Community Highlights: Meet Rachel Greiman of Ode To Perfume

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

Hi Rachel, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
At least once a week, customers ask me how I got into perfume. And I always say, “This is really sad for two seconds, but I promise the story gets happy, so hang in there.”

Three years ago, my son was battling cancer and we were spending months at a time in the hospital. It was … awful. And I got sucked into this weird (and wonderful!) little corner of the internet where people talked about smells as if they had the power to change a life. I dove in and I dove in hard. Was it disassociating? Maybe. But was it what kept me afloat during the hardest days of my life? Absolutely.

I ordered samples, eventually visited stores, and followed countless people on a silly little app who made me smile. Fragrance became one of the my only bright spots of joy in a really dark season. I had NO idea it would lead me here. Not a clue. But it did and I’m so happy. This is my next step into joy and sharing it with other people. I’m so happy to be here and humbled beyond belief at how much support we have already received.

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?
There are always challenges when opening a new business! Especially a physical one. We had several bumps in the construction process, but honestly, it was nothing major and everything stayed on track for the most part.

Because we are so new, I feel like every single day is a learning opportunity. Every consultation we have with a customer teaches us more about how to do this job well and how to improve the experience. It’s so fun to be adaptable and roll with the changes. That’s half the excitement of entrepreneurship!

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
We are Denver’s first niche fragrance boutique. We offer exclusive and hard-to-find fragrances from all over the world. We do mostly appointments, so people get a very intimate 1:1 consultation with us to find a fragrance that feels oh-so-them.

We also prioritize marginalized communities with the curation of our inventory. Almost all of our brands are women-, BIPOC-, or queer-owned. We spend a lot of money to stock our store and we feel so good about the people that money is going to.

We are so proud to serve the customers who come in and to build a fragrance community here in Denver. We feel lucky to be at the start of all of this and so excited to see what comes next!

Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
I recently got a Brick device for my phone to shut me out of social media apps when I want to spend time with my family. 10/10 recommend!

I wish I had some type of media resource to share with you that would help others. But truly, what helps me do my best is my incredible team who I trust endlessly at work and my husband who has been the backbone of our household for the last 9 months. The people you surround yourself with will make or break your business.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://odetoperfume.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/odetheshop
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@odetheshop

Image Credits
Emily Wehner:

https://www.emilywehner.com/