HOW AND WHEN DID YOU MEET AND HOW AND WHEN DID YOU DECIDE TO DEVELOP KOBO CANDLES? WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT WORKING TOGETHER?
We first met at a party in southern Japan in 1986. For one of us it was classic love at first sight. The other needed a little more time for it to settle in. It is great to have someone totally trusted with the same goals in mind. Junko has a wonderful eye for detail and Louis constantly keeps things rolling toward the big picture. We are constantly bouncing ideas back and forth off of each other. It can be a double edged blade however. Working together has a series of benefits as well as challenges that take time to occur and resolve. How to keep the office out of the home especially when our lifestyle provides most of the inspiration for our product developments, is a long standing challenge. It can be simultaneously inspiring and overwhelming.
ARE YOU BOTH INVOLVED WITH ALL ASPECTS OF YOUR BUSINESS — CREATIVE AND OTHERWISE — OR DO YOU DIVIDE AND CONQUER?
Our work life looks like a Venn diagram. We each have our own areas in the running of the business that are uniquely our own yet are supported by the other. The overlap occurs in the management and most importantly the development and creative processes and areas.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF YOUR BEAUTIFUL SCENTS SEEMS PART SCIENCE AND PART GREAT TASTE AND STYLE. WOULD YOU AGREE AND WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PART OF YOUR JOB?
No doubt creating the scents and graphic themes is super fun and challenging. We use everything we do to inform our aesthetic both in the visual and olfactory areas. There is a lot of science and technology used in creating the KOBO products. After 10 years of manufacturing we can see that so many companies come and go. It is quite easy to make a so-so candle but very difficult to create an excellent candle. We feel remarkably fortunate to have such a loyal following in such a crowded market.
WHAT BRINGS YOU JOY?
Surely family first our two sons……most of the time. We are avid travelers and love to go to new places around the world. We have spent quite a bit of our time together living or traveling in different areas around the world. We love to head off to unknown places spontaneously. For example last summer we were at a tennis match in NYC. An Argentinian player was involved in a grueling 5 hour match. As the match progressed more and more Argentinian fans filled the stadium. They became lively and in between each point were chanting and cheering wildly for their player. We became filled with their passion and exhilaration for their player. After the match we sat down to have a drink. Still full with the feeling of the crowd we looked at each other and knew we had the same idea. Let’s go to Argentina. Soon after we had booked our tickets to Buenos Aires and an apartment ready for our arrival. We will eagerly depart soon.
COMB OR BRUSH?
Wide toothed brush for Junko. Louis just uses his fingers after towel drying (and it looks like it too).
DO YOU LIKE YOUR NAME?
Junko- yes I do. It means innocent or pure child. Louis- not so much.
FINISH THIS SENTENCE: MY AGE IS……………
Louis…..how mature I should really be. Junko……changing from day to day.
WHAT’S FOR DINNER TONIGHT?
Lobster ravioli with creamy tomato sauce. Burrata drizzled with aged balsamic vinegar and garlic olive oil served with sliced black tomatoes. Micro greens and Mesclun salad with Lemon vinaigrette. Washed down with a nice light Italian red wine. OK- You caught us on a good night for home cooking.
Our pick for Best Costume Design at this Sunday’s Oscars is undoubtedly Anna Karenina. The gowns, the jewelry, the headpieces, the fur and even the uniforms are simply breathtaking. Added to backdrops of opulent opera houses, falling snow and railroad steam these costumes completely embody the romance, passion and tragedy that is Anna Karenina. Each piece was created by award-winning British costume designer Jacqueline Durran. This is her second collaboration with director Joe Wright and actress Keira Knightly, both of whom she worked with on Atonement in 2007. And right now, a selection of these costumes is on exhibition in England through April 4 at Ham House, one of the key locations where this gorgeous film was shot.
We are loving the new ad campaign from Hermès — A Sporting Life! What we would give, right now deep in this season, for some warm weather, this gorgeous view and badminton — our spring and summer lawn game of choice!
