Today we’d like to introduce you to Jolie Pollard.
Jolie, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I grew up in Belize struggling to understand my curls. My parents both had much straighter hair than I did, and nobody around me really knew how to care for curly hair. Most girls I went to school with straightened their hair, while I spent years hiding mine in ponytails and trying to manage damaged ends and frizz. As a teenager, I honestly didn’t love my hair. It was dry, dull and brittle and none of the “moisturizing” hair products available in stores were doing me any good.
That started to change when I was around 17. I cut off the parts of my hair that I had chemically relaxed at 13 and slowly began learning how to style my curls with products like mousse. By the time I started college, I was beginning to embrace my curls for the first time.
I later moved to the United States on a journalism scholarship, and for the first time I had access to curly hair products that highlighted natural ingredients. But when I returned home to Belize at 26, I realized how limited our options were. In the small village of Placencia where I lived, there were only a few products available, all with harsh ingredients that didn’t work well for my hair.
Around that same time, my life was changing in a lot of ways. I had left an executive job in my village and started rebuilding a more flexible life. During the day, I worked freelance as a writer and editor, and in the evenings, I helped my mom at her restaurant. I had also become deeply interested in open-water swimming, spending long hours in the Caribbean Sea. Suddenly I had the time and freedom to experiment.
At first, I was simply trying to create something for myself. I started with Belizean extra-virgin coconut oil from Silk Grass Farms, a B-Corp-certified producer located in the rainforest of southern Belize. Their commitment to sustainability and quality really inspires me. I experimented with coconut oil, shea butter, essential oils, and DIY formulations, but nothing quite gave me the results I wanted.
Then one day, everything changed when I started experimenting with Belize’s Eucheumatopsis isiformis seaweed locally pronounced by expert seaweed farmers in Belizean Creole as “ih-koo-ma”.
I had some of the reconstituted red algae in my refrigerator for smoothies and decided to try incorporating it into my moisturizer. The seaweed was grown offshore in the Caribbean Sea along the Belize Barrier Reef by local seaweed farming pioneer Lowell “Japs” Godfrey. Knowing exactly where my ingredients came from — who cultivated them, the quality of the waters they grew in, and the passion behind them — became a huge part of what made the brand feel meaningful to me.
The results were immediate. I remember feeling shocked by how quickly I saw the exact things I had been searching for: lasting moisture, shine, curl definition, hold, and frizz control in an extremely humid tropical environment. I could feel the potential instantly. Better yet, my experiments were proving to be better than the expensive products I had tried when I lived in the United States. It was so exciting.
In 2017, I took my first moisturizing cream backpacking through Central America — Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua — testing it in real life while traveling. Eventually I realized I also needed a styling gel, so I began experimenting again. While I saw a couple clear seaweed hair gels in the international marketplace I noticed none were targeting curly textures. In fact, that was what I saw with all hair products using seaweed extracts in the international marketplace. I knew I was on to a huge opportunity. I decided to create something different: a creamy curl gel that combined moisture and hold in one product. Instead of relying heavily on synthetic ingredients, I used the natural polysaccharides found in seaweed to help form a lightweight protective film around the hair that locked in moisture and minimized frizz. So much of this just came from intuition and the intimate relationship I had built with this incredible gift from the sea.
What began as curiosity quickly became an obsession with refinement. Seven years later, I’m still improving and evolving the formulas using my journalistic background that propels me to hunt for the “truth.” You’d be surprised how that skill translates into formulation. Of course, I also took haircare formulation courses online that mostly verified what I had already taught myself.
The brand itself also developed very organically. I launched iKOOMA in 2019, trademarked the business in Belize, and began receiving positive feedback almost immediately. A creative friend of mine, Melanie Wood of Plates in San Francisco, helped shape the visual identity of the business. She helped name my first two products Curl Nourishment and Curl Formation in preparation for my display at the Smithsonian Earth Optimism and Folk Life Festival at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. She redesigned my labels and created the mermaid logo I had imagined from the beginning — a mermaid whose hair resembled seaweed and who represented inclusivity and multicultural beauty.
That inclusivity has always been deeply personal to me. I come from a very multicultural Belizean family with many different hair textures, and I never wanted iKOOMA to feel limited to one specific ethnicity or curl type. One of the most rewarding parts of building the brand has been seeing people from so many different backgrounds connect with the products.
