Different challenges have cropped up in different seasons in my life. As I look back on some of them, even if some now feel small, they were so significant at the time that they altered the fabric of who I am and the paths I have chosen.
From being the sole carer for a family member who struggled with mental illness to being bullied in school, fighting to get into university (despite having the grades), experiencing injuries as a young athlete, or financially battling as a solo, bootstrapped founder, the struggles have been there.
The one thing I have learned from all of this is that access is the game-changer. Getting access to the right people, the right information or tools and (sadly) most importantly, the right funding, can very quickly change the trajectory of the challenges that most people face, no matter how big or small the problem may seem at the time. And that is why I have dedicated my time and career to helping underserved communities get access to one (or more) of these three things.
Today, that means building Mane Hook-Up - a beauty platform helping textured hair stylists get discovered by customers in their local area and a community that helps them to build the wealth they truly deserve.
Early on in my career, I made the conscious decision to work for companies that are making a difference in the world because being part of mission-led organisations honestly brings me joy and has allowed me to see that change is possible.
I realised this after two key moments in my life:
- I spent a year training as a full-time athlete after I graduated from university. One year to fully commit to a sport that I love, I was good at and wanted to channel more of my energy into. In that time, I learned that doing anything that I’m passionate about will help me become more successful.
- I worked for companies that were genuinely helping people live better lives, and by extension, become happier, healthier and community-led people.
So, by the time I was in my mid-twenties and in my second job, I knew that I needed to serve others. Fast forward to 2018, when I decided to stop chemically straightening my hair and struggled to find a decent natural hair stylist in London, of all places. This quickly allowed me to serve other people in an industry that I culturally and financially already give so much to: hair.
Black women spend four times more on hair and beauty than women of any other race, yet they are wildly underserved and neglected in the hair industry. Booking platforms are rarely able to produce a range of good, textured hairstylists. And, despite probably spending over £1.5k on my hair a year, I could not buy my hair products in Boots or Superdrugs until I was in my mid-twenties.
When lockdown came around, not only did I have to learn to DIY, but stores like Sainsbury’s, Boots, and other major supermarkets of the world remained open as essential shops, yet my local Black hair stores had shutters down and were forced to close. The double standards are truly something to behold.
Having decided that I wanted to serve others, I understood that many problems people face can be solved by gaining access to the right people, products, tools, and funding. I became determined to tackle this issue, and that is how Mane Hook-Up started, but now the vision is much bigger.
Today, I am focused on addressing questions like: How can we tackle the systemic issue of creating wealth for present and future generations of Black and brown people, who are the largest consumers in the hair industry? We spend the most, so surely it also makes sense that we should take home a fair share of the financial gain. It sounds logical, but that is rarely the case. So, the next stage of Mane Hook-Up’s journey is understanding how we can help people to create generational wealth from the hair industry and transform the lives of Black communities globally in the long run.
Even though this is a larger-than-life ambition. It has been hard to get access to the things I need for the business to run in the way I envision.
Ironically, I also need access to the right people, tools/resources and funding. I have been incredibly fortunate to find a lot of people who believe in me, our vision and the future that Mane Hook-Up is going to create. In all of 18 months, I have gone from two advisors to a team of eight industry-leading advisors, and from a one-woman band to an internal team of five. Although I am the only person working full-time, this is a much better position than I was in three years ago.
Getting access to the funding, well, that has been a fight that I am sure many people have seen, heard and experienced for themselves. For the past two years, I have spoken to investors who have repeatedly said, “Great product, incredible team, the market is huge, and the solution makes sense, but no thanks, we’ll pass.” I actually wrote a newsletter series about this called 240 Days to Raise, where I documented my 8-month fundraising journey in an attempt to help other founders get an idea of what the landscape looked like.
It has been hard. But I refuse to leave the world in the same state that it is currently in. We will change it, investor or not.
While I don’t know exactly how we fix this issue. I do know there are a lot of people trying to focus on levelling the playing field for underrepresented founders. Like my own mission, this one will also take time and a fierce amount of dedication to create that systemic change.
When all has been said and done, I am proud of what I’ve achieved so far. Last year, we launched in New York, went to an accelerator in San Francisco, gained three more core team members, and I finished off the year doing a TED Talk about wealth creation in the Black hair industry.
Despite probably spending over £1.5k on my hair a year, I could not buy my hair products in Boots or Superdrugs until I was in my mid-twenties.
That is leaps and bounds from the days of building the first version of Mane Hook-Up on Squarespace back in 2018.
People think being a Disruptor means doing something that has never been done before. I disagree. I am not the first person to create a booking platform like this. I just plan to build the best one – one that will help people create life-changing wealth for themselves and their families.
In a way, I want it to be the Black community’s answer to creating the wealth that lasts and can transform the livelihoods of people worldwide, changing the way we live, and getting access to the things we need.
I am a Disruptor because I plan to change the world in a way that truly changes the trajectory for people who look like me, simply through these strands of hair on our heads.
Disruption doesn’t have to be loud, crazy or unseen. Sometimes, as it is in my case, it is right there in front of you, waiting for someone bold enough to say, “This isn’t good enough, we deserve better.”
Jade is the Founder and CMO of Mane Hook-Up, a London-based beauty booking platform that helps women find and book appointments with afro hair stylists in their local area. Their ambition is to diversify the afro and curly hair industry by making afro and curly hair stylists more visible. With a decade of experience as a purpose-driven marketing specialist, Jade focuses on building products and businesses from the ground up and creating solutions for underserved communities.
Having served start-ups, scale-ups, and Fortune 500 giants like Nike. She's driven projects from concept to completion, leading multi-functional teams to produce record-breaking results.
With features in the likes of British Vogue, Pop Sugar, Sheen, Schick, She Speaks, Founders, Black Beauty Magazine, UK Tech News, BBC and more, Jade is digitising a 275 BILLION dollar industry from the roots up.
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