an_interview_with_Ruth

An Interview
with Ruth Ruane,
Owner of White Witch & Nature's Nexus
by Justine Crane

Justine:        We’ve been acquainted a while, so I do know a little about you
~ you have seven children, which is cool, I have six, so I won’t ask the
question many people ask upon hearing that ~ “how do you do it?” Well, we
know, right? You just do! Life goes on, dreams still need to be fulfilled, eh?
For those of us who are excessively fertile, we learn to fulfill our dreams
with a team behind us. I was delighted to hear that you aren’t the only
person in your family who is creatively inclined. Your brother William is an
artist, and his subject matter may seem as odd to the rest of the world as
perfume making can sometimes seem. In one of our previous conversations,
you mentioned that you come from a ‘mad Irish family’, would you care to
elaborate?

Ruth:        I am laughing at the you calling us "excessively fertile", goddess knows
if my husband hadn't taken serious action I would have 9 kids by now! My sister
Petra has 11!

Well I suppose 'mad Irish family' is meant in the most creative sense, my father
owned his own business and was a mechanical engineer, he engineered a car
which enabled the first disabled driver in the world to pass her test. All he
wanted in return was for her to "buy him a drink sometime". Years later someone
copied his design and patented it.

My mother encouraged us all to be different. I was raised a catholic (but not
strictly as my father was an atheist) and when I made my first communion my aunt
bought me my shoes. They were white which was usual for first holy communion.
My mother brought them back to the shop and exchanged them for black ones. I
remember her saying "you are not going to be the same as everyone else". I was the
only girl in the church with shiny black patent shoes. I had no veil either, I had a
special bonnet which left my hair hanging down around my shoulders instead of
hidden under a veil. My hair was knee length until I was a teenager. That's when
I had it cut to my shoulders. My mother was a bit disappointed and all she said
was "oh well now you look like everyone else." A month or so later I gave myself a
mohawk, in other words I shaved the sides, spiked the center and dyed it
different colors. She smiled when she saw it and said "at least it's different".
There were eight of us and we were all a creative. My brother, the one you
mentioned, William Ruane is an artist in Cork City, Ireland.

Justine:        You also have a lot of pokers in the fire right now, from the
Nature’s Nexus website, to blogs, to your own business, White Witch.

Ruth:        I've always been an entrepreneur and had some business or other on
the go, even before I left school I was painting postcards and selling them in local
pubs to tourists. My father encouraged that spirit in us all and used to tell us
"never work for anyone but yourself". I have always loved nature and was reared
on a natural diet consisting of raw milk and brown home made bread and the
simplest home cooked meals made with vegetables my mother grew in the garden.
My mother took me for walks in the country and knew the names of all the wild
herbs.

I am told I work too hard, but I love my work. Nature's Nexus is my new baby, it's
an online magazine dedicated to everything natural. At the moment I am learning the
basics of CMS or Content Management Systems, that's a whole other world right
there. Natural Perfumery is my passion and I practice every chance I get.

Justine:        What do you find most fulfilling about your work? I noticed that
your business, White Witch, is a family endeavor with your daughter Karma
working as the production manager. Do any of your other children help out
with your business(es)? Do you plan at some point to hand over your
business to your children? (hopefully you’re well within your dotage before
you’re ready for that)

Ruth:        My husband helps me out with when I have computer problems. The
older kids help out by doing house work and cooking a dinner during the week.
My daughter Karma comes to fairs with me and as you said she does a lot of the
production. I started White Witch when my last child was born. I had been quiet
for a few years since I sold Blasta Foods and even though I had started sign
making I felt as if I had taken a back seat to my husbands business. When my
youngest daughter was born I decided I didn't want her growing up watching her
mama cooking and cleaning, so I got my arse into gear and started White Witch. I
wanted to be a good role model for my daughter.

Also none of my children have ever been in a creche or daycare. I always kept
them at my side when they were pre schoolers. They play while I work, I have
two pre-schoolers left at home. I am always there for them. White Witch was built
up while I was breast feeding my daughter who is now 3. I am applying for
funding to expand this year and intend to include a childcare facility in the work
unit. White Witch is selling products in Ireland and all over the world and sales
are going up and up. I have customers in Paris, Rome, New York, Los Angeles,
and London as well as many customers in Canada and Australia. It's a success
story and it's only just hitting home now.

As anybody who is self employed knows it's often hard to make ends meet.
Especially in the early days. But we keep going. There were times last year when
we found things a struggle and the wintertime is the hardest as there are more
bills. With a house full of kids the food bills alone run into hundreds each week,
school books are very expensive too. In Ireland, back to school time is a real killer
as we have to kit them all out with new shoes, winter coats, bags, and school
fees. But saying all that I would still prefer to work for myself than for somebody
else. Our youngest boy was recently diagnosed with type one diabetes and that
been a blow for us. But I'm a tough nut and I keep going. I couldn't do it without
the support of my husband Sean who is always there to pick up the slack when I
have a lot of extra work to do. He is a fantastic Dad and he runs his own business
from home too. We get on really well, and it's lucky we do because we spend so
much time together. Sean is originally from Victoria B.C. Canada.

