Every business begins as something unseen, a spark carried quietly in the heart, long before it takes shape in the world. For me, launching my fragrance business felt almost magical, as though I were holding a secret. I could see the brand clearly: a British luxury lifestyle brand destined to weave itself into people’s lives and carry on beyond my own time. Yet at the beginning, no one else could see it.
It felt as though I were quietly playing, hiding something precious in plain sight. People around me would wonder, and then, in time, they would say: “Ah, so that is what she has been working on.” That, to me, is the quiet joy of self-belief, the ability to see the invisible, and to hold it faithfully until the world is ready to catch up.
Defying Expectations and Finding My Own Path
As a child, I was told I would not make it, not as a woman and not as an Asian woman. Those words might have defeated me, but instead, they gave me fuel. Quietly, I told myself, “No, you are wrong. I will do it.” That defiance became my confidence, and it carried me forward when little else did.
At the time, I did not yet know that I had ADHD and severe Dyslexia; I only knew that my mind was restless and busy, and with my condition, I could not easily follow a conventional path. Yet in that very space, I discovered the strength of self-belief and the power of working with quiet determination.
At the age of eighteen, I received a marketing grant from The Prince’s Trust. It was a significant step for me that such a big organisation believed in my potential and gave me the chance to build something from my ideas and skills. With the grant money, I bought fabric and placed an advert in The Prince’s Trust book. The page was half of A4, and my ad filled a quarter of it. From that single ad came real clients, and from those clients came the beginnings of my business. It was an amazing moment that showed me what was possible.
From there, I began placing adverts in lifestyle magazines, slowly building momentum. Orders came in slowly and I worked steadily on my own, learning through experience. Eventually, years later, with the help of a friend, I completed the business plan that the Prince’s Trust required and secured further funding and support. That was also when I was given a mentor, one of the few voices I truly chose to listen to. His guidance, along with the Trust’s continued belief in me, gave my business the structure and clarity it needed to really grow.
Even then, I was careful about whose voices I allowed in. I always listened to the right people, but above all, I trusted myself. That balance mattered: I drew strength from solitude and my own conviction, yet I also valued the steady encouragement I received during those years from the Old Street head office of The Prince’s Trust. Their belief in me, combined with my own determination, reassured me that the spark I carried inside was worth pursuing. Self-belief became my anchor, nourished by the right guidance, but ultimately rooted in my own quiet certainty.
The Early Days of Fragrance
Years later, when I was in the development stage of my fragrance business, nothing was yet out in the world. The perfumes were still being created, the brand had not launched, and everything existed quietly in my head and heart. Yet I carried the same strong belief I had always held, certain that the fragrances I was working on would one day find their place in people’s lives.
That belief was strengthened by lessons from my couture wedding dress business. When people walked through the door, I had learned that there must be something for everyone, a selection of designs that could suit different shapes, personalities, and venues. I carried that same principle into fragrance. In creating a range, I wanted variety: perfumes that would allow each person to discover a scent that felt as though it belonged to them. Just as important, I knew that what customers seek above all is quality and longevity. Each fragrance had to feel refined, high in standard, and long-lasting, so that the beauty of the scent endured as much as the memory it created.
I could already see how they would be worn, how customers would return to share their stories, and how the relationship would grow into something enduring, far beyond a single purchase.
That vision was not only about creating variety but also about building within something greater. To create anything that lasts, you must root it in a world larger than yourself, one that carries on through generations. For me, that world has been the fragrance industry. It is where my craft lives, where relationships grow, and where the work continues beyond a single season.
Yet the beginning of any business is rarely easy. People around you create noise: offering opinions, questioning decisions, sometimes pulling you down without even realising it. When you have not yet gathered many wins, it can feel difficult to hold your ground. My approach was simple: take one step at a time, create small positive wins, and carry out a clear plan each day. In time, those quiet actions gathered weight. The vision that once lived only in my imagination began to take form, until one day it was no longer invisible, but something others could finally see.
Building a Fragrance House
My journey from couture to fragrance was never about leaving one world behind, but about carrying its lessons into a new one. The patience I had learned in sewing silks and laces, the discipline of bringing a vision to life stitch by stitch, all of it prepared me for fragrance, where creation is built note by note, like music composed to stir memory and emotion.
