There are not many chief executives who pepper their conversation with Plato, Socrates, Marcus Aurelius or Michaelangelo within five minutes of meeting you.
But Barb Stegemann is not your average chief executive, nor even your average entrepreneur.
She is a whirlwind. A hearing-impaired Canadian social entrepreneur who in just three years has managed to put US$120,000 into the pockets of Afghanistan farmers, making it worth their while to give up growing illegal poppy crops.
She does not believe in charity, nor really in philanthropy. But she does believe in the power of business and economics to change the world and she wants women in all countries to use their buying power to improve the lives of those rebuilding their countries in Afghanistan, Haiti and the Middle East.
And her plan to do that is through perfume.
Ms Stegemann has recently started selling her award-winning fragrances in Selfridges, one of London’s most stylish department stores, and is finding a strong following.
Launched less than three years ago from her home in Nova Scotia, Canada, her perfumes, The 7 Virtues fragrance collection, feature scents made with essential oils that she buys from war-torn or disaster-hit nations.
She began by creating the Afghanistan Orange Blossom with orange blossoms harvested by Afghan farmers. She went on to make the Noble Rose of Afghanistan, with oil made from rose petals that are transported down the world’s most dangerous highway from Jalalabad to Kabul. After visiting Haiti with the former US president Bill Clinton, she has produced a scent called Vetiver of Haiti and has one called Middle East Peace – made from oroblanco, or sweetie, grapefruit oil from Israel in harmony with lime and basil oils from Iran.
But Ms Stegemann never really planned to make perfume. On 4 March 2006 her friend Captain Trevor Greene, who was serving in the Canadian forces in Afghanistan, was almost fatally injured.
“My best friend and mentor was discussing how to bring health care and water to the village and a man who did not want to see his community have free thought or will axed him in the head,” she says.
It was thought unlikely Capt Greene would survive but Ms Stegemann was at his bedside nursing him through and she promised him she would take on his mission. Although wheelchair bound, Capt Greene is now married and has a baby boy.
“Then I realised that I don’t have a way [to continue his work],” Ms Stegemann says.
“This patriarchy [in Afghanistan] isn’t built for me as a woman. But then I thought, ‘women own the buying power and women own the voting power’.”
The first step in her journey to founding her company was writing a best-selling book – a cross between a philosophy primer and a self-help guide. It’s now in its fifth edition.
It was a chance reading of an online article about Abdullah Arsala, the owner of the Gulestan Essential Oils distillery in Jalalabad, Afghanistan that led to her “light-bulb” moment.
Mr Arsala was trying to encourage local farmers to stop growing illegal poppies in favour of orange blossom and roses. The idea for a scent came to her.
Without going to Afghanistan she got in touch with Rory Stewart, now a Conservative MP in the United Kingdom, and through the Turquoise Mountain charity, which he used to run, she made contact with Mr Arsala, who has become her main supplier of essential oils.
“All he had was one cup of orange oil, I bought it for $2,000 on my credit card and found a perfumer and we launched 1,000 bottles of perfume on International Women’s day 2010,” Ms Stegemann says.
Two months later, persuaded by friends, she was pitching on the Canadian version of Dragon’s Den.
She chose W Brett Wilson as her investor from the show, a well-known philanthropist in Canada, because he offered mentoring and investment.
Later she won the accolade of top game changer in the history of CBC’s Dragon’s Den.
Although the perfume is now sold in the chain of high-end UK department stores Selfridges – fighting for space amongst the huge French and US designer brands – as well as Lord & Taylor in New York and in 90 Hudson’s Bay department stores across Canada, it is still a tiny cottage industry.
Ms Stegemann’s son Victor, 18, is helping her set up the business in Europe and her husband Mike, who owns a Volkswagen dealership, oversees production. At most, only about nine people work in the Canadian operation.
The business is making money, with more than a million dollars in sales, but Ms Stegemann pumps all her profits back into the business. She takes no salary but pays herself through speaker fees, at linked events where between 70 and 150 perfume bottles can be sold.
“I pump it all back into production because I am up against Chanel and Estée Lauder. This shouldn’t even exist,” she says of her business.
Asked if her aim is one day to sell out to one of the major perfume houses, her answer is interesting.
“When I went to Haiti [on an agricultural trade mission with the Clinton Foundation] I met some buyers of essential oils from France, who have real buying power. And they had heard of us, so I connected them with Abdullah.
“People said: ‘Aren’t you scared that others are going to go and do this and take your idea?’ But you know what, when that happens, it’s a good day because I’m all alone carrying the torch here,” she says.
Now with the French buyers queuing up to take Abdullah’s products, the Afghan growers have been boosted in a way that Ms Stegemann could never have imagined.
