She Built a Business on Something You Experience Everyday Without Noticing
Suji Sanjeevan’s journey as a doctor turned founder
Google Suji Sanjeevan and you will be presented with pages upon pages of search results detailing Suji’s remarkable journey to establishing LIGHT + GLO and BrandScent with her husband, Jeeva. LIGHT + GLO, is a fragrance house specialising in premium natural soy wood-wick candles and perfumes; and BrandScent is a scent marketing agency, focussed on helping brands create a signature scent for use as a distinctive brand asset.
You may also recognise Suji and Jeeva from their 2023 appearance on Season 5 of Shark Tank Australia, seeking $150,000 for a 10% stake in BrandScent. Their pitch, which highlighted the science and psychology behind scent-based marketing, captivated the investors, ultimately securing an investment from globally recognised business leader, Robert Herjavec.
Dubbed “ambience alchemists” owing their background in medicine and science, their journey into the world of fragrance is one of reinvention and an unwavering commitment to their understanding of the profound impact of scent on human emotions and memory.
Constantly innovating, under Suji’s leadership, BrandScent has pioneered the integration of scent into various brand experiences, including retail environments and digital platforms. The company has collaborated with notable clients such as American Express, Mimosa Homes, Chandon, and Arnott’s, demonstrating the effectiveness of scent marketing across diverse industries.
Beyond her business endeavors, Suji is an advocate for purpose-driven entrepreneurship. She actively participates in initiatives that promote innovation and cultural diversity in business, reflecting her commitment to creating meaningful impact through her work.
I wanted to get to know Suji’s story beyond what’s already available online and it has been a privilege to have been given access to Suji’s time and reflections and share these with our ASAC community. Don’t skip ahead but the last line is an absolute kicker; a realisation and revelation that really hits home.
What is your earliest memory of scent and do you have a favourite scent?
My earliest scent memory comes from childhood trips to Sri Lanka. The moment you step off the plane, it hits you; thick, humid air laced with jasmine, marigolds, and that unmistakable aroma of spice and soil.
I also enjoyed the beautiful sensory overload that was my grandmother’s garden; petals underfoot, incense in the air, and always a quiet kind of magic swirling around.
Growing up in London, I’d catch the scent of temple incense or spot jasmine bunches at a market, and it would trigger memories of Sri Lanka; it’s wild how scent does that.
My favourite scent is, unsurprisingly, anything that transports me home – marigold, jasmine, a hint of sandalwood. Warm, grounding, nostalgic scents that are like memory bottled.
You’ve said in a Smart Company article that 75% of our emotions in a given day are governed by smell – what emotions do scents evoke for you?
Scent is deeply rooted in neuroscience – it’s the only sense with a direct pathway to the brain’s limbic system via the olfactory bulb. The limbic system governs emotion, behaviour, motivation, and memory. Unlike our other senses, scent bypasses the thalamus and goes straight to the brain’s emotional and memory centres, making its impact especially powerful. Evolutionarily speaking, the limbic system is the most ancient part of the brain – so registering scent is, quite literally, a primal response.
Smell is also our first sense and thereby our first connection to the world. All of us, as newborns, recognised our mothers by scent.
For me, scent evokes an entire spectrum of emotions: peace, joy, grounding, even inspiration. Certain scents pull me straight into a memory or shift my mood instantaneously. It’s why scent is such a powerful tool in branding, wellbeing, and personal rituals. It doesn’t just smell good, it feels good because it speaks to the most human part of us.
You went to medical school and pursued clinical research after graduating; when did you discover a passion for scent that prompted you to change course professionally?
What began as a desire to become a doctor was, in many ways, about fulfilling the expectations of my family, a path paved with pride, stability, and purpose. While I’m grateful for the foundation it gave me, the truth is, I was never fully invested. I could feel myself ticking boxes, doing the work but not feeling it.
I stepped behind the veil of clinical research, thinking maybe I’d find more meaning in that space but it still felt like I was existing in grayscale. I was just being and not really living.
This quiet discomfort pushed me to explore the intersection between creativity and science starting, in fact, with visual design.
I’m fascinated by the impact of packaging and visual design on influencing brand perception; how the same product dressed differently can feel more premium, more trustworthy, more desirable.
This curiosity sparked a deep dive into how our other senses respond to branding and design and that’s when scent entered the picture. With my medical background, I couldn’t unsee the science of how scent bypasses rational thought and plugs straight into memory and emotion. How it can calm the nervous system, shift mood, influence behaviour, all within seconds.
That was the moment; truly understanding sensory marketing, scent in particular; how it can forge deep, emotional connection and recognising the opportunity in that.
