In the heart of St. Catherine, amidst the hustle and bustle, lies a sanctuary of beauty and a symbol of empowerment: Shades of Elegance, owned and curated by a visionary, Treacha Reid. This March as Women’s History Month unfolds and International Women’s Day celebrated just last week, the Entrepreneur Weekly, is celebrating women in business who inspire with their strength and dedication. Treacha Reid is a perfect example. Her journey from hairdressing on her mother’s verandah to a luxurious beauty suite poised to be the pearl of the Caribbean is a tale of dedication and hard work.
Empowering Through Beauty
With pure confidence, Treacha stands behind her business, “At Shades of Elegance, we offer a full range of salon and spa services designed to help you look and feel your best”, she explained. As a Trichologist, she knows beauty is more than skin deep, “We offer inside-out transformation of service for parents seeking self-care. Here it’s not one shoe fit all. It’s not any size fit all. We customise our services to the need of the client.”
Treacha and her team of skilled professionals go above and beyond to create personalised beauty solutions that cater to the unique needs and preferences of each client. Whether it’s a glamorous makeover for a special occasion or a rejuvenating spa treatment for self-care, every service is delivered with precision, passion, and a touch of elegance.
A Journey of Passion and Purpose
But the story of Shades of Elegance dates back to 2000. Armed with ambition, Treacha embarked on her entrepreneurial journey, with zero dollars to her name on her mother’s verandah. “My mother inspired me to become a Trichologist. She was the one who encouraged me to do the hairdressing business. And when she was encouraging me, I honestly didn’t want to do it. When I was through with school, I decided that I wanted to do something on my own, but didn’t have the money to start.”
With a goal in mind, she put her pride aside, “I went to a store to find out if the gentleman would credit me this stuff to start-up. I started off with one relaxer, combs, brushes, a standing chair, a blow dryer, everything that I needed to start on my mother’s verandah. The total amount was $32,500”.
Crossing one hurdle, she stumbled on another – “The persons in my community wouldn’t support me because they thought that I wasn’t good enough to touch them or to offer hair care services to them. I took a leap of faith and researched another space in Old Harbour.”
Founding Shades of Elegance, Treacha set out with the mission to redefine beauty standards and provide a space where every woman feels seen, heard, and valued, but the trials that this presented seem to never end.
“I was paying a thousand dollars per month. It wasn’t pretty. It was horrible. It was awful. So, I spent maybe six to eight months at that location. During that time, I went through some major embarrassment because I mean the floor had on linoleum and it was just tacky. A lot of flies would swarm the area. It was just horrible. I decided that I’m not going to stay there. That wasn’t my ambition, that wasn’t my dream, that wasn’t my vision and I didn’t settle.”
She set out to find another home for her business. Her goal was not merely to offer beauty services but to cultivate a sense of confidence and self-assurance in every client who walked through her doors. Now, Shades of Elegance stands at 36A South Street, Old Harbour, its permanent home.
JBDC ACCELERATOR PROGRAMME
As we celebrate Women’s History Month, Treacha Reid stands as a beacon of inspiration for aspiring entrepreneurs and women everywhere. Through Shades of Elegance, she has not only redefined the beauty industry but also sparked a movement of empowerment and self-love that transcends boundaries and transforms lives.
The Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC) has been providing business development services to Treacha since 2018, where she was one of the 60 participants from Cohort 3 of JBDC’s Accelerator Programme. The aim of the Accelerator Programme Cohort 3 was to impact participants with results such as average annual sales growth rate of 10% of more, early-stage financing, as well as firms having links to strategic business partners. Treacha benefited from the programme’s six modules which include: (1) Strategy Development, (2) Financial Management, (3) Marketing & Sales, (4) Operational Improvement, (5) Digital Transformation, and (6) Business Valuation. She is particularly pleased with the coaching she received in terms of pricing her services appropriately for the market.
Treacha says, “JBDC helped me with pricing my products and services. Because I really didn’t know how to price my pedicures. So the sat me down and looked at my overall cost, labour cost and product cost to help me a charge for the service I offer. If it wasn’t for them then, I would not have known or I wouldn’t know how to apply that to my business right now.”
Let JBDC Help You! The Business Advisory Services Unit at the JBDC is ready to help you get the information you need to boost your business through services including Business Information Dissemination and Opportunity Assessment.
When a client comes into the JBDC, the Business Advisory Services Unit (BAS) acts as a resource centre for entrepreneurs by answering queries, providing information such as details about the business environment and other institutions within the ecosystem that business owners need to know about. The team will assist with information that allows clients to build and grow their businesses. Additionally, we conduct an opportunity assessment which essentially helps clients to be aware of what is important to consider and know as they pursue business ownership. Visit www.jbdc.net to book your consultation now.