In Canada, powerful scents are banned from the workplace so 7 Virtues fragrances, which are essential oils blended with water and are more subtle than other perfumes, have a lot of appeal.
“We have created a scent that as a product no one can replicate easily. There are no nasty chemicals and we have really become the work-place scent.
The product has become the best-selling scent on Air Canada flights, after Ms Stegemann wrote to the airline’s president to lobby him to include it in the carrier’s retail offerings. This month it begins selling on American Airlines and Ms Stegemann is in talks with Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Atlantic airline.
“We have to recognise that business has this completely untapped power to change the world. It’s not philanthropy buying from nations in strife. We’re equal, we’re peers,” she says.
Ms Stegemann’s own background has clearly contributed to both her entrepreneurial zeal and her desire to help people.
She was raised on welfare and turned up to college with “just five bucks in her pocket and no sheets”.
Half-Catholic (from her mother) and half Jewish (her father was a Romanian Jewish refugee to Canada), she has no time for old enmities. She says she has more in common with her Muslim suppliers, through their shared ideals and love of Rumi’s poetry, than with many women in her home neighbourhood.
Her ambition in youth was to join the army, with her friend Capt Greene “because I was so grateful for my freedom” but she her hearing impairment prevented her on medical grounds. She spent her 20s, after her completing her first degree, flying as a business-class air hostess and having two children, the younger of whom, Ella, is now 14.
“I never saw [being an air hostess] as pouring coffee. Every day I would think, ‘who am I going to meet today?’, she says.
“It was like a flying boardroom. I would meet people I would never have met on the ground and I would learn from them.”
At 30 she took a second degree, in journalism, and then set up a communications business that worked extensively with municipal government.
Now she is 44, happy and wiser, she says, but still young enough to devote herself completely to her growing business.
Ms Stegemann is dynamic, loud and persuasive but also charmingly modest. Her success with the perfume she puts down to timing and consumer readiness.
“Today’s consumer is really enlightened now,” she says. “The consumer is driving this. I wake up to orders online every morning from people who haven’t even smelled it.”
But it is her energy and dedication that is giving hope to poor farmers in countries such as Afghanistan and Haiti and, very soon, Rwanda.
“Apathy is the enemy,” Ms Stegemann says.
“My job at the end of the day is to make rebuilding sexier than destruction.”
business@thenational.ae
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Four motivational quotes from Alicia's Dubai talk
“The only thing we need is to know that we have faith. Faith and hope in our own dreams. The belief that, when we keep going we’re going to find our way. That’s all we got.”
“Sometimes we try so hard to keep things inside. We try so hard to pretend it’s not really bothering us. In some ways, that hurts us more. You don’t realise how dishonest you are with yourself sometimes, but I realised that if I spoke it, I could let it go.”
“One good thing is to know you’re not the only one going through it. You’re not the only one trying to find your way, trying to find yourself, trying to find amazing energy, trying to find a light. Show all of yourself. Show every nuance. All of your magic. All of your colours. Be true to that. You can be unafraid.”
“It’s time to stop holding back. It’s time to do it on your terms. It’s time to shine in the most unbelievable way. It’s time to let go of negativity and find your tribe, find those people that lift you up, because everybody else is just in your way.”
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
THE BIO
Favourite place to go to in the UAE: The desert sand dunes, just after some rain
Who inspires you: Anybody with new and smart ideas, challenging questions, an open mind and a positive attitude
Where would you like to retire: Most probably in my home country, Hungary, but with frequent returns to the UAE
Favorite book: A book by Transilvanian author, Albert Wass, entitled ‘Sword and Reap’ (Kard es Kasza) - not really known internationally
Favourite subjects in school: Mathematics and science
Other ways to buy used products in the UAE
UAE insurance firm Al Wathba National Insurance Company (AWNIC) last year launched an e-commerce website with a facility enabling users to buy car wrecks.
Bidders and potential buyers register on the online salvage car auction portal to view vehicles, review condition reports, or arrange physical surveys, and then start bidding for motors they plan to restore or harvest for parts.
Physical salvage car auctions are a common method for insurers around the world to move on heavily damaged vehicles, but AWNIC is one of the few UAE insurers to offer such services online.
For cars and less sizeable items such as bicycles and furniture, Dubizzle is arguably the best-known marketplace for pre-loved.
Founded in 2005, in recent years it has been joined by a plethora of Facebook community pages for shifting used goods, including Abu Dhabi Marketplace, Flea Market UAE and Arabian Ranches Souq Market while sites such as The Luxury Closet and Riot deal largely in second-hand fashion.
