Jo Malone

Jo Malone’s background

Originally a facial therapist, Jo fell in love with fragrance while working from her discreet skin care clinic, which she set up from her London home. Discovering an instinctual talent for creating scented products by hand in her kitchen, word of her exceptional potions quickly spread and soon Jo was unable to keep up with demand. From these artisan beginnings Jo launched her first brand, Jo Malone London, which gained cult status around the world. In 1999, Jo sold the business to Estée Lauder Companies and remained Creative Director until she left in 2006. Jo is no longer associated with the Jo Malone London brand or Jo Malone London products.

Two years later in 2008, Jo was honoured with an MBE for her services to the beauty industry.

In the years that followed, and aware that her passion for fragrance never left her, it was falling in love with cooking that inspired Jo to play with food, flavours and colours that she had never used before. Being back in her kitchen, blending ingredients by hand and excited by the process, she soon realised that her instincts were prompting her to create fragrance and she found herself asking ‘could I do it again?’. Possessing an inherent entrepreneurial flair, a head full of ideas and the desire to build another business, Jo decided to follow her instincts and returned to the beauty industry.

In November 2011, five years after leaving Jo Malone London, she launched her new brand Jo Loves to global anticipation and in 2013, Jo open the first Jo Loves store in Belgravia’s Elizabeth Street, where coincidentally she began her career as a 16-year-old florist. Bottling her undeniable desire to create beautiful and unexpected fragrances, pioneering new products and entertaining experiences, Jo Loves embodies integrity, creativity and innovation. Jo Loves’ scents, bath, body and candle collection, are inspired by the memories and moments in life that Jo herself loves and her creative seal of integrity, symbolised by the red dot, is stamped across everything that bears the Jo Loves name. Jo Loves continues to expand globally to this day, with products available across the world and in several categories from Fragrance, Home Candles, Personal Care & Lifestyle Fragrances and Diffusers.

“When I start out with a fragrance I don’t always know where it will lead. It’s a creative process that often surprises me and I like that. Jo Loves is full of excitement and anticipation, and I want to discover things that I’ve only ever dreamed about. Everyday I’m struck by different smells which evoke emotions or memories that inspire me to be creative. The scent of my husband’s cologne, freshly washed linen, hot Moroccan mint tea, the smell of a horse’s saddle and New York in the rain, are just a few of my favourites, but the list continues to go on and on”. JO MALONE CBE

Jo was awarded a CBE in the June 2018 Queen’s Birthday Honours list for her services to the British economy and the GREAT British Campaign, which promotes British creativity and industry on the international stage.

In 2016, Jo published her award-winning Autobiography “My Story”: Known around the world for her eponymous brand of fragrances and now her venture Jo Loves, Jo Malone tells the remarkable and inspiring story of her rise from humble beginnings to beloved business success. Raised in government-subsidized housing in Kent in the early 1960s, Jo left school as a teenager to care for her mother after she had a stroke. Jo had not been successful in school because of her dyslexia, but she had the ability to see and feel everything in scent. Her at-home beauty business and hand-made products became popular, and word of her talent spread until an international brand was born. After the sale of her company and the birth of her son, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent treatment in New York. Thus Jo began the second chapter of her life.

Jo regularly contributes to consumer public relations in addition to radio and TV appearances.

Recognised for her industry and entrepreneurial expertise, Jo is a highly sort-after and renowned International Speaker – regularly sharing her knowledge and insights with audiences around the world, highlighting her entrepreneurial journey and how she intends to change the way the world wears fragrance.

Jo’s enduring dedication to the art of fragrance continues to inspire and captivate audiences worldwide. Her legacy in the industry is marked by her distinctive scents and the impact she has made as an entrepreneurial trailblazer.

She feels this chapter of her life is proving to be the most creative and exciting, every day is an adventure full of passion, resilience and creativity.