ter, their challenge is no longer simply controlling their destiny, but building a fragrance business capable of standing apart from Aina’s considerable online influence. Forvr Mood’s co-founder journey Before launching Forvr Mood, Aina had amassed almost 9 million followers and worked with major beauty brands, while Asamoah had built a career at financial firms including Morgan Stanley, BNY Mellon and Northern Trust.  Combining their talents, the pair settled on a business built around fragrance and the art of setting the mood. “Naturally, when you’re with your partner, you talk about what inspires you, what you love, and Jackie always used to emphasise how much she loved fragrances. She used to burn candles and set the mood in the house every single day,” Asamoah recalled. Inspired by Aina’s daily ritual and longstanding love of fragrance, the pair developed a collection of candles for Forvr Mood’s first product range. Asamoah estimated that the process – from conception and product development to the launch of the brand’s direct-to-consumer site in August 2020 – took about four months and required roughly US$200,000 in startup costs. Finding the right flow That immediate demand created a new set of problems. Asamoah and Aina had to replenish stock quickly to meet consumer demand, despite pandemic-related supply-chain delays. They also had very limited space in which to store the products. Initially, Forvr Mood operated from a roughly 3,000sq ft space, Asamoah said. The company later leased a 35,000sq ft warehouse before scaling back to a smaller, more manageable facility once its operational processes were established. Asked how the co-founders determine production volumes for replenishments and new releases – including the highly anticipated launch of a fine-fragrance collection in April 2024 – Asamoah said forecasting remains a constant balancing act between customer data and intuition. “In a sense, we’re in a better place because we have several years of experience to make decisions, but even that doesn’t guarantee anything,” he said.  “I’ll be transparent with you that we got the forecast wrong on the latest launch [an eau de parfum dubbed ‘Not Your Type’]. We ordered more than we needed, but the reason why was that we didn’t want to have the same situation of having too little and then being out of stock for several months.” Past performance is not necessarily a reliable guide, he added: “What people don’t realise is that having one type of scenario in the previous year doesn’t guarantee the same one in the next year. Things change so quickly, and the timing of your launch also matters.” Forvr Mood, for example, officially launched on Aina’s birthday, August 4, with early access offered to preregistered customers. The timing made the occasion feel more celebratory and gave Aina’s longtime fans a special way to support her. Building a brand beyond social media influence From the outset, Asamoah and Aina wanted to ensure Forvr Mood would not become another influencer brand that started strongly before flaming out. A large following does not guarantee commercial success, Asamoah said. He advises creators to be intentional about what they build and avoid chasing quick returns. “Because you’ll learn very quickly that your influence and your audience may be able to get you your first sale, but without a good product, you’re not going to get someone that wants to come and buy again,” he said.  “I always encourage people to ask themselves, ‘Are you passionate about this? Is this something that is embodied in terms of your lifestyle and what you do?’” From its name to its marketing, the co-founders have sought to draw a clear distinction between Jackie Aina, the content creator, and Forvr Mood, the brand. “That was one of the reasons we didn’t call it the Jackie Aina brand,” Asamoah said. “Obviously, many people know Jackie as one of the founders, but the goal was to build a legacy brand that can live on by itself without me or Jackie. Often the challenge for creator-led brands is that if something does go wrong, which has happened in the past, people will go directly to the source.” Whether they are experiencing a shipping issue or another problem that should be handled by the customer service team, customers will often approach Aina directly for help. “They feel like she’s accessible to them, so that is the challenge,” Asamoah said. “But I feel like we’ve done a great job manoeuvring that. If we see issues happening, our team will be on social media responding, ‘Hey, please contact us,’ rather than having Jackie personally deal with them.” Asamoah also acknowledged the double-edged nature of having a public figure attached to a brand: a perceived social faux pas can have an immediate effect on sales. “You have to remember that not everyone is going to love your brand,” he said. “It’s important to remember what you stand for and what you believe in. Guess what? If it means losing customers that don’t have similar beliefs to you, then you have to be okay with it.” Forvr Mood’s next move Forvr Mood recorded US$3 million in sales during its first six months in business, according to Asamoah. Sales have fluctuated over the past few years as the company has moved through several stages of expansion, but the brand has maintained steady growth overall. Asamoah expects revenue to rise by more than 50 per cent this year, reaching eight figures by the end of 2026. The brand is now focused on releasing products such as ‘Not Your Type’ and expanding its retail presence in the US and overseas. “In terms of retail strategy, honestly, I am happy with just working with Sephora because we still got a lot of things to achieve,” Asamoah said. “We’re in just under 500 stores currently in Sephora in the US, and the goal is to get into all stores, then Sephora at Kohl’s. We also want to start going international, whether that’s in the UK because we have a huge market there, or going to places such as Australia or the Middle East.” “Ultimately, the goal is to create products that people will use to help uplift themselves and to evoke a positive mood,” Asamoah said. Further reading: Why influencer marketing is no longer the ‘wild west’