Julian Addo

Julian Addo is a Liberian-Ghanaian American businesswoman with over 30 years of entrepreneurship experience. Born in Monrovia, Liberia, West Africa to a Liberian mother and Ghanaian father, Julian immigrated to the United States at the age of 2. She grew up in Staten Island, NY, with her family. Entrepreneurship began for Julian at the age of 10 when she assisted her mother with her food vending business on the streets of New York City. At 14, Julian enrolled in Ralph R. McKee Technical and Vocational High School to study cosmetology and graduated at 17 with her New York State cosmetology license. Julian was the youngest working professional hairstylist in a salon, beginning at age 14 and continuing until she was 19. After moving to Minnesota in 2001, at 22, Julian opened her first salon, Creations Plus, in Brooklyn Park. Circumstantially, she detoured into corporate America for the 13 years that followed, simultaneously obtaining a business degree from the University of Minnesota. While working in corporate America, in 2012, Julian founded Bella Kinks, an event and digital marketing platform servicing global hair care brands and consumers with monthly events, as well as digital marketing services and campaigns to connect natural hair influencers with brands. In 2015, the Bella Kinks Expo was born, with attendance of 7,000+ Dallas naturalistas and 75+ brands exhibiting their goods and services during the annual trade show. The expo ended in 2018 as Julian chose to dedicate 100% of her time to her new brand, adwoa beauty, which she founded in October 2017. adwoa beauty is a non-toxic, modern, gender-neutral beauty brand that caters to multicultural hair textures. The brand has experienced significant growth, including 65,000+ social media followers. In May 2020, adwoa beauty embarked on a retail partnership with Sephora USA, launching online and in 98 Sephora stores. Nine months later, adwoa beauty expanded to Sephora Canada while extending its U.S. footprint. The brand can now be found in 300+ stores as part of the 'Next Big Thing in Hair' campaign in the U.S. and Canada. adwoa (ahh-ju-wah) , Julian’s traditional name, is designated for females originating from the AKAN day naming system throughout Ghana and the Ivory Coast in West Africa.