YOU STARTED OUT AS A RADIO DJ. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST RADIO SHOW LIKE AND DID YOU IMAGINE OR PLAN BACK THEN THAT YOUR CAREER WOULD TAKE YOU TO TELEVISION BROADCASTING?
From the time I was about ten all I ever wanted to be was a Top 40 radio DJ. So my first radio show was me, in my bedroom, playing 45’s on my old-school combo stereo emulating my favorite radio personalities for an audience of one (me). The first time I was ever truly “on the air” doing my own show was at summer camp in the Berkshires in Massachusetts when I was twelve. The camp had what’s called a “carrier current” radio station where the station’s signal radiated through the power lines and could be heard in the cabins, along with a loud buzz, on 640 am. I hosted one of the shows that was on during the cleanup period after breakfast which was particularly cool because it got me out of having to sweep the bunk. Through my teen years I was on my high school station which played over the P.A. system at lunchtime so, of course, nobody could hear it over the crowd in the cafeteria. When I got my driver’s license I could finally be heard on FM, for at least a few miles, when I did a Friday afternoon show after school on the radio station at Westchester Community College where they were kind enough to let a high school kid come and play. My first commercial gig came when I was seventeen at WVIP-FM in Mount Kisco, NY. The radio station was in a small, round building, the last in a corporate park in the middle of the woods. I was live from five to seven pm on Saturdays playing adult contemporary hits and oldies and from seven to midnight I “babysat the board” during Dick Bartley’s satellite show, “Solid Gold Saturday Night,” playing the local commercials and reading the weather. The AM side of the station shut down in the evening so I was the only one there late into the night. It was kind of creepy. As I made my way through college and continued to work in radio in those early days I never imagined or planned on transitioning to a career in TV. I was having the time of my life and living my dream.
WHAT IS YOUR MOST MEMORABLE ON-AIR MOMENT TO DATE?
It is impossible to pick a single moment as my most memorable, but one of the most spectacular times I have ever had doing what I do was being a part of VH1’s “Lift Ticket To Ride.” For a week I was hosting shows from Aspen Mountain in Colorado while skiing and presenting concerts from the artists VH1 had assembled for the event. It was all of my passions coming together in one place and I remember very distinctly stepping back from it all to appreciate how absolutely fortunate I was in that time and place.
YOU WILL ONCE AGAIN BE HOSTING CNN’S LIVE OSCARS PRE-SHOW FROM THE DOLBY THEATER IN HOLLYWOOD. WHAT DESIGNER WILL YOU BE WEARING?
I will be wearing Ted Baker at the Oscars this year – one of my favorite designers. Their suits have just the right amount of edge to step beyond something that is too traditional while remaining classic enough to be appropriate for Hollywood’s most formal awards show.
WHAT BRINGS YOU JOY?
Boating has become my life’s great passion and fewer things give me greater joy than being out on the water with my family, whether traveling to a new destination or sitting dockside and taking in the sunset with the perfect margarita. It’s rare to not find me smiling when I’m on a boat.
COMB OR BRUSH?
Fingers.
FINISH THIS SENTENCE: MY AGE IS…………….
for some reason diminishing every year. I can’t figure it out.
Love. Honor. Commitment. Three simple words. They are the words that we feel in our hearts when we make a commitment to each other. Some of our most memorable weddings have happened since New York legalized gay marriage.
We believe everyone should be able to get married. We believe in fairness and equality. We believe in the power of love. www.hrc.org
Today the New Museum opens the much anticipated exhibition NYC 1993: Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star. Centering on 1993, the exhibition is conceived as a time capsule, an experiment in collective memory that attempts to capture a specific moment at the intersection of art, pop culture, and politics. The social and economic landscape of the early 90s was a cultural turning point both nationally and globally. Conflict in Europe, attempts at peace in the Middle East, the AIDS crisis, national debates on health care, gun control, and gay rights, and caustic partisan politics were both the background and source material for a number of younger artists who first came to prominence in 1993. The name of the exhibition draws its subtitle from the album the New York rock band Sonic Youth recorded in 1993 and captures the complex exchange between mainstream and underground culture.
