Meet Iris Montgomery | CEO of Unique Oils and Fragrances & More

We had the good fortune of connecting with Iris Montgomery and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Iris, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
We had a need for some Egyptian Musk and went searching for it. From our research, we found a great vendor for Egyptian Musk but there were some other fragrances as well. I was very versed in fragrances from when I used to work at Eckerd Drug Store. So I knew what the popular designer fragrances were. We decided to purchase about 8 bottles of pure oils and some empty roll-on bottles.

We went to our neighborhood flea market in Pearl, Mississippi and set up a simple cardboard table with our fragrances lined up on the table. We had also printed out a list of fragrances that we could offer in future sales. Immediately our sales took off! Every week we were bringing in even more oils that I felt was popular and per request. We were selling out so fast that we had to open a store at the flea market.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I have been working as a Database Administrator and a Database Architect at RPC, Inc for almost 12 years. Before I started working at RPC, Inc., I had gotten laid off when all the banks crashed in 2009. I was a thriving Custom Reports Manager and Database Administrator (DBA) in Rockville, MD. I was so proud to become a Manager as that was my dream achievement.

I always had a goal of being promoted to management and that is one of the reasons that I went back to college to get my MBA. I also got a second masters degree in Information Technology Management. It was not always easy as I had set out about 9 years ago to get my masters in Computer Science but I got scared and quit.

So I never gave up on my dream. In fact, I doubled my dream with two master degrees.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Currently, I live in the suburbs outside of Atlanta, GA and used to live in Dunwoody, GA before purchasing my home. There are so many places to eat, shop and visit in little cities everywhere here.

I would start by visiting some of my favorite restaurants like the Maple Street Biscuit Company for great breakfast. Jinya Ramen Bar for some fantastic ramen dishes, drinks and sides. The Bonefish Grill has a butterfish that I absolutely love.

I love to shop at Avalon as it has some great restaurants and stores. I often catch a movie there too. Another fun area that I love is the Suwanee Town Center. I visit a couple restaurants there and enjoy the vibe.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I’d like to give a shoutout to my immediately family members (My husband, Son and Daughter) as they have been there to see my struggles and what I have gone through to push my business to success. My husband runs his own company, Montgomery Transportation. My Son is very well-versed at building computers and a thriving college student at Kennesaw State University. My daughter is an Attending Physician who will soon be moving back to Tampa, Florida.

Website: https://www.uniqueoils.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mrsbossmba

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/IrisMontgomeryMBA

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/mrsbossmba

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IrisMontgomeryMBA

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@mrsbossmba