Life & Work with Kylie Sawisch Jensen

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kylie Sawisch Jensen.

Hi Kylie, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
For a bit over a decade, I worked as an operations manager in the fitness industry and picked up some bad habits along the way. In 2019, I left my career behind and hopped on a plane to New Zealand. I also spent some time in Europe and Maldives during this short era of my life. This was a crucial point in my life that I spent re-evaluating what was truly important to me. For the following two years, I worked a quiet 9 to 5, but my true full time job became working through many years worth of trauma and addiction. During this time I really dug deep into my longtime creative hobby of perfumery and other self care creations. Overcoming a drug problem and taking control of my mental health gave me the confidence to slowly begin publicly sharing my products online. The story behind the name Pylies is simple. I have a massive sweet tooth and earned the nickname Pylie. Also, at the start of things most of my products were modeled after bakery items… so it just worked!

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I wouldn’t necessarily call it a bump in the road, but I am a 1 woman show. The ideal situation for me would be to only create and interact with my customers, but there is so much more involved when you are a small business owner! I am all of the acronyms! R&D, HR, PR, and so much more. I am the design team, the marketing team, the secretary, responsible for all things financial, and so on. I spin a lot of plates.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I create things that make people smell and feel good! Things really took off for me when my dry shampoo was featured in some of Etsy’s marketing as well as published in a few magazines during the holidays a few years back. This gave me the funds to expand to offering soaps, lotions, body scrubs, and perfumes! I would definitely say that perfumes are my specialty, what I am most proud of, AND what sets my apart from others. I offer the standard types of crowd pleasing scents (gourmands, florals, spices), but I also like to dabble in atmospherics and other avant-garde types of things. I think my strangest work (so far) has been a Halloween perfume inspired by the Cheddar Goblin in the art-house horror film Mandy.

What matters most to you?
You know, I guess it’s the typical millennial answer. Life is all about family, experiences, traveling, and bringing happiness to yourself and others. I hope that I am able to bring joy to others through my work.

Contact Info:

• Website: pylies.com
• Instagram: http://instagram.com/shoppylies
• Other: pylies.etsy.com

Image Credits:
Joe Connolly (for the wedding pic)