you landed in New York, here you
were a young girl with anaspiring actress, like I don't
know how many hundreds ofthousands of other young girls.
And uh, did you pursue acting?
Sue Phillips (05:07):
I did.
I went to see an immigrationattorney because a friend of
mine who had immigrated heresaid, Go and see this lawyer,
he's great.
I went to see him, he said,What do you do, young lady?
I said, Well, I'm a singer andan actress.
He said, Stop.
We have 20,000 out of worksingers and actresses.
We don't need another one fromSouth Africa.
So I said, oops, okay.
(05:27):
But he liked my accent, heliked how I looked, and he said,
Well, I will process your greencard because, oh, and he asked
me a crucial question, well,what else do you do?
I said, Well, my mother hadalways said, if I'm going to be
in theater, I should havesomething concrete to fall back
on.
And so she encouraged me to doa secretarial course, which I
(05:50):
did.
Now, in those days, shorthandand typing were very key
talents.
You know, now nobody knowsshorthand, and everybody types
because of the internet.
But at the time, um, it was avery, you know, sought-after um
talents for people to be inbusiness.
And so he said to me, Well,were you any good as doing a
(06:12):
secretarial course?
I said, and by the way, heasked me the question, I knew
that was my ticket into America.
So I said, yes.
So he said that he wouldprocess my green card if I
worked for him as his officemanager, office secretary, and
greet guests and help withimmigration and all those
things.
And I said, Well, I haven'tdone shorthand in many, many
(06:33):
years, but I'll tell you whatI'll do.
I'll go to one of theseschools, courses, take a course,
refresh a course, and doshorthand and typing.
Of course, nobody knows whatshorthand is today.
But, you know, in legal terms,you have to actually know how to
do shorthand and take thesemonstrous briefs and just write
them as quickly as people speak.
So I got the job.
(06:55):
He processed my green card.
At night I'd go singing andacting because I wanted to keep
up my skills.
And uh at the end of the year,when I got my green card, I went
on three job offers.
I went to a headhunter who gotme three job offers.
One was to work in banking, sothat wasn't for me.
One was to work in fashion.
At the time, we didn't knowanything about fashion from
(07:17):
South Africa because we were soisolated.
But the third job offer was towork at Elizabeth Arden.
And I just said, that's it.
It's a culmination of all thethings I love: theater, art,
music, um, you know, perfumesand all that.
And so I got the job as theexecutive secretary for the
(07:40):
president of Elizabeth Arden.
And it was a great position,although I didn't love being a
secretary, but it was a reallywonderful entry first entry
position in this cosmeticindustry and meeting everybody
in the retail world and in come,you know, the competitors and
understanding the fragranceindustry.
So that's what I did.
(08:01):
And at the end of the year,when I got my green card, I
started Elizabeth Arden.
And the rest is history.
I mean, I went to ElizabethArden and then Lancombe and then
Tiffany.
And it's it's a it's a prettyremarkable journey.
If you told me growing up inSouth Africa that this is where
I'd be, I'd say not possible,but miracles happen.
Beverley Glazer (08:23):
Miracles certainly do happen, yes.
But also tell me, Sue, how didthey train you?
Here you were uh a secretary,right?
Um, that's pretty remote fromthe perfume.
Sue Phillips (08:38):
So how did they train you?
That's a really terrificquestion.
And it's one that um my bossrecognized in me.
So when I worked for thepresident Joe Ronchetti, um, you
know, when I would go singingand acting at night, I would
invite them all.
And he said to me, you know,I've seen you perform in front
of, you know, strangers and infront of um our sales meeting
(09:02):
events.
He said, you know, you'd begreat in training.
So of course, because I was sonew to the industry, I really
didn't understand what trainingmeant.
He said, it's training thepeople who sell the products
behind the counter about theproducts, the packaging, the
branding, the story behind thefragrances, and then you have to
motivate the people behind thecounter to sell the product.
(09:24):
He said, but in order for youto do that, you have to know how
to appreciate and explain theproducts and the brands.
So I want you to studyfragrance and I want you to
learn about fragrance.
So he said, I had to go sellbehind the counter at Macy's.
And it was a great way tounderstand who the customer is,
(09:46):
you know, these fancy ladies intheir fur coats who didn't want
to spend the money, but thelittle old ladies who love the
Chloe fragrance or the Lagerfeldfragrance, they'll peel off the
dollar bills.
It was such an interesting, aninteresting journey to really
realize who is the customer andwhat do they want.
And so, and then I had to goand study perfumery, you know,
(10:08):
how the brands were made andwhere the brands were made, and
went to the fragrance houses andunderstood the different notes.
So it was a great learningexperience for me.
And in fact, one of thegentlemen who was instrumental
in really branding and licensingChloe from Carl Lagerfeld's
House of Chloe to ElizabethArden said to me as I was
(10:30):
training with him about thebrand and Chloe and Lagerfeld,
he said, Sue, I want you tobecome a fragrance expert.
How am I going to do that?
How am I actually going to dothat?
Um, and so that was the startof it, you know, to really
understand the brand essence,the story, and how the customer
(10:50):
reacts to fragrance and whatfragrance appeals to the
customer.
And so after my three-monthorientation at Macy's, I then
became the national trainingdirector.
I traveled around the countrysetting up training schools.
Now, because of my mom'sbackground and influence, I was
always very aware of art andmusic and colors and sensory
(11:14):
aspects.
And so I really transformed adull hotel conference room into
a beautiful magical oasis withthe colors of the Chloe
fragrance, the music playing,the fragrance in the air, so
that when people came into theconference room, they were
bowled over.
It was like walking into theworld of Chloe or Lagerfeld or
(11:37):
eventually Burberry.
And I always wanted to make ita sensory experience.
Nobody taught me that.
It was just innate because Icome from a very creative
background.
And that has stayed, stood,that has stood with me for all
these years.
And I still today create thesemagical fragrance experiences
(11:59):
all about fragrance and thebrand and the consumer and what
it means to them to learn aboutfragrance.
Beverley Glazer (12:06):
Yeah.
But that was a heavy, full-timejob.
Oh, yes.
You you were still a younggirl, you had to travel all
over.
Sue Phillips (12:17):
90% of the year I spend traveling, um, going to
every state, every city, everymajor department store where
they sold the Chloe and theElizabeth Arden product.
And at one point I went to myboss and I said, you know, this
traveling is killing me.
Because I'm, you know, I gohome for a weekend, take my
(12:40):
clothes to the dry cleaner, packa, unpack the case, pack the
case to go on for another twoweeks stint.
And after doing that for twoyears, I'd learnt a lot.
