Christian Provenzano is one of the world’s leading creative perfumers. For the past 25 years he has worked at CPL and has helped the company establish itself as a major international fragrance house. You may be surprised to hear how Christian entered the world of fragrances. He revealed all when he spoke to us recently following the his 25th anniversary at the company. So Christian, can you tell us how you got into the fragrance industry? During a summer holiday in Spain, I met a Dutch girl. She invited me to visit her in Amsterdam so I did. Her Grandfather was working for a fragrance company called Maschmeijer Aromatics and as I was not working at the time, I went for an interview and was offered a job as a laboratory assistant. Soon after that, they discovered that I had a good nose and sent me to their perfumery school at Naarden. After completing my course, I returned to Maschmeijer as a trainee perfumer and worked with them for 4 years. I then moved to England joined Zimmerman & Hobbs in Milton Keynes as a Perfumer. After 8 years, I moved to Fritsche Dodge & Olcott (FDO UK) and then finally to CPL Aromas. Can you remember your interview with CPL 25 years ago? Very well! It was on a Saturday morning at Barrington Hall. Terry & Michael Pickthall, Eric Atkins and Martin Sebley were present. To be honest, I had no intention to join CPL at that time as I was very happy with my Job at FDO, but came for the interview because I was curious. Terry made me an offer and I turned it down. Three months later, Terry called me again and made me a ‘better’ offer. This time I accepted and joined CPL in September 1989. What are your best achievements for the company? I would say winning a FIFI award in 2000 with ‘Agent Provocateur signature fragrance’. How has the company changed over the years? When I joined, CPL was a fairly small company compared to the company I was working for. We grew together and I am please to say that today CPL is one of the top 10 fragrance house in the world. What’s your favourite part of the job? I enjoy the creative side of the business. Travelling and meeting customers is also something I love to do. What has it been like working for CPL? Mostly enjoyable! I have worked for two generations of the Pickthall family and have always felt part of the family. Do you have any memorable anecdotes or stories from you time at CPL? When Terry and I negotiated for a Porsche car, he gave me the cheapest one available but promised me that if we can reach £1million sales in the Far East in a year, I can choose the Porsche I want. Nine months down the road, we achieve the £1 million target and he said to me: “Christian, you don’t have to wait for another 3 months, go and get your car!”
Posted on: Thu, 04 Sep 2014 10:31:18 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015