Swiss Family

The one-night symposium, “Comprendre de la Science d’Olfaction,” was being held in the ballroom of the luxurious Hotel de la Paix on the shore of Lake Geneva, with its incredible view of the Jet d’Eau as a backdrop. Since 1865, thirty years before Firmenich was founded in the same city, there have been countless memorable gatherings at this historic hotel, including the International Congress of Peace, and high-profile guests like the Royal Family of Monaco and American director, actor, screenwriter, and producer, Orson Welles, but on this particular night, I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. Alice had made it quite clear, before booking the trip in the first place, that the reason Robert approved my travel was so that I could attend this event. They both thought it might be good for me to hob-nob with the company’s perfumers and scientists, and to learn a little about the subject ‘at and from the source,’ so to speak. By the time I arrived, everyone seemed to be fully engaged in conversation, most of which were in French, which in this room, would’ve been the easier of the two foreign languages to understand – the other being Science.

The last real Science class I ever took was Chemistry in the ninth grade and I got a solid ‘C’. I never took Biology or ANY other Science, except of course my pseudo-Psychology classes with Dr. Serrano – if they count. The room was set up theater style, with all of the red crushed velvet cushy chairs in neat rows facing the podium up front. All of the seats quickly filled before I entered the room, but there were a couple of empty chairs in the front row, so I took one just off center on the right, leaving the chair next to me open. Just before the talks were to begin, an impeccably dressed gentleman took his seat next to me, so I politely introduced myself. “And you are?,” I asked. “I am Pierre-Yves,” he said with a smile. “What do you do?,” was my meager attempt at small talk, when he replied, “Pierre-Yves Firmenich. I am the CEO. Very nice to meet you, Mikel, and Welcome to the Company - and to Geneva.” It never occurred to me that those empty seats might've been reserved for a VIP, and now I was more self-conscious about sitting next to the CEO than I was about being all the way up front. 

Not long after returning from that first real business trip, Alice moved my office over to the ‘regular’ Marketing area to start integrating and or influencing. With that teaching bug still in my system, I took it upon myself to begin giving design pointers to the Marketing ‘artists’ and for the most part, it really began to make a difference in the look and feel of the presentations they were working on. I felt closer to the action now and knew that it had to be better than being independent and isolated. Everyone was dressed to the nines, and all of the work areas were spit polished, with fresh flowers on the tables in the common area, for the slight chance that Robert might bring Patrick by to say hello. Pierre-Yves’ nephew, Patrick, was running the entire Perfumery Division for the company, and, in case there was any question that this was a family business, was next in line for the CEO position. Robert, with his dry sense of humor, thought he would bring Patrick to my office, not so much as to introduce me, but to show him the letter:

Dear Mr. Cirkus:

Thank you for your letter of October 12 regarding a possible business opportunity with Firmenich. Unfortunately, although your qualifications and experience are impressive, I must regretfully inform you that we have no opening available at the present time to accommodate your field of expertise. I thank you for your interest in Firmenich and I wish you all the best in promptly achieving your objectives.

Sincerely yours,

Patrick R. Firmenich

Vice President and General Manager

It was dated November 1, 1995 on letterhead from the Firmenich International Fine Fragrance Center in New York, and it was framed and hanging in my office. Robert, speaking to Patrick and I seemingly together, “I’m not sure which is crazier. Saving a rejection letter for five years, or framing it and hanging it in your office?“ Either way – promptly or not - I ultimately did meet my objective, and Patrick both recognized and appreciated my persistence, and to this day recognizes and appreciates my loyalty to the family.