But he then said to me, Well,you've really done well in the
training.
Now let's think aboutcosmetics.
And they wanted to help meunderstand the cosmetics.
(13:00):
So from fragrance, I went tocosmetics.
You know, what girl doesn'tlove to learn about lipstick and
eyeshadows and nail polish andjust the foundation, so to
speak, of cosmetics.
And then eventually an openingcame up in the fragrance
department for marketing.
And I loved fragrance, and Imissed it when I was in the
(13:21):
cosmetics department.
So they gave me the opportunityto become a marketing manager
for freight for the fragrancebrands.
And I felt at home until I leftand I went to Lancombe because
they offered me a biggerposition.
Beverley Glazer (13:38):
What were the challenges back then of a woman
in business, traveling in andout, a suitcase?
What were your challenges?
It wasn't easy.
Sue Phillips (13:49):
It wasn't easy.
And you know, um, justtraveling so much to all these
out-of-the-way places, some werebig cities and some were
smaller cities.
And you know, it was reallyinteresting because certain
things happened.
So I would check into a hotellate at night, having done a
breakfast session in the morningin one city and then a luncheon
with somebody else, and thengoing to the next city and
(14:13):
checking into the hotel.
And when I first started that,I would get really crazy phone
calls in the middle of thenight.
And then I realized when Icheck into the hotel, the
concierge or the checking inregistry guy would say, Okay,
Miss Phillips, your room is 525,enjoy your stay here.
So eventually I got smart and Isaid when I checked into
(14:36):
hotels, do not mention my nameand do not mention my hotel
room, because I do not wantunsolicited calls in the middle
of the night.
And it was never a factor formen.
They didn't think about it.
You said, Mr.
Smith, Mr.
Jones, hello, welcome to 402,enjoy your time.
That's the first thing.
The second thing is when Iwould actually at the end of a
(14:58):
semester when I'd beenexhausted, I always made a point
of going to have room servicein my hotel room because I was
exhausted and I didn't want toget up.
And a woman on her own in arestaurant in those days was
very odd.
So one time I was in Seattleand I always stayed at nice
hotels because the companywanted to obviously, you know,
(15:18):
portray the right ambiance andthe right image for the people
who came to our events and ourtraining schools.
So one day I said, okay, it'smy last week, it's my last trip.
I'm going to go downstairs andhave dinner or lunch or whatever
it was in the restaurant on myown.
Well, you would have thoughtthat a pariah had walked in.
(15:39):
So out of the corner of my eye,I see a security guard.
And he looked at me.
So it was afternoon tea, andthen I was going to have dinner.
So I just I didn't want todrink.
But I said, the guy came overand said, Oh, uh, good
afternoon, or good evening,miss.
May I help you?
(16:00):
And I realized what he wasthinking, that I might have been
a lady of the night and wasn'tsoliciting.
So I said, he said, what can Ido for you?
Why, you know, what are youdoing here?
I said, I'm an immigrationattorney.
I'd like a cup of tea, please.
I just thought that was theonly thing, because I used to
(16:20):
work for an immigrationattorney.
But today that wouldn't happenbecause of all the new laws and
the and the problems with youknow harassment.
But you know, it was verydifficult in those days, and it
was the norm.
It was absolutely the norm.
Nobody thought anything less ofit because you know, women
(16:41):
didn't travel and men were ableto say and do whatever they
wanted, which I guess stillhappens today, but um it was not
so much.
Not so much.
Beverley Glazer (16:51):
Not so much, yes.
And how did that play on yoursocial life?
Sue Phillips (16:56):
Well, my social life was actually in limbo.
So um I had been married inSouth Africa.
I got married very young.
And when we came to America,um, I thrived, I loved it, and
he didn't love it so much.
And when I got the job atElizabeth Arden, and then the
training job, which meant that Iwould have to train um and
(17:19):
travel a great deal, I said tomyself, well, it'll either be
out of sight, out of mind, orabsence makes the heart grow
fonder.
So uh it was the first one, andum it wasn't really for me, the
relationship wasn't for me.
Uh, I thrived in America, hedidn't, and I thought that this
(17:40):
is my opportunity, so wedivorced.
Um the second time um I gotmarried was actually because I
had met um the president ofLancombe, Joe Augury, who
actually had heard about me atElizabeth Garden.
He called me for an interview,and I went, and um, they hired
(18:00):
me to really help build the tinylittle fragrance division,
which was basically Magie Noir,a beautiful fragrance that was
launched early on in the 1920sor 30s, and it was a very green
chypre fragrance, but it wasvery sophisticated, it was a
very European fragrance.
And at that time, Lancome wasreally, you know, 48% of their
(18:24):
business came from cosmetics,and 50% of their business came
from treatment, and two littlepercentage points came from the
fragrance division.
But because I was so passionateabout fragrance, I got the job,
and they eventually called meMiss Maji because I was really
pounding the pavements for MajinRuan.
I created all these marketingprograms.
But I met my second husbandthrough the president of
(18:46):
Lancombe because my ex-husband,he was a he became an ex-was a
big retail guy.
And you know, he they had allthe fragrance the products and
the fragrances from all thecompanies at their retail store.
So um that was interesting thatI met my next husband because
of my cosmetics background andexperience.
Beverley Glazer (19:06):
Yeah.
And why did you leavecorporate?
Your career was so strong.
Why center prices?
Sue Phillips (19:13):
Well, because at the time I then was pregnant
with my new my daughter, and umI had traveled so much, and you
know, I was not 25, I was alittle bit older than that.
And when I had complications,the doctor said to me, You've
got to stop traveling, and youreally have to take care of
(19:34):
yourself.
So when I had the baby, Idecided, you know, this is my
time to really start aconsulting business.
I didn't want to stop working,but I didn't really want to
leave the baby either.
And so I started my owncompany, which I originally
called Susan PhillipsEnterprises.
Not exciting and not innovativeat all, it's just my name.
(19:56):
But I get my best ideas late atnight and And so one morning
around four o'clock or fiveo'clock, I I sort of sent an
enterprises and I wrote it down.
And the next day I said, wow,what a great name.
So I trademarked it.
So that was a way for me toreally achieve both things that
I loved, wanted to be a bad babyand also wanted to continue my
(20:19):
work.
And I did, and and I thenincorporated in 2008, when the
pandemic came, that started awhole new group of challenges.
Because when I was consulting,I actually consulted with the
House of Burberry, created theBurberry fragrance for Trish
(20:40):
McAvoy, for Avon.
I was at Avon as a consultantfor about five years, doing
different initiatives, the umall in fragrance and home care
as well.
