In today’s business culture, we are taught to move fast, scale often and optimize endlessly. Success is measured in traction, disruption and data. But in our pursuit of what’s next, we often overlook what’s vanishing.

What about the parts of culture that don’t scale? The crafts that don’t code? The beauty that wasn’t designed to convert — but to stir emotion, memory or identity?

As the founder of Facticerie — the world’s only museum dedicated to perfume factices (ornate, oversized display bottles once used by fragrance houses to dazzle from behind department store counters) — I’ve spent decades preserving what the world forgot. These bottles were never made for use. They were made for wonder. To most, they are empty vessels. But to me, they are emotional archives. Memory capsules. Sculptures of silence.

And yet, I didn’t build this museum for nostalgia’s sake. I built it because I believe leaders — especially creative entrepreneurs — have a responsibility to protect cultural assets that commerce leaves behind. In a time when even memory is becoming disposable, we must choose what deserves to endure.

Here are four ways business leaders can start thinking like cultural stewards, even if they’re not running a museum:

1. Treat Memory as a Strategic Asset

Most leaders obsess over innovation — but preservation is just as important. The question isn’t only “What can we build?” but also “What must we not lose?”

Whether you’re designing a product, launching a brand or developing content, pause to consider what tradition, craft or emotion you’re helping to carry forward. Memory isn’t passive — it’s one of the most powerful value propositions a business can offer. People don’t just buy products. They buy feelings they once had — and hope to feel again.

2. Design for Reverence, Not Just Revenue

Cultural preservation requires a slower rhythm. At Facticerie, we don’t sell our collection. We don’t optimize foot traffic. We create moments of stillness — where visitors confront the scent of something they haven’t smelled in 40 years and quietly cry. Editor’s picks

That may sound impractical. But reverence has ROI. Creating spaces — physical or digital — that evoke deep emotional connection builds loyalty that no marketing funnel can replicate. Don’t underestimate the power of meaning in an age addicted to metrics.

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3. Invest in the Endangered

We often hear about innovation, but rarely about extinction — the extinction of skills, stories or aesthetics that commerce has deemed obsolete.

If you’re in a position of influence, consider how your business can support what’s at risk of vanishing. Can you work with local artisans instead of anonymous suppliers? Can you document heritage before it’s lost? Can you design packaging, branding or storytelling that acknowledges forgotten contributors?

Cultural sustainability isn’t about the past — it’s about ensuring the future has roots.

4. Build with Others Who Remember

No preservation effort is successful in isolation. At Facticerie, we’ve begun partnering with artists, perfumers, neurodivergent communities and cultural institutions to explore scent as memory, therapy and identity. These collaborations have not only expanded our mission — they’ve kept it alive. Related Content

If you care about preserving culture, build a coalition. Partner with those who carry deep ancestral knowledge. Create opportunities for people to share their invisible archives — through sound, scent, visual art or voice.

Final Thoughts

We live in an era obsessed with novelty, speed and virality. Even beauty has become disposable. But not everything sacred needs to scale. Some things matter precisely because they are slow, rare or unrepeatable.

That’s what I built Facticerie to honor. And that’s the invitation I offer other leaders: Trending Stories Elon Musk’s Grok Chatbot Goes Full Nazi, Calls Itself ‘MechaHitler’ Ex-Pearl Jam Drummer Dave Abbruzzese Says ‘The Water Under the Bridge Runs Too Icy’ for Reunion Paul Simon’s Daughter Blasts Richard Gere for Selling Her Childhood Home to Real Estate Developer First They Brought Back Dire Wolves. Next Up Is the World’s Tallest Bird

Don’t just chase what’s new. Protect what’s meaningful. Because one day, someone will look back and ask: “Who cared enough to remember?”

Let it be you.