Not every brand begins with a business plan.
Some begin with a place. A memory. A feeling.
For me, it all started in the Adirondacks.
I grew up in Lake Placid, surrounded by six million acres of wild beauty—the largest protected forest preserve in the contiguous United States. But to me, it was just home. A home where the seasons had personalities, the trails told stories, and the scent of the woods wasn’t just a smell—it was a feeling.
Winter meant early mornings on the slopes, the scent of snow mingling with the pine-heavy air. Spring was mud on our boots and the bright, earthy fragrance of new life. Summer brought lake water, cedar leaves, warm sun, and the kind of stillness that wrapped around you like a blanket. Fall? Crisp air, cinnamon-colored leaves, and the cozy scent of firewood. These scents didn’t just fill the air—they became part of me.
And somewhere along the way, they became my calm.
Nature as My First Healer
What I didn’t realize as a child was that I was quietly building my own mental health toolkit. I struggled with anxiety growing up. I was the kid who spent more time in the nurse’s office than I care to admit—stomachaches, nerves, the whole works. But nature? Nature never asked me to perform. It just held me.
And scent… that was my secret superpower. I didn’t know the science back then, but I knew the feeling. When I rubbed cedar on my wrists or caught the faintest whiff of lake water in the wind, I felt safe. I felt okay. I felt like myself again.
Looking back, those moments were my first lessons in the power of scent. That invisible, emotional thread between smell and memory, between the nose and the nervous system—it was working on me long before I understood it.
From Scents of the Forest to Scents for the Soul
When I launched Pure Placid years later, it wasn’t to jump on a wellness trend. It was to capture the calm I had known so intimately—and share it. I wanted others to have access to the peace I found in nature. Not everyone can drop everything and run to the woods (although how amazing would that be?), but they can light a candle, spritz a pillow mist, or massage a lotion into their hands—and be instantly transported to a place that feels like peace.
Our Adirondack Chair scent is cedarwood, pine, cinnamon, and lily—crafted to smell like leaning back in a wooden chair beside a lake as the sun goes down. Sunday Morning captures the slow start to a summer day—bright, clean, warm. Mount Marcy? Named after the tallest peak in New York State and inspired by the hike up to its summit, where the air is crisp, the wind is pure, and the views leave you breathless.
These aren’t just fragrances. They’re memories in a bottle. Emotional anchors. Invitations to calm.
Why Sustainability Matters (and Always Has)
My love for the Adirondacks is the reason sustainability isn’t just a part of our mission—it is the mission.
To love a place deeply is to want to protect it fiercely.
Sustainability, to me, means taking responsibility: for the ingredients we use, the packaging we choose, the businesses we partner with, and the impact we have on people, planet, and future generations. It’s not just about recycling or clean beauty (although yes, we do all that). It’s about honoring the very source of our inspiration—the forests, lakes, air, and earth—and preserving it.
Because I want my kids, and your kids, and their kids, to walk the same trails, smell the same cedar, swim in the same lakes. I want them to find their own calm in these wild places.
An Invitation to Remember Your Place
We all have a “place.”
A trail. A backyard. A front porch. A beach.
Somewhere that shaped us.
Somewhere that reminds us of who we are when we’re not trying so hard.
I invite you to take a moment, right now, and think of that place.
Can you smell it? Can you hear it? Can you feel the air on your skin?
Let that memory anchor you. Let it remind you why you care, why you create, and why the choices you make—personally and professionally—matter.
For me, it will always be the Adirondacks.
And through Pure Placid, I’ll keep sharing little pieces of it with you.
Because calm is more than a feeling.
It’s a place. A memory. A scent.
And it’s something we all deserve to come home to.
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