JO MALONE: "MOVING TO A DIFFERENT COUNTRY CHANGED MY LIFE"
As part of a new series, we are celebrating adventure at every age. Taking a risk, experiencing the unfamiliar and pushing our own boundaries doesn’t grow old. Every month, we speak to a different woman who embodies a sense of adventure, and next up is Jo Malone.
One of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs, over the course of her 45-year career Jo Malone CBE has set up two popular fragrance brands. Having sold her eponymous label to Estée Lauder Companies, she now runs Jo Loves where she continues to do what she does best: creating innovative scents that men and women adore. In March 2023, she moved to Dubai. Here she talks about how moving to a different country has changed her life.
Moving to Dubai was never part of my plan, but over a year ago I decided something had to change. I’ve always felt that I was supposed to do something significant in this life and, despite having founded two fragrance brands, I still don’t feel I’ve done it. So, rather than sit at home in London, I decided to go out and try and find it. In early spring last year, my husband Gary and I made the leap and moved to Dubai.
I first visited the city for work. During Covid, we opened my fragrance line Jo Loves globally, and saw that the business was starting to grow quickly in Asia-Pacific. We needed someone to service that side of the business, so Gary and I decided to do it ourselves. I knew there was a banquet of opportunity in Dubai and I wanted to sit at the table and be part of it. It’s a great hub from which to expand to other markets such as China, Singapore, Japan and India, as well as the Gulf states. I didn’t move there just for professional reasons though – it was personal too. I wanted to create differently. I felt this desire to push myself. I had a hunger to create in a different part of the world. We packed our bags and off we went.
When we first arrived, Gary and I knew only three or four people maximum, but it’s very easy to make friends in Dubai thanks to its big, inclusive expat community and how welcoming the Emiratis are. It ticks so many boxes for me. There’s creativity whichever way you look. Take the architecture; 25 years ago it was a desert and look at it now. A lot of young creatives have moved there – from tech and fashion to journalism, film and theatre. There are so many start-ups, I’ve really fallen for its entrepreneurial spirit. I love being near the sun and the water; I know now that I need to be by the ocean. I get my best thoughts when the sun is either rising or setting over the sea. I wander off down the old creek and sit with my fragrance bottles. There’s a gentleness and an ease about life, and yet a passion too. It’s a society that I wanted to be part of for a really long time, but didn’t know existed, and I found it in Dubai.
The adventure is just beginning. We love to drive into the desert, hike and camp under the stars. Dubai is well connected; Gary and I often travel across to Oman, up to the mountains, and head to Abu Dhabi for the weekend for a gig. Dubai is full of adventure and I love not knowing who I might meet or what I might do. It’s how you live in your twenties when you’re on your gap year. Gaz and I never did a gap year, so this is ours.
Moving to a different country has taught me that I’m much more than I thought I was. I don’t mean that in a bigheaded way, but it’s shown me what I’m capable of creatively. Being surrounded by so much creativity had spurred me on to look at life differently. My new fragrance, Black Cashmeran and Tonka, was hugely influenced by my new home. I’m a calmer, kinder person now. I laugh before breakfast.
We often think that 'adventure' means packing our cases and going away somewhere, but it doesn’t have to be. It could be roasting a chicken in a whole new way; adventure is simply not being frightened to do things differently. If you want an exciting new experience to unfurl, then live in the moment. In the earlier part of my life, I didn’t do that – when you’re young you’re always waiting for the next moment. Even after my fight with cancer, I was always about tomorrow. Today, I live for the now. Also, talk to people. I chat to everyone; I love people and their stories. You can often find adventure through storytelling. Be interested. Never miss out on a conversations with a taxi drivers – they’re always such interesting people.
Don’t be jealous of other people’s adventures. Let them see that you’re proud and happy for them. If you wish it was you, then make it you. Find your adventure – it is there for taking if you want it. Sometimes it involves sacrifice and sometimes it might not go the way you want, but that’s OK, it’s part of the ride. Try and find that 20 minutes of inspiration every day – it comes from living and being in the world. We are all worth smiles before breakfast. Make them happen.
As told to Ella Alexander
2024-12-06T08:01:26Z