When he graduated from Harvard’s Law School in 2008, Andrew Nicol never thought he would end up spending his days in a Bushwick Department Treatment Logistics for a manufacturing company.
But the founder of the starting element of Fragrance Brooklyn did not plan to be a whole career lawyer. For Nicol originating from South Africa there was not much opportunity except to join a New York legal firm, which would allow the two to remain in the country and explore the city.
After a few years in the law he described as interesting, educational and lucrative – he started at an annual rate of $ 180,000 a year, plus rewards – Nicol was ready to make a switch.
“The things I interested in was always the business strategy,” he says. “I had to find a way where I could get closer to how to offer legal advice to clients. And the closest way I could think of doing it would be to become an entrepreneur.”
Andrew Nicol left his job at a New York legal firm to become an entrepreneur.
Brooklyn
Nicol knew it was a risk of leaving behind his six -figure career, telling CNBC to do what he could not think of many lawyers who would make the same decision.
“I went doing a truth, really comfortable – maybe even more than comfortable – to live, not to know where my next salary was coming,” he says. “But I also knew it was something I wanted to do.”
The decision, however, was paid. Brooklyn element brought more than $ 2 million in revenue last year, according to Nicol.
That is why he decided to leave the law behind in favor of the hands and candles.
Searching for a new challenge
One of Nicol’s first ventures in the venture was the co-founding of Tripexpert, a site that collects professional travel estimates to help travelers plan their vacation. It was a success, but when Covid hit and the demand slowed, Nicol seemed to try something new.
He placed his sights in the aroma world after seeing friends spending hundreds of dollars on high -level products just to find himself unable to replenish them after they were over.
He noticed that the cheapest brands were innovating their packaging in new and sustainable ways, but did not see the same developments that occur at the most expensive spectrum end.
“You can walk on a target or a Walmart and you can find stable recharge options for your soaps and creams,” he says. “But if you were going to want a really high quality, luxurious product flavored by a designer brand, you were essentially unable to recharge. Your only choice was to buy a new bottle whenever you came out of the product. And I thought it was really useless.”
Many of these things follow very fundamental scientific principles. This is definitely the case with hand soap.
Andrew Nicol
Brooklyn Element Founder
Recording his father’s help, a chemical engineer, Nicol tried to try his hand in soaps and candles and had lotions. The duo began to use a $ 300 kitchenaid mixer to develop initial soap bundles.
“One thing he taught me at a really young age is that many of these things follow very fundamental scientific principles,” Nicol says. “This is definitely the case with hand soap.”
The first product of the Brooklyn element, Mandarin Crush Hand soap, retail for $ 19 and sold quickly.
“The first really positive signs were going viral in Tiktok and Instagram coils,” he says. “Only a few early clients who were among the first to reveal to us and considered a kind of bougie-on-a-budget life.”
With a successful concept test, Nicol decided to handle other categories of products. He was sure he could persuade customers to try the brand if he could create products that smelled good and were at accessible prices.
Mandarin Crush is one of the best -selling fragrances of the brand.
Brooklyn
A candle from the Brooklyn element is withdrawn for about $ 25, while recharge sells for less than $ 20. The brand website lists a comparable aroma for each item. For example, $ 23 in full flowering candles lists $ 76 Diptyque Baies as closest components.
“Some of these companies make candles with three wins costing $ 500-plus,” he says. “The sign is really, really extraordinary.”
Focusing on recharges of soaps and its candles, at the top of being stable and eco-friendly, helped create repeated customers. Business is also growing by working with health clubs and baths that seek to create an elevated experience for guests.
Nicol says the Brooklyn element is at a pace to bring more than $ 8 million in revenue in 2025. And while the management of deliveries and the pouring of candles in his landfill is a difficult job, he does not lack the life of the lawyer.
“It was a very kind of adult work. Wearing my costume and tie up every day and going to my wood panel office with a secretary outside,” he says. “But this is much more interesting, much more dynamic and much more fulfilled.”
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