Patricia P. Upton
Patricia P. Upton
Founder
Aromatique Inc.
Heber Springs, Arkansas
Patti Upton of Heber Springs is the founder and former president and chief executive officer of Aromatique Inc., a multi-million-dollar international company that launched the decorative fragrance industry.
Before Upton, American women brought color and fragrance to their home only by using live flowers. She created decorative fragrance in open bowls, as well as fragranced candles. Her first fragrance creation – The Smell of Christmas – was made up of Arkansas native botanicals such as acorns, pine cones, gumballs and hickory nuts, fragranced with spices and oils.
Placed in a friend's shop, the fragrance sold out and customers clamored for more. Aromatique, founded in 1982, now features many fragrance product lines, complete with accessories and decorative containers, and a full bath line.
Today the company employs more than 200 people in Arkansas.
Media took notice, including People magazine, "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous," the London Sunday Express, Southern Living and the Washington Post. Upton has been recognized by Working Woman magazine, the International Women's Forum, the Society of Entrepreneurs and the Easter Seal Society.
She was honored as the Arkansas Business Woman Owner of the Year and her company as the Arkansas Business of the Year.
Several organizations have benefited from her philanthropic work, including the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and The Nature Conservancy.
Upton was recognized with the Distinguished Citizen Award from Little Rock's KARK-TV and the Office of the Governor of the State of Arkansas for her charitable work.