Created a fragrance for Dianevon Furstenberg for Avon called
Beauty Begins at Home and AirFreshness.
And it was a wonderfulopportunity.
(21:00):
I had many, many differentclients while I was doing
consulting.
And then in 2008, the economycrashed.
And so I had to reinvent myselfagain.
And this time I thought, youknow, I've learned so much about
fragrance.
It's time to, and the trendthat was happening in England,
not so much in America, was allabout bespoke.
(21:22):
So for those of you who don'tknow what bespoke means, it's a
British term which means custommade, really made for the
individual.
And many, you know, royaltymembers and high net worth
individuals in England wouldhave their own clothing made
from Burberries and from otherhigh beautiful designers, as
(21:44):
well as perfumes.
And I thought, well, that wouldbe something great to do in
America.
So I started creating anddeveloping perfumes that span
the entire old factor palette.
And when I started it, and Ihad people at my home in my
apartment come to createfragrances, you know, people
said, What are you doing?
(22:05):
Tap away parties for perfume?
And they laughed.
And then, of course, thatbecame such a huge trend.
Everybody suddenly wanted abespoke perfume.
They didn't want to wear whateverybody else wore, the
celebrities and the designers.
And so I was at the right placeat the right time.
I then opened up a boutiquedowntown in Tribeca, New York,
(22:27):
called the Cenetarium.
And it was an it was a realsort of um basement.
It was a real cruddy buildingdowntown, but the basement had
so much opportunity.
And I fixed it up again, thanksto my mom.
I had beautiful art andbeautiful music and beautiful
furnishings that I had from myhomes, just put in there, and it
(22:49):
was eclectic, but reallylovely.
And people like Jamie Foxxfound me, and he sent Katie
Holmes to me, and then Zendayacame.
So suddenly I had all thesecelebrities and their PR people
realizing what a wonderful ideait would be to create bespoke
perfumes.
So that was fun.
It was terrific meeting allthese people, and then also
(23:10):
doing corporate events and teambuilding events and anniversary
parties and holiday parties, allwith perfume.
And that was great.
It was downtown.
I was there for 10 years.
And then you know what happenedafter that?
The pandemic came.
So business shut down.
You know, nobody was wearingperfume.
(23:30):
Everybody was staying home.
So what did I do?
I wrote my book called ThePower of Perfume.
Because I'd written articlesand I'd written articles for be
for magazines and newspapers andwas getting interviewed.
And I thought, well, now's thetime.
There's no business.
No one's wearing fragrance.
I may as well write about it ifthey don't wear it.
And I did, and somethingphenomenal happened.
(23:54):
Um I the publisher and my PRperson got me an interview with
NBC and to talk about the book.
And the day before theinterview, they called me to
say, Sue, do you think you canhave help somebody who's had a
nausea, they cannot smell, havenot been able to smell for 15
(24:14):
months.
I said, I don't know, but I'lltry.
And I took this woman who hadnot been able to smell, she was
an ausemic.
And, you know, I had 18fragrances.
We have 18 different perfumeblends.
She was dipping the blottersinto the bottle of perfume to
(24:35):
try and smell it.
And she did one, two, three, upto 14.
She couldn't smell a thing.
And the 15th or the 14th or15th one, she suddenly said, Ah,
I smell something and it'sbeautiful.
And she started to cough.
It was, you know, it was one ofthe most powerful moments I've
ever experienced with perfumery.
(24:56):
The fact that she was suddenlyable to smell after 15 months of
not being able to smell wasjust phenomenal.
It was very emotional.
She cried, I cried, the NBCteam cried.
And that became it, it wentviral, the interview went viral.
And suddenly people from aroundthe world and around the
country contacted me becausewhat happened was during COVID,
(25:19):
the symptoms were anosmia andthen variations on that theme,
parosmia, smell distortion, andthen dysgasia, where they had no
taste.
So suddenly, because peoplenever really learned about
fragrance, they didn'tunderstand the magic and the
power of fragrance, and peopletook it for granted.
You wake up in the morning, yousmell, you have your coffee,
and that's it.
(25:40):
But suddenly, people, millionsof people couldn't smell.
It was one of the biggestsymptoms of COVID.
And I was able to help many,many people.
I've helped about 250 peopleregain their sense of smell.
And I've just finished mysecond book, which is all about
how I've helped that.
And I'm working with aneuroscientist who is talking
(26:01):
about the neuroscientific aspectof an osmia, and I'm talking
about the olfactory standpoint.
So it's been an amazingjourney, and so many bumps and
pressures and challenges alongthe way, but I've managed to
always navigate them andovercome them and try and
reposition myself with all thesechallenges.
Beverley Glazer (26:23):
Let me ask you, how does somebody find a
personal scent?
What do they do?
Sue Phillips (26:29):
Well, so I developed a scent personality
quiz.
So normally people would go tothe counters at, you know, the
big stores and they'd trydifferent fragrances and, you
know, or they would berecommended by to a fragrance by
a friend, or they'd smellsomething on a friend, and it
wouldn't smell good on thembecause it wasn't for their
personality.
(26:49):
So because of my long journeyand career in this industry, I
came up with a scent personalityquiz, which is actually in the
back of the book, and it's alsoon my website, Sue Philips.com.
And by taking the scent quiz,it really helps people narrow
down what they like becausethere are so many different
(27:10):
fragrance families, fresh,floral, fruity, woodsy, spicy,
musky, woodsy, ambery.
It's like musical notes.
You know, are you really goingto remember every musical note?
There's so many.
So the scent quiz really helpspeople understand their scent
persona.
If they're outdoors and theylove going to the beach or going
(27:33):
for walks, they'd probably lovea fresh fragrance.
If they're a little bit moresophisticated and they're like
going to theater or opera, orthey love designer clothes,
they'd probably like florals.
Um, if they're rugged and theylike to go on hiking
expeditions, they would probablylike something woodsy.
So there are various fragrancefamilies that really do help
(27:55):
reflect your individuality andyour personality.
And this quiz is amazing.
It's I I worked on it, and Iworked on it with a
psychologist, and it's almostaccurate.
I mean, it's I would say it's99% accurate.
And I do ask for people's namesin the, you know, are you a
male, are you a female, what'syour name?
(28:16):
Because I had a couple ofinstances where a name could be
generic for men or woman.
Tony could be a man or a woman,Sean could be a man or a woman.
So if I don't know if it's aman or a woman, I would sort of
almost, based on the sentresults, make it for a man or
make it for a woman.
(28:36):
Although I do have to say thatthere are no masculine or
feminine ingredients.
Roses are not feminine.
