Chef Natsume Aoi | Culinary Director at Mochidoki

Food is essential. Delicious food, a gift.

I grew up in the restaurant business.  My parents built, launched and sustained a beloved neighborhood Chinese restaurant on Eastern Long Island for over 20 years.  That restaurant not only provided for our daily livelihood but funded my college education and that of my three siblings.  It was a generous well but only because it took everything my parents had -- 14 hours a day, seven days a week, 362 days a year (we were closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter).  There were no vacations.  Unless you count opening at 2:00 pm on Sundays. 

Where school busses dropped other kids off at their homes, mine dropped me off in the parking lot of our family restaurant.  I studied geometry, biology and AP French at a two person table.  Our customers, who watched me grow up, would ask about my grades (middling), my favorite subject (English) and which university I’d like to attend (anywhere in New York City).  What was firmly planted in my mind was that I (as it was for my siblings) was never going to do anything with the restaurant world.  My parents felt the same.  The hours are long, the worries never ceasing, the work backbreaking.  They wanted, like I wanted, me to work in a nicely air-conditioned office where it smelled of reams of paper with soft professional chatter in the background, not sizzling woks and barking demands.  Something respectable -- where people showered before work, not after.  

Over the years, I and my siblings reminisce about our restaurant life.  We laugh about the stress of being in the weeds on Friday and Saturday nights.  Delivery days on Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays where we’d help check off the ingredients received and promptly store perishables into the walk-in as quickly as possible.  We wonder about the weekly regulars and their predictable orders and where they may be and where they may have defected to after our parents sold the restaurant.

Ironically, we often talk about opening up an eatery.  (Insert facepalm emoji here.)  We talk about the kind of food we’d like to serve, the service we’d like to provide, the packaging, the concept.   As successful and accomplished we may be (whatever that means), we realized that working in our family restaurant deeply shaped our lives -- that we’d not be where we are today without that experience.  It taught us discipline.  It forged in us an incomparable work ethic and persistence (our parents had some incredibly tough years and giving up wasn’t an option).  We learned about hospitality and building relationships.  We learned how to run a business and how to manage finances. Most importantly, it taught us about the importance of a team and in our case, that team was us, our family.  No university could ever teach me what I learned in our family restaurant.  It is, in fact, the most respectable job I’ve ever had.  For this, I am eternally grateful.

So, when I think about craftsmanship, the world of food, naturally, comes to mind.  Chefs and cooks are scientists and artists.  They’re craftsmen in how they hold a careful balance between the two to produce creations that are beautiful to look at, delicious to eat and nourishing for the body.  

The Culinary Director at Mochidoki, Chef Natsume Aoi, is such a craftsperson.  

I recently discovered Mochidoki while celebrating my younger daughter’s birthday -- this includes a lot of eating -- we entered the neat jewel box of a shop on Spring Street (masks on and hands sanitized) and exited with what has been the most delicious ice cream filled mochis I’ve ever tasted.  My daughter will attest that I couldn’t stop murmuring to myself (for days) how unbelievably delicious was the strawberry and chocolate.  I have since returned twice more to taste more flavors and, of course, I had to learn more about who, how and what went into these delightful bites of happiness.

That’s how I met Chef Aoi, who generously shared her time with me recently to talk about her craft, second chances and being steadfast with what she wants.  

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Tell me about your life before the kitchen.

Kitchen, for me, is a second life.

I graduated from university in music -- I was teaching music and performing for a long while.  I love music.  Music is my first love.  Music is my life.   I loved the performing part but the teaching part presented a lot of challenges especially with the New York educational system.  The subject, music, like art, and the way it was used in the curriculum was really challenging.  The school I was at didn’t have a program so I built a performance program for them.  It included teachings on music appreciation and music history.  There were some individuals who were very good singers. I thought, why not do a choir, a chorus -- the school didn’t have enough money for instruments so the best instruments that we have are our voices.  I was basically able to build a makeshift performance program for them and the students were happy.  Some enjoyed dancing and we incorporated that into the program, too.

When it got cut, I saw that as a sign for me.  I took a hiatus from teaching for about six months.  I’m one of those people who is very uncomfortable with taking so much time off and not doing something all the time.

My instrument was the piano.  I sing also and I had a lead singer who performed across the city where I was the keyboardist.  We performed in lounges and had gigs around the city.  That was lovely.  I’m hoping to pick it back up again but for now, I’m focusing my time on Mochidoki. My love of the kitchen is on par with music.

Tell me how you made the leap from music to the kitchen.

My father was a chef so it was in the family.  I’ve always loved the kitchen -- I just never really thought to do it professionally. When I took my hiatus I spent a lot of time asking myself and thinking about doing something else.  Do I go back into music or is there something else?  It was a logical transition into the kitchen because it was something I was familiar with and love.

I went back to school to get a culinary degree and then landed my first job with Chef Nobu in New York.  It was difficult in the beginning -- depending on what level you’re at it’s tough, it's a labor of love -- there’s no stability and the compensation is low.  You need to work towards it.  I had to work several jobs in the beginning and you kind of get through and everything works out.  

Working with Chef Nobu was my first professional experience in a restaurant before that I was dabbling here and there.  His midtown restaurant was my first true position.  

A few years ago, I was in Japan and Shanghai.  I was sent over to Shanghai with Chef Jean-Georges Vongrichten to open one of his flagship restaurants.  

What made you decide to focus your culinary studies in pastry?  

Pastry is very multifaceted.  I studied pastry and artisan baking.  Making bread and pastry are two completely different disciplines.  I wanted to do both.   Within pastry there are at least four categories -- there’s viennoiserie, sugar, chocolates, basic tarts.  I appreciate the science behind pastry.  I like to think I am a fairly logical and very numbers-oriented person.  I’ve always liked math and science so going into pastry is very logical.  Cooking is more about how you feel at the moment.  For example, we know it takes a certain amount of time to make a bolognese and there are recipes to make it but a lot of it depends on the palate.  Some of the greatest and most amazing chefs out there have recipes but it's their palate that makes it unique.  As a result, there will be differences.  So I needed something more scientific and objective -- I like knowing that if you give me a recipe and I follow it will come and if I don’t it will fall flat.  I’ve always been like that so as a result pastry is second nature.

Do you see parallels between music and pastry?

Absolutely.  It’s a lot of math and science which is why it was so simple for me to go from music.

Tell me about mochi.  My experience with mochi is as a Westerner even though I’m from Hong Kong.  What are the differences between the mochi in the States versus traditional Japanese mochi versus the mochi at Mochidoki?

Traditional mochi is the mochi (rice) dough and inside are either azuki (red bean paste), kuri (chestnut), or shiro-an (white sweet paste).  That’s how we fill traditional mochi.  Then there’s mochi that doesn't have a filling and is made from kuzu (kudzo) starch or warabi (Bracken) starch or kinako (roasted soybean flour) -- it would be the mochi itself and dusted with kinako or served with kuromitsu, a sugar syrup, over it and eat it like that.  That’s more common in Japan.  That’s what I grew up with and that’s what I prefer.  Or the ones that are filled with bean paste.  That’s what I was making at Morimoto as well.  

Mochi with ice cream is a Western take on mochi.  It’s not a Western invention so much it is a Westernized one.  Mochi is from Japan and the idea of filling the mochi is a Japanese innovation.  Filling it with ice cream is definitely a Western idea.  

In Japan, we have it filled with ice cream but it’s not the same.  Here, it’s a thin mochi dough wrapping the ice cream.  In Japan, which I prefer, it is a thicker mochi dough.  I like mochi.  I like mochi more than ice cream.  Most Japanese people do.

Tell us more about other pastries and desserts in Japan.  As a Hong Konger transplanted to New York, I grew up with desserts that were more about textures and layers of flavors versus sugary.  My parents would often complain that the desserts in the States are too sweet.

The most traditional dessert would be wagashi.  First of all the portions are very small, unlike here.  The portions are one or two bites like petit fours and eaten with tea.  The concept of dessert, in Japan, is not something to be eaten at the end of a meal.  That’s a Western concept.  Japanese concept is chaten.  Like, English high tea.  We always have a good, strong bowl of matcha with our sweets.  Eating something sweet after dinner is a thing but it’s usually fruit.  Also, Japan is a lover of French desserts so my training is Japanese and French. We love French pastries and French confectionaries, in general.  The difference in Japan is that everything is lightened and airy and portions are a lot smaller.  Americans, for the most part, like richness.  They like decadence.  It’s delicious but you can’t eat too much of it, truly.  I think there have been very delicious desserts that have come out of America but overall it’s denser and richer.  

Also, in Japan, the pastries have more balance in terms of flavors.  For example, adding something that’s bitter or tart -- rarely would you find a composed pastry in Japan where everything is sweet or everything is rich -- maybe you'll find one compartment that’s a little sweeter or a little richer but then you’ll find something surrounding it that’s more tart or lighter.

Previously, you were the Executive Pastry Chef at Morimoto NYC and now, the Culinary Director at Mochidoki -- tell me how that came to be.

I’m not even sure how we quite found each other.  Or how they found me.  It was quite a few months ago and I was at Morimoto.  Even before the virus happened, Morimoto was slated to close because our lease was expiring after 15 years.  We ended on a high note and would have closed in May anyways with or without the virus.  I had to look forward to the next chapter of my career.  My heart has always been on Japanese ingredients and Japanese desserts.  It is the core of who I am and I won’t do anything I don’t love.  It’s a waste of time and a waste of love. 

