Julia Volet is a Dubai-based highly motivated entrepreneur, chemical engineer, perfume designer, wife, and mom, who relocated from Russia 20 years ago. She is a founder & CEO of the Volet Goods wholesaler, launched in 2014, Eleven Wellness Spa, operating since 2022, Julia Volet Candle Manufacturing LLC, and Warehouse 7, a manufacturing platform, helping private-label producers.
What is Warehouse 7’s philosophy?
All power to makers! Warehouse 7 was launched for creators by creators. Our mission is to elevate, educate, and inspire by means of unique innovative products. Welcoming ambitious business owners and entrepreneurs to craft their own product lines, we provide them with guidance and support.
Why did you decide to establish this community?
Ever since I was a child, I’ve always loved catching all smells I came across – of food, plants, flowers, and everything else. So, it was only natural that I should have decided to turn this love of mine into a career.
I started out as a chemical engineer - a lab coat and the whole nine yards. Chemistry being a major part of perfumery, developing your nasal perception is equally important as a vast olfactive memory is indispensable in identifying hundreds of fragrances. After that comes the most exciting part – creating a fragrance.
So, there you go – one fine day, I started designing fragrances. Now, mine is the best job in the world. There’s real magic in how different scents cause different feelings and ideas, their combinations endless. I was curious whether I could design a certain feeling or experience. Now, I know I definitely can. Actually, we all can. That’s where the idea of Warehouse 7 came from.
What is your understanding of art?
An aroma is but a simple scent, while a fragrance is a vehicle, conveying fantasies and passions. It’s like a wonderfully crafted act of magic and a gift to your olfactory sense. Not only the chemistry of the ingredients used in its recipe, it’s a result of the perfumer’s expertise, earned over years of practice and countless rehearsals. It’s also a revelation of the perfumer’s concealed deeply personal feelings, contributing to the fragrance’s concept of joy and pain. Unfortunately, we don’t usually appreciate those working behind the scenes. It’s a shame, as fragrances also result from the invisible dedication of assistant perfumers, evaluators, sales people, legal department workers, application lab technicians, sampling assistants, and chemists, creating molecules for fragrance formulas. Behind every fragrance are many months of stability testing. And many Egyptians, waking up before sunrise to gather jasmine flowers for the delightful jasmine absolute of the formula.
The beauty of art lies in its allowing observers to interpret it in their own ways. Fragrances have been inspiring generations of artists, poets, and other art-form creators. For example, some poems and paintings are known to have been influenced by scents from films. A perfume can undeniably trigger a memory or an emotion as does a piece of painting, sculpture, or music. So, to me, art is everything capable of awakening our deepest emotions, touching our souls, and influencing our perception.
What is the source of your inspiration?
My artistic path is very intimate, starting with an emotion, which I then expand into a narrative. I am motivated and inspired by anything and everything around. To convey my sentiments and tell my tale, I make use of music and films to create an atmosphere, stirring up my imagination. Each of my works is a journey, either a physical expedition or a spiritual voyage.
Who are your target audience?
I’m often asked, ‘Why do you focus so much on knowing your customers’ personae?’ Well, here’s what this awareness helps you focus on:
1. Qualified prospects – those meeting the minimum criteria for buying your product or service, expressing minimum interest in doing so;
2. Guiding your product development to cater to their specific needs;
3. Aligning all the work across your organisation, from marketing to services.
To effectively manage your product development, content creation, sales follow-up, and anything else, related to customer acquisition and retention, you must have a deep understanding of your average buyer’s persona.
The Warehouse 7 community includes opinion-leader hobbyists, start-up business owners, entrepreneurs, manufacturers, service providers, wholesalers, and private-label developers for large-scale businesses, such as hotels, restaurants, fashion brands, etc.
What is your life all about?
My life is exclusively mine. Unique and ordinary, bitter and sweet, chaotic and beautiful, it’s both my greatest achievement and heaviest burden. Human lives are like candles, inching closer and closer to the burnout. The only difference is that the fragrance of our legacy lingers on in the world when we’re gone. I know that my life candle yields enough fragrance for my family. Meanwhile, Warehouse 7 helps me make others’ life candles burn brighter, their legacy becoming more fragrant.
