In a world where self-care meets luxury, Space emerges as a Black-owned, opulent home fragrance brand founded by LGBTQ power couple Ronn Richardson and Daniel Scott. With Ronn’s creative expertise as the former Head of Creative for SheaMoisture and Daniel’s background in med-tech sales, Space aims to transform homes into sanctuaries of rejuvenation.
Centered on the belief that home care is a profound expression of self-care, Space blends luxury, wellness, and design. The brand encourages individuals to “make space” for relaxation and restoration, making home a sanctuary.
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As trailblazing disruptors in the industry, Ronn and Daniel drew inspiration from their shared love for travel and interior design, ignited during a candle-making date night. Space’s three signature scents, Bloom, Saint, and Due West, transport users to Tel Aviv, Tulum, and South Carolina, evoking sensorial experiences and cherished memories.
Priced at $48 for a 3.4 fl oz bottle, Space’s room sprays are crafted with ethically sourced, vegan, cruelty-free, phthalate-free, and paraben-free ingredients. These scents, such as the saffron-infused Bloom and the palo santo-inspired Saint, promise an elevated sensory experience for luxurious relaxation, offering a unique fusion of self-care and design in every bottle.
In conversation with The Source, Ronn and Daniel detail the creation of Space, highlight some of their key fragrances, and give a glimpse into their world, ultimately sharing why their brand will become your favorite part of 2024.
Could you detail the SPACE brand for anyone unfamiliar with it? What inspiration and background went into creating this luxury home brand?
Daniel: Both Ronn and I have this huge passion for home fragrance. Any type of fragrance. Fragrance affects your mood no matter where you are. In your home, car, wherever. So we wanted to create a luxury brand that impacts your mood and delivers a sensory experience. We started this in 2020 and it is a true labor of love for us. We wanted to combine our love for travel and wellness into a product people will love. A lot of our fragrances are inspired by our travels and taking in cultures of the different places that we go.
That reminds me of walking into a Marriott and getting the smell that you want to take home. Are there any moments that you specifically recall from traveling and how did that evoke an idea to bring that feeling to other people?
Daniel: One of the moments I can remember is when I was in Tulum. I remember having dinner at a restaurant and the staff were walking with cannisters and smoke was coming from everywhere. We asked the guys are the restaurant and it was PaoloSanto. I never smelled anything like it before and I kept thinking about it. We got back to the States and ordered so many Paolo Santo sticks. For our customers, we wanted to have that mix – a sweet, smokey element that we smelled that day. Have it in a bottle to be able to spread this beautiful fragrance.
Ronn: For me, it’s Due West. Due West is a very, very small town in South Carolina, where my dad is from. The population is about 200. Every summer, we would travel to Due West, and it was a complete juxtaposition of growing up in the concrete jungle of New York City. The scent, when you wake up there, is in the air. It’s wet, kind of mossy. So when we created SPACE, I wanted to pay homage to my dad and his legacy by bringing that sent to life. And we love the development phase so it’s great finding those scents.
You mention the curation and development process, how hard was it for you to a decision on a scent? And what hurdles do you have in learning the process?
Ronn: This process is really complex. So for background, I’ve been in the marketing industry for over 14 years. For the last seven, I was focused on creative ideation. So visual strategy, working with brands like Shea Moisture, and I pulled a lot of my experience in ideation for campaigns to bring to our development. We had these buzzwords that I would transition into a mood board. Then I think about the consumer. What are they doing? When are they spraying this? What are those little occasions and moments that they have in their home? I run it by Daniel, and we build on it. From there, we go through many rounds of revisions and that’s where it is exciting. We are excited to smell the next batch whenever we get a box. We bring in friends for blind smell tests and then refine. It’s challenging but also exciting.
Daniel: The most important thing is we wanted something we developed and created. We didn’t want to put oil in a bottle and add alcohol, and that’s it. This is a true handcrafted product. Thankfully, Ronn has been in the industry and has good connections, leading us to a phenomenal perfumer. We have good connections with people in manufacturing. For us, that was a big barrier. But we love to do this, and the consumer will experience that when they get the product.
You mention the steps and packaging that go into this product. How do you maintain the balance of offering a premium product and sticking within a price range for your target audience?
Ronn: That’s interesting because we want to ensure we have an accessible luxury product. Most products use essential oils, but everything in ours is raw materials. So it’s really expensive in terms of how we create it. But that was something we wanted to stand on. The fact we have a product that is clean, safe, and unique. The perfumer we work with has their gardens. So if we ask for a rose, they pull it from the garden to keep the components natural. We are not going to sacrifice the integrity of the brand. For numbers and margins, Daniel has that on lock. We have maintained luxury by all means necessary, and we would rather have a lower profit margin for ourselves than give a product to where we skimped on the packaging or the product.
What do you all envision for the future of SPACE? Is there anything on the horizon you can tell us about or an area you wish to expand to?
Daniel: We are very excited about the future and hope to expand from a product standpoint. We want to aim for scented candles and diffusers. Ron just created a broadcast channel for us on Instagram. We are looking to bring in our consumers and gain their opinions. We also have two additional fragrances that have a special meaning to us and are waiting to launch. The year 2024 we are excited about.
For anyone who would like to mirror your steps, especially from underrepresented communities, how would you suggest they start their luxury brand and disrupt an existing industry?
Ronn: Having a vision is important. We didn’t have fragrance backgrounds. We set the vision, and if you don’t have one, it will be tough to operate in a market-like fragrance that may be oversaturated. Many big players exist, but we see the opportunity for a percentage of the market.
Daniel: You also will want to know how to invest in the brand to bring it to life how you want to. Most importantly, it is important to know how not to waver on the creative integrity of your band. We are a direct-to-consumer business, but retail is one of our goals. So when we made the packaging, we wanted to ensure we were retail-ready.
You two are bridging the worlds of work and a relationship. How hard do you find it to turn off the business mind and focus on your love?
Daniel: It’s hard to be honest, especially for a growing brand. We have been developing this since 2020, and it’s definitely a struggle initially to slow down. But just as our brand says, we want people to make Space. That’s the inspiration for the name. We want people to focus on wellness. It can’t just be about work all the time, so we try to live up to what our company embodies. We prioritize date night, and travel and find that inspiration to have us grow as people.
Ronn: We work nonstop, especially when working remotely or from home. It feels like there is no off switch. So it can be hard, but we create specific days and times to turn it off. Creating boundaries as an entrepreneur is so important.