I think at the same time Mochidoki was in the process of opening their first brick and mortar shop in SoHo (New York).  The company already had quite an impressive number of restaurants to which they were supplying mochi as well as through their own online shop.  They had a classic set of flavors and a rotation of seasonal flavors.  At that point, they were ready for someone to take over the culinary part and dedicate to developing new creations and flavors every season.  They wanted to make their culinary department much more ambitious.  The timing was right with the closing of Morimoto and the opening of Mochidoki’s first shop.  At the initial meeting with Ken [Gordon], who is the owner, I thought to myself this seems almost meant to be.  Let’s make this happen.  I joined Mochidoki about six months ago.

What made this opportunity at Mochidoki a no-brainer?  What was that a-ha moment where you thought, this is the right move for me?

They were willing to give me full control over all culinary creative efforts. I would not think to do anything else.  At this point in my career, I am looking for something where I have next to no limitations.  Mochidoki was willing to trust me and give me full range.

What or who inspires you?  You strike me as someone who is very clear about who you are and what you want.

I definitely have had mentors who are extremely creative with flavors.  They would work with flavor combinations that may sound a bit weird or strange but taste delicious.  But they can work!  I enjoy seeing very creative and adventurous experiments.

I don’t always want to use chocolate, for example, because that is an ingredient that everyone loves and uses.  My specialty is Japanese ingredients.  My entire menu at Morimoto was based on 90% Japanese ingredients.  My mentors encouraged me to not be shy about that.

That’s who I am.  

Just like when I was doing music, my concentration was in baroque and jazz -- that’s me, that’s what I love.  If I was asked, in the middle to do the romantic period and to learn to love playing Chopin it would be difficult because I don’t do that.  It’s not me.

When I was younger and studying music I was definitely swayed into many, many different things because I thought this is what people want me to be.  I probably wasted a lot of time trying to find out what was right for me.  The decisions, after I went into the culinary world because this is my second go, took almost no time for me to decide -- this is the route I want to go, this is the kind of cuisine I want to focus on, these are the ingredients that I want to work with and this is my profile as a pastry chef.  I already did a bit of running around when I was doing music.  The second time around took no time to know what I wanted to do.

Do you ever waver or question that you may have limited yourself in defining yourself so clearly?

No.  I could try other things and I know I wouldn’t be happy.  Even if it was a more stable path in a different sort of discipline there’s no way because I wouldn’t be happy.  Life is short.

How do you hone your craft?

Naturally, as a chef, I am in the kitchen all the time.  Just like if I was in a conservatory, I am in the practice room six to eight hours a day.  Muscle movement and technical skills are things we need to do naturally as a result because we’re practicing all the time. Even when I don’t need to be in the kitchen I am here. I think most chefs are this way.  It’s how we maintain our skills. 

At Mochidoki, the days in which I am working, I have an agenda.  I know what and how much I have to create that day.  On the days that I’m not scheduled to be here, I’m here anyways to test out ideas, making new things, seeing what works and what fails -- this is my time, I choose to be here.  You need to be physically in the kitchen -- it’s my lab.

Tell me about the Mochidoki customer.  The New York customer is different -- we’re a bit more adventurous about trying new foods -- we’re also more familiar with new ingredients beyond red bean and green tea.  As Mochidoki is expanding is there a concern that this isn’t going to catch on.  How does Mochidoki decide where it will expand? 

On the Mochidoki.com website we have customers ordering from across the country so it’s been a great way to see where our biggest fans are and think about where we can go next.  While we offer more familiar flavors like chocolate, strawberry and vanilla chip, we also push the boundaries, encouraging people to be adventurous and explore new ingredients they might never have tasted, like ube, kuromitsu and ceremonial grade matcha.

Our customer base at Mochidoki SoHo falls into three different categories -- one, the regulars.  They live around the neighborhood and visit us two to three times a week.  Some come early in the day and then come back after dinner.  They may come to pick up a collection box as a gift.  These people believe in our product and want to share it with others.  

The second group, they walk into our shop and announce, this is my first time here.  They ask what is mochi?  They might see our creations on Instagram.  They have no idea what to expect.  

And there is a group in the middle.  They’re not necessarily returning customers because they don’t live in the area.  They know what mochi is, they want mochi and they walk in once for the in-person experience and then they’re excited when they learn they can order Mochidoki online as well.

Tell me about your ingredients.  How you source them.  How you decide whether or not to use ingredients that the Western palate may not be familiar with -- do you ever say to yourself, I don’t want to turn off customers so I’m not going to use this or that.

No.  (Laughing)  In fact, I may be challenged to call it something else that is easier to pronounce or more familiar.  And I reply, no.  I want to use what I want to use and call it what it is called.  As for sourcing, I have a network of purveyors that I’ve used while I was with Morimoto and while I was working at a Japanese bakery -- so I know the range of ingredients I can work with.  I’m not shy about traveling to Japan and locating the ingredients myself.  I try not to go too mad about it.  Another reason why we thrive on the coasts is because the access to ingredients is incomparable.  For the most part, everything that I need to check off my list is available.  

How has the pandemic shaped how you work, your creations and where you want to take Mochidoki?

My vision hasn’t changed.  Ken’s vision hasn’t changed.  The pandemic, however, has changed day-to-day operations at the shop, though, we’re doing our best to adapt.  For example, I used to order ingredients a week in advance and now I need to plan more thoughtfully and order several weeks in advance.  Some operations may have altered, but everything else remains the same.  We’re a great team.  We make it happen.  And while there are certainly fewer people out and about, our delivery options and ecommerce site have helped us to build a really passionate following.

We opened on 3/12.  We closed the next day.  Then we had protests.  We closed again and we opened again.

It’s been tough but we are hanging in there.  There is love and confidence in our products and I hope that customers see and taste that.  I hope that customers read blogs like this and learn what goes on behind the scenes.  They can visit our website, too, and come in to say hello -- I’m always here.

What’s on the horizon?

I can share that we are already considering a second location in New York.  I am excited to see where we will go as a company.  I am grateful for my team and looking forward to seeing what we can accomplish together.

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Ways to further explore Mochidoki:

www.mochidoki.com

@mochi_doki

Outside looking in — waiting for my turn to order mochi ice cream and a nitro match latte. Photo by Rose Chan.

Beautiful creations behind the glass. Photo by Rose Chan.

Mochidoki’s first brick and mortar in SoHo, New York on Spring Street

All photos in this post are courtesy of Mochidoki unless otherwise noted.

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Hellen Yuan | Founder at HELLEN

I wasn't a bath person. I didn’t soak. Heck, there are days where showers feel like a chore.

As a kid, I fantasized of living in a future that would resemble The Jetsons. I’d imagine standing in the bathroom, closing my eyes, lazily lifting my arms (while still yawning) and through space age innovation I’d be washed, dressed and coiffed in 30 seconds flat by my personal robot.

As I got older, and a little wiser, I’ve rediscovered the enchantment of baths. We spend our entire lives shedding the little joys in life in the pursuit of bigger everything and we wonder why there’s this constant low level thrum of dissatisfaction. Everything has to be fast, effective, efficient. Now our iPhones are waterproof. Why? Where are we going with those phones? 

My daughters used to beg for baths instead of me showering them down when they were a little older than toddlers. I asked them why they loved baths so much. My older daughter simply replied, “They’re fun and relaxing.” The younger chimed in and said, “Yeah.” Simple. Me in my head, “Who has the time? And why does a 5 and 7-year old need to relax?”

A few years ago, after a long day of traveling and meetings, I decided to take advantage of the gargantuan tub in the hotel I was staying at. I felt burnt out and bone deep tired. I filled the tub and steeped like a tea bag. After a few minutes, I thought to myself, “This is proof that kids sometimes (sometimes) know more than adults.” 

More recently, baths have become a weekly part of my life. As a runner, and of a certain age, my body doesn’t bounce back as fast as it did before. Aches are more pronounced. Soreness linger just a little longer. At first, it was soaking in water as hot as I could stand it. Then, I graduated to epsom salts. I’ve now reached the apex of soaking and use Hellen Bath Brews.

I discovered Hellen by Hellen Yuan while running errands near Koreatown in Manhattan at Maison 10. Infused with reiki energy, I read on the label of a package. I was immediately skeptical. What hogwash. This coming from me, a person who goes to monthly reiki sessions. I decided to try Emerge from the Fog, because, truthfully, I’ve a thing for packaging. Expectations were low -- at the very least, it’ll be a very pretty and fragrant soak. 

And?

Transformed. 

No lie. 

I felt clearer, more assured, relaxed yet focused -- for days after. Of course, I had to learn more about Hellen and what other magical products existed. The first page of a site that I consistently go to is the About page. It’s the human part of a site -- proof that artificial intelligence hasn’t taken over everything -- yet. Hellen’s story prompted me to reach out to her and learn more. Her story is one of heartbreak, self-doubt, hard charging, slowing down, patience and growth. 

Read on to learn more about Hellen’s journey from fashion designer to wellness founder -- healed and healing -- all the way through.

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Tell me about you before you started HELLEN NYC.

I started young in fashion. By the time I left the industry, I was in it for about 24 years. I started when I was about 18 years old, managing a team of 50 immediately.

