How empathy is helping create a 7-figure brand

By Louis Smith Edited by Patricia Cullen

Key Takeaways

  • Did you know you can use “empathy” to scale teams and businesses? You read that right. Do you want to build better teams? Do you want to build a better work culture? Do you want better home relationships? You need empathy (it’s more than what your parents wanted you to have in school).

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Rebel Aromas
Louis Smith, co-founder, Rebel Aromas

Empathy is an overlooked skill in the workplace and life. But after 15 years of work, I find empathy creates mass results - time and time again. Empathy is more than understanding someone's emotions. It's knowing and addressing their needs. Not just addressing but building teams and businesses. Real empathy is a powerful tool in both business and marketing.

How? We shouldn't believe everyone is on the same "wavelength" as us. Instead, we must understand that no two people have the same motive, using empathy. Empathy isn't a skill you learn overnight. It's a tool that takes time to develop and use to better your understanding of teams and the people around you. Don't you just love it when team members just "get you and your mission"? Let me share how I've learned to understand and use the benefits of empathy to help create success for myself and the people around me.

Using empathy as a leadership tool
I want to share a personal example of empathy I have used in business to help achieve huge success in my career. In March 2024, I had a catch-up call on a Friday night with a client about our SEO campaign. We spoke about a new growing market, inspired by perfumes. The conversation piqued my interest as I have never been one to splurge on luxury aftershave - I'd prefer to book a plane ticket. We had a conversation on hurdles and possibilities for building a brand. What does this have to do with empathy? Good question. Empathy helped me. I was able to understand my now business partners Karl and Abi's:

  • Current issues for not starting earlier
  • Constraints of starting the business
  • Vision of possibilities
  • Visually seeing their goals
  • Understanding their reasons for growing in the emerging fragrance market.

It instantly "clicked", my vision and goals aligned with theirs. We have those moments in life when the stars align. This was one of them. What did I do? I asked the question: "I would like to be part of this journey". The next day, we began our dupe perfume business Rebel Aromas.

Building our team through emotional intelligence
Within 24 hours, we had a live Shopify Brand. We had to align goals, systems, strategies, budgets etc, quickly. What helped us? Empathy was pivotal in scaling trust within our team while building our dupe fragrance brand. Emotional intelligence helped us connect and quickly stack new growth ideas. I also took the time to understand what motivated each team member. For example, was it learning new skills or using their experience to align their goals with our fragrance brand's mission? We rapidly built a culture of inclusion, and everyone felt heard. We also worked on open feedback sessions to encourage collaboration and bring fresh perspectives to. One breakthrough came when a team member suggested we focus on luxury fragrances, for a fraction of the cost, within our products, an idea that became a cornerstone of our brand. Leading with empathy not only empowered the team but also united us in creating a business built on shared purpose and innovation.

How does it help the customer?
It's proven customer understanding helps to increase a brand's profits. We need to understand the customer:

  • their desires
  • their pain points
  • their motives
  • the reason they want to buy our products

It's wrong to only talk about our products. I can stand in their shoes and see our brand, products, and customer service.

What are the results?
From day 1, we consistently worked towards getting 1% better daily. We are always improving our brand, products and customer service. Our motto is simple: "Luxury for a fraction of the cost". Everybody deserves a piece of luxury in life. Empathy has helped us deliver that promise.

How to use empathy in the workplace (and life)
There's a lot of great benefits. One benefit I love is understanding my colleague's motivation levels. For example, I can usually pick up if my team member is close to burnout. I would step in every time to offer my help. On the flip side, I can quickly feel good energy and work with that to channel our growth. Business growth is not always sunshine and rainbows. But having empathy helps me understand those around me and adapt to either help them or scale the energy for the day. Empathy doesn't have to be a mystery.

There are protocols you can learn (that I learned) and call on to help you in the workplace.

  • Critically evaluate yourself (not easy) -> Identify and address personal biases affecting your interactions with others. For example, do you often find yourself speaking over people?
  • Practice your active listening -> Avoid interruptions, focus on understanding the speaker's perspective, and show genuine interest in their thoughts. For example, Do you take on board what people are saying?
  • Ask for feedback -> For example, seek opinions from others and remain open to constructive criticism to build mutual trust. How do friends and family feel about your listening and understanding skills?
  • Respect Different Viewpoints -> Embrace diversity by showing curiosity about ideas that differ from yours without judgment. For example, do you feel you're always "right"?
  • Stay Patient and Composed -> Build trust and credibility by remaining calm, supportive, and empathetic, even during stressful situations.

Benefits of using empathy
At the start of my career, I would listen to colleagues, peers and customers to understand them. What were the benefits?
- I quickly understand other's problems.
- I put myself in their shoes (a key trait of empathy).
- I can find faster solutions to problems.

My closing thoughts on empathy
Empathy is NOT just a nice-to-have skill - it's a huge growth lever. Having the tool in my locker has helped me build exciting eCommerce brands across the globe. Not just work with brands but also start an exciting, inspired perfume brand in the UK chasing a 7 figure turnover in its 2nd year of business. Empower empathy for huge success in your career.

Louis Smith

Co-founder, Dupe Perfume

Louis Smith is a renowned E-commerce SEO Consultant and Enterprise Shopify Search Engine Optimization Specialist from Bolton, England. He has significantly impacted the e-commerce industry by driving over $80 million in Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) for the businesses he has collaborated with.
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