Today, Kindred Black turns 10 years old. We’ve been looking at pictures of ourselves from a decade ago, staring hard at our younger selves, it doesn’t feel that long ago at all. Getting older is part lap dog, part monster, it brings up some complicated feelings and questions. Am I where I thought I would be? What does success mean to me? Am I successful??
Above image: our first mood board, spring 2015
A ten-year anniversary brings a lot of this to the forefront. Has our business reached all the milestones that we imagined for ourselves when we started ten years ago today? For years, the conversations we’ve encountered professionally have centered on scale—how do you scale this? How do you make more money, add more customers, optimize ROI and increase other acronyms that we often have to google surreptitiously during zooms? In the early days, these conversations would sometimes make us feel inadequate. We’d leave meetings questioning whether our “failure” to thrive on that level was some sort of personal deficiency.
This year has shot by in such a blur that there hasn’t been a lot of time to stop and dwell on all of this, to be honest. But as the anniversary approached, those feelings bubbled to the surface and a sort of epiphany came into focus. That one of the best parts of getting older is the freedom to shed insecurities that once weighed so heavily, and in some ways, decide who you really want to be. Speak up, wear what you want, cut your hair differently, stop caring so much about expectations and what they’ll say when they see the real you.
This “comfortable self” theory can also apply to a business apparently. What felt like inadequacy started to feel more like a strength. VCs are not beating down our doors, we can't make enough to sell millions of units per year, or be sold in every swank store around the globe. We are however easing into our comfortable selves, driven by history and curiosity and travel and a love of the lives that we’ve built through Kindred Black.
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In a world where there are very good, very interesting synthetic fragrances that cost a fraction of what their natural counterpart would cost, we still make perfume the way that someone in Ancient Egypt, Greece, or Rome might have. We take plants, flowers, resins, and spices, in quantities that are sustainable for their continued growth, and create luxurious niche fragrances and ancient inspired skincare in hand blown glass. Our greatest joys come from research and history, tiny ancient bottles, bizarre talismans, and the slow, deliberate craft of our artist glassblowers. We are filled with wonder and purpose when we work with a new ingredient, meet a new farmer, create an exciting new scent with a classic flower. We are not defined by or beholden to anyone leaning on us to bring in more profit, more customers, more noise. We are simply for those that define luxury by its rarity.
This shedding of our old skin feels liberating and allows us to open our minds again to the endless possibilities for the next decade. A little wiser, a little more in need of the plants that hydrate and smooth…but excited, happy, secure. What we’ve built is still true to what we set out to create ten years ago.
It blows our minds to know that some of you have been with us since those early days. We see your names and it feels like we know you. You’ve seen us through opening an eco-focused online store, our foray into clothing – twice! – the introduction of our first five limited edition bottles in the Slow Beauty collection, and you’re still keeping us in the game today. Please continue to send us notes, tell us what you think, and share your stories, your loyalty and love mean more to us than you will ever know.
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This e-mail probably should be a targeted “get excited, X is coming!” – the ROI people would be very disappointed in our lack of business acumen. We don’t know what X will be in our next decade and that feels pretty exhilarating. In the short term, there are some great collaborations coming up with inspirational women that we adore. Holiday editions that will surprise you, we pull out all the stops for our favorite season of the year. We’re about to toe-dip into a new category, something we’ve been working on for almost two years. When you’re comfortable with who you are and what you’re doing, there is always a lot to look forward to. We ask you to stay tuned for our next chapter.
-Jennifer and Alice
October 8. 2025