I am so excited to introduce you today’s interviewee, Brandon Love, who is one of my all-time favorite clients.
(There will be many times in this series that I refer to someone or something as my favorite this or my favorite that. This exuberance is genuine; the world is big and weird and wonderful and my heart frequently swells with genuine appreciation at being here to witness it all.)
Brandon is the Founder and CEO of Bewilderment, a company that makes fragrance products featuring fun, irreverent, and occasionally MAGA-baiting branding. In Brandon’s words: “Bewilderment is a mouthy fragrance studio that puts Bath & Body Works to shame! We’re dedicated to safe home fragrance that actually works—and standing on the right side of history, even in deep-red Ohio.” Since the beginning, the company has had a strong philanthropic bent, with a portion of proceeds benefiting charities like Black Voters Matter and The Trevor Project.
Bewilderment’s original Ohio location, in downtown Baltimore.
Bewilderment’s current store in Lancaster, OH.
In addition to being one of the most delightful and creative people you could hope to meet, Brandon has created one of THE NICEST communities on the internet. His 60,000-person Facebook group, which is moderated by his employees, is a space where Bewilderment fans not only geek out over their favorite fragrances and Brandon’s hypnotic wax-pouring videos, but hold space for the joyful, frustrating, and sometimes heartbreaking things going on in each other’s lives. There are a lot of frank and open conversations about mental health, many led by Brandon himself.
I first became aware of Brandon through an entrepreneurship networking group. Every time he posted to the group, his joyfulness and self-confidence seemed to reach right through the screen of my petal pink MacBook Air and grab me by the shoulders. This is someone I want to work with, I remember thinking. I poked around his site, clicking through page after page of candy-colored products with provocative names and scent descriptions so vivid, they gave me ASMR tingles. On a lark, I decided to write some spec copy for Brandon.
It was playful and expletive-laden—the polar opposite of what I typically produced for my SaaS and professional services clients—and it’s still some of my favorite copy I’ve ever written.
I DM’d Brandon the link to the doc. I saw that you didn’t have any product stories, so I went ahead and wrote a few for you.
A few hours later, I had a reply from Brandon. Me and my cousin are laughing our asses off over these. Can I hire you to write some more?
Over the past five years, I’ve had the pleasure of working with Brandon multiple times, and it’s always SO FUN. He’s one of the most prolific and innovative business owners I know, and I can’t wait to give you a peek into his process and mindset.
You’ve been an entrepreneur since your teens. How’d you get your start, and did you always know you wanted to be doing this kind of work?
When I was 10, I became obsessed with opening a business. Something about escaping the rat race I saw my parents constantly fighting—some of the kindest people, but always in debt.
I got into crafting candle goods because my mother made candles for weddings at the time. As time went on, I became a Marie Forleo super-fan, getting a scholarship to her B-School program when I was 15. That was pivotal for me; it introduced me to a community and world that embraced me. I studied a ton, read endless blogs on copywriting and marketing, and launched my first Facebook ads at only 17.
Those ads were for my current company! 10+ years later, we’re still thriving despite pandemics and tyrant tangerines trying to rain on our parade.
One of the things that I admire about you is that you’re the epitome of a self-starter. From learning how to blend fragrances and create bath and body products, to marketing and graphic design, to sales and fulfillment, to managing employees—basically, all the millions of skills that go into running a successful business—you’ve either taught yourself or found someone to teach you. How did you go about learning all these different skills? (And where on earth do you find the time?!)
I focus on one thing at a time while balancing only the necessary tasks I can’t hand off at any given time. But falling in love with outsourcing, and trusting my team, is the secret weapon.
I have a rule I follow: I have to perfect the role before handing it off. Oftentimes I only expect my team to do things 80% as well as me, though. It’s important that I know how to lead and train up positions—it’s also more affordable that way, and we’ve always been scrappy. We started with $50, after all.
Bewilderment has a very specific aesthetic. It’s bright. It’s joyful. The voice is super cheeky. Where does that come from, and who or what are your creative influences?
Speaking of starting on a budget, we could only afford one dye when we started. Red. And so pink became a very common color in my collection early on! We ended up making a brand identity out of it. And to boot, so many of our aromas smell like snacks, so we took on a candy-striped bakery aesthetic that’s since morphed but still lives at our design core.
What does a typical workday day look like for you?
I arrive at the warehouse at 6 a.m. alongside my team. I go to my office and work ON the business, except for when I’m needed, until about noon. After lunch, I’ll jump into something at the warehouse hands-on for an hour or two, develop something new, get creative and dirty. Then I usually end the day with some learning, courses, journaling on my business. Checking my mile-long to-do list for some “anyday” projects that call to me. I leave about 5 p.m. and when home, I usually engage with a non-work hobby. I play strategy games a lot, I feel they keep me sharp. I sew stuffed monsters from upcycled materials, for gifts. Sometimes I’ll go play DND with friends.
