Today we’d like to introduce you to Joellee Wilson.
Hi Joellee, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I am a Hispanic African American woman who was born in Panama, Colon, and when I came to the United States as a little girl, it was during a time where my country was being invaded by the U.S. In my journey of entrepreneurship and life in general, I knew I had to understand the conditions in which I was born. It was important to understand what was going on in the world around me, which could possibly explain the complexities of every moment thereafter. Now that I’ve shared a little of my history, you can imagine life as an immigrant being difficult and entrepreneurship not being too far-fetched. Since then, I’ve received my citizenship and life continues to unravel. My mother has always been an advocate of owning a business and encouraged us in every phase of life to pursue our purpose and our passions.
Throughout the time leading up to college, I was heavily involved in fashion and hair styling for myself. This started as a strong hobby and then later evolved into a baby business when people randomly reached out to me for styling their hair or even photoshoots. In 2017 I launched both my hair company, J Lux Elite Hair and my Airbnb business. They both were doing well, considering it was fairly new and Airbnb wasn’t extremely popular as it is now. With any new business, it thrives off of exposure, which I needed at the time to expand my brand. During that time we only sold hair bundles, but today J Lux Elite primarily provides 100% Human hair lace front wigs and sells hair bundles upon request. As for my Airbnb business that started years ago, I transitioned it to NY, but life took an unexpected turn, which I will dive into later.
Ultimately, I embody everything creative! Although I do have a hair business, I also sing, write music, write poetry, create short parodies and videos, decorate, paint, draw, design, sew clothes and so much more. These are all outlets used to express myself. I want to live a life poured out so that whenever I leave this earth, I know that I didn’t harbor what God entrusted in me to release. With this being stated, I’d like to hone in on Music. Music is a universal language that has the ability to uplift broken hearts but also join people from different walks of life together. Music is powerful and is such an intricate part of my life. I started singing as a child in the church but began writing songs consistently in 2015 and haven’t stopped since. I plan to release my debut EP in Summer of 2023 “The Breakup Record.” The title speaks for itself, but from the perspective of the enlightenment and strength you get from a breakup.
I believe gifts are tools to help others get through their difficult seasons in life. The sooner we can adjust the lens of our perspective to each season, the quicker we begin to realize that our situation is not terminal and it is not the final verdict. On contrary, it’s the intricate details of these difficult seasons that prepare us for the very thing we are created to do. The process of any journey is not meant to be easy and pleasant, but it’s meant to strengthen and sharpen you. The journey of tending to music, my hair business and other talents is tangled up in balancing my personal life and that’s a challenge. However, today I am happy that I am a visionary that can draw what’s in my mind to fruition. As a result, it’s been rewarding to see my businesses flourish and evolve.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Life is full of uncanny twists and turns, but it is bundled in a unique experience for each person’s purpose and destiny. Triumphs and tragedies share the same experience. Are we not to accept the good with the bad? My journey is far from smooth, but it is in fact through unimaginable experiences that I’ve been able to be relatable. Struggles are inevitable and so is a little bit of fear, but it can be used to fuel the car that takes you right to your destination if you allow it. For many, 2022 was an amazing year, but for me 2022 has been the year that has pushed me over the edge. Years before, leading up to this very moment I have been tried in my business, my health, finances, and life. I have stories that could last a lifetime, but today I’ll share one that’s been impactful.
At the top of 2022, I was a full-time entrepreneur for both J Lux Elite hair and Airbnb. I quit my job nearly a year ago and recently relaunched both businesses. Simultaneously, I began to question some friends and family. It was as if the lights went out and most of the characters in the story went ghost. My circle has never been large, but people became completely unresponsive, others lied to my face, and some did not reciprocate the same loyalty and care. Naturally, when I saw this I withdrew and withheld information that you’d normally want tell your friends and family. I became closed in and the scrutiny with security of my life became tight. This is all leading up to March of 2022 when trying to solidify a booking for Airbnb.
I was currently in Atlanta for business because I had to install and style a client’s wig when I saw two people from Airbnb were trying to book the same weekend of March 5th. I immediately reached out to the one who inquired first and approved it, but she had difficulty making the payment. Nothing could be done from my end so I referred her to reach out to Airbnb customer service. At the same time, I reached out to the second inquirer to inform her that someone else has submitted a request for the same time but has not confirmed. There were still difficulties that was even beyond Airbnb so I ultimately approved the second inquirer for that weekend. I vividly remember everything leading up to this time. Just for the sake of this story, I’ll refer to her as Lima. She had a weird request to have a package shipped to my apartment before her arrival and although I thought it was strange, I agreed.
While preparing the Airbnb for her arrival on Saturday, March 5th, 2022, the package arrived on time and I was able to put it on the kitchen counter. However, something just felt off and though I didn’t want to pry, I shook the package and tried to guess what was in the box. My guess was binoculars. Lima checked in successfully on Saturday into my Airbnb and Sunday was my time to make sure the process for checking out went smoothly the following day. I reached out to her through Airbnb’s portal, phone call and text message, but there was no reply. Monday arrived, which was check-out day and still no reply. Sometimes guests check out without being responsive so I guessed this was a possibility. I was staying at my aunt’s house at the time when I told her that I felt like something was wrong and that I would simply visit the apartment and record everything. In response, my aunt asked to call her to confirm that everything was okay.