I was mainly in design and ended up consulting. For 11 years, when I moved to New York from LA, I consulted for brands, helped them curate and merchandise their brands and created the concept of what they had in their minds. I worked with a lot of young designers, advising them how to bring to life an idea, get it to runway, to market, connect them to sales people for that season, book it for production and take it through to make sure it was getting into the stores. So, I walked them through every process. Because I did it so many times, I knew what the next steps were going to be and what people were going to ask for to build the momentum for a successful season. 

Before consulting, I was an apparel designer for 15 years in LA and then I launched my consultancy -- it all happened naturally. My former boss from LA launched a secondary collection and hired me as a consultant. I was bicoastal for almost two years flying back and forth when I first moved to New York. That experience, and with my former boss’s encouragement, propelled me to continue working in a consultative capacity -- I’ve never worked for another company since.

What were some of the brands you worked with as a designer?

BCBG, that was the brand back in the 90s. I worked with Parallel, Katayone Adeli, and a couple years later with Rozae Nichols. Roz was an underrated talent not known as she was very shy and avoided being in the media. She didn’t do interviews. We didn’t do runway, yet we produced seven new collections every year and around 100 pieces per collection. However, we were competing with Dries Van Noten in stores all over the world, hanging our collections adjacent to his. Our collection was very layered with details, original artwork and as a result we were constantly being compared to Dries as some said our aesthetics were simpatico. Being challenged with coming up with so many ideas and long hours working with Roz, I developed a strong design sense for original work. We’d take hand printed original artwork from France and Italy and transfer them into digital formats and create prints from them -- this was when computers were just beginning to be more widely used in the industry. It was an exciting time because our creativity was challenged. We would do crazy things like burn the edges of fabric, polyurethane matte jersey, put glitter on chiffon, pound nail heads into fabric -- it was a science lab! We would make mistakes and turn them into other garments. This is what separated us – we were allowed to be creative and original thinkers. Working more with the movement of the fabric rather than starting on paper. We draped half garments and looked at it from all perspectives.

We don’t see that experiential process with apparel design as much these days. The focus is more about what’s trending, let’s copy that, use less expensive fabric and we’ll make more money. Designers aren’t being challenged to do what they do so well -- to design. 

I noticed this more and more in the last five years of my time in the industry before making the shift to launching HELLEN NYC. Design was a lot less hands-on. It became more challenging to keep up with fast fashion. Also, it’s become acceptable to copy designers’ ideas and this has challenged creativity. It was taboo at one point to copy other designers. It’s become the norm in fashion now. At Rozae Nichols, we never looked at a magazine -- we looked at art books. That was the world we lived in our ideas and that was our approach to design. Failing was the best thing because failure was where we found beauty.

The global pandemic has accelerated views on consumption as many of us have had more time to reflect while observing shelter in place. Many experienced job loss, loss of loved ones and the world going topsy turvy. Certainly, fashion isn’t the priority but we have seen a healthy boost in wellness. How did you start HELLEN NYC? Was it gradual? An immediate switch? 

I was straddling many worlds before I launched. I was experiencing multiple tragedies in my life -- my father passed away, my husband left me, and I got hit with a tax audit -- all within four months. All of these events forced me to hit pause. It shook me up. Meanwhile, I was launching three lines onto the runway that season. I had to find ways to maintain composure as I was a professional and my clients relied on me. Millions of dollars were invested in these collections. It was at this time I recognized I was a professional. I delivered and showed up every day no matter what. I managed to successfully land a brand in Barneys during that time. 

As things were falling apart, it was a time for me to reflect and figure out what it is that I want out of life. What is all of this? When a parent passes away it makes you reevaluate what’s important in life. It propelled me into reiki and the healing world. I had a real fight with it -- I didn’t want to be woo woo -- and reiki was very woo woo at that time. I didn’t talk about it with people. But I found myself going to reiki workshops on the weekend and during the week I was this professional. It felt like two lives happening at the same time. 

I didn’t realize how it all made sense until I launched my brand and wrote my bio. While writing my bio I was recalling the time while my dad was passing away and I picked up a product for him to use -- reiki infused oil. I went to the hospital and massaged it into his feet and sprayed the air with it. I had no idea what I was doing. At this point, I had no reiki training but afterward, I felt the air in the whole room settle and there was a release. I’ve always been a sensitive, spirited person. My intuition was always very strong. I just didn’t know what it was. Reiki taught me how to recognize it, be with it and guide it. I started practicing it on myself every day and experienced healing advances. Eventually, I would barter with friends and offer it to a small circle. It’s hard to put into words because it’s experiential. It guided me to keep learning. There was no intention of turning it into a business. 

I became less and less engaged with fashion at the same time -- it lost its creativity for me, the enjoyment in finding the gem in it. The process was what I loved about it and it was becoming more focused on being famous which I had no interest in. Climate change was also very important and fashion is one of the largest contributors to polluting our earth. It was very difficult for me to watch that happen. 

My friend said, I see you making these bath things and I don't know what you’re doing but you should think about selling it. In a week, I created the four formulas, the name, the intentions, and everything. I started blending and creating the concept. In a month, I had the packaging finished. What I learned is that I can’t treat it like I did with fashion. Anytime I’m pounding it down or pushing it forward, it feels like it will explode. Everything is now more of a natural flow for me. I can’t rush things that aren’t going to happen. You can’t rush energy -- it’s like a flower. You can’t force it to bloom. Launching Hellen NYC has taught me patience. To allow it to branch out and evolve naturally. It’s challenging at times because I come from a very pushy industry with very high expectations in making things happen. I’ve had to learn to be gentle on myself. It’s been a very revealing experience. It’s perfect, though. I feel like it found me, more than I found it. It’s been joyful. I feel useful knowing that I am contributing to someone’s well being. This feeling is like making millions of dollars to me. Especially when I get a text about someone’s mom using my product during her chemo session, or my nurse friend in NYC battling COVID, or helping my mother sleep better when she uses the inhaler as she’s on a dialysis machine for eight hours every evening.

What guides you in how you build your company? 

It’s to not follow a trend. I get that the money is in certain places but is that really where I need to be? For example CBD oil. I get it and why so many companies are doing it but I have to ask myself does this connect with me? I’m in the process of becoming certified as a clinical aromatherapist. I just learned about roughly 350 essential oils and they’re just as powerful as CBD. Doing HELLEN NYC isn’t led by money, it’s led by passion and results for my clients. It can be frustrating but when I stay on track with my intention it has always led me to where I want to be. Like Roz, we weren’t chasing Dries but people recognized us as being just as creative and equal in quality. Her company when I left was around 15 million. We grew that rapidly in the 3 1/2 years I was there. We were this tiny team of three. That resonated with me -- this concept of following the idea -- to follow intuition and to trust yourself and the product you produce. All falls into place.

Also, to slow down. To not judge success by what society traditionally defines success as. That’s what I’m trying to get to -- that’s why failure is the best gift. It doesn’t have to be lavish or over-marketed. It’s pristine and real. To have honor and integrity in what I do and let it speak for itself. To not judge or worry about what other people will think. This takes time to cultivate. It’s about the quality of ingredients.

Tell me about your products. How did they come about? 

What got me into doing the formula for the bath salts is a scientist, Dr. Masaru Emoto, who studied water and the effects of words and water. He wrote the book, Emoto’s Water Experiment: The Power of Thoughts. His experiments were very interesting -- for example, he’d write the word love on a cup of water, extract the water and place it under the microscope and he’d see beautiful snowflakes. Then, he’d write the word hate and then extract that water and would see molecules that looked like broken glass. His experiments made me think more about the power of words. I thought, if that’s the case then maybe that’s why I’m feeling so good after my bath -- I would reiki my bath and add crystal stones into the water. It strengthened the energy around me. You can restore yourself during a bath when you’re soaking in salts that are infused with reiki intentions, crystals, and aromatherapy. It’s a very primal activity like a fetus floating in the womb. The bath brews come with music that lasts about 20 minutes so that you have that time to absorb the trace minerals from the salt into your body. I spoke with many nurses and I consistently hear that we need magnesium.

I source my salts from a company that has a patent machine that sorts the salt all the way down to the granular level -- it gets it down to the mineral -- it kicks out the dirt, the sand, and the excess. The oils sourced are picked at its peak -- when it’s optimal to distill the plant into oil in small batches. My ingredients are of the highest grade. To me, this is what makes the difference. I then tackled the five senses to unlock the body: (1) Smell, essential oils. (2) Sight, the way you set your bath (dimming lights, candles). (3) Touch, being in the water and the crystals in the bath brew. (4) Taste, I recommend an herbal tea to replenish your body. (5) Sound, the music -- I helped produce three of the tracks with my ex-husband. It’s cinematic landscape music. You’re the protagonist. You get to close your eyes and imagine watching your life for 20 minutes. For Emerge from the Fog, my dear friends, Dynasty Electrik. They create beautifully layered sounds.

The bath brews are a kit for whatever you’re experiencing -- the oils, the crystals, the reiki, the music is all blended together for the beginner -- you don’t need to experience any of these separately or try to figure how to match it all up. I also didn’t want to make it so esoteric. I want people to notice a pretty jar of salts and try it because I get it, it comes across as woo woo and I, myself, was resistant to the woo woo! It’s been a process of getting comfortable with my calling to heal and balancing that with this being a business. I’ve met the most incredible people on the journey. I definitely have to deal with ego -- how fast can I do it? How big can I make this? The fashion experience in my past -- I have to silence it.

