As daylight shortens and weather turns chilly enough for a light cardigan during the final weeks of summer on the upper East Coast of the country, we start thinking of the seasonal rituals and candles. What do we want to remember 2026 for and how do we balance our personal needs with our professional ones in a world where AI is accelerating the pace of success and failures at the same time?
Hello, if you are new here I'm Coco Quill, Founder of Whiskey & Woof which is inspired by moments of friendship with dogs and friends over a glass of something delicious. The scents are inspired by a dog's personality traits or adventures with them, such as No. 24 Gaston, aka date night candle. Gaston was a gorgeous little fellow who made vocal serenades a daily part of life for his family. Date night, under a blood orange sunset, when the weather is cool enough for a leather jacket and you embrace your Paramore. That's the magic of Gaston.
CANDLES:
The seasonal ending for Whiskey & Woof's Locally Made Initiative at Kiehl's Concept Store (223 Mulberry Street, NYC) is coming next weekend. I will be on hand in the afternoons on both September 12th & 13th with in-store exclusive surprises and special offers. I am grateful to have Whiskey & Woof be the first brand chosen by the International Team in Paris. This project has been three months shy of two years from start to finish. I'm really proud that No. 26 Nolita was born out of it and will continue to be part of the permanent collection online.
Upcoming Events in NYC:
September 12 + 13th Kiehl's 223 Mulberry Street, NYC *RSVP
September 20th: Kiehl's 124 Montague Street, Brooklyn Heights.
October 3 + 4th : Empire Stories for FAD Market at 55 Water Street, DUMBO
Experiences:
Looking for an in-home experience of candle or reed diffuser making in the Tri-State area? Email coco@whiskeyandwoof.com
Custom Scents:
Have an idea? Let's discuss coco@whiskeyandwoof.com
CULTURE DISCOURSE
Back to the AI discussion and the intended efficiency of it is still great in many ways. I was part of a group professional coaching session last week where the coach was a big fan of AI. It's a bold thing to say on a blanket level without guard rails. For instance when it got to my turn I said that I would like to be in alternative spaces like private labeling for private events, weddings, hotels and a hard goal of the JP Morgan Building on Madison Avenue, which does has stores inside it for employees.
Coach: But what is your why? You have to dig deep.
Me: The why is because retail is failing and those are more stable businesses with clientele that understand my price points and the product level.
Coach: Dig deep on that why and keep going.
The coach quit working in VC's to become a career coach expecting that clients would instantly line up and his solution was to hold free sessions to get smaller business owners on-board, mostly digital agencies, selling Substack as the ultimate answer to scaling. He adds an accent and a few curses in wellness coded vague questions and answers for maximum effect. The truth is there's a path towards getting to be a vendor for corporations including paying the government $350 to be certified as a woman-owned business and a minority owned business. I am positive the coach's skillset came from a generative AI platform, complete with adding a sound bath (unique offering), humming to set intentions (borrowed from yoga), without real actionable steps except to sign up for a monthly subscription to hold oneself accountable. The coach revealed we could watch him building his business in real time with us. If that sounds like a Ponzi or pyramid scheme, we are vibing.
Being a native New Yorker with eras of my career in entertainment, tech and luxury, working with high profile C-Suite execs and A-list level musicians, taking action with a pragmatic outcome is where I operate. In June, I decided I would take an Amazon rep up on what their terms are in 2026. Knowledge is power. I asked him how he found Whiskey & Woof and he told me it was because it keeps coming up in Amazon queries. In fact, if someone does a search for the brand, the products come up, made to looks as if they are available on the platform. He told me if I wanted it the listings removed there were steps to take. Despite taking the steps and having a trademarked brand, they have yet to remove the listings pulled in by AI, which are not in real time. The platform does not notify brands they are doing this.
Currently there are multiple lawsuits and a dozen senior leaders that have resigned this year from OpenAI, as the rumored public offering looms in October 2026. Odd time for their executives to leave before a big cash out if everything was going well. I highly recommend reading Empire of AI by Karen Hao to find out how ego and ambition set with fictional goals no one needed are indeed an emperor with no clothes situation funded by Microsoft and now other tech giants, who were all happy to sit back while OpenAI figured out and spent the money and global resources to figure out a way to monetize.
If you read the last blog about who owns an idea and art borrowing from life, try the novel Fruit Fly by Josh Silver.
Final thought, tennis culture is not football culture. This summer between the "No Influencers" sign on Nantucket to last week's mass etiquette breach filming content loudly as tennis players were in qualifying matches at the US Open, the ability to observe, think and react is dwindling. It means your home spaces should be a reprieve. It's the one place you should be able to relax.
Wishing you good vibes, great scents and a great September,
Coco
Founder, Whiskey & Woof
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