From glamour agent to hair and beauty founder: Judy Koloko's incredible second act

You've had decades of experience, built a network, and always known there was something bigger waiting. But what does it actually take to step into that gap, build a business from scratch, and raise nearly £1 million on little more than belief and a brilliant idea?In this episode of Wild, Wise & Working, Jackie is joined by Judy Koloko, founder of The Steam Bar, a premium scalp and hair care brand built for people with natural, curly, coily and afro-textured hair. After nearly three decades working her way through the fashion industry, from glamour agencies to managing talent for the world's top creative houses, Judy spotted a gap that no one else was filling, and decided she was the one to fill it.The conversation travels the full arc of Judy's journey: the graft of building a career from a two-week internship, the early entrepreneurial instincts that surfaced in a handbag line nearly stocked by Harvey Nichols, and the personal reckoning in her forties that made her look beneath the wig and finally honour her crown. Jackie and Judy explore what it means to turn lived experience into a business idea, how to raise money on conviction alone, and why the network you have built over decades is one of the most valuable assets you will ever own. This is an honest, energising conversation about resilience, reinvention and why midlife really is the moment your experience becomes your competitive advantage.Covered in this episode:How Judy got her first break by sending a speculative CV to a glamour agency and turned a two-week work experience placement into a career that eventually put her in rooms with the world's top supermodels and creative talentThe handbag line called Just Judy that nearly made it to Harvey Nichols, and why pregnancy and bandwidth forced her to let it go, but left her with the taste for building something of her ownThe personal wake-up call in her forties: taking her wig off and seeing the damage that years of chemicals, relaxers and traction had done to her scalp, and the determination to start honouring what lay beneathHow a conversation with a long-term colleague about their daughters' hair, and the absence of premium scalp care products in any mainstream department store, crystallised The Steam Bar ideaHow Judy became the first UK brand ever to win a place on Sephora's Accelerate programme, a six-month accelerator run in collaboration with the 15% Pledge, and what it felt like to walk into a Sephora summit and find herself sitting alongside the team behind Rare BeautyRaising close to £1 million, largely without a trading history, by selling conviction, story and personal credibility, including through a Dragons Den-style angel investor event where Jackie herself stepped forward to back the businessAbout my guest: Judy KolokoJudy Koloko is the founder of The Steam Bar, a premium hair and scalp care brand stocked in Selfridges, Sephora and BT Edit Mayfair. She spent nearly three decades working across some of the UK's most respected fashion and creative talent agencies, rising from a glamour agency internship to managing photographers, stylists and art directors for the creme de la creme of the industry. In 2024 she became the first UK founder to win a place on Sephora's prestigious Accelerate programme. She is living proof that the longer the road, the richer the foundation you build on.The Steam Bar - thesteambar.comJudy on Instagram - instagram.com/misskolokoJudy on LinkedIn - linkedin.com/in/judy-koloko-02b803181/Mentioned in this episode:Sephora Accelerate — Sephora's accelerator programme for indie beauty foundersThe 15% Pledge — the organisation partnering with Sephora on the Accelerate programmeSelfridges — UK retail partner for the Steam BarBe a part of the show, and get in touch if you want to chat through your business idea:Don’t forget to subscribe on your favorite podcast platform.Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackienaghten/Send me voice messages, questions, or story ideas for a future show: You'll find everything you need HERE - https://wildwiseandworking.transistor.fm/Quick voice message link: https://www.speakpipe.com/WildWiseAndWorkingProduced by The Good Studio - thegoodstudio.co.uk