The challenges in this chapter were greater, the financial risks larger, and the volumes of oils, bottles, and packaging required all at once often overwhelming. There were moments when money ran out, and times when simply meeting those material demands felt beyond my reach.. Yet I never questioned whether I could carry on, because I knew I would. That certainty was part of me, and it never left.
What was remarkable was how others chose to share in that certainty. Some contractors continued to support me and, out of trust, did not charge for their work for an entire year. Partners adjusted their terms so that the vision could continue, even when the numbers seemed impossible. I did not approach them as someone defeated, but as someone determined. I told them, “We will make it. Please help me.” And they did.
When I meet those same partners today, they look at me with pride and say, “Look how far you have grown.” That period taught me two invaluable truths. The first is that belief attracts belief; when you stand in conviction, others are drawn to it and lend their strength. The second is that no business is ever built alone. Self-belief is vital, but so too is recognising and honouring those who choose to walk beside you.
Resilience, Self-Belief, Discipline, and the Art of Flow
Building the business has never been without challenges. There were times when ideas faltered or when progress felt slow, and moments when the weight of what lay ahead seemed immense. Yet I came to see that these challenges were not blocks but teachers.
Resilience grew from this way of seeing. I do not seek only positives; I value negatives because they teach, they sharpen, and they stop the journey from becoming dull. A failed idea is not wasted; it simply needs to be angled differently. I prefer to experiment small, learn quickly, and move again. Each attempt is another chip in the confidence bank, another brick in the house. When people say, “You had it hard,” I do not feel pity. I see blessings. Hard moments gave me hunger and resilience. Positives delight me, but negatives refine me. Together, they make the story richer and more alive. This way of thinking is closely tied to the power of positive thinking, which I have written about in more depth in another piece exploring how it shapes resilience and creativity in business.
From these experiences, my self-belief deepened. I understood early on that self-belief is not a feeling that arrives fully formed and stays with you. It is not about waking each morning filled with confidence; it is about showing up, nurturing it, and practising it every single day. Because of this, I do not really have doubts. When I pause, it only means that more research is needed, that a plan is not yet complete, or that I must think an idea through more deeply. For me, hesitation has never been the absence of self-belief; it is simply part of the process, a signal that the thinking is not yet finished.
I have always seen self-belief as something you build step by step, like a house that begins with drawings, then foundations, then rises brick by brick. It is also like making deposits into a bank: each piece of research, each written plan, each small success adds to the balance. Over time, those quiet deposits accumulate until belief is no longer fragile, but substantial and enduring. The key is to be kind to yourself, to notice the small wins, and to reward progress, however modest, because every step contributes to the greater whole.
That way of working naturally shaped my discipline. For me, discipline has never been rigid; I think of it instead as the art of finding flow. When I can feel the flow of an idea, the rhythm of how it wishes to unfold, even the hardest work becomes manageable, even joyful.
Flow, in turn, gave me clarity of vision. I have never questioned my path, because I have always been able to see my brand decades ahead, and then I work backwards. With a dyslexic mind, I can quite literally see the idea as a clear box. I turn it over, inside out, and examine it from every angle until I understand it fully. If something remains unknown, I research and refine until the picture is whole.
Rituals of Recovery and Renewal
Self-belief, like any flame, needs care. It cannot be left unattended; it must be renewed by habits that restore balance and perspective. For me, those habits are what protect and strengthen my belief in myself, especially when the demands of business grow heavy.
As a founder, my days can be full and fast-moving. In one day, I might be designing, developing formulas with the chemist, planning marketing campaigns, or writing a press release. The pace can be relentless, and I have learned that when you are running fast, you also need to know how to slow down. You cannot keep your mind at a high pitch all the time; discipline is about choosing where to place your focus, steadying your thoughts so you can move with clarity.
That is why I keep what I call my bucket of tools. These are the practices that hold me steady when life grows noisy and my mind begins to race. Writing poetry releases what is swirling inside, painting and journalling clear the fog, and drawing with my fine pens, feeling the motion up and down, steadies my thoughts. Nature resets me in a way nothing else can: walking with Ollie, listening to birdsong, feeling the wind or the warmth of the sun on my skin. The seasons themselves bring me joy. I look forward to them, to their colours, moods, and scents. Right now, I am already planning bulbs for both outdoors and indoors, small rituals of beauty that remind me to anticipate, prepare, and celebrate what is to come.
