A Whangārei-raised founder built a profitable fragrance business in London despite being told to give fragrance up, and is now weighing up what coming home could look like.
WATCH: Lab Atelier Brands co-founder Joshua Mano Gilbertson speaks with Mike McRoberts.
What’s at stake? A UK based Māori founder has shown you can build a luxury fragrance business while excluding known carcinogens and hormone and endocrine disruptors.
Background: After an autoimmune diagnosis and years of managing inflammation, Joshua Mano Gilbertson rebuilt how fragrance products are made and later secured full-range approval from Breast Cancer UK.
Main players: Founder Joshua Mano Gilbertson, co-founder Tess Richards, Lab Atelier Brands, The Lab Co, and the forthcoming Māno x MNRL.
Joshua Mano Gilbertson’s house in St Marys Bay, Auckland, is a long way from where his working life has been anchored for more than 20 years. London is where he built and scaled companies across software, fashion and now fragrance, assembling a business that operates across the UK, Europe and the
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Key points
What’s at stake? A UK based Māori founder has shown you can build a luxury fragrance business while excluding known carcinogens and hormone and endocrine disruptors.
Background: After an autoimmune diagnosis and years of managing inflammation, Joshua Mano Gilbertson rebuilt how fragrance products are made and later secured full-range approval from Breast Cancer UK.
Main players: Founder Joshua Mano Gilbertson, co-founder Tess Richards, Lab Atelier Brands, The Lab Co, and the forthcoming Māno x MNRL.
