Tracee Ellis Ross’ commitment to exalting Black beauty through her hair care brand, Pattern Beauty, is one she spent years making sure wouldn’t get lost in translation. And it hasn’t. Here, the actor/entrepreneur discusses the power of a story-backed product, and the value of harnessing community as a core collaborator.
What has your trajectory been like in beauty?
It’s been a big growth curve. Pattern was 10 years in the making from when I first wrote the brand’s pitch to when we ended up on shelves, and the biggest thing that happened in those 10 years was that I honed my vision; I got very specific about what I wanted to do, and clear about how to articulate that. Since launching in 2019, it has been like being in business school — it’s been boots on the ground, learning what it means to be the [chief executive officer] and founder of a company, how to stay true to my vision and the integrity of the brand within an industry that doesn’t always receive and understand Black-owned businesses, particularly those that are centered around the celebration of Black beauty.
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What’s one thing about founding and building a female-led business nobody tells you?
I have been a woman marching to my own drum throughout my career even prior to being a CEO and founder, so navigating that aspect of this journey and how people respond to me as a woman is no longer at the forefront of what I am breaking through, because I feel like that, sadly, is just part of being a woman in the world. It’s not an easy thing to create a business that is both lucrative and intentional; that part of the journey has been very fulfilling, because I feel like with every step that I take, it opens up more real estate for a female-founded business, and for businesses that celebrate Black beauty.
What steps are you taking to ensure women’s voices are heard within your organization?
The steps that I’m taking are that all voices are heard, and that women have a seat at the table: Of the 17 designated employees of Pattern, we might be 90 percent women. It’s also about listening to the consumer; there’s sort of a built-in exchange between them and the internal culture of the company; there’s a listening that happens, both to who we serve, and to the team that’s creating the products.
You once said you are “learning every day to allow the space between where I am and where I want to be to inspire me, and not terrify me.” What, for you, has been the magic of building Pattern Beauty?
That we remained true to my original mission and vision, feels magical to me. That you can, in fact, build a beauty company that is not just about sales but also empowering, and celebrating, and bringing joy; that I have built a business that requires all of us to lean in with our hearts and not just our minds in service of the curly, coily and tight-textured community — that North Star is the magic of what we do.