As I traveled to my Airbnb apartment with hopes of the best, I was equipped to record me walking up the steps and even knocking on the door. I knocked twice before I announced that I was going to enter. Since there was no response, I unlocked and opened the door to a thirty-degree angle to see my guest’s Ugg boots, a jacket and her laptop. I thought to myself, wow, she may have just stepped out for a moment or she maybe sleep. From here I opened the door to a ninety-degree angle and I saw Lima hanging dead from my ceiling. Her feet were slightly touching the ground and she was purple. Immediately fear and shock took over. I was in complete disbelief so I shut the door and thought to myself, perhaps this is a prank. This is New York and certainly this is not real. I pressed my ear against the door in hopes to hear for a cameraman and Chance the Rapper from Punk’d. I looked through the crack of the bottom of the door, but I still saw her feet hanging. I opened up the door once more and she was still there so I bolted out of the building to call 911. Later we discovered that the package she had delivered contained sage and the rope itself she used to kill herself.
This event left me shattered and broken because I recently moved to NY after moving three times in less than a year. This would be the beginning of another chapter I’d have to “start all over” yet again and where life would never be the same. There isn’t enough time to dissect the intricate details and moving parts, but on another end my support system was reduced to a few and this would change the way I do business out of state or even live. I got through this event by the grace of God, with the help of my immediate family and a select few close people, but to the friends I once had or even friends that barely were present they had no clue and probably still don’t. If I could sum up this year, it would be titled “The Fight of my Life.” This was the year I’ve fought the hardest for me and I felt as if Psalms 23:4. “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me; Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” I discovered that just as you and me have a shadow, it proves as evidence that we are present. The same goes for the “shadow of death,” which means that I was in the presence of death itself. However, God has been with me every step of the way and has made provisions after the plight. I took all the strength and the fight I had left in me to pray, fast, and believe God to manifest what He deposited in me that will be released in years to come.
Countless times I gave up, but God kept waking me up. Countless times I didn’t want to do anyone’s hair, but I continued to get booked. Countless times I threw in the towel, but God kept reminding me that he is relentless concerning me and His promises. He will complete what He’s started and will wait on the return of his investment. This year the dream of music almost became a dream deferred and like the travailing of a woman about to give birth, this baby became heavier to carry each day and I wanted to abort mission. There is a point where you are tried so much in life, no words of encouragement and no clichés like “dust yourself off and try again” or “God won’t give you more than you can bear,’ and so many others are actually encouraging. I was beyond reachable places of myself that I could heal on my own, worst my therapist.
I realized that as I was confronting myself this year without external voices to influence the restructure that was taking place in me. I am not a result of someone else’s voice, or opinions or influence. This year I’ve come to appreciate my resilience and tenacity, although everything in life tried to break me and tried to get me to the same position as Lima. This year was the icing with sprinkles and a cherry on top. There’s been so many delays and obstacles, but I can still see the hand of God on my life and if the fight is this great, I started to believe in the greatness in me.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
For J Lux Elite Hair, I am a traveling wig installation stylist, which simply means that I customize, color and style lace front wigs. I sell Grade 12A and 10A human hair wigs and can style the wig to your liking. I’m passionate about hair because my mom has a favorite phrase, “I make bad times look good.” We believe that no matter what you go through in life, your crown, which is your hair should be kept. There’s something about a client leaving your chair so happy because they are totally in love with what they see, but my real satisfaction is having those conversations while they’re in my chair to highlight the love of who they are.
Now as for music, as I mentioned earlier, I write all my songs and of course sing, but in 2023 I plan to be more visible and audible. I’m known for being a creative person and I’m most proud of taking nothing and making it into something. As simple as that sound, it can be an idea or re-imaging or just a thought and I have the ability to bring form to that idea and create it. There’s a lot to look forward to because along with music, I plan to release a spoken word audible, along with my second book titled, “Not Your Average Jo.” In 2023 we are pressing play on all the things that have been in development for years.
I am most proud of my unwavering beliefs, my fight, and the ability to retain compassion even though life hasn’t been compassionate. Sometimes we can get caught up in all of the things we do, how we present ourselves to the world or social media, and what we can offer, but spend less time on who we really are an individual. I’m most proud of me not repaying evil for evil and still choosing to check on friends and family who haven’t checked on me. I’m most proud of how I’m able to tell this story that is a tragedy but view it as the start of my triumph. This is what sets me apart, outside of the unique experiences of my journey. I am proud to know and believe that through God, I am powerful, unstoppable and relentless.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
Faith! I often ask people, what do they have faith in? We live in a world that discredits God and believes more in higher powers, energy and the universe. My life is a testament of the manifestation of Faith, prayers answered and a God who delivers. I cannot talk about success without talking about God because without his favor I can do nothing. I cannot talk about security and protection without talking about how I lived to see “I will fear no evil for thou are with me. Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” To many, they only know what they see on social media and to fewer, they know that I am in my right mind because of God.
Everyone’s journey is different and who you are may not look like who you will be in your destiny, but the experience is customized with a series of events to get you looking more and more like who you are created to be. I believe if you are tenacious enough to step out on faith, invest in yourself, start a business, invest in that business and cultivate it, that you are successful. Everyone measures success differently, but I believe if you made it through tough seasons, deaths, disappointments, tumultuous storms, unimaginable life threats and you are still standing, you my friend are successful.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.jluxelitehair.com
- Instagram: @joelleetunes
- Facebook: @JoelleeWilson
Image Credits
Red photos (only) are by Mel B. Elder Jr (melbelderjr.com)
