Sometimes, the stories that inspire us most come from unexpected places. In this latest video, I’m sharing a more personal chapter that connects to one of my all-time favorite shows: "Ugly Betty." Its message that outsiders can create change not by blending in, but by staying true to themselves shaped how I see my work and my place in the fragrance world. Betty will always be someone I look up to. 

Onward,
Jasmina
Founder

Transcription for Video:

Do you remember Ugly Betty?

It took me many years after the show’s end to realize how groundbreaking that show was for the mid two thousands: you had a Latina lead in American Ferrara, you had LGBTQ+ themes, and you had an immigrant family all on prime time television. This show ended just as social media was starting, and it was a preview into the conversation into the power of authenticity. 

Hi, I’m Jasmina. A lot of you are new here, and I’ve been thinking about how to introduce myself, and I’m starting with Ugly Betty.

Why? Because it’s one of the only shows I’ve watched end to end more than once. Like Betty, I’m the daughter of immigrants. I was raised in a home shaped by hard work and sacrifice. We are both outsiders in very exclusive spaces.

Even though I was fortunate enough to get my degree in engineering from MIT, I was rejected from every job in the beauty industry that I applied to. The only job that I did get was an amazing, albeit unpaid internship, so I worked a second job as a lab tech. 

But it’s the show’s message about how outsiders create change, not by becoming insiders, but by staying true to themselves that was really big for me. I’ve learned that it takes real courage to be yourself. My unconventional background, which once felt like a stereotype or a hurdle, became the reason that I could reimagine what beauty could be and put me on a more entrepreneurial path.

In 2015, I launched a brand called Mother Dirt. It was one of the first brands to explore the skin microbiome, and probiotics on the skin, and it challenged how we think about cleanliness and personal scent, and this is now a conversation that many more beauty brands are having.

Fast forward to 2019, I was rewatching Ugly Betty while also traveling for work, and now I was focused on scent through biology. As kind of an extreme example of this, I was learning about extinct flowers and understanding what they may have smelled like through their genetic code. 

The story of one of those flowers, the flower called Orbexilum Stipulatum, stuck with me. It is a flower whose growth literally depended on passing animals to press its roots into the ground, and the absence of those animals passing over it is one the reasons that flower went extinct. 

And so I thought about that show again, and it was sort of like nature’s version of the same story, basically saying, stay grounded. That is how you grow. Because Betty changed and grew herself, but not by conforming. She became more fully herself, deepening her roots, and confidence and influence without losing her values for where she came from.

 I ended up bringing the genetic data of the extinct Orbexilum to perfumer Olivia Jan, and created a fragrance called Grassland Opera, and it smells like a breath of fresh air, some wild florals, soft musk, and grounded woods. It’s really special, although, obviously, I’m biased, but I wear it whenever I need to be reminded of the importance of being who I am. 

So if you’ve ever felt like you didn’t belong. I hope that you know this. The future isn’t built by those who fit in. And Betty, you are my role model. Thank you.