Eau de Entrepreneur: Liberal Arts Student Has a Passion for Perfume

The lobby of the Pulichino Tong Business Center frequently features tables staffed by corporate recruiters or student clubs. But on a recent Thursday afternoon, Manning School of Business students heading to and from class encountered something different: a “perfume lab” with a dozen samples.

Behind the table was David Morris, a liberal arts major and aspiring perfumer who was inviting passersby to provide feedback on fragrances he had created for his startup, 8 Scents.

Participants rated each scent from 1 to 10, estimated what they would pay for a 100-milliliter bottle and suggested a name. The exercise, which was supported by the Entrepreneurial Ventures Association, a student organization, was part product testing, part market research and part creative experiment.

“By doing this, I’m able to get a good impression of what the general public thinks of it,” says Morris, who was particularly interested in the names students suggested. “I want to know where it takes their imagination, because that’s the part that data tends to miss.”

A native of Nashua, New Hampshire, Morris has been researching perfumery for four years and making fragrances for the past two. During that time, he has taught himself about fragrance ingredients, chemistry, safety regulations and the creative process of building a scent.

His interest began while he was working at Bath & Body Works. He started researching what went into the products and soon found himself drawn deep into the world of perfumery.

“I don’t normally go down deep rabbit holes on the internet, but this time, I was that guy,” Morris says. “I followed the rabbit hole as far as I possibly could and realized it goes so much deeper than I ever could have imagined.”

Morris earned an associate degree in marketing from Nashua Community College before transferring to UMass Lowell. He initially continued studying marketing before switching to digital media. Eventually, he realized neither field was the right fit.

With credits split between the two programs and graduation still out of reach, Morris switched to the Bachelor of Liberal Arts (BLA) program. The change allowed him to apply many of his existing credits and got him on track to earn his degree.

He will begin taking BLA courses in the spring while continuing to develop 8 Scents.

“I want to graduate, and I also want to make a business,” Morris says. “I’m going to have to do both at the same time.”

UMass Lowell’s entrepreneurial programs have helped him do that. A business law professor directed Morris to the Rist DifferenceMaker Institute, where he received guidance on practical issues involved in launching a company and was introduced to Qualtrics, the survey platform he used to collect and analyze responses from the perfume labs. DifferenceMaker also connected him with a lawyer who provided pro bono advice.

“Without them, I’d never be where I am right now,” says Morris, who hopes to compete in DifferenceMaker’s $50K Idea Challenge this spring.

The Entrepreneurial Ventures Association (EVA) helped Morris organize and promote two Thursday afternoon perfume labs at Pulichino Tong. Morris presented 12 different fragrances at each lab, collecting feedback from 80 students over the two days. 

EVA President Nehemie Lucien says supporting Morris is exactly the kind of work the student organization hopes to do.

“I think he’s off to a great start,” says Lucien, a senior business major from Everett. “He has great potential to keep going.”

Kevin Bezeredy, a senior business administration major from Methuen, was leaving class when he noticed the table. 

“Seeing something like this set up where it’s his own thing — he’s a student here — it’s just really cool,” says Bezeredy, who spent several minutes carefully rating each of Morris’ 12 samples on an online survey form. “You always want to see people within your community succeed. When someone does, we all do.”

The feedback is helping Morris shape not only his product lineup, but also his larger vision for 8 Scents. He says the perfume industry relies heavily on data and often draws from the same small group of manufacturers and perfumers; he wants his business to bring more creativity and imagination to the process.

“I want to do something different,” says Morris, who chose the name 8 Scents because the number eight “represents a cycle of innovation and renewal.”

Morris’ fragrances span a range of profiles, including floral, citrus, woody and amber notes. He considers them gender-neutral, reflecting what he sees as a broader shift in the industry. Rather than dividing fragrances into traditional categories for men and women, he believes people should choose scents based on their individual preferences and the emotions or memories they evoke.

Morris plans to begin by selling 4-milliliter vials, which will be easier to produce in his home lab as he establishes the business. He hopes to offer selected fragrances through a TikTok Shop by the holidays and plans to promote 8 Scents through social media advertising.

For now, he aims to grow the business slowly, build a loyal customer base and continue creating new fragrances. 

“I’m a perfumer,” Morris says. “I’m going to keep creating unique and interesting perfumes. That’s never going to change.”