Tell me about your operations. Your environment. Your day.

I was based in Brooklyn, New York for 11 years and got a really strong calling to pick up and move back to LA to be with my mom who has fallen ill. It was a very daring thing to do in the middle of year one of my business. The team that I had in NY had to be dissolved. My brand is HELLEN NYC and I’m moving out of New York! I just thought to myself, it’s all going to be fine. I basically moved my business into my mom's garage for the time being, until I grow out of it. It’s also practical as I am her caregiver at this time. I’ve been building my team in LA to support the operations. As a small business, every day is so different. Yet there are a few things that are consistent – shipping happens usually on Tuesday and Thursdays. Meetings are Mondays or Wednesdays. Fridays are recapping the week and on weekends I blend products.

What’s next? 

Right now, I’m figuring out the next steps through the COVID-19 crisis. I’ve become very involved in trying to find ways to provide PPE and connecting with my fashion network to source and make masks. It also led me to work with my friends who are on the front line. I’ve been providing product donation care packages to doctors and nurses and friends because it’s been intense for them. My newest product is an inhaler. It’s essential oils that you breathe in. It’s portable and it’s refillable. It’s great for meditation, to add to your yoga practice, for starting your day or winding down your day. Essential oils are effective because they positively impact your olfactory system when you inhale the aroma. From there it goes straight to your limbic system and it immediately affects your mood. There are seven different intentions to suit your needs. I’ve sold 200 already through word of mouth. There’s also the Shower Palm Inhalation. You place a few drops in your palm while in the shower, rub together, inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth. Neither of these products is on the site yet and has been selling like crazy through word of mouth! 

When I think about extensions of the line I think about our modern life faced with impacts of deep anxiety. Aromatherapy is an important ritual to use in your everyday life. For example, some people don’t have bathtubs or have the time to soak for 20 minutes. Then you have those who are ritual bathers and use our bath brews weekly. In reviewing my sales and reading feedback, it’s what inspired me to create the Shower Palm Inhalation. In coming up with the inhaler, I thought about my friends who were experiencing tough or stressful moments who would use it, sit a moment during that transition and be able to work through it a little better. It doesn’t make the problem or tough moment go away! It helps give you a little strength to manage through, it forces you to breathe and take a pause. So, the next step is about continuing to create products to give more people access, and to accommodate their lives, to increase self-care. 

I’m working on a pilot program with UTMB (University of Texas Medical Branch) and preparing care kits for healthcare professionals. In partnership with UTMB, I designed and created the Wellness Room. We’ll be projecting sound baths on the wall. We’ll have mats for people to lay down and sanitizer sprays to keep things hygienic. They’ll receive inhalers, listen to music and rejuvenate before they go back out into the pediatric intensive care unit. The care kit that we’re putting together will include several items from HELLEN NYC and items from my friends who are founders -- tea from The Qi and hand salves from Lauren’s All-Purpose. This will all launch the first week of May for Healthcare Heroes Month. 

A dear friend who is a therapist for teens found that my products would be good for her clients as she was looking for non-invasive, safe, and helpful ways for teens to get into the habit of self-care. 

Healing and supporting healers have been a large part of my mission. There’s mutual gratitude in the work I’ve been doing. People share their feedback and appreciation and I feel grateful that my community trusts me with their wellbeing. There’s a beautiful connection with each project that I’ve been working on. 

I’m excited about where I’m going. 

Ways to explore Hellen:

Website   www.hellen.nyc

Instagram @hellennewyork

NOTE: All photos courtesy of Hellen Yuan.

Nancy Laboz | Founder, Owner + Operator at Parcel

When was the last time you received something memorable?

A handwritten letter?  Signed, sealed, delivered and waiting for you to break open the envelope and eagerly read and smile, laugh, cry or scowl over what was scribed on the pages?  Or a personally wrapped gift festooned with ribbon and adorned with touches that made you sad to even think about unwrapping it?

I’m talkin’ Little Women-level details, people.

It’s been a while, hasn’t it?

I won’t go down the path of what technology has done to those of us who sorely miss the delayed gratification, anticipation and sometimes, romance, of the analog life -- instead, I’d like to share with you a treasure in Montclair, New Jersey -- Parcel.

Found, owned and operated by Nancy Laboz, Parcel has been in business since 2003.  I discovered it many years ago as I was passing by while exploring Montclair. It’s virtually impossible to not want to venture inside.  It’s the Willy Wonka of packaging paradise. As Parcel’s website says, “Our products are a modern take on vintage hand-crafted paper goods and paper decor.”

Since my first visit, Parcel has relocated across the street to a much grander sized shop -- all the better to showcase an even larger selection of beautiful, unique and one-of-a-kind finds that Nancy picks up along, what I call, her “happy accidents”.

When you step inside Parcel, time seems to slow down.  You’re first awed by the wonder of all these beautiful treasures waiting for you to peruse and then you lose track of time while moving through every inch of the store, excited about the possible ideas unfolding before you.  You’re encouraged to open drawers, to slowly rifle through collections, to take your time and be curious. 

Often times, I find that if I’m in need of a spark, a visit to Parcel is guaranteed to provide instant inspiration -- whether it’s decorating my home for a holiday, a unique card, writing paper, vintage gift wrap and ribbon, gold foil initials or angel wings -- I take a ride to Parcel and lose myself (for just a little while) to gather up pieces of specialness for my project.

My description doesn’t do it justice.  Read on to learn about Nancy’s adventures in imagining, building and growing (in her singular way) the magic of what is Parcel.

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Tell me how Parcel got started.

I was working in the magazine industry -- specifically, Real Simple -- I was pregnant with my daughter and had recently moved to Montclair.  I was an accessories and fashion editor at the time. I wore multiple hats but one of the things I loved doing was putting together the gift guides and working with all the stationery products, beautiful papers and anything packaging related.  I’ve always had a passion for these things since childhood -- collecting boxes, putting things into boxes, stacking the boxes, files of old office supplies and receipts. I used to play store and office with all these things.  

Right before it was nearly time to go back to work from maternity leave I had a conversation with my husband, who is a record collector, about opening up a shop.  Interestingly, he told me about an ad -- it was a stationery and record store going out of business -- it was around since the 1930s. We went to the location and it opened up the floodgates for me -- while my husband was getting his records I was immersed in this world of old labels, ledgers -- really old boxes of greeting cards, tons of paper products.  I was overwhelmed and loved every minute of it. We just filled a couple of boxes and went home. I thought about it on the way home and said to myself, I need to go back and I think about this in a different way. It was sort of a crossroads for me. I was grappling with questions like: How do I go back to the magazine and balance work with a baby? How do I manage the commute and getting on the train every day?   I’d love to be closer to home.  

So, I started to go up and down the streets of Montclair -- this was in 2003 and I said to my husband, if we find a location that works, and everything falls into place then I’m going to open up a store.  It was the dead of winter and we were pacing up and down the streets -- it was grim, nothing really fit what I was looking for. My husband, meanwhile said, let’s go see if the record store (that he likes to frequent) is opened while we’re here.  It wasn’t open and there was a sign in the door so we went to the store next door who explained that the owner had a stroke and he’s not going to be reopening. My husband was really upset because the record store would no longer be available to him but we just looked at each other and thought, “Could this be it?”  

The store was really ugly but we saw through it -- there were high ceilings and the coolest thing about it was that it was a books and records store and someone had painstakingly built in all these cubbies.  I thought, this is my stationery store. We gave it a facelift and I told work three weeks before I was supposed to return from maternity leave that I wouldn’t be returning. I left my 401k! I decided to not go back and said to myself, I’m doing this.  I’m gonna figure this out and make it work. I think of it now and ask myself if I’d do the same thing and there are so many reasons to not do something like that but I didn’t allow myself to think of anything else -- I said, this is going to be it for me -- I’m going to be close to home and I’m going to do something I’m passionate about.  The fashion industry felt like it was closing in.  

I opened Parcel, unofficially, in May 2003 and officially in August 2003.  The store was really sparse when I first opened. There were all these custom books and record cubbies and I had a limited inventory -- there was a little stack of boxes, a little collection of few things here and there.  I started to realize how much I loved this category while I continued buying, collecting and amassing inventory for the store. It was a stationery store with an emphasis on packaging, presentation and beautiful little things.  That’s how the name Parcel came about because the dictionary definition is: a package, a present and a collection of things. It felt like the name covered all the possibilities of what the store is about.

It morphed very quickly.  It wasn’t realistic to be precious about it and just have beautiful little things that were eye candy.  I continued in the direction of what I wanted to do but was also mindful to listen to what people were asking for.

What was it like coming to that realization?  As a business owner myself, the idea of something versus the reality of bringing it to life can be very eye-opening.  There’s a need to consider practicalities in order for the business to be sustainable.

I come from a very practical family.  My dad is a retired physicist where things are black and white and my mom was a teacher.  I was more of a dreamer, the romantic. But in starting Parcel, it wasn’t a past time. This was me leaving my job and this is my new job and I have to make this work and I have to make money because I have a family.  This is real. I definitely had a vision but I understood the need to be realistic. I was very open to listening to ideas. I’ll definitely change and morph if things make sense. For example, I didn’t offer any custom services when I first opened.  The first thing that was asked of me was, “Oh, you’re a paper store. Can you do my 50th wedding anniversary invitation?” I wanted to say no because I wasn’t particularly interested in going that route. But I thought, here’s an opportunity for me to offer that service but how can I do it in a way that others aren’t doing it?  The entire inspiration of the shop is vintage -- the craftsmanship of an old general store, a merchant who would specialize in one thing and do it very well -- so, it threw me, the custom request, because I didn’t want to do what everyone else was doing. I didn’t want to print photos on holiday cards.  