As customers began sharing feedback, the line naturally evolved. While iKOOMA began as a curl-focused brand, some of our formulations started performing beautifully on fine textures, loose waves, and even straight hair. Today, products like Reef Hydration and Jungle Hold have developed a loyal following among people looking for lightweight moisture, shine, frizz control, and softness without heaviness. My newest product, Isle Serum, a silicone-free, seaweed infused hair oil is loved by all textures. Curly girls use it to finish their routine, and it can also be used on its own on fine textures for instant lightweight gloss.
I also expanded into different scent options after hearing feedback from customers and parents looking for more variety. Looking back, it’s incredible to think that what started as one woman experimenting with seaweed in a tiny Belizean village eventually grew into a brand that has reached customers internationally and helped spotlight Belizean seaweed, sustainability, and Caribbean ingredient sourcing in a completely new way.
At its core, iKOOMA is still driven by the same thing that inspired me from the beginning: creating gentle, effective leave-in hair products that help people feel good about their natural hair while celebrating the beauty, biodiversity, and ingredient stories of Belize.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
No, it definitely hasn’t been a smooth road. Honestly, many of the biggest struggles had less to do with the products themselves and more to do with my own personal growth as a business owner and as an adult trying to build something meaningful.
When I officially launched iKOOMA in 2019, I was still learning how to manage my time, stay disciplined, and truly commit to the long-term vision of what I was building. I struggled a lot with self-doubt, even while receiving incredibly positive feedback from customers. About a year after launching, I would see massive global beauty brands launching products that were capitalizing on seaweed and immediately feel defeated, intimidated or afraid that I hadn’t acted quickly enough.
There were also moments where I became overly focused on criticism or on the small percentage of people the products might not work perfectly for, instead of appreciating how many people genuinely loved them. I’ve always had perfectionist tendencies, and that mindset can become exhausting when you’re creating something so personal. Hair care is deeply individual, and I had to learn that no product can be absolutely everything to everyone.
A huge part of this journey has been learning how to stay in my own lane creatively and emotionally. I had to stop constantly comparing myself to other businesses with far more capital and access than mine and learn to appreciate what made iKOOMA different — the story, the ingredients, the environment it comes from, and the years of experimentation and innovation behind it.
Building this brand has forced me to mature in ways I didn’t expect. It taught me resilience, patience, consistency, and self-trust. Looking back now, I realize that while there were definitely logistical and financial challenges along the way, the hardest work was often internal such as learning how to believe in what I had already created instead of constantly fearing failure.
As you know, we’re big fans of iKOOMA. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
iKOOMA began as a very personal quest to create a high-performing leave-in styling product. I’ve always been able to find decent shampoos and conditioners on the market. There are so many options for moisturizing, detangling, and clarifying. There are fabulous locally made hair growth oils for the scalp too. But what I struggled to find was a leave-in styler that truly delivered lasting moisture, shine, hold, and definition in challenging outdoor conditions. That gap is what drove everything.
From the beginning, iKOOMA has been about innovation in that specific space. I’ve never been interested in simply recreating what already exists or making small adjustments to existing formulas. What excites me is developing something new — especially within leave-in styling — because that is where the real visible transformation happens for hair that needs reliable help on the fly! That focus has remained very intentional.
At its core, iKOOMA specializes in leave-in curl styling products made with Belizean red seaweed and premium botanicals. Our two anchor products, Curl Nourishment and Curl Formation, were designed to work together as a moisture-and-hold system, but over time they’ve also evolved beyond curl-specific use.
While the brand started with textured and curly hair in mind, we now have products like Reef Hydration and Jungle Hold that are widely used by people with fine textures, loose waves, and straight hair. These products are valued for their lightweight moisture, shine, frizz control, and softness without heaviness. That evolution has been exciting because it reinforces something I’ve always believed: good styling products are not limited to one hair type; they should perform across textures when formulated thoughtfully.
What sets iKOOMA apart is not just performance, but origin. We work directly with Belizean ingredients that come from highly specific, biodiverse environments. Our seaweed is cultivated inside the Belize Barrier Reef — a UNESCO World Heritage Site — and our coconut oil comes from sustainable, B-Corp-certified production in southern Belize. Knowing exactly where these ingredients come from and the people behind them is something I’m incredibly proud of. There is real craftsmanship, care, and pride in the way these raw materials are produced.
Sustainability is also an important part of the brand, even though I’m still learning and evolving in that area. I’ve experimented with biodegradable packaging, and while it wasn’t convenient enough for my customers, it pushed me to keep improving. Right now I’m exploring lower-plastic packaging options because I’m very aware of the environmental impact of the beauty industry, and I want to keep making better choices as the business grows.
