Quirky jobs: I make smells for a living

Have you ever stopped to think about who makes those weird musty smells at spooky attractions? No? Neither had we…

That was until we heard about Liam Findlay, a themed smell consultant at AromaPrime, a company that design and create many of the weird and wonderful smells that help generate atmosphere at some of the UK's best-known theme parks, museums and attractions. We just had to find out more.

If you'd like to discover what a themed smell consultant is, how you get into the attractions industry and, most importantly, what a T-Rex smells like then read on!

What is a themed smell consultant?

As a themed smell consultant, it is Liam's job to work with places such as theme parks, museums and even care homes to help design, curate and deliver the kinds of smells they need.

Liam explains: "All sorts of attractions and venues need smells to help create an atmosphere. Our smell receptors are connected to the part of the brain that processes memories – so if you are going through a dungeon attraction and smell damp, that may trigger a scary memory that instantly makes the place feel spooky. But, it's not often practical, or safe, to create real smells at these venues – you can't just leave some eggs behind a radiator to create a rotten smell! So a themed smell consultant works with a client to help find the right synthetic smell to give off that perfect pong for their venue!"

How did you get into the job?

"I studied Art at school and did an Animation degree at university, so I was very interested in design and storytelling. This led on to freelance work designing for attractions." Liam continues: "I never had a clear career path in mind throughout my education, but I followed topics that most interested me. This helped me to combine skills that I gained over the years through work experience and find my ideal role as a themed smell consultant."

"Part of working as a freelancer means you have to scout out potential work opportunities. I did some research and, when I realised there were storytelling elements in creating smells, I reached out to my current company via email, which led to some freelance work. From that initial email, here I am two years later working as part of their in-house team."

We had one museum ask us to make the smell of a T-Rex, so you have to think outside of the box.

What kinds of smells do you make?

"We often make smells that are on the weird side of things! We've worked with zoos to recreate the smells of animal pee and poo for exhibits. We've done work with a theme park to make a smell that triggers fear in people when they are queuing for a roller coaster. We even work with care homes to create smells that remind older people of their youth, such as liquorice and carbolic soap. Our smells are all artificial, which means that we create them. We have to order lots of different ingredients in to make our smells, but the recipes are a closely guarded secret, so I can't tell you too much!"

Liam continues: "All I can say is that we do get some very unusual requests from our clients. We had one museum ask us to make the smell of a T-Rex, so you have to think outside of the box. A big part of the job is mixing some of our existing scents and experimenting with ingredients until we find something that smells just right."

Tell us more about the T-Rex!

"We were approached to make the smell of a T-Rex for an animatronic exhibit at a large museum, but how do you discover what a T-Rex smells like? They've been extinct for millions of years! Firstly, we approached some leading palaeontology (study of dinosaurs) experts for advice. Smell can be linked to the food we eat, so we decided that we would look at the diet of a T-Rex. As carnivores, they ate lots of meat, and we imagined that chunks of meat would get stuck between their razor-sharp teeth and start to rot. One problem we encountered was that people don't like the smell of rotten meat, so wouldn't visit the exhibit for very long with that smell lingering nearby. We had to think of a plan B, so we looked at the environment where T-Rex lived and created some swampy, boggy smells instead. In this job you have to think creatively and overcome challenges. Some smells, especially historic ones, require a lot of research."

Liam's top tips

If working as a themed smell consultant, or another job in the attractions industry sounds like it might be something that appeals to you then Liam has some top tips:

• Find patterns From my own experience, I would suggest finding patterns in what really interests you, looking for courses or work experience in those areas. Even though you may only find work experience, you may learn new skills, or open opportunities to a career that is right for you.
• Work hard I feel that there is a lot of pressure for young people to know what they want to do for a career when they choose their GCSE or equivalent subjects, and that feels like the be all and end all, but it's not. It almost feels like when you choose your subjects you are choosing your future, but, trust me, you don't need to worry. By working hard and following your passions and interests, one day you will find a career that is right for you.
• Be adaptable For a job as a smell consultant, you do need to have an interest in scent, but you also need to know about storytelling. It will allow you to take people on a journey through a theme park, or retell a part of history. I didn’t come to this job from a business or chemistry background – although these are valuable skills in this industry – but I think it’s important to remember that you can find relevant skills in all sorts of things that can lead to other areas of work. Every team has multiple facets to it, so you don’t just need people to be good at X, Y or Z – you also need people who are good at A, B, or C – teams in attractions are made up of designers, but also accountants, administrators and marketing experts – we all gel together to make one big team.

Take some of the skills and interests that you have and apply them to many different parts of many different industries and you may find the right career for you.