Why Most Brands Fail When They Try to Crack the U.S. Market | Ep. 435 with Nicole Eckels Founder of Glasshouse Fragrance

Why Most Brands Fail When They Try to Crack the U.S. Market | Ep. 435 with Nicole Eckels Founder of Glasshouse Fragrance

August 21, 2026 · 33 min · Episode 435

About this episode

Nicole Eckels discusses her journey in building a successful fragrance business and the challenges of entering the U.S. market.

Daniel Robbins sits down with Nicole Eckels, Co Founder and Creative Director of Sapphire Group, Glasshouse Fragrances, and Circa Home, to unpack how she built one of the most recognizable fragrance businesses out of Australia and brought it into the U.S. market. Nicole shares why she still struggles to say she has “made it,” how patience and experience helped her crack America, and why understanding the customer at the deepest level became her advantage. The conversation explores category creation, luxury consumer psychology, speed to market, AI in creative production, the cost of success, motherhood, work life balance, and why Nicole is not chasing an exit but still chasing the next level of growth.

People in this episode

Host: Daniel Robbins

Guest: Nicole Eckels

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Sapphire Group, Glasshouse Fragrances, Circa Home

Places: U.S. market, Australia

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