Growing pains, near-failures, and finding purpose — the unfiltered story behind a decade-plus beauty brand.
Jalena Renae launched the Amora Renae Collection as a teenager with little more than a deep knowledge of hair and a problem she knew she could solve. More than a decade later, she has grown up alongside her company — navigating breakout years, slow seasons, and moments when the business was closer to failure than anyone on the outside knew. Through it all, she built something bigger than a hair brand: a community rooted in beauty, education, and sisterhood. In this exclusive conversation, Jalena opens up about leadership, longevity, brand loyalty, and the legacy she is building for the next generation of Black beauty entrepreneurs.
Mo Clark: You launched Amora Renae Collection as a teenager. Looking back more than a decade later, how has growing up alongside your business shaped the entrepreneur and leader you are today?
Jalena: Growing up alongside the Amora Renae Collection has shaped almost every part of the entrepreneur I am today. When I started, my greatest skill set was simply hair. I knew hair, I understood the product, and I knew there was a problem I could solve. More than a decade later, my skill set has expanded far beyond the product itself. Business has been successful, but it has not always been easy. I’ve had to learn how to grow a company, but I’ve also had to learn how to bring one back when it was struggling. I’ve experienced incredible years, slow seasons, financial challenges and moments when the business was much closer to failure than people on the outside would ever know. Learning how to navigate all of those seasons is what really made me an entrepreneur.
At one point, I was able to grow the company by roughly 30 percent year over year, and that wasn’t because I suddenly knew more about hair. It was because I had developed skills in marketing, operations, strategy, customer experience, financial decision-making and understanding people. That’s when I realized that what I had built within myself was bigger than one industry. I could take those skills and apply them almost anywhere. Leadership has probably been my biggest evolution, and it’s something I’m still learning. When you’re used to building something from the ground up, your instinct is to do everything yourself because that’s how you survived in the beginning. But I’ve learned that what gets you started isn’t necessarily what gets you to the next level.
Today, I’m much more comfortable stepping back, identifying what I’m actually great at and surrounding myself with people whose strengths may be greater than mine in other areas. I don’t need to be the best person in every position. I need to be able to recognize the best person for the position. I think that’s one of the biggest differences between the teenage entrepreneur I was and the leader I’m becoming now. I started Amora Renae knowing how to build a product. I’m now learning how to build people, systems and a company that can grow beyond what I could ever do alone.
Mo Clark: The beauty industry moves quickly, with new trends and brands constantly entering the market. What has allowed Amora Renae Collection to build longevity while continuing to evolve without losing its identity?
Jalena: I think the reason we’ve been able to evolve without losing our identity is because we actually have one. You don’t lose your identity when you know who you are. I’ve never really looked within the beauty industry for inspiration. My inspiration comes from the world around me: culture, fashion, what women are experiencing, what people are talking about and what’s happening in real life. We don’t do something simply because it’s cool or because everyone else is doing it. A lot of times, we’re creating the trend rather than following it. At the same time, Amora Renae has very clear pillars: beauty, education and community. Those things have remained consistent even as the way we express them has evolved. Whether it’s a product, campaign, event or experience, it should still embody who we are and what we stand for. I think longevity comes from knowing the difference between evolving and chasing. You absolutely have to evolve as the consumer, culture and world change, but you don’t have to abandon who you are to do it. We’ve been able to grow with our customer because we’ve stayed rooted in our own story instead of constantly shifting according to what everyone else is doing.
Mo Clark: You’ve made experiential marketing and community-building an important part of your brand strategy. How do you turn a customer transaction into a genuine relationship — and ultimately, brand loyalty?
Jalena: To me, brand loyalty happens when people feel connected to something, not just sold to. Of course, the product has to be great, but eventually it becomes bigger than the hair. It’s the friendships they’ve made, what they’ve learned, the experiences they’ve had and the feeling of knowing there’s a community they can come back to. That sense of belonging is what turns a transaction into a relationship.
Mo Clark: Founder-led storytelling has become increasingly important to consumers who want to know the people and purpose behind the products they purchase. How much of Jalena is intentionally woven into the Amora Renae brand?
Jalena: It is me. The evolution of Amora Renae has really been the evolution of Jalena. When I put my purpose back into my business, that’s when the brand really started to make sense. When I first sat down with my marketing strategist to define our story, I told her I wanted community, sisterhood and somewhere to belong. Those were things I personally wanted and needed throughout my teenage years and womanhood, so naturally they became part of what I wanted to create for other women. That’s why the brand feels authentic. Community, education, beauty and sisterhood aren’t marketing strategies we adopted because they were trending, they’re rooted in who I am. I wasn’t looking at other hair companies for a blueprint. I was building around the question, “Who is Jalena Renae, and what does she want to put into the world?” Amora Renae is my baby. I created it when I was still growing up myself, so as I’ve found more of my purpose, the brand has found more of its purpose too.
Mo Clark: As a Black woman who began building a beauty business at such a young age, what does legacy mean to you now, and what do you hope Amora Renae Collection represents to the next generation of Black beauty entrepreneurs?
Jalena: Legacy means more to me now than it ever has because I have two daughters. I’m not just building a business anymore; I’m leaving behind a story and showing them what’s possible. I want that story to be about doing things differently and doing them your way. Your capacity is limitless. I think Black-owned businesses, especially in beauty, are sometimes expected to exist within certain spaces or at a certain scale, and I want Amora Renae to challenge that. There is no ceiling on where our brands belong or how prominent they can become. For the next generation of Black beauty entrepreneurs, I want Amora Renae to represent possibility. Take your idea to heights that haven’t been imagined yet. Put it in spaces where you haven’t seen anyone who looks like you before. You don’t have to follow someone else’s blueprint for what your business is supposed to become. If you can dream it, you can build it. I want my daughters and the women coming behind me to see that there really is no limit to where their creativity, ideas and businesses can take them.
From a teenage founder who knew hair to a leader learning to build people, systems, and a company that can outgrow her, Jalena Renae’s story is proof that longevity in beauty isn’t about chasing trends — it’s about knowing who you are. With community, education, and sisterhood as her pillars and two daughters watching, she is building more than a brand. She is building a blueprint for what Black women in beauty are allowed to dream.