Today, iKOOMA is still a small, independent business based in Belize. We’re currently in the process of becoming more export-ready with grant support funded by the CARICOM Development Fund through the Belize Enterprise Empowerment Project, and we’re preparing to launch an e-commerce website. For now, we sell directly through WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook, and we ship internationally via post.
What I’m most proud of is very simple: when people use the products and immediately say, “this actually works.” That has always been the goal, to create leave-in styling products that genuinely perform. The story, the ingredients, and the origin all matter deeply, but at the end of the day, performance is what drove this quest.
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
Something that surprises people when they get to know me or learn about my work is how many different chapters my life has already had and how early they began, especially when it comes to thinking entrepreneurially.
As a child, I was very drawn to reading and writing. I loved essays, and I ended up winning writing competitions early on. One of the most memorable moments was when I represented Belize in Barbados for Condé Nast Traveler’s “My Caribbean Essay” contest. I traveled there as one of the finalists, alongside winners from across the Caribbean. I placed second out of around 25 entries, and I was the first Belizean to reach that level in the competition. I remember being in Barbados among other young writers, receiving my award on stage, and being presented a gold Waterman pen by the magazine editor. I was about 11 years old, and it was one of those early moments that shaped how I saw possibility.
What people often don’t expect is that by the time I was a teenager, I was already thinking in terms of business ideas. During my scholarship interview for an opportunity to study in the United States when I was about to graduate from St. John’s Junior College in Belize City, I shared that I wanted to start Belize’s first fitness magazine. I had just won Belize’s first Body Figure Competition sanctioned by the International Federation of Body Building and had even represented Belize in Guatemala City. During my training, I used to find old fitness magazines in a secondhand bookstore downtown, but I noticed that the recipes and ingredients featured weren’t accessible in Belize. So I began imagining a magazine that would connect health and fitness with locally available ingredients — something that would actually make wellness feel practical and culturally relevant at home. Looking back, that was really my first business idea, even if I didn’t frame it that way at the time. That idea along with my high GPA and performance in extra-curricular activities got me a full tuition scholarship to attend Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama, where I entered as a junior. When I started my first semester in Mobile, “Flex” magazine published a one-page feature on the fitness competition in Belize with my trophy photo inside, and I purchased a copy for myself at Walmart with my college roommate. It was a very surreal moment.
Not long before I left the United States, I also had another early idea: a Belize-focused food magazine. While living in Mobile, I realized how difficult it was to find Belizean recipes online, and I thought, “This should exist.” Someone eventually launched something similar before I did, and I remember feeling defeated, but it reinforced this pattern in my thinking of wanting to create platforms that highlight Belizean ingredients and culture.
After graduating magna cum laude, I stayed in Mobile, Alabama and worked at my alma mater in higher education fundraising, specializing in prospect research. I did that work for about four years, developing research and analytical skills, but also reading countless entrepreneurship stories on our prospects.
During college, I also completed a short internship in Belize at Channel 5 News, returning briefly for field experience before going back to finish my studies and later continuing my professional work in the U.S.
Eventually, I moved back to Belize and transitioned into media and community work more directly. I became a newspaper editor in Placencia and worked with the Placencia Tourism Industry Association, helping organize major local events like our Lobsterfest, Sidewalk Art Festival, our fishing tournament and Christmas Mistletoe Ball.
Looking back, what surprises people most is not just the variety of these experiences, but the consistency underneath them, a long-standing instinct to build things that connect people to Belizean culture, ingredients, and creativity in practical ways. Something else that surprises people is my eclectic taste in music! I grew up listening to heavy metal, industrial and classic rock, grunge and alternative music. I know it’s not Belizean at all! My taste has definitely expanded over the years, but I still go crazy over a hypnotizing guitar riff and energetic drumming.
Also, I grew up drinking seaweed shakes made by my grandfather, who was well known in Placencia for them at my grandmother’s restaurant. Belize’s seaweed was already part of my life long before it became part of my formulation; it just shifted from food into haircare.
At the time, I didn’t always recognize these patterns as entrepreneurial thinking. I was often very hard on myself and focused on what I hadn’t done yet. It’s only in hindsight that I can see how early curiosity, storytelling, and building ideas were already shaping everything that came after.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.ikooma.com
- Instagram: @ikoomahair
- Facebook: @ikoomahair
Image Credits
Personal Photo: Kevin Quischan/Belize My Travels
Studio Photos: Rebecca Stirm/BRAATA Belize
Belize Seaweed Farming Pioneer Lowell “Japs” Godfrey at Little Water Caye: Nick Perry/NPImaging
Underwater Seaweed at Belize Women’s Seaweed Farmers Association Ray Caye site: Jolie Pollard
