Hi, I’m Nicole. I’m 35, born and raised in the Bay Area, a mom, a social worker, and somebody who has always been drawn to creativity, beauty, and self-care. The little details that make something feel personal. I love anything that gives me room to create, experiment, and make something unique. Whether it’s fragrance, style, beauty, or bringing an idea to life.
I’m naturally curious about people and what makes them who they are, which explains why Body by Empath feels so natural to me.
So, Body by Empath started with my baby sister….
She was searching for a fragrance she could no longer find, and it became clear pretty quickly that she wasn’t just missing a perfume. That scent was connected to a particular time in her life, and not being able to find it again kept bringing her back to that memory. I wanted to see if I could create something that captured what she had been looking for — not necessarily a perfect copy, but the feeling she associated with it.
That one experience opened a door for me.
I started experimenting with fragrance materials, learning how different notes worked together, and paying closer attention to the way scent can pull out memories, emotions, places, people, and even versions of ourselves we thought we had forgotten. What began as a hobby slowly turned into something much bigger as I started creating for friends and family. People kept coming back, asking for more, and telling me how personal their fragrances felt.
That part mattered to me.
I have a Master’s degree in Social Work, and my background as a social worker has always centered around understanding people beyond the surface. I’m naturally curious about someone’s story — what they connect with, what they avoid, what makes them feel safe, confident, nostalgic, soft, powerful, or at home. I realized I was bringing that same way of understanding people into fragrance without even trying.
That became the foundation of Body by Empath.
I don’t believe choosing a fragrance should only be about picking a few notes from a list or wearing whatever happens to be popular at the moment. Your favorite scent can be influenced by memory, personality, culture, comfort, environment, relationships, and experiences you may not even realize are shaping what you love.
So when I create, I’m listening for more than “vanilla” or “floral.”
I’m paying attention to the person behind the preferences.
Body by Empath began as something I simply enjoyed doing, but the response from the people around me showed me that there was something special in the process. What started as a personal experiment became a way to combine creativity, connection, and the work I already love doing — understanding people.
Every fragrance is curated with the goal of creating something that feels intentional, personal, and familiar in a way you may not have expected.
Because the best fragrance isn’t always the one everyone else is wearing.
Sometimes it’s the one that feels the most like you.