So the strategy was how can we offer custom services in a way that reflects Parcel?  What I started to do was collect old books with beautiful imagery to inspire potential designs for custom stationery. 

So, you started offering custom services?

Yes.  It was tricky.  You really can’t offer custom invitations unless you have the skills, programs and tools to produce the goods.  So, I started working with the printer who did my business cards. He does letterpress. I thought, ok, we’ll do all our custom work this way and quickly learned that that wasn’t realistic for all the custom work that people were asking for.  So, I started designing invitations myself and started to work with a freelance graphic designer until that didn’t make sense anymore and then I hired someone to join the team.  

Individuals were offering their services and little by little I pulled from those resources.

The custom invitations led to a bunch of other services.  The merchandise that I collected lent themselves to the stories we wanted to tell with the invitations. We would do shadow boxes based on an event, we would archive the memorabilia from events – it sort of lent to other services.  We took the custom invitation service to build on the other little things that made sense for Parcel. It was very organic. Some of it I kept pushing to do. One of them is our gift-wrapping service. I always imagined, when we were in the smaller store, that I’d have this beautiful table where I could pull the paper and a row of ribbons to readily choose from. Now we have that set up with the larger space.  Gift-wrapping has become as big of a service as our custom invitations -- it just happens that it’s heavier during certain times of the year versus other times. It gives me an excuse to play with all the things I love -- the paper, the ribbon, the trims -- that’s probably my favorite aspect of the business. It encompasses all the things I love about Parcel -- the tactile little bits and pieces. 

How does the gift wrapping service work?

We have a simple outline of the questions we ask and a pricing structure for what we do.  We always ask what’s the occasion. How elaborate do you want this? Favorite colors. Things we should know about the recipient -- you can get really personal.  People have given us very, very involved assignments -- for example, we’ve built little sets -- one was a farmyard around the present. It isn’t just about creasing, folding and taping paper -- it’s about bringing the package to life with personality and my fashion background was a huge benefit.  It’s styling. We take into account the customer’s tastes and use our knowledge and experience to create wonderful designs.

When you look back at the 17 years since you’ve opened Parcel what has been your biggest moment so far?  What’s been the most pivotal experience? The defining moment for the next step in Parcel’s growth?

There’s probably several but the one that comes to mind is something that’s more recent – we started making lots of decorations that we sell – everything we make is based on a vintage reference.  I’ll stumble upon something and think, we can make this in our own way! We make lots of décor mostly out of paper and our customers were very interested in it and because of the time involved the price of some designs was prohibitive because they were labor-intensive.  A bell went off along the way and I thought, maybe we can figure out a way to have the less complex designs made for us. We can still make the really special and custom ones – but how can we pull the most requested items, streamline it and have them made for us? So, we went down that road and made an investment and took it to the trade shows.  We sold a lot and got a lot of orders. The epiphany for that, for me, was careful of what you wish for when it comes to the growth of your business. I have my store and two part-time employees and my husband was helping me at that time, too. You have to be prepared for what people ask of you. You only get one chance to do it right. We had a lot of large requests we would have been able to satisfy but once you satisfy that there’s this expectation and mentality of what’s next?  What will you show us over the next three shows? It required an intense infusion of funds to get it up and running. I didn’t have the foresight, at the time, to fully realize that it might be great, the first few times, to bring all my ideas to life but if I want to maintain that next level no one cares that I have to go home and make things. They just want it delivered!

I came full circle with that experience and wound up back to making things ourselves in-house.  I got lost in trying to please the corporate mindset and it felt like I was losing what I love about this – I don’t need to be in a spreadsheet world.  Not that we were completely opposed to the idea but you can sort of phase yourself and stay connected with the bigger customers and let them know this is what we’re doing if you’re still interested.  I needed to get off the rollercoaster because it was unaffordable and most importantly it wasn’t what I wanted. I took a step back and I looked at my store and thought, I love my store. It’s my little factory, my incubator, we can test anything here with our loyal following.  It’s my happy place. It made me appreciate what I have here so much more and realized that you don’t have to be everything. You don’t have to be big to be successful. It was a lesson to be learned. It was a tough lesson.

What made it tough?

It wasn’t a failure.  It taught me the true scale of our business.  You start to get in this mindset that you have to spend to make – which can be true – you have to be really levelheaded – you can’t just scale your business because you want to.  You have to consider, are we even capable? You have to have everything in place. Also, it’s important to understand, what are your strengths? Mine are creativity and vision and it’s hard enough to run the store – the daily ins and outs, the customer service and services we offer – keeping the store beautiful and replenished and to think I’m going to be in charge of a wholesale business pleasing all kinds of people all over the world wasn’t the right thing.  

I don’t know how to clone myself very well.  Do I trust others to embrace and share the same vision?  I've seen it happen with other businesses where they’re successful as a single store and when they scale to they lose what was special about their brand, their original store.  I definitely don’t want to grow like that. We will never want to lose the special. I don’t want to start to do things in volume, cut prices, change the packaging and accommodate others and that’s when you start to chip away at the special.  We haven’t walked away from wholesale, just scaled it back. The investment of time, money and resources required can easily take away from what truly makes Parcel special. 

What inspires you?  What sparks your creativity?

I definitely have movie references.  Characters in movies. The romantic notion of the old merchant and their specialties and the care they put into wrapping their utilitarian products.  Packaging inspires me. Food. Traditions. How people spend their holidays. Lots of things. Almost everything is visual and tactile – I don’t spend a lot of time reading – which is probably why I have so many movie references. 

Tell us about how you shop?  What do you look for?

I guess I don’t call it shopping.  I’m always looking, absorbing and conjuring ways to reinterpret something.  I’m very in sync with one of my colleagues and we’re always bantering back and forth about ideas – a lot of it is original reference, usually, it’s old or from another country and usually, they’re ideas from another place and time.  I’m very resourceful. I will hoard a big tin of old beads and think there’s gotta be a time and place for me to use this. Pretty much everything I’ve hoarded we’ve tapped into. We have a basement in the store and we have aisles of material.  There are times where I’ll keep one piece of paper as a reference. Whenever I’m out and see something interesting I’ll buy it because I know I’ll find a purpose for it. I’m always shopping -- not always buying but I’m always on the lookout.  

It seems like a lot of things find you.

A lot of the time it’s really true.  I don’t always know what I’m looking for but I’ll stumble upon something and see it in a certain way.  I see potential in it. My husband and I often shop together and people will ask, do you go to antique shows?  I absolutely do not go to antique shows. Ever. We really find things in very dark places. We are unafraid. I like finding things from the source.  I don’t want something that’s been prepped and packaged pristinely for me. It’s a lot of jumble that makes sense to me. We let it all spill out in the store and let it all be open to interpretation.  We don’t want to tell people what to do with what they find in our store. It can lead to a lot of confusion.

In what way?

Often times we have people say, what would I do with that?  I don’t know what to do with that! I don’t want people to think that this is a place for artists or that you have to have a certain skill set to shop in this store.  I look at it as a place where you can do whatever you want with the materials – it should be liberating!

 We were recently the subject for a test show – a producer and film editor came to film, very intricately, Parcel and what came out of it was an absolutely wonderful video that perfectly captures what Parcel is about.  I’m really anxious to upload the video to our website – it does a good job of sharing the visual and commentary of what we are about – it’s wonderful because it can be very hard to explain, quickly, what we are. We could be so many things. 

When you think of the Amazons of the world and how we’ve evolved as consumers, how has it impacted your business?  Your customers?

 I remember an interview I did many years ago. There was a news segment on how Walmart was impacting retail and the interviewer asked what I was planning to do to compete for the holidays.  The big thing at the time was free shipping. This was right before 2008. Honestly, I didn’t think of it affecting me much at all. We don’t even sell anything that Walmart sold so we weren’t even in the same competitive zone – I certainly understood the appeal of free shipping.  However, It wasn't an apples-to-apples comparison. It’s not as though a customer will come to me and say I can get this at Walmart and they will ship it for free. Now we have Amazon, and yes, you can get everything and anything. But I still feel we offer something unique – the care and detail we place into everything we do is hard to replicate.  I don’t think we’re an island and I don’t think we’re not susceptible to the Amazons of the world. We’re in a generation of technology and getting everything faster. I’m sure we’re losing some customers as a result. However, every once in a while we get this bump where customers are saying, I want to touch and feel and see things that I buy. What’s interesting is that what people are craving from us are the tactile -- handmade paper, a waxed seal, silk ribbon, letterpress and embossed items.  We go with every wave – whether it’s typewriters, torn paper, it’s different each time – we try not to get caught up in what it is at the time because then we wind up chasing every whim. We try to be sensitive to what customers are seeking. There’s a balance between doing what we want and doing what’s relevant and desired in a way that speaks Parcel. We definitely want to acknowledge what our customers are looking for.

What’s next for you?  How will you continue to stay relevant yet still maintain the charm and core of what is Parcel?

