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In This Episode You’ll Hear About:

• [02:20] Sarah Jahnke’s story of growing up in Michigan and New York, starting her first business at 12 years old, and performing all her life.

• [10:14] Her career journey, including an internship at Sears e-commerce, a role at PwC, returning to Business School, and working for legacy fragrance brands.

• [15:49] Meeting Courteney Cox via Zoom in brightly colored linen.

• [18:46] How Sarah developed the concept for the brand from a candle brand to a luxury home fragrance brand; which includes skincare-grade ingredients.

• [20:17] Product and brand development through the lens of luxury beauty.

• [23:01] What ‘scentscaping’ means at Homecourt, and which fragrances Courteney prefers.

• [24:50] Starting at Homecourt on January 1^st 2021, and fundraising for the first time.

• [28:55] How the brand has been received by customers and the press.

• [31:21] In-person points of discovery for the brand at gyms and hotels in LA.

• [32:37] The product and price range including everyday cleaning products and sustainable packaging.

• [33:50] How Sarah has experienced her first role as CEO.

• [40:41] Naming the business and what they had to keep in mind.

 To Find Out More:

Jobi Capital

Sarah Jahnke on LinkedIn

Sarah Jahnke on Instagram

Homecourt

Lee Greene on LinkedIn

Stairway to CEO

Stairway to CEO on Instagram

 Quotes:

“Having been in the fragrance market, I knew that there was a lot of opportunity to bring more prestige fragrances into new formats.” [0:19:43]

“I said, why don’t we disrupt the household products category with fine fragrance and this luxury beauty philosophy?” [0:20:00]

“If you get to experience our products, you’ll see a very high-end niche-style perfumery with very high-quality ingredients that would typically be reserved for Eau de Parfum.” [0:20:42]

“We use 100% post-consumer recycled material in all of our packaging; from the bottles to even the unit cartons.” [0:21:14]

“We’re really bringing fine fragrance into these new formats.” [0:22:44]

“I had so many great people in my corner through networking and meeting other entrepreneurs in LA who were able to help me and guide me.” [0:27:08]

“The press loves us and thinks that we are innovators in the space. We’re not pigeonholed as just another celebrity brand. It’s truly seen as authentic to Courteney.” [0:29:15]

“I feel very proud that the quality of our product is what’s being recognized and is what’s bringing people to the brand and also keeping them there.” [0:29:46]

“Even with Courteney being the co-founder, and having millions and millions of followers, and really being the number one way people discover the brand, as a fragrance brand, it’s really important to also be able to try the products in person.” [0:31:37]

“Being an entrepreneur is my ultimate life lesson of letting go.”  [0:36:06]

“The why doesn’t matter. It’s happening. So how are you going to react to it?” [0:38:50]

“Trust the timing and how all the dots can connect.” [0:44:09]