Our guest on today's episode is Jo Malone CBE — the nation’s favourite perfumer. She founded Jo Malone London, her first fragrance brand, when she was just 21 from a tiny flat in London, before selling it just a few years later to Estée Lauder for undisclosed millions. She now runs Jo Loves, a more experimental and personal perfume brand that takes its inspiration from her own life and memories. 

Today, Jo tells us about synesthesia, the incredibly rare neurological condition that gives her a “super powered nose”; how she had to learn to sell as a seven year old to put food on her family’s table; and why setting up her second business was in fact so much harder than the first. 

(We recorded this episode via Zoom, and we were at the mercy of my provincial internet connection, so I hope you don’t mind if I sometimes sound a little muffled. I think Jo’s stories and wit more than make up for it.)