Meet Rachel Gariepy of Altadena

Today we’d like to introduce you to Rachel Gariepy.

Hi Rachel, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I started learning perfumery during the pandemic as a creative outlet. My whole life was kind of turned upside-down at that time and I needed a focal point. I had this narrative about myself that I wasn’t a careful or precise person, so I wasn’t sure I’d be able to be great at perfumery but it was amazing to have something tactile and grounding to do during such a time of upheaval. I fell in love with the process of building scents that told stories and evoked emotion.

Then, one afternoon in November, I was working from home at my digital media job, when I suddenly got the urge to lay out a business plan for my perfume company, Bodi Botanica. In that. moment, a bird flew into my house and when I walked over to it, she hopped right on my finger. It felt wild and symbolic, like the universe shaking things loose. Moments later, my boss Slacked me and laid me off.

So I hit the ground running and leaned into my new perfumery pursuit. A few months later, the Altadena fires hit. Seeing my community lose so much and begin to rebuild reframed how I thought about how to react when something bad happens. I took this as an opportunity to just go for it and make this business my full-time focus.

Now I create custom fragrances for brands and immersive scent experiences for events, helping people experience the emotional power of scent in new and unexpected ways. I also teach workshops and lead people in creating their own custom scents, which brings me so much happiness and inspiration for my own work.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Obviously, the Altadena fires made building a business a huge challenge. I was displaced from my home for months and had no accesss to my perfuming-materials or a safe space in which to work. That was a dark time, but as soon as I could get my fire-brain back to a sustainable place, I started back up again. One foot in front of the other. That process has led me to places I would never have thought of going. At first, I believed I’d be doing all of my workshops at my Altadena studio, but displacement led me to make my business more mobile and now I’m doing events in new locations including a recent booking on a private yacht!

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Bodi Botanica fragrances are meant to feel different from the perfumes you’d find at the mall or on department store shelves. Our ethos is simple, we aren’t trying to cover up the scent of your human body, we are trying to harmonize with it. Each bespoke fragrance in the collection is hand-crafted using a mix of aroma materials, both natural and synthetic, and I take so much inspiration from my little town of Altadena, nestled in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. The idea for the fragrance, ‘Santa Rosa’ came from the milky, lactonic Deodara pines that line Christmas Tree Lane and give off a sweet, creamy scent.

So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
Come take a workshop! If you love the idea of creating your own custom scent, book a workshop through my website. Look for a public class or get a small group together (4-8 people) and we can do a private session. Also, tell the company you work for that I’d be the perfect activation for their next company event. A ‘build-your-own-scent bar’ is such fun, immersive option for that type of creative environment.

Pricing:

• Workshops: $180/person
• Fine-fragrances: $54-180

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.bodibotanica.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bodibotanica/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61574666774697
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@bodibotanica?lang=en

Image Credits
@documentingthelight, @youhavemycamera