When Joshua Tong decided after 20 years in corporate banking that he needed a change, he wanted to design something that was close to his heart which was incense and he launched his brand Mahō with only four products in 2020.
“Towards the end of my corporate career I just felt it was destroying my soul,” he says. “I’m very creative and I was suppressing that side of me and along the way I just got really depressed.”
Fast forward to 2023 and Mahō now has over 100 products which are stocked in more than 500 stores including the Middle East.
Mahō means magic in Japanese and the brand’s tag is a little magic, which is just what Tong needed.
“The goal was to reinvent the classic incense and I think we did that. We won silver at the Australian Design Awards this year and I feel like our incense is a true Melbourne innovation on something that is really not that cool,” he laughs.
Tong explains he only creates products that are part of his lifestyle hence the introduction at Life Instyle Sydney of his new tea.
“I don’t drink coffee, I only drink tea. Drinking tea is a ritualistic, ceremonial thing I just do every day. I understand tea and I only do things that I am really passionate about. We also have a teaware range and we are showcased at the National Museum of Australia in Canberra and stocked at Isetan in Tokyo.”
Tong was intrigued by fragrances from a young age when he bought his first bottle of perfume at the age of 12. When it came to designing the fragrances for the brand’s incense it was important to match the scent with the wood used, so some would be a lighter fragrance than others.
“My inspiration comes from memories of places I lived or have been to and certain smells that come to mind when I think of these places. The design and packaging is all original and designed by me.”
Tong adds that the company is looking to expand into the US, but he says everything that has happened so far is from people reaching out to him, so it has all been growing organically.
“I have three stores in Iceland and I don’t even know how they found me and I got an email recently from an agent in Amsterdam who wants to represent us as well, so we must be doing something right.”