We have recently been improving our online presence – we have an Etsy shop and a website – we want to stay relevant to the way people shop.  My colleague, Emma, focuses on making sure we’re on-brand with our photography. I’m not great with technology but I know it’s undeniable that it’s not something we can ignore – our website, Etsy, Instagram --  these things help a lot to share who we and to drive sales around the world. It’s rewarding to be able to sell to an individual in Japan and keep our specialness. Having a physical place where someone can come visit is instrumental in telling our story and purpose.  I don’t think we’d be able to move everything online – even if we were forced to scale back the size of our store it would be important to maintain even a studio that would be open for people to visit, to touch and feel. Parcel is like a concept store.

I’ve noticed on Instagram that you’ve collaborated with other designers and shops.  Are there further thoughts on doing more of this in the future?

We’re always open to partnering with like-minded businesses.  We had a makers market here at Parcel and brought in like-minded creatives to share their work. 

We’ve also had pop-up opportunities in New York City – unfortunately, many of those stores have closed – those were wonderful experiences where we were able to have a sort of shop-in-shop setup.  We collaborated with one store in Nolita – it was supposed to be for a few weeks and it wound up going for a year and a half. Those opportunities are always a win-win. With that collaboration, I went in every few weeks to replenish and fluff and met so many wonderful people through that experience.  It was a great partnership and our brands complemented each other. We’d love to open another shop but it’s hard to replicate this – the fixtures alone are hard to locate and afford – our materials are unique. There are practical aspects, too – overhead is becoming more expensive. The items are so personally collected – it’s becoming harder and harder to find.  The monster I’ve created has also become my best friend.

What’s the most important thing you want people to know about Parcel?

 It’s that thing of me trying to explain – we aren’t just a stationery store or even that we’re a vintage-inspired stationery store because it’s limiting – it’s more about the sentiments.  We’re very symbolic and sentimental and want to be an outlet for people who are looking to express themselves, who enjoy tokens and gestures. It’s about us using our imagination to keep creating beautiful things to satisfy a very finicky and fickle customer.  We like the thought of slow living and want people to enjoy Parcel – to take their time.

Ways to explore Parcel:

Address 608 Bloomfield Avenue, Montclair, New Jersey 07042 USA

Phone +1 (973) 744 7700

Email info@shopparcel.com

Website   www.shopparcel.com

Etsy www.etsy.com/shop/ShopParcel

Instagram @shopparcel

Leslie Friedman | Store Manager at Claus Porto

Leslie Friedman, Store Manager at Claus Porto, New York.

Our olfactory senses conjure the most vivid memories. 

The strangest smells bring me back to very specific times -- New York’s Penn Station (pre-construction time) reminds me of being pregnant with my first daughter and waddling my way through to work (and fighting morning sickness -- which turns out isn’t only a morning time thing -- it’s an all day long thing) or whenever I get a whiff of something that I can’t quite put my finger on but reminds me of the corridors of my university dorm and being carefree.  Yeah, weird.

These random olfactory examples are one of the reasons why I love hunting for fragrances.  The obscure with a far-reaching past are the ones I enjoy discovering the most -- Santa Maria Novella, Guerlain, Penhaligon’s, Acqua di Parma are a few and a very special one among this echelon of scents is Claus Porto.

Founded in 1887, Claus Porto was originally named Claus & Schweder by Ferdinand Claus and Georges Schweder, two German fellows living in Porto, Portugal.  In 1908, Achilles de Brito, becomes a business partner and eventually merges Claus & Schweder into his company, Ach Brito. Today, still family-owned and led, Claus Porto is in its fourth generation and marked its first international brick-and-mortar entry in 2018 in none other than New York, New York.

The store is a visual feast.  While the term ‘architecture’ refers to the exterior of a structure, in this case, it most certainly can refer to the interior.  It’s a wonderful mix of modern shapes framing a heritage brand. Upon entering the store, you’re taken on a historical tour -- jewel-like perfume bottles and packaging from the archives on the right, a photographic tour of Claus Porto’s history on the left and then you enter the warmly lit and inviting space where all your dreams of soaps, lotions and fragrances come true. 

It’s here in Nolita, at 230 Elizabeth Street, where I met the gracious and deeply knowledgeable Store Manager, Leslie Friedman.  I learned that the soaps are still hand-wrapped with papers designed in-house -- they are a work of art. We geek out on our professional experiences in the fragrance and beauty industry.  I walk out many moments later with a sizable credit card charge of products that I had to have and with an interview date to learn more about Leslie and Claus Porto.

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Tell me about you. 

I’m originally from Los Angeles and moved to Brooklyn to go to Pratt Institute.  I graduated with a BFA -- I studied jewelry design, fashion and art history. I’m very much about looking through the lens of how we interact with what we wear and visuals.  

While at school, I worked part-time for Karen Tappin and her company, Karen’s Body Beautiful -- she made everything from scratch, by hand.   Karen was an elementary school teacher and she had a soap making hobby on the side. She wanted to make things that were healthier and more natural.  She was on Myrtle Avenue in Brooklyn where Carol’s Daughter was, too, which was a like minded brand. There was this movement that we deserve healthier options and we can make them ourselves.  It was really great to work with a female business owner. Karen taught me so much -- I learned about essential oils and making skincare -- I sold things that I helped make.  

After graduation, I did jewelry production with an independent designer in Brooklyn.  I also worked with Alexis Bittar. I was able to work with a lot of designers such as Shana Tabor of In God We Trust and Nora Kogan of St. Kilda, who were both Brooklyn-based, who took pride in craftsmanship, and whose products were made in the US.  They all had strong brands with a real story.  

After traveling a bit, I returned to New York and found a posting on Craigslist for a position at Aesop.  This was 2013. They had a small presence in the States. They had five locations in New York and now it’s probably 11 or 12.  After working in jewelry for a bit, I found this to be an interesting opportunity to venture back to skincare. I missed it and appreciated the holistic aspect of retail -- going a little more away from the decorative material sense and a little more into how we can conserve our bodies, minds and senses in a different way.  I took a review of my previous parameters and Aesop wasn’t female owned, it wasn’t US-based! It was, however, a small business that was trying to build up in a new market. I was drawn to this and it was outside of my comfort zone -- it was more corporate, more serious and as an Australian-based brand it had a more European vibe.  They, historically, did not pay for advertising. They would do product placements and partnerships but the rest was all word of mouth. They talked about customer service and it is really the center of what they do. This is why I was able to justify breaking my original parameters to work there. I had an amazing experience at Aesop and left after many years to work at Le Labo before I came to Claus Porto.

How did the opportunity at Claus Porto come about?

The architect for several of the Aesop New York stores is Jeremy Barbour of Tacklebox Architecture.  He also did the Claus Porto store. The store has won innumerable awards. Jeremy knew that I was seeking a new opportunity and a few months later I received a call from Ricardo Cunha-Vaz, Chairman of Claus Porto and met with him in Spring of 2019.  It was love at first meeting. I could tell by his enthusiasm, kindness and passion for what he was doing that this brand was going to be a fit for me. My first day was July 1st of this year [2019].  

Tell me about the Claus Porto customer.  When I talk with my circle of friends they recognize the beautiful packaging but not the name.  

With a brand like this, storytelling is so important.   This brand has a longstanding heritage and legacy. It’s been in business, continuously, for 132 years.  They only just opened their first brick-and-mortar in Porto, Portugal a few years ago [2017]. Before, you could find them in pharmacies, online and gift shops -- the designs and the scents are memorable.  The people who love it are loyal and look forward to buying it for themselves and gifting Claus Porto. After a feature in Oprah, the brand’s distribution became even more widespread through its partnership with Lafco.  Claus Porto decided to take back the reins and take a different approach with the company. Opening a brick-and-mortar store was really interesting especially how retail was trending.  This store, on Elizabeth Street, is its first US store and they opened it [October 2018] not too long after its first store in Portugal.  

Between Aesop, Le Labo and now Claus Porto, you’re well-versed in this neighborhood.  All these stores are across from each other on Elizabeth Street. Tell me what you think as to why Claus Porto chose this location.

New York, to me, is very much the center of the universe.  I don’t ever question when someone wants to open a store here.  The owners and leaders of Claus Porto are very present, very engaged, very in-touch with their company and stores.  This wasn’t a “here are the keys and good luck”. We’re very connected and all at the table -- Anne-Margreet Honing, who is our Creative Director in Amsterdam, our team in Portugal,  Jeremy from Tacklebox and me in New York and Lyn Harris, our perfumer --exchanging ideas and very much caring about the success of this [New York] location. It’s not a tourist destination.  It’s a very specific street. It’s quiet. You’re not going to be bombarded. It certainly gets busy and packed. People want to be here for a specific reason -- it has a wonderful history. It’s a nice attitude of community on this block and that’s one of the biggest reasons why this street is special.  This street is a great location to test the market and experiment. There is a nice exchange with other store managers. We’re really happy to help each other and share feedback and resources.

Claus Porto’s decision to break into the US market in this neighborhood, which is hyper-niche, is a bold decision. It speaks to their strong history in design and craft. It makes sense why they would want to open their first US store on this street. 

Tell me about this stunning space.

It’s representative of what I just talked about.  This store is absolutely true to the roots of Claus Porto.  It has a long history with graphic design, craftsmanship and relationships with designers and craftsmen -- partnering with Jeremy is an example of that, having this specific stone from Portugal from a specific quarry brought over here, the lighting by Loop Lighting Architects -- all of these things speak to the level of detail and passion there is for all these elements and how they come together.  