We think of roses for women,but there's no gender when it
comes to ingredients.
And woodsy, you think of it fora man, but women can love
woodsy in spicy sense too.
So, you know, I encouragepeople, if they really want to
(28:59):
explore their own scent persona,they should take the scent quiz
online, and it'll be remarkableto see what they come up with.
Beverley Glazer (29:06):
And that's no, that's a great idea.
What's one final message, Sue?
What could you leave ourlisteners with?
Sue Phillips (29:14):
Never underestimate the power of
scent.
Even if you go to the storesand you get overwhelmed with all
the choices, you know,fragrance is a beautiful,
wonderful gift that we have beengiven.
And our sense of smell is ourmost powerful sense.
It connects memory, emotion,and taste and smell.
(29:38):
And I always love to say topeople, you know, perfume is the
signature of your soul.
And it can bring back memories,it can enhance memories, it can
make you think of somebody thatyou haven't thought of for
years.
It can bring back memories ofan old lover or a mother or
father or grandparent or newbornbaby.
(30:00):
And, you know, when people losttheir sense of smell during
COVID, they were miserable, theywere just very heart sick, they
were depressed, they couldn'tsmell, they couldn't taste, they
couldn't enjoy life, theycouldn't enjoy going to events
because everything at the eventhad food and they couldn't smell
or they couldn't taste, so itbecame a real problem.
So I always say to people,honor your sense of smell.
(30:22):
Thank you.
And do stop and smell theroses.
Beverley Glazer (30:25):
Wonderful.
Thank you so much, Sue.
Thank you, Beverly.
Sue Phillips is aninternationally renowned
fragrance expert, anentrepreneur, and one of the
most celebrated women in thefragrance industry.
Over the course of 35 years,she has elevated fragrance from
a luxury product to a personalart form and a tool for healing.
(30:49):
She is the creator offragrances for Tiffany,
Burberry, and Diane vonFurstenberg, and that's just a
few, and the founder ofCenterprises, where she crafts
perfumes for celebrities,Fortune 500 companies, thousands
of people looking for their ownsignature scent.
(31:09):
And during COVID, she's helpedover 250 people regain their
sense of smell.
Here are a few takeaways fromthis episode.
Smell is the only sense that'sdirectly connected to the
emotions in your brain.
Fragrance that can unlockmemory, confidence, and even
healing.
(31:30):
And the right fragrance canaffirm who you are and who you
are becoming.
If you relate to this episode,here are some actions that you
can do right now.
Inhale a scent that you loveand notice how good you feel.
Identify which odors calm you,energize you, and ground you.
(31:51):
And refresh your environmentwith a scent that use a
diffuser, an essential oil, or apleasant spray in a room where
you spend your most time.
For similar episodes onchanging your mood quickly,
check out episodes 145 and 154of Aging with Purpose and
(32:12):
Passion and Women in the Middlepodcast, hosted by life coach
Susie Rosenstein, helps women inmidlife and beyond to navigate
change, set goals, and findhappiness.
That link is also in the shownotes.
And so, Sue, where can peoplefind you and where can they buy
your book and learn more aboutyou?
(32:33):
Please share your links.
Sue Phillips (32:36):
Yes, absolutely.
Thank you so much.
So uh I'm on Instagram, I havesentfully Sue.
I have full Instagram,Sentfully Sue, the real Sue
Phillips, Sue PhillipsFragrance, and Centerprises.
It's a long story why I have somany.
But if you also Google SuePhilips Fragrance, I'll come up.
(32:57):
I'm on LinkedIn, X, Twitter,YouTube, TikTok, Instagram,
Facebook, everywhere.
Um, and if you if you justGoogle Sue or even go to
ChatGPT, um, who is Sue PhilipsFragrance?
And I'll pop up.
It's it's amazing.
I love this whole AI thingbecause I I I ask clients, where
(33:18):
do you find me?
And they tell me other Googleand now ChatGPT.
So thank you.
Thank you to the AI gods.
Beverley Glazer (33:26):
And if you didn't catch any of that, and I
highly doubt that, you must havecaught at least one.
You can also find it onreinventimpossible.com because
that's my site too.
And so, my friends, what's nextfor you?
Are you just going through themotions or are you living a life
that you truly love?
Get my free guide to rebootyour confidence, and that's in
(33:49):
the show notes.
You can connect with me,Beverley Glazer, on all social
media platforms and in mypositive group of women on
Facebook.
That's Women Over50 Rock.
And thank you for listening.
Have you enjoyed thisconversation?
Please subscribe and help usspread the word by dropping a
review, sending this out to afriend, and remember, you only
(34:12):
have one life, so live it withpurpose and passion.
Announcer (34:23):
Thank you for joining us.
You can connect with Bev on herwebsite,
reinventimpossible.com.
And while you're there, joinour newsletter.
Subscribe so you don't miss anepisode.
Until next time, keep agingwith purpose and passion.
And celebrate life.
Welcome to Aging with Purpose and Passion, the
podcast designed to inspire yourgreatness and thrive through
life.
Get ready to conquer yourfears.
Here's your host,psychotherapist, coach, and
empowerment expert, BeverleyGlazer.
Beverley Glazer (00:34):
Can the perfume that you're wearing reveal who
you are?
Welcome to Aging with Purposeand Passion.
I'm Beverley Glazer, atransition coach and catalyst
for women who are ready to raisethe bar in their own lives.
And you can find me onreInventimpossible.com.
Sue Phillips is aninternationally renowned
(00:57):
fragrance expert, anentrepreneur, and one of the
most celebrated figures in thefragrance industry.
For over the course of 35years, she has elevated
fragrance from a luxury productto a personal art form and a
tool for healing.
(01:17):
She was the creator offragrances for Tiffany,
Burberry, Diane von Furstenberg,and the founder of
Centerprises, where she'scrafted perfumes for
celebrities, Fortune 500companies, and thousands of
people looking for their ownsignature scent.
So meet Sue Phillips, a womanwho's reinvented herself across
(01:43):
continents, careers, marriages,and industries, all through the
power of perfume.
Sue Phillips (01:51):
Welcome, Sue.
Oh my goodness.
Thank you for that amazingintroduction.
I'm looking around.
Who is she talking about?
It's you, my friend.
Beverley Glazer (02:01):
It's you.
So what was it like growing upin South Africa?
You had a creative mother, youhad an entrepreneurial father,
and there was you, and you werein South Africa.
What was your life like?
I love to start there.
Sue Phillips (02:20):
You know, when I was a little girl, um South
Africa was wonderful.
Um, my mom, as you said, was anamazing artist and a
calligraphist and a beautifulhomemaker, and my dad was an
entrepreneurial business maker.
