The brand of Adwoa Beauty is paralleled in the life of the founder, Julian Addo, whose traditional name is also Adwoa. a life + purpose + will power = a founder and CEO born to do this. that is, born in Monrovia, Liberia to a Ghanaian father + Liberian mother. the journey takes off in Staten Island, NY upon arrival to the states at 2 ½ years old. an ambitious, African girl in America convinced the powers that be to allow her first employment opportunity as a hairstylist at Kamara's unisex palace on Targee street by the age of 14. Julian did all her friends’ hair, having the block on lock.
In overcoming immigration status, which prevented her from attending cosmetology school, Julian enrolled at ralph r McKee vocational & technical high school while still at Tottenville high, to study cosmetology for free. the salon work sufficed after school and on weekends until graduation in 1997 when being a full-time stylist was realized. issues with violence in the neighborhood were enough reason to move again, this time to Woodbury, Minnesota to be with her family.
Tapping back into the beauty industry in 2012, Addo was now much better equipped for success. She kicked off with a blog about her natural hair journey, which turned into a digital media marketing agency, and of course, her signature brand. “Adwoa Beauty is a modern, gender-neutral beauty brand that caters to textured hair,” Addo explains. “‘Adwoa’ (ahh-ju-wah) is a female given name from the Akan culture that spans from Ghana, Togo, and the Ivory Coast in Western Africa. There are various spellings depending on which country and tribe you are from.” Addo wanted to create a strong yet unassuming brand identity that tied the cultures together. “We create high-quality visuals that highlight the beauty of Black people throughout our shipping packaging and marketing on social media. We positioned our brand in prestige retailers to provide Black people with a unique shopping experience when buying Black-Owned hair care products.”
Stay up on Adwoa Beauty’s journey at @adwoabeauty.
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