Justine:        What do you consider your greatest accomplishment within the
botanical perfuming community? Most of us are aware of your past
affiliations with a certain Yahoo-based news list, and we’ll avoid getting
mucked up in that subject, but you must have learned something through
that experience that directly relates to the creation of perfume.

Ruth:            Well I have learned a lot since I started two-and-a-half years ago.
Most of it I learned from asking questions and from reading how other people do it.
I have learned what natural perfumery is and that it is really hard work and that it
is very hard on the pocket, at this point I am spending more on natural perfumery
materials than anything else involving my business. I have collected samples from
all over to see what others are doing. I think I can do just as well if not better. I
have my favorite natural perfumes and I know what I like. I know I can teach
myself as I have seen other do but I would love some contact with a real master.
On the group you mentioned I met a lot of nice people, a lot of whom are no longer
members. They were helpful when I got stuck.

I made some good friends,and I made even more friends when I got the boot. A lot
of people got booted off that group. I was booted off for complaining about a
perfumery class. Although like I said I missed some people from that group, but
they are still my friends and they emailed me after I was gone to tell me they
missed me.

Since I started with NP I learned how passionate people can be about natural
perfumery. I really love those passionate people for their love and loyalty to the art.

I don't even want to get into the very ugly politics that seems to exist around this
beautiful art.

I learned to love natural perfumery and it is now a part of me, part of who I am. I
learned that everyone has their own way of doing things and that there is no one
"right way". I learned that just because a person talks about making perfumes
doesn't make them a perfumer. I learned that if people love your work you will be
successful.

Justine:        What do you see as the future for this art form? I know a lot of
people out there think what we do is easy (ha ha ha, right?), and think they
can just jump right in and start creating masterpieces and raking in the
money (again, ha ha ha) ~ having faced the reality of this art form, what do
you see as your future within perfumery? What do you hope for? How do you
see this art form reaching respectable goals within the world community? By
that I mean that I am aware, and many other natural and botanical
perfumers are aware, of how the modern perfume industry perceives our
endeavors, which isn’t the least bit favorable. Knowing that, how do you
think we might be able to overcome that obstacle? Or do you think we even
need to try?

Ruth:        This is a big question.

IMHO The future for the art form of natural perfumery will create itself, it is
creating itself. It has a future that I can see already is there. It's like song and
color, that which has no beginning has no end.

In one way I can sort of see why the modern perfume industry perceives the
endeavors of natural perfumers with contempt and ridicule and that's because the
modern perfume industry developed from traditional perfumery, from the days
when they only had naturals. So they sort of see us as if we are going
backwards. Modern day perfumers are taught the history of perfumery and how it
led them up to where they are today with so many wonderful new synthetic
materials to use.

There are three types of perfume business's . One is mainstream perfumery, which
has very little to do with art and is more about copying what's already popular. To
define the point we could call it "pop perfume". Then there are the independent
small perfume houses, these are the ones who use every material available but on a
small scale, the perfumes made by these houses are usually more individual and
original, and particular to the style of the perfumer. We could call this
"contemporary perfumery". Then there are those who want to only use natural
materials in their work, we could call this "traditional perfumery". We could
compare this type of perfumery to traditional music which is listened to live usually
in a pub/bar/lounge, small space or intimate setting. The spirit of live traditional
music and natural human voice are what is carried through. Never quite the same
when it is electronically recorded, traditional Irish music would lift the roof off a
place with the power that is behind it. To me natural perfume is the same as that
and like traditional Irish music it will never stop developing. We have more
materials to use now than ever before. If you have ever read Steffan Arctanders
book on naturals you will see that there are many materials available now that
were not in use when he wrote the book.

I don't know how many traditional Irish musicians became wealthy or famous from
their art, but there are a few. There hundreds more who do it out of love and who
will go to the pub for a session on a Friday night and play the badhran (irish
drum) till the early hours and be paid nothing more than a few pints of Porter.

So it is with natural perfumery there are many brilliant natural perfumers who
practice and make perfumes for friends and family purely out love and enjoyment
for the art and there the few masters who want to be professional perfumers and
sell their perfumes, some of them get famous. I want to be one of those. I want to
be a famous master natural perfumer.

Contact Information:
Ruth Ruane
Nature's Nexus
White W itch

Working the Bench
with Lyn Ayre

Working the Bench
with Justine Crane

“Women who buy perfume and flowers for themselves because their
men won't do it are called 'self basting.'”
Adair Lara