So, you know, we had awonderful upbringing until I
realized that that wasn't whateverybody was having.
(02:44):
And uh it was very politicallydivided.
And I went, I leftJohannesburg, I went to Cape
Town to study drama because Ihad always had a natural
theatrical bent.
And when I left Johannesburg togo to Cape Town, it really
upset me that we were notallowed to go to the, you know,
(03:05):
after a theater or a show or acommunity event uh with uh
acting, we weren't able to goand celebrate each other at the
same restaurants with my with myyou know um other uh uh actor
friends, uh blacks or colored orIndians, and it really guiled
me.
(03:25):
And so I went to um England andI just felt that it was
important that I showed my youknow my allegiance to everybody,
not just um the South Africanum regime there.
But um, and I auditioned forRada.
And so because I was from SouthAfrica, unfortunately I didn't
(03:46):
get a post because they onlywanted to give it to British
people and certainly not toSouth Africans at the time.
So, on the one hand, lifegrowing up in South Africa was
wonderful as a young girl, andthen suddenly I became aware of
the situation, and I realized itwasn't for me.
And so uh I have very goodearly memories, but they were
(04:08):
clouded because of the politicalsituation.
And then uh my brother wasliving in New York, so after I
didn't get into Rada, I decidedthat okay, America is for me.
And I came on a vacation in1976 for the bicentennial
celebration.
Oh my goodness, what a magicaltime that was.
(04:30):
America was on fire.
It was the time of this 200thanniversary, it was celebrated
in every city, and of course,living in New York at the time,
uh, the big ships and thefireworks was just great.
And so I came here in 77 uh toemigrate, and I've been here
ever since, since 1977.
Beverley Glazer (04:52):
And when you landed in New York, here you
were a young girl with anaspiring actress, like I don't
know how many hundreds ofthousands of other young girls.
And uh, did you pursue acting?
Sue Phillips (05:07):
I did.
I went to see an immigrationattorney because a friend of
mine who had immigrated heresaid, Go and see this lawyer,
he's great.
I went to see him, he said,What do you do, young lady?
I said, Well, I'm a singer andan actress.
He said, Stop.
We have 20,000 out of worksingers and actresses.
We don't need another one fromSouth Africa.
So I said, oops, okay.
(05:27):
But he liked my accent, heliked how I looked, and he said,
Well, I will process your greencard because, oh, and he asked
me a crucial question, well,what else do you do?
I said, Well, my mother hadalways said, if I'm going to be
in theater, I should havesomething concrete to fall back
on.
And so she encouraged me to doa secretarial course, which I
(05:50):
did.
Now, in those days, shorthandand typing were very key
talents.
You know, now nobody knowsshorthand, and everybody types
because of the internet.
But at the time, um, it was avery, you know, sought-after um
talents for people to be inbusiness.
And so he said to me, Well,were you any good as doing a
(06:12):
secretarial course?
I said, and by the way, heasked me the question, I knew
that was my ticket into America.
So I said, yes.
So he said that he wouldprocess my green card if I
worked for him as his officemanager, office secretary, and
greet guests and help withimmigration and all those
things.
And I said, Well, I haven'tdone shorthand in many, many
(06:33):
years, but I'll tell you whatI'll do.
I'll go to one of theseschools, courses, take a course,
refresh a course, and doshorthand and typing.
Of course, nobody knows whatshorthand is today.
But, you know, in legal terms,you have to actually know how to
do shorthand and take thesemonstrous briefs and just write
them as quickly as people speak.
So I got the job.
(06:55):
He processed my green card.
At night I'd go singing andacting because I wanted to keep
up my skills.
And uh at the end of the year,when I got my green card, I went
on three job offers.
I went to a headhunter who gotme three job offers.
One was to work in banking, sothat wasn't for me.
One was to work in fashion.
At the time, we didn't knowanything about fashion from
(07:17):
South Africa because we were soisolated.
But the third job offer was towork at Elizabeth Arden.
And I just said, that's it.
It's a culmination of all thethings I love: theater, art,
music, um, you know, perfumesand all that.
And so I got the job as theexecutive secretary for the
(07:40):
president of Elizabeth Arden.
And it was a great position,although I didn't love being a
secretary, but it was a reallywonderful entry first entry
position in this cosmeticindustry and meeting everybody
in the retail world and in come,you know, the competitors and
understanding the fragranceindustry.
So that's what I did.
(08:01):
And at the end of the year,when I got my green card, I
started Elizabeth Arden.
And the rest is history.
I mean, I went to ElizabethArden and then Lancombe and then
Tiffany.
And it's it's a it's a prettyremarkable journey.
If you told me growing up inSouth Africa that this is where
I'd be, I'd say not possible,but miracles happen.
Beverley Glazer (08:23):
Miracles certainly do happen, yes.
But also tell me, Sue, how didthey train you?
Here you were uh a secretary,right?
Um, that's pretty remote fromthe perfume.
Sue Phillips (08:38):
So how did they train you?
That's a really terrificquestion.
And it's one that um my bossrecognized in me.
So when I worked for thepresident Joe Ronchetti, um, you
know, when I would go singingand acting at night, I would
invite them all.
And he said to me, you know,I've seen you perform in front
of, you know, strangers and infront of um our sales meeting
(09:02):
events.
He said, you know, you'd begreat in training.
So of course, because I was sonew to the industry, I really
didn't understand what trainingmeant.
He said, it's training thepeople who sell the products
behind the counter about theproducts, the packaging, the
branding, the story behind thefragrances, and then you have to
motivate the people behind thecounter to sell the product.
(09:24):
He said, but in order for youto do that, you have to know how
to appreciate and explain theproducts and the brands.
So I want you to studyfragrance and I want you to
learn about fragrance.
So he said, I had to go sellbehind the counter at Macy's.
And it was a great way tounderstand who the customer is,
(09:46):
you know, these fancy ladies intheir fur coats who didn't want
to spend the money, but thelittle old ladies who love the
Chloe fragrance or the Lagerfeldfragrance, they'll peel off the
dollar bills.
It was such an interesting, aninteresting journey to really
realize who is the customer andwhat do they want.
And so, and then I had to goand study perfumery, you know,
(10:08):
how the brands were made andwhere the brands were made, and
went to the fragrance houses andunderstood the different notes.
So it was a great learningexperience for me.
And in fact, one of thegentlemen who was instrumental
in really branding and licensingChloe from Carl Lagerfeld's
House of Chloe to ElizabethArden said to me as I was
(10:30):
training with him about thebrand and Chloe and Lagerfeld,
he said, Sue, I want you tobecome a fragrance expert.
