Tracee Ellis Ross signs on to our Friday evening Zoom call a minute early.
“It’s been a packed but wonderful week,” she says.
“I love our Pattern shoots.”
Pattern Beauty celebrates its fifth anniversary this September.
Dress and skirt: Chanel.
“The world has a lot to say about what women should be doing,” Ross says.
Blair Caldwell. Dress and skirt: Chanel. Shoes: Aeyde.
“A lot of things have been said to me about what gives a life meaning.
Pattern has contributed to the meaning of my life in such a profound way.”
The impetus to start Pattern Beauty and subsequently reshape the hair-care industry rests in Ross’s lifelong hair journey.
Blair Caldwell. Dress and skirt: Chanel. Shoes: Aeyde.
“Then, I started going to the salon to get blowouts every Saturday around third grade.
I eventually started relaxing my hair until I was in 10th grade.
I always tell them they need to get a sew-in,'” Ross says.
“I told the employee that’s not truethey just need the right products.”
Ross’s path to addressing the glaring gap in the beauty industry is far from linear.
It took 11 years for her vision to take shape.
Blair Caldwell. Dress and skirt: Chanel.
“I didn’t know how to take a dream and [turn it into products.]
I had people read my pitch and tell me I should make a line of wigs instead.
I had someone say to me, ‘Why you?’
and tell me I should just partner with a professional hairstylist.”
Ross’s hurdles offer a glimpse into the barriers Black entrepreneurs disproportionately face in business.
Pervasive discrimination often affects our access to mentorship; information; and, most importantly, capital.
Blair Caldwell. Full look: Miu Miu.
“I heard so many ‘noes,’ and there was a lot of disappointment,” she says.
Dress and skirt: Chanel.
“We’re not a celebrity brand,” Ross says.
It’s my baby, but this brand isn’t about me.
It’s about offering resources and products to the community."
“I feel very responsible to my community,” Ross says.
Blair Caldwell. Full look: Loewe.
“I’ve built such a beautiful team of people who each have their own expertise.
Even though I’m the CEO, I like to hear what everybody else has to say.
I don’t know everything, and don’t pretend to know everything.”
Blair Caldwell. Full look: Loewe.
“Now, I can say what I mean very quickly and easily.
I’ve become a savvy CEO and founder.”
While growing as a leader, Ross has continued to soar as an actress.
Blair Caldwell. Full look: Loewe.
“I’m so proud of the work I’ve done,” Ross says.
Full look: Miu Miu.
Her answer: Yes… with some caveats.
Blair Caldwell. Full look: Loewe.
The powerful inaugural project captures the essence of the stories Ross aims to tell under the entity.
“I want to tell stories centered around a sense of joy and light.”
Up next, Ross is producing a Roku Original series,Tracee Travels.
“I never thought I would get here.
It’s exciting to be able to choose what I want to do.”
Full look: Loewe.
“I didn’t know I wanted to be an actor initially,” she says.
“As a kid, I wanted to be like my mom [Diana Ross].
I wanted to be a lady on stage in a sparkly dress.
In high school, I started modeling.
I haven’t stopped acting since.”
“We live in a culture obsessed with youth,” she says.
“I have to say, I’m obsessed with growing up.
The sense of maturity that you gain is sexy.”
Getting older has made Ross wiser and more confident without question.
“Being frank, I think I’m sexier than I’ve ever been,” she says.
Having that sense of self is beautiful and is something I learned from older women."
When Ross entered her fifth decade on Earth, it encouraged her to pause and take a full self-inventory.
“I’m in a real transition,” she says.
“It’s challenging from a physical perspective and wonderful from an emotional and spiritual perspective.
There’s a genuine sense of being a grown-up now.”
The grown-up version of Ross is also not afraid to give herself her flowers, rightfully so.
“I’ve always been about the work,” she says.
“I work hard because I care about what I do.
Up until I turned 50, my head was down doing the work.
At 50, I looked back and realized I’ve done a lot of things.
And there’s still a lot more for me to do.”
What does “more” mean to Ross?
It’s a question she’s undoubtedly spent time meditating on.
“So, I am very specific about my words and what I want.”
As a founder, her wishes for Pattern Beauty’s future are crystal clear.
“It’s not easy to get things made these days,” she says.
“Between the pandemic and the strike, the industry is trying to make sense of it all.
As an individual, Ross looks forward to continuing to discover herself.
With that, she’s also open to inviting new possibilities into her life.
“I am dreaming about partnership and what that might be,” she says.
“I want something that will be additive to [my life.]
I’m pretty much a unicorn, and I’m looking for another unicorn.”
Ross’s ability to recognize and celebrate herself is precisely what makes her a muse.
Her individuality and ingenuity permeate everything she touchesfrom Pattern Beauty to her production company.