Spiritual grounding deepens this balance. Yoga, meditation, and gratitude form a daily rhythm that brings me back to centre. Each day, I make it a practice to say thank you quietly for my husband, my children, my dog, my staff, my wider family, my friends, and my clients. I also give thanks for the smallest blessings: the ability to walk, to breathe, to cook, to notice beauty in the everyday. Sometimes it is even the kindness of a stranger, a gentle smile, a door held open, that touches me and reminds me how connected we all are. Gratitude, repeated daily, is not just a feeling but a habit that strengthens and sustains me.
Sometimes I return to the abbey where I was married and where I took my sacraments with my children. Sitting there quietly reminds me that I am a dot in a vast universe. It is humbling, and it heals. All of these rituals are ways of replenishing self-belief, so that it remains strong enough to carry not only me, but also the life I hold with me, my family, my circle, my world, together with the work I have built.
Fragrance runs through all of this like a golden thread. It is my craft, but it is also my companion, and it plays a direct role in how I sustain belief in myself. I am a very sensory-driven person; I live my life through scent. When I sleep, I smell cotton, lavender, and peace. When I practise yoga, it becomes a ritual of smoke and incense. When I sit with friends, I feel the ambience, the fullness of the fragrance notes around us.
The seasons themselves unfold for me in scent. In autumn, I see golden light spilling through the trees, the earth releasing its muskiness, woody notes rising as I walk. In summer, I feel the sun on my face, the blue sky above me, the sweetness of cut grass, fruits, and flowers drifting in the air. Rainy walks are filled with the freshness of rainwater, damp musk, and the faint whistle of air around me. Winter brings a crispness, a cold blue musk that clears the senses. Spring is alive with birdsong, fresh florals, and the promise of renewal. Each season carries its own perfume, and I move through them as though moving through different compositions.
Even when I cannot physically smell something, I can visualise it so strongly that I almost breathe it in. This is how fragrance begins for me: a blend created first in my mind, layered and alive before it ever reaches a bottle. Scent shapes my state of mind and steadies me; it reminds me not only of who I am, but also of why I create at all.
Self-belief, for me, is not separate from any of this; it lives in the same place as the scents, the seasons, the rituals, and the gratitude. It is built in the quiet moments as much as in the bold ones, in noticing beauty and in carrying forward the work. Fragrance is the way I hold it all together, the thread that runs through my life and my business. And as long as I can imagine and create, that flame of belief will continue to burn, steady, enduring, and alive with possibility.
From Me to You
If you are still building your self-belief, remember that it does not appear overnight. It starts quietly, almost like a whisper, and you have to give it space to grow. For me, self-belief has never been about being fearless; it has been about being willing, willing to start, willing to learn, willing to keep moving even when things feel uncertain.
There will be pauses, and there will be days that test you, but that does not mean you lack belief. It simply means you are still working things through. Self-belief is strengthened each time you choose to continue, each time you take another step forward, however small.
Most of all, it is something only you can build. Others can encourage you, but they cannot do it for you. Be gentle with yourself, notice the progress you make, and let it count. In time, what once felt delicate becomes firm, and what began as a whisper becomes a steady flame that lights your way forward.
Looking back, I see how self-belief has shaped not only my business but also my identity. It gave me the courage to stay true to my vision and to create something unique by doing things my own way.
It has also affirmed something I hold deeply: that we are all equal in our ability to dream and to build. Self-belief is what unlocks that potential. It does not matter where you begin, with little or with much, from the bottom or from a higher place. What matters is that you trust yourself and keep moving forward. Comparison steals joy; fulfilment comes from walking your own journey with belief and contentment. Step by step, each of us has the power to create something meaningful. Self-belief becomes both the foundation and the fuel.
Today, I still carry the same flame I held thirty years ago. It is the flame of self-belief, quiet, steady, and enduring. It is the fragrance of courage, the rhythm of disciplined flow, the joy of creation. And it is the flame that will carry Chandrika Thomas London far beyond my own time.