How am I going to do that?
How am I actually going to dothat?
Um, and so that was the startof it, you know, to really
understand the brand essence,the story, and how the customer
(10:50):
reacts to fragrance and whatfragrance appeals to the
customer.
And so after my three-monthorientation at Macy's, I then
became the national trainingdirector.
I traveled around the countrysetting up training schools.
Now, because of my mom'sbackground and influence, I was
always very aware of art andmusic and colors and sensory
(11:14):
aspects.
And so I really transformed adull hotel conference room into
a beautiful magical oasis withthe colors of the Chloe
fragrance, the music playing,the fragrance in the air, so
that when people came into theconference room, they were
bowled over.
It was like walking into theworld of Chloe or Lagerfeld or
(11:37):
eventually Burberry.
And I always wanted to make ita sensory experience.
Nobody taught me that.
It was just innate because Icome from a very creative
background.
And that has stayed, stood,that has stood with me for all
these years.
And I still today create thesemagical fragrance experiences
(11:59):
all about fragrance and thebrand and the consumer and what
it means to them to learn aboutfragrance.
Beverley Glazer (12:06):
Yeah.
But that was a heavy, full-timejob.
Oh, yes.
You you were still a younggirl, you had to travel all
over.
Sue Phillips (12:17):
90% of the year I spend traveling, um, going to
every state, every city, everymajor department store where
they sold the Chloe and theElizabeth Arden product.
And at one point I went to myboss and I said, you know, this
traveling is killing me.
Because I'm, you know, I gohome for a weekend, take my
(12:40):
clothes to the dry cleaner, packa, unpack the case, pack the
case to go on for another twoweeks stint.
And after doing that for twoyears, I'd learnt a lot.
But he then said to me, Well,you've really done well in the
training.
Now let's think aboutcosmetics.
And they wanted to help meunderstand the cosmetics.
(13:00):
So from fragrance, I went tocosmetics.
You know, what girl doesn'tlove to learn about lipstick and
eyeshadows and nail polish andjust the foundation, so to
speak, of cosmetics.
And then eventually an openingcame up in the fragrance
department for marketing.
And I loved fragrance, and Imissed it when I was in the
(13:21):
cosmetics department.
So they gave me the opportunityto become a marketing manager
for freight for the fragrancebrands.
And I felt at home until I leftand I went to Lancombe because
they offered me a biggerposition.
Beverley Glazer (13:38):
What were the challenges back then of a woman
in business, traveling in andout, a suitcase?
What were your challenges?
It wasn't easy.
Sue Phillips (13:49):
It wasn't easy.
And you know, um, justtraveling so much to all these
out-of-the-way places, some werebig cities and some were
smaller cities.
And you know, it was reallyinteresting because certain
things happened.
So I would check into a hotellate at night, having done a
breakfast session in the morningin one city and then a luncheon
with somebody else, and thengoing to the next city and
(14:13):
checking into the hotel.
And when I first started that,I would get really crazy phone
calls in the middle of thenight.
And then I realized when Icheck into the hotel, the
concierge or the checking inregistry guy would say, Okay,
Miss Phillips, your room is 525,enjoy your stay here.
So eventually I got smart and Isaid when I checked into
(14:36):
hotels, do not mention my nameand do not mention my hotel
room, because I do not wantunsolicited calls in the middle
of the night.
And it was never a factor formen.
They didn't think about it.
You said, Mr.
Smith, Mr.
Jones, hello, welcome to 402,enjoy your time.
That's the first thing.
The second thing is when Iwould actually at the end of a
(14:58):
semester when I'd beenexhausted, I always made a point
of going to have room servicein my hotel room because I was
exhausted and I didn't want toget up.
And a woman on her own in arestaurant in those days was
very odd.
So one time I was in Seattleand I always stayed at nice
hotels because the companywanted to obviously, you know,
(15:18):
portray the right ambiance andthe right image for the people
who came to our events and ourtraining schools.
So one day I said, okay, it'smy last week, it's my last trip.
I'm going to go downstairs andhave dinner or lunch or whatever
it was in the restaurant on myown.
Well, you would have thoughtthat a pariah had walked in.
(15:39):
So out of the corner of my eye,I see a security guard.
And he looked at me.
So it was afternoon tea, andthen I was going to have dinner.
So I just I didn't want todrink.
But I said, the guy came overand said, Oh, uh, good
afternoon, or good evening,miss.
May I help you?
(16:00):
And I realized what he wasthinking, that I might have been
a lady of the night and wasn'tsoliciting.
So I said, he said, what can Ido for you?
Why, you know, what are youdoing here?
I said, I'm an immigrationattorney.
I'd like a cup of tea, please.
I just thought that was theonly thing, because I used to
(16:20):
work for an immigrationattorney.
But today that wouldn't happenbecause of all the new laws and
the and the problems with youknow harassment.
But you know, it was verydifficult in those days, and it
was the norm.
It was absolutely the norm.
Nobody thought anything less ofit because you know, women
(16:41):
didn't travel and men were ableto say and do whatever they
wanted, which I guess stillhappens today, but um it was not
so much.
Not so much.
Beverley Glazer (16:51):
Not so much, yes.
And how did that play on yoursocial life?
Sue Phillips (16:56):
Well, my social life was actually in limbo.
So um I had been married inSouth Africa.
I got married very young.
And when we came to America,um, I thrived, I loved it, and
he didn't love it so much.
And when I got the job atElizabeth Arden, and then the
training job, which meant that Iwould have to train um and
(17:19):
travel a great deal, I said tomyself, well, it'll either be
out of sight, out of mind, orabsence makes the heart grow
fonder.
So uh it was the first one, andum it wasn't really for me, the
relationship wasn't for me.
Uh, I thrived in America, hedidn't, and I thought that this
(17:40):
is my opportunity, so wedivorced.
Um the second time um I gotmarried was actually because I
had met um the president ofLancombe, Joe Augury, who
actually had heard about me atElizabeth Garden.
He called me for an interview,and I went, and um, they hired
(18:00):
me to really help build the tinylittle fragrance division,
which was basically Magie Noir,a beautiful fragrance that was
launched early on in the 1920sor 30s, and it was a very green
chypre fragrance, but it wasvery sophisticated, it was a
very European fragrance.
And at that time, Lancome wasreally, you know, 48% of their
(18:24):
business came from cosmetics,and 50% of their business came
from treatment, and two littlepercentage points came from the
fragrance division.
But because I was so passionateabout fragrance, I got the job,
and they eventually called meMiss Maji because I was really
pounding the pavements for MajinRuan.
