In a garage in Gimonäs, Joseph Constantin is developing his perfume brand Dirista. While tackling the challenges of business and the art of perfumery, he is practising another skill: calmness.

Appearances can be deceptive in sleepy neighbourhoods. If you peek into guildhalls and side buildings, you sometimes find unexpected passion projects. Carlshöjd in Umeå, for example, produces Bute ice cider, which was served at the Nobel Banquet in 2024.

A stone's throw away, in Gimonäs, Joseph Constantin runs his perfumery Dirista.

But now we're not having a bike party in the neighbourhood. Instead, we open the garage door to Dirista's combined studio, screening room and lounge. In the corner is an elegant vinyl player and on the floor is a white shaggy carpet. A couple of years ago, this is where Joseph used to sit and listen to Random Bastards with his high school friends, when they weren't playing football with GUIF. Now, when he is nineteen, he usually calls them here when the boxes are being packed for a perfume fair.

In two years, his curiosity about scents has grown into something that characterises most of his life.

- People have different ways of expressing themselves. This has become my way. I like to explore what a scent can do and what it can capture. It's like stopping time in a bottle. I can smell something and immediately take myself back to the time that was.

The anecdote of how it all began, Joseph has already shared in DN, UK and Folkbladet - about how, at the age of 16, he took so long to choose a perfume in a shop that his father jokingly suggested he make his own.

Parents continue to play an integral role in the company's origin story. ”Their help and support has been crucial,” says Joseph.

- I am eternally grateful to them.

He describes developing his own expression and building a business at the same time as a long series of instructive challenges.

At first, running workshops for hen parties and groups of friends was nerve-wracking. But after instructing 60 groups on how to create a believable scent chord with bass, middle and top notes, he feels comfortable in the role.

Of course, translating your own feelings and thoughts into scents using hundreds of oils and essences has also been a learning journey - one that is far from over.

But one thing leads to another, in his experience, including in terms of contacts and collaborations. Among other things, he has collaborated with the performing artists of SdVVVorks in the production of the limited edition of Unknovvn clouds. An interpretation of how a cloud can smell.

But making lots of decisions and tackling one challenge after another is also exhausting. Especially if, like Joseph, you're meticulous and happy to tweak a fragrance endlessly, while the company has to evolve.

He translated the feeling of stress and pressure into his second perfume, Relief. A reminder to take time to reflect. It's also the scent he chooses most mornings.

Now the goal is to keep spreading the word about Dirista, so that more people want to try his collection. And to find sustainability in the business, so that he can work just enough and live on it.

- I try not to be here in the garage evenly, he says.

Text: Hanna Kangassalo

Dare to take the first step!

Here's what Joseph Constantin has to say to those of you who are also at the beginning of an artistic business career.

”Whether you have a very clear vision or not, it's important not to get stuck in your process for too long. Put something together and go for it. Only then do you end up in the right context and learn for real. In my case, it was perfume fairs. It may sound cliché, but you have to dare to take that first step.”