Jamelia Donaldson has transformed the landscape for women with textured hair through her company Treasure Tress, creating Europe’s largest natural hair product discovery box service and empowering women and girls globally.
Jamelia Donaldson, a trailblazer in the haircare industry for women with textured hair, has achieved remarkable success since launching her company, Treasure Tress. The 33-year-old entrepreneur, originally from London, has created what is now Europe’s largest natural hair product discovery box service, delivering carefully curated haircare products to women and girls across 46 countries.
Jamelia’s journey towards this entrepreneurial achievement began during her childhood, where she displayed an early flair for business by styling classmates’ hair for pocket money. Despite her mother encouraging her to pursue a career in law for its perceived stability, Jamelia’s passion for haircare endured.
Whilst studying Business and International Relations at Aston University, Jamelia participated in a one-year internship in Beijing. It was during her time in China she faced a pivotal challenge: she ran out of her black haircare products and discovered the scarcity of such products. With no suitable alternatives, she resorted to using a shoe brush on her curly hair—an experience that underscored the lack of accessible haircare options for black women living abroad and inspired her to address this gap in the beauty market.
Determined to facilitate easier access to appropriate haircare, Jamelia launched Treasure Tress. Initially, she juggled this burgeoning start-up with a demanding corporate career, working as early as 4 or 5 a.m. before heading off to her corporate job from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Her passion project started with her stacking boxes filled with haircare products from her bedroom, eventually expanding to a garage and then a warehouse as her clientele grew. Recognising the demand and reaching a point of burnout, she decided to dedicate herself fully to the business after eight months.
Treasure Tress soon expanded to cater for a diverse clientele, servicing not only black women but also those of mixed-race, Asian, and Mediterranean backgrounds. The company now collaborates with over 250 beauty brands and has received significant recognition, including the Channel 4 initiative Black in Business, which awarded Jamelia and her company £100,000 worth of TV advertising and mentorship.
Aside from achieving business milestones, Jamelia prides herself on the personal impact her company has on women and girls. She has received feedback from older women wishing they had similar resources growing up and mothers thrilled their daughters have access to services that celebrate their natural hair. Treasure Tress has also implemented the Teen Experience initiative, offering personal development workshops for black girls aged 12 to 19. These efforts contribute to increasing confidence in young women and normalising natural hair in mainstream media.
Jamelia splits her time between Birmingham and London, further embedding her influence in the UK while expanding her business globally. In localisation efforts, she even opened a successful pop-up shop in Birmingham’s City Centre last year, affirming her commitment to making a positive impact within communities. Jamelia’s story from a child hairstylist in the playground to the leader of a global business is both inspiring and a testament to the importance of recognising and filling market needs.
Source: Noah Wire Services