I arrived in New York City in 1997 with a suitcase and determination and in 2007 I arrived back in the United Kingdom after 10 illustrious years in the United States. In that year I started the first Jonathan Ward vision and two weeks after we launched the stock market crashed. So there I was at the beginning of my attempt to show the world my creations and the world was fiscally fumbling around me. Fast forward to 2014 and my world was flailing also.

Thrilled to have stirred interest from a girl with soul. Lovely Laura Pearson Smith. Laura has written for Metro, Marie Claire and presented on the BBC (amongst many others) and has a lifestyle blog sharing her genuine passion for the beauty industry.

I think that the biggest change and the most distressing is sadly how monetized the industry has become. We have the ever evocative topic of influencer that seems to pop up at every industry dinner I attend. It’s the one part of the change that I find slightly disarming. You cannot rate the true value of a product by paying someone to say to their followers "this is good", "this has value", "now where is my paycheck".

We decided to extend our a little candlelight hospitality to Hackney's local bloggers and writers. Just to reach out and say, you know, we are here. Not much has changed in the journalist and blogging world as quite a few invitations went unanswered. Anyway, fuss aside, the invites pricked 8 pairs of ears and as 4.30 approached, candles were lit, sandwiches were buttered and figs were cut.

Halcyonic, the collaboration aroma for Victoria Baker-Harber & The Space Miami. Halcyonic is a conceptual fragrance denoting the early days of the roaring ’20s, a period of happiness, frivolity, and where everyone had a thirst for life.

July is always an interesting month in the fragrance world. It’s the beginning of the new, the start of the end, and the art of silence. Let me explain.

Always the quietest month of the year for candle brands. The heat typically sees a disinclination to bring more heat into the home. I have to be honest as the consumer and the designer, it never stops me from enjoying the beautiful burn of a candle. However, the pace has not slowed down for our small team.

What a treat. At the end of a busy workday, I glanced at my phone and Twitter was demanding my attention. The Independent Lifestyle supplement @IndyBest had called in a Jonathan Ward candle a few months ago and naturally, we had forgotten it had ever been requested. I read the article diligently and it made me so so happy to be voted number two from the final edit of ten candles (from who knows how many they received).

I was reaching back in the memory bank and carousing memory lane. It was 1993, I had just received an acceptance to Kingston University and my life was about to change in quite significant ways. Readying myself to leave Newcastle for my University years in London, it was a time of excitement, anticipation and exhilaration.

My life looked very different then. My daytimes were spent drafting, drawing and sewing in the modern design studios at Newcastle's art facility. My evenings were spent working in an Italian restaurant to fund my daytime activities or putting pencil to paper working on my future.

The first blog of 2020 shines a little light on an interesting conversation that I had while doing an event in December.

It was a Saturday afternoon, crowds were swarming, chaotically choosing Christmas gifts (not necessarily based on careful choices). I struck a conversation with a girl and as I guided her through the fragrances, I noted her reactions to my scent descriptions.

With ample spare time in the wake of our current global position, I wanted to offer a little insight inside the choices we made as a young niche brand.

The world has changed. All industries will likely shape their marketing approach rooted in new values.

When you're busy and caught up in busyness, it can be difficult to see the truth. In times of adversity the lens that you look at the world through becomes crystal clear.

If you're a continued follower of the Jonathan Ward brand, you will have a sense that we strive for transparency. You have to share the ups and the downs, if you wish to remain rooted in truth.

Each day we continue to tackle the new reality for our business during the COVID catastrophe. I felt an itch to share a little insight into the actual support for niche businesses like mine.

A new chapter begins.

One of the gifts in enduring lockdown, is the ability to shift focus onto the creative endeavours that the pace of everyday life doesn't allow. The extra headspace and a little boredom shifted my focus to think about the future. What will the next evolution of Jonathan Ward be ?

We will release out first official fragrance for the Jonathan Ward Brand in September. Yes, it is official. I have been asked and asked and I answered.