Inspired by her heritage and travels across Africa, Lola Jemibewon created Young Mary’s to capture the continent’s rich cultures in evocative scents. She effortless pairs home fragrance with storytelling, transporting you to the sights and smells of cities without even leaving your living room. In this interview, Lola lets us in on the challenges and triumphs of building a heritage-rooted, woman-owned small business.

In your own words, what is Young Mary’s?

Young Mary’s is a love letter to the part of the world I’m most passionate about: Africa. It’s a piece of the Motherland bottled up. It’s my connection to my family’s past, our history and hopefully a grounding for our future.

Young Mary’s is more than a home fragrance company and our products aren’t just the candles. Our products are the cities, countries and sights on the continent that inspire us to create our fragrances. When you buy a Young Mary’s product, what you’re really buying is belief in Africa; the belief that the people and cultures from this part of the world are more than news headlines. That there’s beauty, joy, wonder and awe all to be found in this part of the world. 

“When you buy a Young Mary’s product, what you’re really buying is belief in Africa”

What was the inspiration behind the brand?

I’ve been making candles for a long time, initially motivated by my lack of funds as a broke university student. As a young adult, I had the chance to live and work in Nigeria for a number of years and this is where the idea of Young Mary’s first sparked (pun intended).

My work in Nigeria gave me the opportunity to travel through Africa quite a bit and my eyes were completely opened to the wonder, awe and beauty of this part of the world. I knew I had to do something to help more people see and experience what I was seeing and experiencing. Eventually the stars aligned and I realised I could share these stories and beauty through my other hobby: scent. That’s how Young Mary’s was born.

What are some of the sights and sounds you capture in your scents?

A great example is Côte D’Ivoire, one of our best selling candles. If you stop someone on the streets of London and ask what they know about Ivory Coast, you’ll probably get some blank stares. But ask that same person if they like chocolate and there’s a good chance they’ll say yes.

Well, guess what? The largest cocoa producer in the world is Côte d’Ivoire. That small West African nation is the lynchpin in something we all enjoy. And so the Young Mary’s Côte d’Ivoire candle is inspired by that fact. It’s rich and indulgent with notes of cocoa oil and fudge, brown sugar and cream. It smells like freshly baked chocolate brownies and I think it’s a beautiful representation of this wonderful little country that provides so much joy to the world.  

Why was it important to you and your identity to build a brand rooted in locations in Africa?

Because I am a proud African. Sure, I was born and raised outside of Africa but this is the land from which I hail. I grew up as the kid in class with the funny name who ate funny food for lunch with funny sounding parents.

After being asked “Where are you really from” your whole life, setting foot somewhere you actually belong is powerful.

Also, Africa is amazing! The food, the people, the culture, the history, the languages – it’s the most diverse continent we have! How can I not shout about it from the rooftops?

What is your bestselling candle?

My best selling candle is Maputo, inspired by the capital of Mozambique. Fragrance is very personal; if you have 100 people smell the same thing, you’re going to get 100 different opinions on it, but Maputo seems to resonate with most people!

It’s an uplifting fragrance. It’s light and airy; there are notes of green tea and seaweed, some juniper and floral fragrances as well. It’s inspired by the beautiful, white sand beaches you find across Mozambique – so maybe that’s the secret? It reminds everyone of their favorite holidays. 

How do you want your home fragrances to make your customers feel?

I want Young Mary’s to make customers feel luxurious, like they’ve taken a trip somewhere off the beaten track all without leaving their living rooms. I want to make my customers feel proud. I want them to take pride in supporting a small business, supporting a woman-owned business, and supporting Africa as a place deserving of more than charity. 

As a business owner, what’s been your biggest win so far?

My biggest win so far is the fact that we’re still around! Any product-based business that survived the COVID era and the cost of living crisis in the U.K. and is still somehow managing to produce and sell is deserving of all the candles!

I am so proud that this idea is still going and still resonating with people far and wide, and that people are still supporting Young Mary’s and allowing us into their homes. That’s a massive win for me and I’m grateful to be able to do this.

Seeing my candles in John Lewis comes in at a close second.

“I am so proud that this idea is still going and still resonating with people far and wide”

What’s been your biggest challenge?

Refer back to your previous question! The increase we’ve seen in the cost of raw materials has been challenging. The cost of glass has more than doubled; wax, tins, our oils – it’s scary when I look at the increase in the cost of our production over the past five or six years. But I made the decision very early on that I would not pass on price increases to the consumer unless I absolutely had to, and I’m happy that we haven’t had to in the last five years.

But that’s come at a cost in other places. We haven’t released any new scents in those five years; we haven’t been able to release any new product lines as well. You have to pick your battles and strike a balance that works for you and your business.

Personally, I want to keep my products as affordable as they can be considering the time, resources and energy that goes into producing them. But that hasn’t always been as straight forward as I would have liked.

What can we expect next from Young Mary’s?

I’m happy to say that we do have some exciting things up our sleeves. After a period of just managing to keep the doors open and the proverbial lights on, things are starting to turn around.

In 2026, we plan on releasing two new products – you guys at Jamii are the first to hear this! It’s been a long time since we’ve done this so I’m excited and nervous to head in a new direction; but you have to keep growing and pushing yourself, so I’m pleased to finally be back at a point where we can do that.

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