I created all these marketingprograms.
But I met my second husbandthrough the president of
(18:46):
Lancombe because my ex-husband,he was a he became an ex-was a
big retail guy.
And you know, he they had allthe fragrance the products and
the fragrances from all thecompanies at their retail store.
So um that was interesting thatI met my next husband because
of my cosmetics background andexperience.
Beverley Glazer (19:06):
Yeah.
And why did you leavecorporate?
Your career was so strong.
Why center prices?
Sue Phillips (19:13):
Well, because at the time I then was pregnant
with my new my daughter, and umI had traveled so much, and you
know, I was not 25, I was alittle bit older than that.
And when I had complications,the doctor said to me, You've
got to stop traveling, and youreally have to take care of
(19:34):
yourself.
So when I had the baby, Idecided, you know, this is my
time to really start aconsulting business.
I didn't want to stop working,but I didn't really want to
leave the baby either.
And so I started my owncompany, which I originally
called Susan PhillipsEnterprises.
Not exciting and not innovativeat all, it's just my name.
(19:56):
But I get my best ideas late atnight and And so one morning
around four o'clock or fiveo'clock, I I sort of sent an
enterprises and I wrote it down.
And the next day I said, wow,what a great name.
So I trademarked it.
So that was a way for me toreally achieve both things that
I loved, wanted to be a bad babyand also wanted to continue my
(20:19):
work.
And I did, and and I thenincorporated in 2008, when the
pandemic came, that started awhole new group of challenges.
Because when I was consulting,I actually consulted with the
House of Burberry, created theBurberry fragrance for Trish
(20:40):
McAvoy, for Avon.
I was at Avon as a consultantfor about five years, doing
different initiatives, the umall in fragrance and home care
as well.
Created a fragrance for Dianevon Furstenberg for Avon called
Beauty Begins at Home and AirFreshness.
And it was a wonderfulopportunity.
(21:00):
I had many, many differentclients while I was doing
consulting.
And then in 2008, the economycrashed.
And so I had to reinvent myselfagain.
And this time I thought, youknow, I've learned so much about
fragrance.
It's time to, and the trendthat was happening in England,
not so much in America, was allabout bespoke.
(21:22):
So for those of you who don'tknow what bespoke means, it's a
British term which means custommade, really made for the
individual.
And many, you know, royaltymembers and high net worth
individuals in England wouldhave their own clothing made
from Burberries and from otherhigh beautiful designers, as
(21:44):
well as perfumes.
And I thought, well, that wouldbe something great to do in
America.
So I started creating anddeveloping perfumes that span
the entire old factor palette.
And when I started it, and Ihad people at my home in my
apartment come to createfragrances, you know, people
said, What are you doing?
(22:05):
Tap away parties for perfume?
And they laughed.
And then, of course, thatbecame such a huge trend.
Everybody suddenly wanted abespoke perfume.
They didn't want to wear whateverybody else wore, the
celebrities and the designers.
And so I was at the right placeat the right time.
I then opened up a boutiquedowntown in Tribeca, New York,
(22:27):
called the Cenetarium.
And it was an it was a realsort of um basement.
It was a real cruddy buildingdowntown, but the basement had
so much opportunity.
And I fixed it up again, thanksto my mom.
I had beautiful art andbeautiful music and beautiful
furnishings that I had from myhomes, just put in there, and it
(22:49):
was eclectic, but reallylovely.
And people like Jamie Foxxfound me, and he sent Katie
Holmes to me, and then Zendayacame.
So suddenly I had all thesecelebrities and their PR people
realizing what a wonderful ideait would be to create bespoke
perfumes.
So that was fun.
It was terrific meeting allthese people, and then also
(23:10):
doing corporate events and teambuilding events and anniversary
parties and holiday parties, allwith perfume.
And that was great.
It was downtown.
I was there for 10 years.
And then you know what happenedafter that?
The pandemic came.
So business shut down.
You know, nobody was wearingperfume.
(23:30):
Everybody was staying home.
So what did I do?
I wrote my book called ThePower of Perfume.
Because I'd written articlesand I'd written articles for be
for magazines and newspapers andwas getting interviewed.
And I thought, well, now's thetime.
There's no business.
No one's wearing fragrance.
I may as well write about it ifthey don't wear it.
And I did, and somethingphenomenal happened.
(23:54):
Um I the publisher and my PRperson got me an interview with
NBC and to talk about the book.
And the day before theinterview, they called me to
say, Sue, do you think you canhave help somebody who's had a
nausea, they cannot smell, havenot been able to smell for 15
(24:14):
months.
I said, I don't know, but I'lltry.
And I took this woman who hadnot been able to smell, she was
an ausemic.
And, you know, I had 18fragrances.
We have 18 different perfumeblends.
She was dipping the blottersinto the bottle of perfume to
(24:35):
try and smell it.
And she did one, two, three, upto 14.
She couldn't smell a thing.
And the 15th or the 14th or15th one, she suddenly said, Ah,
I smell something and it'sbeautiful.
And she started to cough.
It was, you know, it was one ofthe most powerful moments I've
ever experienced with perfumery.
(24:56):
The fact that she was suddenlyable to smell after 15 months of
not being able to smell wasjust phenomenal.
It was very emotional.
She cried, I cried, the NBCteam cried.
And that became it, it wentviral, the interview went viral.
And suddenly people from aroundthe world and around the
country contacted me becausewhat happened was during COVID,
(25:19):
the symptoms were anosmia andthen variations on that theme,
parosmia, smell distortion, andthen dysgasia, where they had no
taste.
So suddenly, because peoplenever really learned about
fragrance, they didn'tunderstand the magic and the
power of fragrance, and peopletook it for granted.
You wake up in the morning, yousmell, you have your coffee,
and that's it.
(25:40):
But suddenly, people, millionsof people couldn't smell.
It was one of the biggestsymptoms of COVID.
And I was able to help many,many people.
I've helped about 250 peopleregain their sense of smell.
And I've just finished mysecond book, which is all about
how I've helped that.
And I'm working with aneuroscientist who is talking
(26:01):
about the neuroscientific aspectof an osmia, and I'm talking
about the olfactory standpoint.
So it's been an amazingjourney, and so many bumps and
pressures and challenges alongthe way, but I've managed to
always navigate them andovercome them and try and
reposition myself with all thesechallenges.
Beverley Glazer (26:23):
Let me ask you, how does somebody find a
personal scent?
What do they do?
Sue Phillips (26:29):
Well, so I developed a scent personality
quiz.
