Love and business have one thing in common. Both need constant support. Neither grows on passion alone. Both require people willing to stand beside you when things feel uncertain. As we celebrate ‘Love Month’, This edition of the Entrepreneur Weekly highlights a love and business intertwine to produce an authentic Jamaican brand. For Kimboley Parkinson-Poyser, founder of Kimboley Kollection, those two worlds developed at the same time, shaping life and business.
“Kimboley Kollection started in 2018,” she says. “I wasn’t trying to start a business then. I was just trying to find natural solutions for my daughter and for myself.”
At the time, Kimboley was transitioning from relaxed hair back to natural while preparing for motherhood. Determined to make healthier choices during pregnancy, she avoided chemical treatments altogether, helped along by a playful agreement with her husband, Robert Poyser.
“We made a bet. If I had a girl, I would keep my natural hair,” she recalls with a laugh. “If I had a boy, I would go back to relaxers. I had a girl, so I had to stick to it.”
One month after giving birth, she did the big chop. Her daughter, she jokes, was also “a bald baby,” sending her on a search for gentle products that worked for both of them.
Unable to find what she needed, she began experimenting with natural formulations at home, testing products.
Long before the business officially existed, support was already part of the journey.
Kimboley met Robert while working in hospitality in 2013. Their relationship grew through shared experiences, eventually leading to marriage and two children. When business ideas started forming, he became her first sounding board.
“From day one, he was there,” she says. “Every event, every idea. Sometimes he doesn’t understand one bit of what I’m talking about, but he listens.”
That presence mattered more than expertise.
“Sometimes you just need somebody to listen and let you bounce ideas off them,” she adds.
As demand for her products grew, so did the responsibilities of running a business. The biggest decision came when she chose to pursue entrepreneurship full-time.
“At the time, the business wasn’t making enough to support my responsibilities,” she admits. “My husband took on the financial role so I could focus on building it.”
The decision created space to invest time into growing the brand.
“If I was working a regular job, I wouldn’t have had enough time to grow the business the way it needed,” she says.
A range of skincare products from Kimboley Kollection
From Homemade to Market-Ready
Although Kimboley Kollection officially launched in 2021 during the COVID-19 period, its earliest products remain central to the brand today.
“One of the first products was a butter called Butter Mint Hair Moisturiser, which is now our Shea Butter Hair Moisturiser,” she explains. “Customers loved it from the start. We just kept improving it.”
Another early creation, a Turmeric and Charcoal Soap, still sits in her home.
“I still have a bar from over five years ago on my counter,” she says. “It reminds me where we started.”
But as the business grew, Kimboley realised passion and personal support alone could only take the business so far. Turning a homemade solution into a sustainable brand required guidance, structure and access to wider markets.
That turning point came when she connected with the Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC).
Support in Business
“Before JBDC, I honestly believed there wasn’t much support for small businesses,” she says. “But when I signed up, it felt like confirmation that I was on the right path.”
Through training, exposure and opportunities, she began to see her business differently. Having her products placed in JBDC’s Things Jamaican store marked a defining moment.
“That opened a lot of doors for me,” she says. “It gave me confidence and showed me the products were ready.”
Currently, Kimboley Kollection is among featured aromatherapy brands in Things Jamaican’s seasonal promotion, Roots, Rhythm & Renewal https://thingsjamaicanshopping.com/aromatherapy/page/2/.
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