In August 2017, Andriana Tsankova gave herself two weeks to make her Kilkenny perfume shop work. Then a post from a very famous blogger changed the business.
Andriana was a special needs teacher in Bulgaria. She taught herself about perfume, came back to Kilkenny in 2014 with 2,000 euro, and opened Valley of Roses on Kieran Street. Twelve years later it has a flagship on Rose Inn Street.
In this episode of Built in Kilkenny, I sit down with Andriana to talk about leaving a teaching job to open a perfume shop, the weeks she nearly gave up, and how one post changed the business.
The conversation covers:
\- Why she left teaching to open a perfume shop
\- Arriving in Kilkenny with 2,000 euro and one small room
\- The first month and the first scents
\- August 2017, and the post that changed everything
\- 100 orders a day in lockdown, and the first 24 hours of the website
\- Reading a customer, and the hen party that went wrong
\- Competition, staying independent and the new mixology line
Valley of Roses: https://valleyofroses.ie
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/\_valleyofroses_
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@valleyofroseskilkenny
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ValleyofRosesKilkenny
Andriana gave me a bottle of her perfume when I called into the shop before we recorded. Figures in the episode are Andriana's own. The full video, with chapters and sources, is on YouTube.
Built in Kilkenny is a weekly interview series with people from Kilkenny and around Ireland about what they've built. A Charlie Cook Live series.
New episodes every Monday.
Follow the journey:
TikTok: @charliecooklive
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