We recently connected with Jonathan Klein and have shared our conversation below.

Jonathan, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How did you come up with the idea for your business?

Our story started during a tough time for my wife, Emily. She had a serious knee injury while still dancing professionally with the American Ballet Theatre. If you know anything about ballet, you know it’s a physically demanding career, and dancers don’t exactly retire at 70. So, while Emily was recovering, we started talking about what life after ballet could look like—what we’d do next, what could inspire us, and how we could build something meaningful together.
Part of that answer came from my godfather, Jean-Paul, or J.P. for short. J.P. was a famous herbalist in the South of France, and because my parents were busy running their own businesses and traveled a lot, I spent most of my summers with him. His home was magical—a stone cottage from the 1800s perched on a hill, surrounded by the most beautiful English gardens. But what really stuck with me was his work. J.P. dedicated his life to researching plants and their medicinal properties—after he passed, I kept his journal close.
One day, Emily and I were flipping through it, and we landed on a section all about beauty and cosmetics. Something clicked. We both looked at each other and thought, “Could this be it? Could we create something inspired by J.P.’s work?”
Emily encouraged me to copy the section and send it to Dr. Nicolas Rohrbacher, a French pharmacist and chemist who led a thesis on botanical based substances. Honestly, we didn’t expect much, but that same day, Dr. Nicolas got back to us. He had found the journal’s content very interesting and worth exploring. That was our lightbulb moment—we realized that we were onto something.
We started brainstorming ideas and researching the market. This was one of my favorite steps because it’s so fascinating to learn why people want what they want. After analyzing the data using visualization tools, one insight became really clear: the skincare market was saturated with two types of products— effective on one side, aesthetic on the other. So we asked ourselves, “Why should people have to choose? Why can’t skincare be both?”
That was the gap we set out to bridge, and from there, our vision became clear: French-made skincare that’s modern, effective, and enjoyable to use. We wanted to create products with unique textures, natural colors, and innovative ingredients.
And that’s how Murmure was born!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’m Jonathan Klein co-founder of Murmure. Originally from the south of France, and I moved to New York City at 18. This is where I met my wife Emily, who grew up in Ohio and was a professional ballerina with the American Ballet Theatre. Ballet teaches you so much beyond the stage—discipline, resilience, and a work ethic that pushes you to refine every detail. The skills you gain in ballet are surprisingly transferable—whether it’s the focus required to memorize hours of choreography or the ability to stay calm under pressure before a big show, it all applies when building and running a business.

At Murmure, we make naturally better skincare by blending potent botanicals and modern actives. All our products are vegan, cruelty-free, and free from harsh chemicals, made in France with the highest levels of naturality. We’re committed to quality, from our rigorously tested formulas to sustainable packaging using recyclable materials and FSC-certified paper.

Our goal? To bring you the very best for your skin!

Can you share one of your favorite marketing or sales stories?

One of my favorite marketing stories is when Emily and I came up with an idea to stand out in downtown Manhattan. We decided to print flyers, but with a twist—each flyer had a scratch-off code, like a lottery ticket. Some codes offered 10% off, some $10 off, and others gave away free products. The idea was to gamify something as ordinary as a flyer and make it more engaging.

Standing on the street, handing out flyers and getting 10 no’s for every yes, was tough. But it’s part of the entrepreneurial journey—resilience is key. The flyers caught people’s attention, driving traffic to our website and boosting sales. A nice reminder that pushing through rejection can really pay off.

Can you talk to us about manufacturing? How’d you figure it all out? We’d love to hear the story.

We manufacture our products at our partner labs in France. Finding the right manufacturing partner was a crucial part of our journey. It wasn’t something we knew how to do right away, the process was time-consuming, but we understood that choosing the wrong partner could break our business.

For us, it was important to invest in R&D so that we could own all of our formulas. We set things up with non-exclusive clauses, which allowed us to retain control over both the production process and pricing. This gives us flexibility as we grow. The best part is that, as our order quantities increase, we can lower costs and, in turn, pass those savings on to our customers.

The search for the right partner wasn’t easy, but we were lucky enough to visit all our potential partners in France during the pandemic. In the end, it all came down to a combination of instinct, trust and to be honest a bit of luck.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.murmureskin.com
• Instagram: @murmureskin
• Youtube: @murmureskin
• Other: Tiktok: @murmureskin

Image Credits

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