Once you made the decision to pursue your passion, what obstacles did you have to navigate? Not just from a practical perspective but also emotionally and mentally?
Pursuing my passion didn’t come with a business plan or perfect timing. It started at 36 weeks pregnant with my second son. I was tired, huge, and somehow still believed starting a business right then made sense.
When my husband and I moved to Australia, as newly weds, we had no extended family here, no built-in village, no support network. Emotionally and mentally, it was heavy. Guilt, exhaustion, and constantly questioning if I was doing the right thing became my constant internal narrative. Then slowly, a community started to build. Through connection, vulnerability, and asking for help (which didn’t come naturally), the support grew.
The stress of running a business hit differently to anything I’d felt in my corporate or clinical career. In those roles, there was structure, predictability, and even when it was intense, there were guardrails. Building something of your own however, is a constant push. You’re always growing, pivoting, solving, dreaming. There’s no clock-off time. And when you’re trying to build not just a business, but a legacy, the weight of that can feel enormous.
In amongst all that pressure, there’s undeniable beauty, because it’s yours. Every win, every lesson, every late night is building something that matters. That was our horizon vision from the start. To create something meaningful, sustainable, and impactful. And keeping that in focus is what’s kept us going, even on the toughest days.
In a wildly competitive world, how did you go about finding your niche in business?
It wasn’t immediately definitive; we found our niche layer by layer. At first, we were focused on creating beautiful, high-quality products, but in a saturated space that wasn’t enough.
Thanks to the unique lens provided by my background in medicine, we were able to put the science into scents. This was our point of difference; crafting sensory experiences grounded in science and emotion.
Our space blends art and science, storytelling and scent. By creating a brand that wasn’t just pretty, but purposeful and by staying rooted in that, we’ve been able to stand out in a wildly competitive world.
You and your husband Jeeva are pioneering scent branding. On your journey, what have you had to steel yourselves to, open yourselves up to, compromise on and fight for?
The journey Jeeva and I have taken with LIGHT + GLO and BrandScent has been anything but ordinary and that’s exactly what we wanted.
We started LIGHT + GLO with a clear vision: to create fragrances that were fresh, sophisticated, and grounded in ethics. Wooden wicks, sustainable sourcing, a Melbourne aesthetic – that was our beginning. But as the business grew, so did our desire to reimagine what scent could mean in people’s lives. That’s where BrandScent came in.
Through BrandScent, we flipped the fragrance industry on its head by offering scent branding as a service. An offer that has been taken up by the likes of big-name brands like Chandon, AMEX, and Bega.
Breaking away from traditional career paths and titles that had defined us, we made ourselves vulnerable to starting over. We learned the ins and outs of business from scratch while parenting three young kids with no built-in support system. We compromised sleep, stability, and certainty but we never compromised on vision.
Every step of the way, we’ve been led by science, grounded in storytelling, and driven by the belief that scent can create real human connection, even in the digital world. Presently, we’re pioneering digital scent technology to bring olfactory experiences into virtual and augmented reality.
It’s taken courage, grit, and a lot of belief. But through it all, we’ve built something that feels meaningful for ourselves, our clients and consumers.
Would you have done anything differently?
Whilst reflection is a necessity for growth, I don’t spend too much time looking back. That being said, I do wish someone had told me early on to carve out time for myself and my family, so it became second nature rather than something I had to unlearn.
The people closest to you often see the worst of you when you’re stretched thin, and I didn’t want that. I wanted them to see the best of me, not just the version that was running on fumes and ticking boxes. I’ve had to actively unlearn the people-pleaser in me, the one that said yes to everything and everyone. Because success means nothing if it costs you the moments that matter most.
What is the most important advice you would like to share with readers who are starting out in business? Crucially, advice for women of colour starting out in business.
Don’t wait to be invited. Build your own table, bring your own chair, and don’t apologise for taking up space.
For a long time, I shaped myself around what I thought was expected of me. Stepping into entrepreneurship taught me that your difference is your power. Your lived experience, your heritage, your perspective, it all brings something fresh and vital to the table.
Also, protect your energy. This journey can be relentless, and as women and especially as women of colour, we often carry invisible loads. Set boundaries early. Surround yourself with people who see your worth even when you forget it. And don’t be afraid to back yourself, even if your voice shakes.
Your story is your edge, and your presence in the room is already a form of disruption. Keep going.
This series of member profiles is supported by Victorian Government through Business Victoria
This was the first time in my life (and in my mother’s, as she confirmed) that I had seen the story of a Tamil woman in Australia told on a stage. When we don’t put these stories on our stages, we don’t just close a door on the future; we decide these aren’t Australian stories, and the people in them aren’t quite Australian either.
