I don’t remember the last time I had as low of confidence as I did the last couple years (maybe puberty? LOL).

Becoming a parent shifted my identity in ways that took me a while to understand. It coincided with the launch of Future Society, my first endeavor into fragrance as a beauty industry “veteran.” I quickly saw the massive disconnect between how fragrance is categorized as beauty on the surface, and the invisible truth of why it is culturally so different. I felt out of place. I would see sometimes our brand and work be misunderstood (it’s “fake science!”) and I felt immense responsibility reading statements like those. The whole reason I am doing this is because I believe in the power of technology to make our relationship with our bodies and each other more positive. 

This phase coincided with challenges on almost every front of my life. I had never viewed myself as a cynical, or hopeless person and I found myself battling this every day. Is this who I am now? I remember thinking, I would rather fail knowing I showed up as myself, than fail knowing that I was too afraid to let the vision inside of me show. 

I am a founder. That is literally my job. I needed a metaphorical clean slate. No new fragrances, no big commitments, just the basics. I had faith that the founder within me would re-emerge. Finally, my capacity and bravery to think big came back to me. It wasn’t my old self, I was someone new, but I liked this person. 

When we started thinking about this year, we constantly referenced our community filled with people who were not trying to fit any “vibes” or anyone else’s expectations of them. And then later I found myself thinking about the people who had immensely influenced me most in my life, and it wasn’t because they necessarily had anything to do with my life choices, but because of how effortlessly and obviously at ease they were in who they are. 

And so, 2026 is all about identity in today’s era: what it means to be human with this world we live in and how committing to continually “becoming” yourself is the most optimistic act for our future there is.

Onward,

Jasmina