This space is an amazing opportunity to have a platform of reaching more creative communities and inviting them into the space to talk about a variety of things -- maybe it’s fragrance, craftsmanship, design -- of course, yes, we’re selling products, we’re not hiding that but there’s a wonderful opportunity to use this store as a platform to continue to enlighten people about Claus Porto’s history.

In this day and age of technology and Amazon and new and newer, tell me how technology impacts Claus Porto.  When you come into a store like this it doesn’t strike a customer that this brand has been around since 1887.  

Each of our stores have a designated space that you walk through.  It’s beautiful. It’s like a gallery that holds actual, physical Claus Porto artifacts in its display.  Very few stores have this breadth of actual items available to share with customers in their stores. There are also archives and portraits about our founders.  It’s the first thing you see when you walk into the store. We’re vocal about the year we were founded and that we’re still here. To me, it’s an example of how good design and good craftsmanship lasts.  That you don’t have to do everything differently from when you started at the turn of the century to still be good. Our soaps are still hand-wrapped and hand-sealed. For our Agua de Colonia collection Lyn Harris and Anne-Margreet went on a road trip as part of the design process to relaunch the fragrances and even went through the archives to find examples of building numbers from the Art Deco period in Portugal which inspired the type for the packaging.

I was struck by your deep product knowledge when I first came to shop here.  I never met a store manager who could not only speak to the products she carried in the store but also the history of the brand, the birth of this store and the excitement of Claus Porto’s future.  You’re an exception. And they’re based in Portugal -- it’s a long distance working relationship.

I’m really specific about who and what brands I want to work for, I just wouldn’t work for anyone, it has to be something I am genuinely interested in and want to invest my time in.  Even though Claus Porto has been around for a long time, it’s brand new in this market from a physical aspect and its special. What’s great is that everyone cares deeply -- there’s empathy, support and everyone often asks if there’s anything else they can provide to help me.  I recently spoke with Anne-Margreet, our Creative Director -- she’s awesome. She has lived in New York for quite a few years and is now based in Amsterdam. So while Claus Porto may be new to the area, Anne-Margreet really understands the vibe and has a good grasp of New York and Brooklyn.  Claus Porto is a brand that doesn’t strive to be cool -- cool is hollow. There’s a lot of depth and density to Claus Porto’s history and it’s about translating it and making it relevant to New York -- how to tell the same story but telling it in a way locals can appreciate. The brand isn’t going anywhere.  It stands on its own two feet. It’s not about putting on a different mask to blend in or camouflage for a different market -- it’s an opportunity to look at what we’re already doing and different ways to share those strong roots. We can try something new and experiment and still be true to our history.

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Inside Claus Porto on Elizabeth Street, New York.

The iconic soaps that are still hand-wrapped and hand-sealed.

A grand marble sink stands in the middle of the store for customers to sample fragrant liquid soaps.

One of several windows in the store’s gallery displaying original packaging from its archives.

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To learn more about Claus Porto (and say hello to Leslie) —

Address: 230 Elizabeth Street, New York, New York  10012

Phone: +1 (646) 609 2922(3)

Website: www.clausporto.com

Instagram: @clausporto

Architecture: http://www.tacklebox-ny.com/project/54/claus-porto-new-york/

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Olga Joan | Founder + Designer at Makers Market

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Underlying the three factors that fueled my desire to launch Earnestly Hunting is my admiration for individuals who care and are steadfast about what they put out in the world.  Whether it’s an idea, a service, a product, something to eat or drink or listen to, or a curation of objects -- there is this wonderful quality about this community who enjoys all that modern living has to offer AND is so fiercely protective about the things that take time, that endure and improves.

Cue Olga Joan, Founder & Designer at Makers Market.  

I was fortunate to meet Olga back in 2016 during the early days of launching my company, SCOUT.  I reached out to a colleague to talk shop as I was conducting a search for a client in want of an uber creative with exceptional taste and Olga’s name was uttered before I could even finish describing the role.  Needless to say, I reached out and it was instant chemistry -- we spent a great deal of time on the phone as if we were long-lost friends and then a few more hours in person. Coming from the apparel industry, we laughed at the 1-degree of separation of all the talented people we knew between us -- many from The Gap and OshKosh world -- but what stuck with me the most, was the excited acceleration in Olga’s voice when she shared with me her interest in starting a handcrafted home textiles line -- starting with, cosies.  Co, what, you say? Cosies, my friends, cosies.  They’re an essential accessory for every hardcore tea drinker.  I know, I know. You’re thinking of fussy, lacy things over teapots.  Or a rooster-looking or other fowl-shaped, battened blanket like object to keep the pot warm whilst one enjoys a cup of tea.  You couldn’t be more wrong. The cosies by Olga are a bit like contemporary art that multifunctions as teapot warmers.

Shortly after our first meeting, Olga launched Makers Market with a colleague.  Eventually, they parted ways but Olga stuck with it (thank goodness) and expanded the Makers Market line to include an aesthetically pleasing (and practical) assortment of goods -- cushions, placemats, napkins, tea towels and aprons to name a few.  Here’s the key part: they are all meticulously designed, screen printed, cut, assembled and sewn -- by hand. Fabrics and materials are carefully sourced for quality, durability and wherever possible, environmentally sound. Quality control is high -- Olga walked me through the lengthy timeline testing tea towel fabrics before putting it on the market -- let’s just say she’s not interested in mass commercialization.  On the contrary, Olga is intent on protecting small batch production and select channels to maintain the brand’s integrity.

We caught up with each other recently and talked, openly, about the impact of technology on traditional retail, becoming wiser (and slightly older but always better), being founders and my favorite subject with Olga:  Makers Market.  

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What year was Makers Market established?

Early 2016.  We took the first year working on the LLC process, designing prints and fabric sourcing.  December 2016 we launched product at the Renegade Market in Brooklyn. We spent a lot of time strategizing, envisioning and planning, in general.  We didn’t just, overnight, have products made. It took time to plan and make. I was crazy working on the website after that launch and was thinking about expanding the line. There was much to do.

Thank you for making that ‘first year’ comment because there’s this belief, perpetuated through media, that things do happen overnight.  When, in fact, there’s a lot of marination before one can even take the first step to actualize the idea. 

Yes, the logistics -- we put in two or three different names before we finally got Makers Market because the ones we wanted were already taken -- it wasn’t until August 2016 before we got the articles of organization and all the paperwork to be officially recognized.  That’s a long time!

Originally you had a partner. 

We (Olga and Ange) decided in February 2018 to split up.  That process took months as well -- the logistics to separate is extensive and then reformulate, officially, how I represented myself as an individual LLC.  

Have you remained solo?  Do you source anything out?  You have a very high standard -- how was that decision and process for you?  

I have sourced out some sewing -- the items that are more rote.  BF&DA, Brooklyn Design and Fashion Accelerator, part of Pratt Institute, was a great resource.  They catered to small makers like me and had a production facility where they can do small runs and I worked with skilled sewers there.  They suddenly closed and I lost my fantastic contact there. Currently, I’m working on forming a small community of sewers for and on the hunt for folks -- I clearly need to give more away to focus on other things.  It’s about finding people I can rely on. The next step is wholesale so I’m eager to build up a network who I can trust and who love making as much as I do.

How did the idea come about for Makers Market?

I left Gap in 2015 after nine years and no break from corporate life since 1997.  I took some time off to decompress, travel, spent time in the garden and with family.  I didn’t look at any fashion magazines, shows, blogs -- completely decompressed and went low in a good way -- at the end of that year I started talking to my prospective business partner, Ange, at the time.  I really wanted to do something creative in the time I was going to be looking for a new job. I wanted to take my experiences and apply it to something new. We thought: what can we do together? Ange had been a screenprinter and textile designer.  

Home has always been something interesting for me -- it’s a natural transition from fashion and I didn’t want to do apparel.  What I wanted to do was take those skills in building a collection and do that with home goods. We started thinking about how it could be.  We decided to not do everything at once -- there’s limited time and financial resources -- we decided, let’s think of one thing and build on it.  

I had this tea cosy I bought in Paris.  It took me years to find one that I really like which I could not believe.  Simon (Olga’s husband) and I are Scottish -- we’re tea drinkers. We would wrap our teapots in two or three tea towels which didn’t really do the functionality of what a tea cosy does.  I happen to be in Paris on a shopping trip for Gap and there was this incredible Scandinavian themed pop up shop at Le Bon Marché and I found this fantastic tea cosy and have used it for many, many years.  There was something about it that wasn’t so perfect but it was great. A little lightbulb went off and I thought it took me a long time to find this -- it shouldn’t take that long. So, we came up with the idea, why don’t we do tea cosies?  Then in my brainstorming, I thought what about coffee drinkers? The Chemex. The French press. I went into my studio and I started to work on the cosy patterns, construction, trial and error and experimenting, there were so many things that didn’t work.  Finally, I came up with a way to make it -- one for small teapots, one for big teapots, the Chemex, and a French press -- I was especially interested with the Chemex and French presses because they’re these beautiful glass vessels but impractical because as soon after you make a pot of coffee -- it would grow cold.  I fashioned the shape. It took a good six months of trial and error and refining our aesthetic, who are we and what are we. I’m very much about vision and aesthetic. We’re not very prissy or feminine. I’m very strong willed and have a big point of view on a lot of things. We wanted nothing that was going to flare too feminine or too male.  I wanted the design to inspire and attract everyone. We’ve been talking about equality for such a long time and I want everybody to enjoy the product that we make. Visually, it needed to have a hand, a point of view from a color perspective. As a denim designer, for the longest time, I thought about the foundation of most casual collections which include khakis, canvas or denim.  So, we decided on neutral colors -- blues, reds, greys and indigo shades. They make for a nice, easy palette and complements everything. It was really important for me to make it easy for people to bring our products into their home. To this day the color palette remains. I most likely will, as the line grows, layer other colors, of course. When we started gathering inspiration it definitely leaned toward a hand done aesthetic yet still bold and graphic.  It always starts with a piece of paper and a pencil or pen.

