Business & Technology

Pleasure principles: Flamingo Estate’s guide to slowing down

In a culture obsessed with optimization and speed, Richard Christiansen is building a business around a radical proposition: What if we slowed down? The founder of Flamingo Estate has transformed his Los Angeles home and garden into a global brand spanning food, fragrance, beauty, and ritual—all designed to reconnect people with the natural world and the simple pleasures of everyday life. In this conversation, Christiansen shares how he turned a personal obsession with nature into a distinctive and rapidly growing business, why prioritizing pleasure can be a radical act, and what the garden has taught him about creativity, taste, and building brands.