So normally people would go tothe counters at, you know, the
big stores and they'd trydifferent fragrances and, you
know, or they would berecommended by to a fragrance by
a friend, or they'd smellsomething on a friend, and it
wouldn't smell good on thembecause it wasn't for their
personality.
(26:49):
So because of my long journeyand career in this industry, I
came up with a scent personalityquiz, which is actually in the
back of the book, and it's alsoon my website, Sue Philips.com.
And by taking the scent quiz,it really helps people narrow
down what they like becausethere are so many different
(27:10):
fragrance families, fresh,floral, fruity, woodsy, spicy,
musky, woodsy, ambery.
It's like musical notes.
You know, are you really goingto remember every musical note?
There's so many.
So the scent quiz really helpspeople understand their scent
persona.
If they're outdoors and theylove going to the beach or going
(27:33):
for walks, they'd probably lovea fresh fragrance.
If they're a little bit moresophisticated and they're like
going to theater or opera, orthey love designer clothes,
they'd probably like florals.
Um, if they're rugged and theylike to go on hiking
expeditions, they would probablylike something woodsy.
So there are various fragrancefamilies that really do help
(27:55):
reflect your individuality andyour personality.
And this quiz is amazing.
It's I I worked on it, and Iworked on it with a
psychologist, and it's almostaccurate.
I mean, it's I would say it's99% accurate.
And I do ask for people's namesin the, you know, are you a
male, are you a female, what'syour name?
(28:16):
Because I had a couple ofinstances where a name could be
generic for men or woman.
Tony could be a man or a woman,Sean could be a man or a woman.
So if I don't know if it's aman or a woman, I would sort of
almost, based on the sentresults, make it for a man or
make it for a woman.
(28:36):
Although I do have to say thatthere are no masculine or
feminine ingredients.
Roses are not feminine.
We think of roses for women,but there's no gender when it
comes to ingredients.
And woodsy, you think of it fora man, but women can love
woodsy in spicy sense too.
So, you know, I encouragepeople, if they really want to
(28:59):
explore their own scent persona,they should take the scent quiz
online, and it'll be remarkableto see what they come up with.
Beverley Glazer (29:06):
And that's no, that's a great idea.
What's one final message, Sue?
What could you leave ourlisteners with?
Sue Phillips (29:14):
Never underestimate the power of
scent.
Even if you go to the storesand you get overwhelmed with all
the choices, you know,fragrance is a beautiful,
wonderful gift that we have beengiven.
And our sense of smell is ourmost powerful sense.
It connects memory, emotion,and taste and smell.
(29:38):
And I always love to say topeople, you know, perfume is the
signature of your soul.
And it can bring back memories,it can enhance memories, it can
make you think of somebody thatyou haven't thought of for
years.
It can bring back memories ofan old lover or a mother or
father or grandparent or newbornbaby.
(30:00):
And, you know, when people losttheir sense of smell during
COVID, they were miserable, theywere just very heart sick, they
were depressed, they couldn'tsmell, they couldn't taste, they
couldn't enjoy life, theycouldn't enjoy going to events
because everything at the eventhad food and they couldn't smell
or they couldn't taste, so itbecame a real problem.
So I always say to people,honor your sense of smell.
(30:22):
Thank you.
And do stop and smell theroses.
Beverley Glazer (30:25):
Wonderful.
Thank you so much, Sue.
Thank you, Beverly.
Sue Phillips is aninternationally renowned
fragrance expert, anentrepreneur, and one of the
most celebrated women in thefragrance industry.
Over the course of 35 years,she has elevated fragrance from
a luxury product to a personalart form and a tool for healing.
(30:49):
She is the creator offragrances for Tiffany,
Burberry, and Diane vonFurstenberg, and that's just a
few, and the founder ofCenterprises, where she crafts
perfumes for celebrities,Fortune 500 companies, thousands
of people looking for their ownsignature scent.
(31:09):
And during COVID, she's helpedover 250 people regain their
sense of smell.
Here are a few takeaways fromthis episode.
Smell is the only sense that'sdirectly connected to the
emotions in your brain.
Fragrance that can unlockmemory, confidence, and even
healing.
(31:30):
And the right fragrance canaffirm who you are and who you
are becoming.
If you relate to this episode,here are some actions that you
can do right now.
Inhale a scent that you loveand notice how good you feel.
Identify which odors calm you,energize you, and ground you.
(31:51):
And refresh your environmentwith a scent that use a
diffuser, an essential oil, or apleasant spray in a room where
you spend your most time.
For similar episodes onchanging your mood quickly,
check out episodes 145 and 154of Aging with Purpose and
(32:12):
Passion and Women in the Middlepodcast, hosted by life coach
Susie Rosenstein, helps women inmidlife and beyond to navigate
change, set goals, and findhappiness.
That link is also in the shownotes.
And so, Sue, where can peoplefind you and where can they buy
your book and learn more aboutyou?
(32:33):
Please share your links.
Sue Phillips (32:36):
Yes, absolutely.
Thank you so much.
So uh I'm on Instagram, I havesentfully Sue.
I have full Instagram,Sentfully Sue, the real Sue
Phillips, Sue PhillipsFragrance, and Centerprises.
It's a long story why I have somany.
But if you also Google SuePhilips Fragrance, I'll come up.
(32:57):
I'm on LinkedIn, X, Twitter,YouTube, TikTok, Instagram,
Facebook, everywhere.
Um, and if you if you justGoogle Sue or even go to
ChatGPT, um, who is Sue PhilipsFragrance?
And I'll pop up.
It's it's amazing.
I love this whole AI thingbecause I I I ask clients, where
(33:18):
do you find me?
And they tell me other Googleand now ChatGPT.
So thank you.
Thank you to the AI gods.
Beverley Glazer (33:26):
And if you didn't catch any of that, and I
highly doubt that, you must havecaught at least one.
You can also find it onreinventimpossible.com because
that's my site too.
And so, my friends, what's nextfor you?
Are you just going through themotions or are you living a life
that you truly love?
Get my free guide to rebootyour confidence, and that's in
(33:49):
the show notes.
You can connect with me,Beverley Glazer, on all social
media platforms and in mypositive group of women on
Facebook.
That's Women Over50 Rock.
And thank you for listening.
Have you enjoyed thisconversation?
Please subscribe and help usspread the word by dropping a
review, sending this out to afriend, and remember, you only
(34:12):
have one life, so live it withpurpose and passion.
Announcer (34:23):
Thank you for joining us.
You can connect with Bev on herwebsite,
reinventimpossible.com.
And while you're there, joinour newsletter.
Subscribe so you don't miss anepisode.
Until next time, keep agingwith purpose and passion.
And celebrate life.
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