Maekaeda GibbonsPhoto: Courtesy of Brown Sugar Babe
Listen to the full conversation between Maekaeda Gibbons and Fashionista Staff Writer Catie Pusateri on The Fashionista Networkon Spotify.
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While working as a loan officer at Bank of America, Maekaeda Gibbons began crafting fragrances as a stress-relieving outlet. Her concoctions quickly gained popularity among her colleagues (“ Fragrance isn’t something that you can contain into your cubicles,” she pointed out), and soon snowballed into the now-viral brand Brown Sugar Babe that first launched in 2018. With cult-favorite scents spanning vanilla-forward gourmands to refreshing florals, the company surpassed $20 million in sales in 2025 — all while remaining independent.As the fragrance space grows increasingly crowded, Gibbons noted that Brown Sugar Babe stays in its “own lane” of crafting oil-based scents rather than alcohol-based eau de parfums. But what’s behind the label’s continued rise in the fragrance world without having taken on any outside investment? To Gibbons, it’s the brand’s dedicated community that shows up on- and offline.” IRL experiences, activating in a very meaningful way whenever we can at Essence Fest and other shows like Beautycon and things like that, I think those are the things that really drive how we’ve been able to sustain such great growth,” Gibbons shared.On The Fashionista Network, Gibbons discussed opening Brown Sugar Babe’s Atlanta flagship, navigating order delays and supply chain interruptions, acquiring its own factory and more. Watch the full interview on YouTube below.Fashionista’s audience includes 1 million site visitors, 110,000 newsletter subscribers and 4.74 million social media followers. Want to know how to reach them? Learn more.
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