At the high-end of the pre-used spectrum, resellers such as Timepiece360.ae, WatchBox Middle East and Watches Market Dubai deal in authenticated second-hand luxury timepieces from brands such as Rolex, Hublot and Tag Heuer, with a warranty.
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Lamsa
Founder: Badr Ward
Launched: 2014
Employees: 60
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: EdTech
Funding to date: $15 million
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
How does ToTok work?
The calling app is available to download on Google Play and Apple App Store
To successfully install ToTok, users are asked to enter their phone number and then create a nickname.
The app then gives users the option add their existing phone contacts, allowing them to immediately contact people also using the application by video or voice call or via message.
Users can also invite other contacts to download ToTok to allow them to make contact through the app.
Directed: Smeep Kang
Produced: Soham Rockstar Entertainment; SKE Production
Cast: Rishi Kapoor, Jimmy Sheirgill, Sunny Singh, Omkar Kapoor, Rajesh Sharma
Rating: Two out of five stars
PROFILE BOX
Company name: Overwrite.ai
Founder: Ayman Alashkar
Started: Established in 2020
Based: Dubai International Financial Centre, Dubai
Sector: PropTech
Initial investment: Self-funded by founder
Funding stage: Seed funding, in talks with angel investors
MATCH DETAILS
Manchester United 3
Greenwood (21), Martial (33), Rashford (49)
Partizan Belgrade 0
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
What drives subscription retailing?
Once the domain of newspaper home deliveries, subscription model retailing has combined with e-commerce to permeate myriad products and services.
The concept has grown tremendously around the world and is forecast to thrive further, according to UnivDatos Market Insights’ report on recent and predicted trends in the sector.
The global subscription e-commerce market was valued at $13.2 billion (Dh48.5bn) in 2018. It is forecast to touch $478.2bn in 2025, and include the entertainment, fitness, food, cosmetics, baby care and fashion sectors.
The report says subscription-based services currently constitute “a small trend within e-commerce”. The US hosts almost 70 per cent of recurring plan firms, including leaders Dollar Shave Club, Hello Fresh and Netflix. Walmart and Sephora are among longer established retailers entering the space.
UnivDatos cites younger and affluent urbanites as prime subscription targets, with women currently the largest share of end-users.
That’s expected to remain unchanged until 2025, when women will represent a $246.6bn market share, owing to increasing numbers of start-ups targeting women.
Personal care and beauty occupy the largest chunk of the worldwide subscription e-commerce market, with changing lifestyles, work schedules, customisation and convenience among the chief future drivers.
On the menu
First course
▶ Emirati sea bass tartare Yuzu and labneh mayo, avocado, green herbs, fermented tomato water
▶ The Tale of the Oyster Oyster tartare, Bahraini gum berry pickle
Second course
▶ Local mackerel Sourdough crouton, baharat oil, red radish, zaatar mayo
▶ One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest Quail, smoked freekeh, cinnamon cocoa
Third course
▶ Bahraini bouillabaisse Venus clams, local prawns, fishfarm seabream, farro
▶ Lamb 2 ways Braised lamb, crispy lamb chop, bulgur, physalis
Dessert
▶ Lumi Black lemon ice cream, pistachio, pomegranate
▶ Black chocolate bar Dark chocolate, dates, caramel, camel milk ice cream
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
You may remember …
Robbie Keane (Atletico de Kolkata) The Irish striker is, along with his former Spurs teammate Dimitar Berbatov, the headline figure in this season’s ISL, having joined defending champions ATK. His grand entrance after arrival from Major League Soccer in the US will be delayed by three games, though, due to a knee injury.
Dimitar Berbatov (Kerala Blasters) Word has it that Rene Meulensteen, the Kerala manager, plans to deploy his Bulgarian star in central midfield. The idea of Berbatov as an all-action, box-to-box midfielder, might jar with Spurs and Manchester United supporters, who more likely recall an always-languid, often-lazy striker.
Wes Brown (Kerala Blasters) Revived his playing career last season to help out at Blackburn Rovers, where he was also a coach. Since then, the 23-cap England centre back, who is now 38, has been reunited with the former Manchester United assistant coach Meulensteen, after signing for Kerala.
Andre Bikey (Jamshedpur) The Cameroonian defender is onto the 17th club of a career has taken him to Spain, Portugal, Russia, the UK, Greece, and now India. He is still only 32, so there is plenty of time to add to that tally, too. Scored goals against Liverpool and Chelsea during his time with Reading in England.
Emiliano Alfaro (Pune City) The Uruguayan striker has played for Liverpool – the Montevideo one, rather than the better-known side in England – and Lazio in Italy. He was prolific for a season at Al Wasl in the Arabian Gulf League in 2012/13. He returned for one season with Fujairah, whom he left to join Pune.
