Osero Was Born From a Season of Letting Go

We were going through a season of change, a time when life asked us to let go of what we thought our lives should look like so we could make peace with a period that had taken so much from us, emotionally and physically.

Three years ago, after years of navigating infertility, two endometriosis surgeries, and endless rounds of tests, I finally became pregnant… and then miscarried. It broke me open in ways I never expected. At the same time, my husband, Nate, was in the midst of closing a business that just wasn’t working. We had invested everything into it, including our energy, our time, and our life savings.

For the first time, pushing through wasn’t enough. That season plunged us into deep sadness and disappointment, forcing us to question everything about the way we were living.

Four months later, it became clear we needed a fresh start. Together, we made the difficult decision to stop trying for a baby. It was one of the hardest choices of our lives, but also one of the most freeing. For the first time in years, I could breathe. The weight lifted, and in its place was a world of possibility we had not seen before.

That season became the catalyst for change. We began reshaping our advertising agency, SWTCH HOUSE VENTURES, the machine that fuels our lives and our entrepreneurial passions. We narrowed our focus, choosing to work only with brands aligned with our values. We let go of what no longer fit and created space for something more purposeful.

And then, quietly, behind the scenes, we decided to move to a new city. We did not tell our family or closest friends until every box was checked and the moving date was set. Our intuition pulled us to Victoria on Vancouver Island. I have never lived away from the ocean, and while we looked at many options, the small seaside city of Victoria felt like the right move.

It was hard to leave the community we had built in my hometown, the place where we had started our businesses and grew together personally and professionally. But deep down, we knew it was time to make some big lifestyle shifts. By the end of that year, we were unpacking boxes in our new city, starting over with intention.

What we did not anticipate was how much space this move would create in our lives. In a city where no one knew us, we were incognito. And with that came time, time we had not had in years.

We both leaned into running. I had run off and on for years, but suddenly I had the space to truly commit again. We joined a run club together, embraced meal prepping, cut back on alcohol, and explored sober curiosity as a path to greater clarity. Nate committed to a year alcohol-free, lost 30 pounds, and set a goal of running two marathons in 2025. He will run his second on Canadian Thanksgiving weekend, the Royal Victoria Marathon.

For me, the shift was quieter but just as profound. After years of anxiously trying to get pregnant and running a business I had fallen out of love with, I had been ignoring myself. In Victoria, I found a new rhythm. I gravitated toward Pilates, yoga, running, and breathwork. These practices grounded me, helped me turn off the noise in my mind, and gave me clarity.

At home, I would light incense before stretching or meditating. The scent I chose would set the tone for what I was feeling, or how I wanted to feel. I became fascinated by the way fragrance could shift my mood, and I began collecting natural roll-ons and mists. I was finally slowing down enough to understand the deeper impact and power of scent.

Nate had been into natural fragrance for years, and his previous business, the one we had to close, was centred around scent as well.

Together, we discovered what it truly means to live intentionally. It is not about perfection or rigid rules, it is about making decisions on purpose, not out of habit or fear. It is slowing down enough to ask: Does this choice align with the life we actually want?

It was in this season of slowing down, questioning defaults, and choosing presence that Osero came to life.

For us, fragrance became a natural extension of intentional living. Scent is invisible yet powerful, capable of instantly shifting how you feel. It can ground you, recenter you, energize you, and bring you back to yourself. Just like moving cities, reshaping our work, or choosing to limit alcohol consumption, fragrance became another way to connect with who we want to be.

Osero is rooted in science, scent, and self, created to help people recenter in the present moment. Because presence is where everything begins.

We were not running away from our problems. We were running toward a vision, a life built on intention, presence, and connection.

Because letting go does not always mean giving up. Sometimes it means making space for what is next.