What’s the best part of your job?
I think being a business owner is the biggest life-learning experience. I’m constantly challenged and when I fall off from a positive mindset it shows in my sales—talk about motivation. So it keeps me focused, motivated, sober, and being a positive influence for the people around me. I like the man it’s made me.
What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever done for work?
I love witchy stuff. I love the history, the community, and the practice. It’s meditative even as someone who’s not too spiritual. When I launched a collection late last year on a whim, called Spell Melts, wax melts with crystals and herbs and intentions, it flopped.
Then the witchy community caught wind.
Now that collection makes up the MAJORITY of my sales. It’s so popular. So, always do the weird, on-a-whim project—the one that makes you a little scared.
Mental health and political and social advocacy are baked into Bewildmerment’s work—and for many of your customers, that’s a big part of the company’s appeal. Why is it important to you to foreground these values?
When I kicked off my career online as a young queer person, who just moved to a new state and had no friends there—wow, talk about lonely. And to boot what felt like the entire candle community hated me! Homophobia turned its ugly head towards me; eventually I had a 3,000-person hate group. It was insane and horrid for my mental health when paired with the cross-country move. I remember vividly calling my mom, broke, crying, and wanting to come home.
I started this business as an escape from my own mental health crisis and a suicide attempt. So this was the WORST possible outcome. I wanted to close it down so bad and run for the hills, I was just 18 at the time.
Instead, I kicked off a community of my own (now our BewilderBuds Facebook group) and we took a HEAVY focus on mental health, anti-bullying, and being kind to each other all before Facebook had tools built in to make it possible. A dozen mods all worked with me in exchange for product, to keep the community a place people felt like they could be vulnerable online for once. You gotta remember, Facebook did not always have post approvals or report options! It was a heavy lift!
As that evolved, I spoke more and more on mental health, looking back it was very life-coach like. But I’d never call myself that—I was just talking with friends about our mental health, as far as I was concerned. Tens of thousands of friends, but still.
That community and its mission have evolved but remain at our core. We’re actually talking about making our own community app to escape Facebook at this point, as the platform is getting a bit too loose on hate.
Another thing I love about you is that you show up as your full self in life and in work in a way that gives other people permission to do the same. How do your different identities (queer, neurodiverse, progressive) influence your creativity or the way you approach business?
I look back at my early 20s and kinda regret how open and flowy I was in some ways, how audacious I was. I spoke to a college class of 100 students once and made a butt-sex joke, like huh? But at the same time, that’s why I was loved and why my message resonated. I broke the mold, I rejected norms and I was brave or delusional enough to be my authentic self even in a room of strangers. I remember that example specifically, because I still have students reach out about it and say how pivotal my talk was in their own lives as young queer business students—surrounded by cis-het, white, normative everything. The business world needed to be shaken up and I’m glad I had the chance and the balls to do some of the shaking.
Life is too short to withhold your you-ness. Be weird.
In addition to running Bewilderment, you also coach other entrepreneurs. What do you hope to teach the next generation of small business owners?
Capitalism kinda blows, and many people in my generation—and especially queer people—want something better. At the same time, it’s the system we’re in today and it isn’t gonna change overnight. You’re here. So how can you thrive in this insanity while supporting yourself, those you love, and empowering communities and causes you care about?
You can hate capitalism and still be really good at using it for some positivity. I love humans, and my #1 priority is to make life better for as many as I can. So, right now, I am using business as a vehicle for that and you can, too.
What’s a creative challenge you’d like to take on, but haven’t yet?
I’ve written a draft for a business course four times to date. But teaching people how to do what I’ve done is tough, because how do you teach good conscience? I think the key is community. I’d love to finish, press publish, and host or at least be part of that kind of community one day.
But for now I am focusing on being the best fragrance studio in the country.
If people are interested in learning more, where can they find you/your work?
Shop all things Bewilderment at Bewilderment.com, or hit me up on Insta at @Brann.Love—thanks for reading!
I hope you enjoyed this edition of The Creative Type. Next in the series, I’ll be introducing you to the VP of Product and Creative at one of the world’s biggest tabletop gaming publishers, the director of an award-winning documentary and photography project about the Salvadoran Civil War, and a photographer and visual storyteller who makes some of the coolest digital collages I’ve ever seen. Hit the subscribe button below to get The Creative Type and other dispatches from Just Add Joy delivered straight to your inbox, and if you liked this post, please consider sharing it with a friend.
I love the part about not withholding one's weirdness. Brilliant.
Great interview, cool questions too. Like the thought of using capitalism mechanics for the good cause... to bring more joy into the world. Outdribbling the system.