The Perfume Making Podcast30 Mar 2025

The Art of Stopping - A Moment to Reflect

Karen has just returned from a four week trip around Australia where she attended a family wedding and spent time catching up with old friends. However, what struck her unexpectedly, was what she discovered about herself, and her creative process, once she actually stopped and got off the hamster wheel. On this week’s episode, Karen shares both her travel experiences and what they revealed to her in the larger scheme of things, once she had time to look back and reflect.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Karen spent some time catching up with old friends in Australia. However, when she was there she realised that the friendships had stood the test of time because of the similar career paths they had all taken. She reflects on this and explains the importance of ‘finding your tribe.’
One of Karen’s friends had recently moved back to Australia and was embarking on a new career, but was doubting herself. Karen talks about these transition phases and how it is easy to question if we have made the right choice, but shares tools that you can use to evaluate.
Karen’s next visit was to an artist friend that lives on a farm and uses discarded materials for her artwork. This led Karen to the realisation that we often fall into a trap of thinking we need a perfect plan and all the best tools to start creating, but, as she explains, you might just need what is already there.
One of the big things that Karen did when she was away was not work. But, she also found herself not checking social media or worrying about her regular day to day activities. She talks about how this enabled her inspiration to return as she was no longer pressured to create from the pressure of being on the hamster wheel.

BEST MOMENTS

“When we travel there are some really valuable insights that we can stumble upon.”

“We are allowed to evolve and we are allowed to do it in our own time.”

“There are infinite ways to live and create, find the one that works for you.”

EPISODE LINKS

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Miss Libby Rose

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VALUABLE RESOURCES

Getting Started Guide

Artisan Perfumery Mastermind

ABOUT THE HOST

Fragrance expert, author, teacher and speaker; Karen Gilbert runs courses in the UK and online which demystify the secretive world of perfumery in a fun and interactive way.

Karen has inspired thousands of students to explore their olfactory sense and create their own personalised fragrances.

With extensive product development experience in both the commercial perfumery and the organic skincare industry, Karen is able to offer a unique insight into creating natural and mixed media fragrances for fine fragrance, room scents and skincare/bodycare products using commercial perfumery techniques.

Karen is also a certified meditation teacher and has a passion for helping people to create daily rituals that integrate scent with other modalities to shift state and increase your sense of wellbeing.

CONTACT DETAILS

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