There was a young man who wanted to make a lot of money so he went to this Guru. He told the Guru “I want to be on the same level you’re on, and so the guru said “if you want to be on the same level I’m on I’ll meet you tomorrow at the beach.

So the young man got there at 4 AM ready to rock and roll, got on a suit but he should have worn shorts. The old man grabs his hand and said “How bad do you want to be successful?” He said “Real bad.” The guru says “walk on out to the water.” The young man walks on out to the water he goes waist deep and the young man thought to himself “this guy is crazy, I want to make money but this dude got me out here swimming, I didn’t ask to be a lifeguard I want to make money.” The Guru said come out a little further and the young man was right around shoulder level with the water. The guru told him to come out a little further and he came out a little further until it was about up to his chin. The young man continued to think that this old man is crazy and was considering going back. “I thought you want to be successful.” “I do.” “Walk out a little further.” He came, and the guru took the young man’s head and held it under water and just before he was about to pass out the guru raised the young man’s head up. The Guru then said “When you want to succeed as bad as you want to breath then you’ll be successful.”

I do not know how many of you all have asthma in here today, but have you ever had an asthma attack before? When you’re short of breathe short of breathe, you’re weezy, and the only thing you’re trying to do is get some air? You do not care about no basketball game! You don’t care about what’s on television. You don’t care about anybody calling you. You don’t care about a party. The only thing you care about while trying to breathe is getting some fresh air, that’s it! Whenever you get to the point where all you would like to be is successful as bad as you would want to breathe, then you will be successful! I’m here to tell you that most of you say you want to be successful but you don’t want it bad enough, you just kinda want it.

You don’t want it badder than you would like to party, you don’t want it as much as you wanna be cool, most of you don’t want success as much as you want to sleep!

Some of you love sleep more then you love success. I’m here to tell you that if you’re going to be successful, you have to be willing to give up sleep. You gotta be willing to work off of 3 hours of sleep, 2 hours of sleep! If you really want to be successful, some days you’re going to have to stay up 3 days in a row because if you go to sleep you might miss the opportunity to be successful. That’s how bad you have to want it.

You got to go days with out sleep. You got to want to be successful so bad that you forget to eat! Beyonce said one that she was on the set doing her thing, 3 days had gone by and she forgotten she didn’t eat! Because she was engaged. When 50 Cent was doing his movie, he said that when he wasn’t doing the movie, he was making the soundtrack. He was asked when he would sleep, but replied, “sleep is for those people who are broke. I don’t sleep. I’ve got an opportunity to make a dream become a reality”. Emmit Smith had won his first Super Bowl and got his first commercial and was lifting weights. In the commercial, he said, “I won the Super Bowl so I can rest now”. He then throws 325lbs on the bench, rests for about 2 seconds, then goes back to lifting. He had already won the Super Bowl but only rested for 2 seconds. Most of you won’t be successful because when you’re studying and get tired, you quit. Don’t cry to give up, cry to keep going. You’re already in pain. You’re already hurt. Get a reward from it. Don’t go to sleep until you succeed. You can jump, do flips, be excited when we give away money, but you will never be successful until I don’t have to give you a dime to do what you do. You won’t be successful until you say, “I don’t need that money, because I’ve got it in me”.

How many perfume bottles did you spot?

Some of the notable perfumers in the industry are “Grassois”: Olivier Cresp, Jacques Cavallier, Michel Almairac, Jean Claude Ellena, Jean Guichard, Nathalie Lorson, to name a few. A few more young Grassois are on their way into “La Cour des Grands” (the big leagues). While the strong part of the creative business is in Paris, these perfumers are so lucky to have ties with the two paradises of France: Paris and the French Riviera.

Perhaps I will save my love for Paris for another post, but Grasse (French Riviera) is the other extreme of Paris. In the south, you have the sun and beautiful weather, with the beaches/waters that beckon you. Mixed in the French culture, you have the strong Mediterranean and Italian influences. There is a sense of calm and serenity, a perfect balance to the business driven environment of Paris. As mentioned before, much of the perfumery “business” has migrated towards Paris, but there is still the legacy of perfumery that pulsates in the birthplace of this art. Grasse is truly a place where a young perfumer can grow and learn.

For the past 4 years of my life, I have been between Paris and Grasse learning perfumery. I am so humbled by the chance to have experienced both worlds. During my first part of my training in Grasse, I was so happy to run off to Paris. But in coming back to the south and with a little bit more wisdom, I realize that I too need these two worlds…

I was scrolling through the list of 1000 some perfumery raw materials available to be used in creation on my work computer, and I was thinking to myself that the next big hit could possibly be made by these raw materials. Looking at perfume history and formulae, a best seller does not have to be complex and just a beautiful accord away. But who will find this accord?

Off to the lab I go…

Speaking about women, I observed that male geniuses (who are often eccentric, scattered brained, and disorganized – or too organized) in history all had amazing wives or partners to keep them together, have a balanced level of organization, and guide them on the practical side of things. I think (straight) men would be lost without women. My father is a brilliant thinker/mathematician but my mother fed him and was the glue that held his daily life together.

While I am probably not a genius, I think what I wrote is applied to all men. I thank all the women in my life in France, who without them, I would not have gotten to where I am in perfumery.

When I first smelled this raw material in Grasse, I felt that I have died and gone to heaven. Original photo.

Find out more about this pubically available raw material fabricated by Firmenich: http://www.firmenich.com/e-catalog/index.lbl (search: hedione HC).