Tell me about your process.  For example, I have your denim cosy and I know you try to go with dead stock fabric when you can.  What about the screen printing? How does that start?

When it comes to designing prints it is little doodles and a brainstorm and figuring out what you want when you’re building a collection.  We had this zigzag design that was inspired by our logo of two M’s. It’s angular. I have this thing for geometry. I love shapes -- circles, squares, triangles -- so the designs were based on these things.  I’d sketch things up and Ange would take it away and kind of get it on the computer. We came up with four specific designs and we’d go Upstate to experiment with screen printing. It was a lot of experimenting with colors and printing -- we pared down until we landed with designs that really spoke to our brand.  As for the denim component, I searched for dead stock and ends of bolts in Midtown [New York], finding interesting fabrics and in smaller quantities, allowing the denim pieces in the collection to be a bit more special, to be limited editions. I have since then found sources that I can get larger yardage quantities, though, I still maintain the dead stock and ends of bolts mindset.

I have your pillows on my couch and as soon as guests come through the door, the first thing they say is I love your pillows!  I reply, have a seat, I’ll tell you about Olga Joan and Makers Market! This is what’s special about Makers Market -- there’s a real story behind it.  There are brands who have gigantic budgets to make up stories to give their label a more authentic edge -- you don’t have to do that -- you’re the real deal.  How did you decide how you were going to expand into these other lines? Was there a clear plan?

As we were creating and making and assessing our inventory for our first product launch it was always back in our minds -- it can’t just be cosies! -- it needs to be something else.  The kitchen was the focus. But we definitely wanted to do cushions. We decided the following year would be pop ups and markets so that we can get a feel of things, what was the appetite and get feedback from people touching, feeling, and using our products and work on what a small collection would look like.  We always wanted to do linen especially tea towels and napkins. I hit so many fabric shows and fabric vendors -- looked for cottons, linens and looked at so many qualities and tested them all. We printed things and put them to use -- we used them, washed them, beat them up and landed on the one we were most satisfied with.  I also looked for canvases that were affordable and printable with a solid weight and quality -- American made was key. I found a place in the South and have been working with them for the last three years. So, we mapped out what we were going to do, got the base going with fabrics and then started playing around with ideas of what would be the next items to launch.  We came up with a strong collection that we are known for and still, to this day, proud of. As I was making, I was left with a lot of pieces of fabric and I thought, we’ve got to do something with this -- we can’t just chuck it -- we need to create a collection of functional products made out of all the smaller scraps and so the coasters and the double coasters came about.  Brooklyn Designs, in May 2017, was the launch of our new products.  

Where can we find Maker Markets products and wholesale?

The website and occasional pop-up are always posted on the website or Instagram.  I’m a devotee of FadMarket (www.fadmarket.co) -- I’m a part of their community -- I sell at their pop-ups often.  In the next few months, I’ll be working on having products in a few stores.  I will be showing an edited collection at Shoppe Object, a wholesale trade show here in New York City, in February 2020 -- this is a significant step.  It’s a matter of making sure the business is set up to properly deliver on inventory and have resources in place. I’ve spent this past year building toward this so that I can comfortably and confidently say to an account, I’m ready.  

Any thoughts around establishing a brick and mortar?  Or to do an extended pop up shop to further establish the brand?

There’s a lovely space in Brooklyn that has a set up for an extended pop up -- the owner has approached me many times -- and as much as I’d like to explore it further, I have a lot to focus on right now.  I like the idea of a curated environment with other designers. I would like to do an extended pop up because I like to be with a community of other like minded makers whose products work nicely with Makers Market products.  It’s not for a lack of opportunities so much as it is about prioritizing.

Is the plan or hope to make this more than a one person show?  

I am not good at PR or marketing and getting myself out there.  I would love to be able to have another person involved and increase the exposure.  It might not be full time but it’s someone who will have a vested interest in Makers Market to help and be part of it from a business standpoint.  That’s the kind of thing I’m not good at and I try my best but I really am super happy in the studio being creative and making. Of course, I would love to have another screen printer and I can conceive to have more people involved with Makers Market.  Collaboration is key and something I strive for.

What’s been the greatest challenge?

I think all of it is a good challenge albeit trying to design, make and putting yourself out there.  You’re so exposed. You can feel like you’re standing there naked. That’s the biggest challenge. It’s not designing and making.  It’s the exposure and wondering if this is viable. It’s getting the acceptance from the public. That gives me angst. Major angst.  You gotta have the guts to do it. It takes a lot of guts to do anything entrepreneurial. It’s hard out there. But there’s a resurgence in entrepreneurship from a creative standpoint.  Folks are fed up with the rubbish out there. I just want the brand and products to be desired, genuine and taken seriously. I want people to understand that it takes real hands on effort to make something that lasts.  I hope that in 10 years time folks will still have their tea cosies.

What’s been the biggest breakthrough moment to date?

It goes back to the challenges.  Will I be accepted? The breakthrough is being accepted.  It’s a great feeling to be getting emails after someone makes a purchase and writes:  I’ve never seen anything like this. So, the flip side of my paranoia and angst is receiving pretty extraordinary feedback and good accolades on the product and that’s a big breakthrough.  It’s validation. Each time I do a pop up there’s always one or two important things or opportunities that come out of it that keeps me going.  

You know, I was never a screen printer. I was/am the fashion designer, pattern maker, maker of apparel and other things.  When we started this endeavor almost four years ago I had said that I wanted to learn how to screen print because I felt it would both give me more skills but that I could also understand the process or should I say all our processes -- A to Z.

Taking classes and spending time at open studio doing really simple designs but learning all the processes and trouble shooting was a big deal. This way I was able to contribute to screening our designs.

But the biggest breakthrough was when Ange and I split up - the realization was that I was going to have to screen all the fabric.  How the hell was I going to do this? I was not that experienced. So, I slowly but surely took small steps to get myself comfortable with the huge screens and began screening, taking notes all the time about how many passes, how much ink, what kind of pressure needed with each artwork print and on different fabrics. 

Now, I am not saying that I don’t ever mess up because that wouldn’t be true but spending the time and asking others questions to help troubleshoot, today I have more confidence than I ever thought I’d have and that is a true breakthrough, in my eyes.  

I am very proud of myself on this feat because remember, four years ago, I had never looked at a screen.

Tell me about the future of Makers Market.

I have always wanted Makers Market to collaborate and be a big part of a creative makers’ community.  I’ve always wanted the Makers Market website to feature other makers that may not have their website platform to showcase.  That would take a lot of effort to find makers and maintain the website but . . . it’s always in the back of my mind.

I like the idea of partnering with interior designers or architects to use Makers Market fabrics or showcase products on projects.  This is a real big one for me, hence, why I enjoy doing Brooklyn Designs. More exposure to those folks and community is what I would really like.

There’s been a lot of changes in the retail landscape: Amazon, the slow death of department stores, rental options for furniture and tableware -- like a StitchFix for the home -- what are your thoughts on all these things going on out there?  Does it impact Makers Market? How does it cross your mind?

It does not cross my mind.  Our product is so personal. The person who wants our product is always going to want it and appreciate its handcrafted aspect.  The idea for me is that my product is loved and passed through generations or given to friends. I get Stitch Fix for apparel but not sure I’m sold on it for home.  I’m never going to produce millions of units of something. I’m not sure that it will even be hundreds of a product because I still want it to be small batch yet profitable.  I want to keep the intimacy. It’s what makes Makers Market special.

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Original bold graphic designs screen printed on tea towels. Photo credit: Olga Joan.

Labels — a finishing touch on a handcrafted Makers Market product. Photo credit: Olga Joan.

The first product launched by Makers Market — tea cosies. Photo credit: Olga Joan.

Screen printing in the studio. Photo credit: Olga Joan.

Hand crafted. Literally. Photo credit: Olga Joan.

Cosies for the Chemex. Photo credit: Olga Joan.

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To learn more about Makers Market & Olga Joan —

Website: www.makersmarketnyc.com

Email: info@makersmarketnyc.com

Phone: +1 (415) 710 1229

Instagram: @makersmarketnyc

Olga Joan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/olgajoan

Additionally, if you have a deep love for craftsmanship, home goods and community and enjoy marketing and PR or have mad sewing skills, please reach out to Olga to inquire about potential possibilities.

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Shop Makers Market at the following events:

FADMarket HOLIDAY POP-UP

Dec 7 + 8, 11 - 6 pm

The Invisible Dog Art Center

51 Bergen Street, Brooklyn, NY

FADMarket HOLIDAY POP-UP

Dec 14 + 15, 11 - 7 pm

City Point

445 Albee Square West, Brooklyn, NY

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