We were lucky to catch up with Fancy Acholonu recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Fancy thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea

I’ve always loved perfumes, so I decided to study perfumery in Los Angeles and learn how to create scents. My journey started from a holistic perspective, wanting to create fragrances that uplifted my mood, calmed my energy, and made me feel good and feminine.

As I studied how to make fragrances, it eventually led to my own fragrance business. It took about a year of working on the classes by myself, without any intention to sell. However, when I realized my fragrance was smelling great and other students and my teacher were recommending it, I decided to give selling a try.

I marketed the brand on social media, and to my surprise, I sold out within the first week. That’s when I knew I had something special that people loved. It’s a passion that accidentally turned into a business, and I love that.

I had to dive into the business side of things, like the production of bottles, mass production, and ensuring the right balance of alcohol in the fragrance to balance the notes. There was a lot involved in launching, but I took my time. When I felt ready, I launched my fragrance line, Simply Fancy.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Fancy Acholonu, and I started my career as a model and actress, primarily in commercial acting. I’ve always had an entrepreneurial mindset within the entertainment industry, which requires a business acumen in itself.

My first business was a jewelry store called Zodiacaa, specializing in zodiac sign jewelry, which did really well. This success made me realize I could definitely run a business. At the same time, I was studying marketing while working, keeping myself quite busy and dedicating time to everything I did.

Today, I own a fragrance line and still run my jewelry store. Additionally, I am the Marketing Director of a fitness company. You could say I’m a pretty busy girl, but I am busy doing what I love and am passionate about, for which I am very grateful.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

What I wish I could unlearn to be more successful in life is the belief that I have to do everything by myself. I now see that being so self-reliant and not building a team earlier on was not beneficial. I felt that no one would want to support me unless I was already successful, so I did everything alone. This mindset slowed me down significantly.

I’m still learning to ask for help, but my team is growing, and I now have the confidence to seek support. I wish I could have unlearned the “do it yourself” mentality sooner, realizing that you go further together.

As a child, I was always someone who got things done on my own and didn’t like to bother anyone. This trait carried over into my adult life, and it’s something I continue to work on today.

Have you ever had to pivot?

For me, entertainment was something I was passionate about, but the inconsistency of making money in that industry was uncomfortable. As I started to notice that I was doing much better in my marketing career, I decided to pivot to full-time marketing. This shift allowed me to finance my personal businesses, providing a more stable and predictable income.

I had to slow down on entertainment to focus on something easier to calculate and maintain. It was a great choice because now I can fund my passions and still have time for entertainment. I’m glad I pivoted when I did because it turned out to be a decision that has played out pretty well.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.simplyfancy.co
• Instagram: simplyfancy.co
• Facebook: fancyacholonu
• Linkedin: fancy acholonu
• Twitter: fancyacholonu
• Youtube: fancyacholonu
• Other: threads @fancyacholonu
  Tik Tok @fancyacholonu

Image Credits

I own these images