It is amazing to think that we are old enough to look back on history that we helped shape. The phrase “someday you’ll tell your children about this” never rang so true.
Mineral baths, still commonly known as “taking the cure”, have been a health and wellness tradition for hundreds of years. They are believed to not only boost the immune system but also increase the body’s inherent ability to heal itself. It seemingly has a lot to do with the water’s high number of negative ions, which make us happy. The mineral content increases our blood circulation, which encourages toxins to leave the body at a quicker rate. It is also thought to care for our organs and ultimately our general well-being. This is my favorite time of year for mineral baths for the purpose of caring for dry winter skin. Although you could make a pilgrimage to one of a number of mineral springs in Europe, Asia or the United Kingdom, a closer alternative is the Roosevelt Baths and Spa, located three hours north of New York City in Saratoga Springs. A destination for mineral springs since the early 19th century for both drinking and bathing, it was in 1929 that Franklin D. Roosevelt initiated the creation of the Roosevelt Bath Houses. Now in the 21st century, the Roosevelt Baths and Spa has been named a Top 10 New York State Green Destination. www.gideonputnam.com/Spa.aspx
YOU WERE BORN IN MEMPHIS AND GREW UP IN SOUTH CAROLINA. HOW HAS BEING A SOUTHERNER INFORMED YOUR CAREER IN MUSIC AND YOUR LIFE IN NEW YORK?
Oh lord, I wish I could say something slithery and juicy, but the bottom line is that growing up in the south gave me a great appreciation for understated grace & the humility in being polite. As a result, I am by nature, a very well mannered girl who sometimes leaves understatement at home, with a huge love of drippingly beautiful music. Also, trained as a classical pianist, I was a very poised performer. I tried to buck these basic realities when I first landed in NYC, fancying myself to be more exotic and edgy. While I quickly became successful as a free-lance player, I couldn’t manage to get my artist career off the ground. This was the mid-90’s and while I was definitely being noticed by labels, they wouldn’t seal a deal. After a show at CBGB’s I was scouted by a well known producer who was looking for new talent & he requested a meeting. He’s comments were eye-opening and dead on. I’ll never forget it, he said “You are a great songwriter and performer but I don’t see or hear any of ‘you’ in your music. Sitting here with you, you are a charming & quirky southern girl, with a cute crooked smile like you have a big secret. But with your guitar driven band, there is absolutely no evidence of your accomplished piano playing.” I took his advise to heart, succumbing to my roots instead of fighting them and have found my musical and personal happy place. Good, bad or ugly, our roots shape who we are and embracing them is part of the value we bring to any table.
YOU HAVE BEEN PERFORMING SINCE A VERY YOUNG AGE. AT WHAT POINT DID YOU KNOW FOR SURE THAT YOUR ART WOULD BE YOUR LIFE?
The first day I played a cardboard keyboard at age 4. Never looked back.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PART OF YOUR JOB AND WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO STILL ACHIEVE PROFESSIONALLY?
Connecting with listeners & clients. To be able to inspire or touch people emotionally is hugely gratifying. I just hope to keep growing, whatever direction that takes me.
WHAT BRINGS YOU JOY?
Outside of the givens, my 11 year old son, my husband, my cats, my house in Williamsburg, it would be a good hair day.
COMB OR BRUSH?
Comb!! Must be able to tease!
DO YOU LIKE YOUR NAME?
Yep, it never bothers me when people mispronounce it.
FINISH THIS SENTENCE: MY AGE IS…………….
significant….or is it insignificant? I forget.
WHAT’S FOR DINNER TONIGHT?
I make a mean, super simple radicchio salad with aged balsamic vinegar, EVOO, and black truffle salt. Then I call La Nonna’s around the corner on Bedford & order the most amazing Grandma Pizza with pepperoni, black olives & onions. Yum.
