Jean Pierre – Persevering with all odds against her

BY JANIECE CAMPBELL

This week’s Women Empowered began a career in aesthetics with three strikes against her. Being black, being a woman, as well as being a small-business owner.

“There’s a label that they automatically put on you as a black person. As a woman, someone told me that I’d never get a loan because banks would assume that I would get pregnant and be unable to pay it back. And as a business owner, it’s hard to get support, especially in your own community!”

Though there were many drawbacks along the way, she withstood them all and today, she is the proud founder of her own skincare line as well as the owner of a spa and treatment centre. A pioneer in Canadian skincare and a self-made icon, her name is Jean Pierre.

Raised in St. Ann, the Garden Parish of Jamaica, Jean Pierre was the firstborn of six children. She lived her early life with an innate care and compassion towards others, so much that her mother encouraged her to study nursing. Although initially wanting to be a teacher, she took heed to her mother’s wishes and eventually left Jamaica in her early twenties to attend nursing school in England. She chose England specifically because it was a gateway to many European destinations, as she aspired to travel someday.

Out of a total of thirty-three nursing students in her class, Jean Pierre stood out as the only black student at the time. This didn’t faze her at all, as she would soon become the most popular amongst others. In fact, one of the biggest problems she faced had nothing to do with anyone else but herself. Once she left Jamaica, she began to experience skin problems. At first, it was just a few pimples and minor bumps, but it didn’t help that she would avidly pick at her skin. At the time, skincare wasn’t as big as it is today, and she just brushed these issues to the side.

Later on, Jean would migrate to Canada, a place that would change her life in many ways forever.

After a while in the newer climate, she began to notice that her skin problems were worsening. Minor issues developed into acne and huge breakouts. Beginning to feel self-conscious as a health-care professional and finally fed up, she began to search for an answer.

“I started going to department stores to see if they had anything, and they would recommend products for me to buy. I know I probably spent thousands. Sometimes it would make my skin worse, some things would only work for a few weeks. But in the end, I always ended up where I started and sometimes worse.”

Frustrations led her to using one of the most accessible resources to her, the medical library. Soon after, she realized a difference in how black skin and white skin were treated. Many over-the-counter products that she was told to use were actually very harsh and drying for black skin, which explained her aggravated skin condition.

Determined to get that solution once and for all, she decided to attend Seneca College to get a better understanding of skin and aesthetics. As an already established health-care worker, she breezed through the courses effortlessly. Her sole difficulty came from her routine of working tirelessly, taking multiple buses to go to and from classes, getting home from school past midnight, then waking up to do it all over again at 7 a.m.

Going back to school made Jean realize that even the teachers themselves didn’t understand black skin. Her white educators taught countless misconceptions and led many to believe that her skin type was rough and required much more abrasive treatment.

“We used facial brushes and they would range from soft to coarse. The teachers would say that I should be using the coarse brushes, because my black skin would be more difficult to clean. See, when you touch white skin, it goes red. The colour changes, because automatically the blood rushes to the surface and you can see the redness. If you do the same thing to the black skin, and if you don’t understand how it works, you wouldn’t know that there are changes on the skin. So, they took it as that you can use the hardest brush on the skin and that would be okay.”

Recognizing that this was far from the truth, she took it upon herself to do her own research. It was at this point that she uncovered just how sensitive black skin truly was, and how these harsh treatments only intensified skin eruptions and hyper-pigmentation. Jean was on a mission to help others and educate her community on properly taking care of their own skin.

Jean completely uprooted her nursing profession to begin a new career in medical aesthetics. She began to embark on her past dreams of travelling the world, visiting France, Germany, Switzerland, and Spain primarily to explore product formulation and to gain an up-close understanding of more innovative treatment methods. She curated a skin care line that would finally address the sensitive needs and to embrace the beauty of black skin. Entitled “Obsidian”, her product name refers to black volcanic glass which reflects a kaleidoscope of colours, a true reflection of her African heritage.

Today, Jean Pierre is a licensed aesthetician with over thirty-three years of experience in the industry. Her business, Jean Pierre Aesthetics & Spa Inc. is located at 2623 Kennedy Rd. in Scarborough. By appointment only, clients have access to a wide range of treatments including laser hair removal, blue light therapy, chemical peels and microdermabrasion. Finding an importance in giving back to her community, she currently sits on several advisory boards while simultaneously being involved in supporting profit and non-profit community groups.

The COVID-19 pandemic has steadily struck many businesses, though Jean has been fortunate to view it from a positive standpoint.

“COVID has been kind to me. My mother taught me at a young age to save for a rainy day. You never know when that day is coming.”

The stay-at-home orders prompted Jean to be productive, so she began to write, something she always wanted to do but never had the time for previously. She was also diagnosed with severe spinal stenosis, an extremely painful condition that causes standing and walking to be unbearable at times. But this too proved to be a blessing in disguise while staying home with nothing else to do!

“The beauty about this condition is that while sitting, there is no discomfort or pain. All this time sitting on my bum allowed me to write my autobiography, it was so amazing! After three weeks of thinking about what to write, everything began to flow so easily. It all happened so quickly. I think it was meant to be.”

Her anticipated autobiography, Uphill Climb: Autobiography of Jean Pierre, Canadian Icon and Creator of Obsidian Skincare, is now available for purchase on Amazon. It details the motivational success story of her unlikely transition from being employed as a registered nurse to becoming the owner of a renowned spa.

“The message I want readers to take from my book is to simply be yourself, know what you’re passionate about and run with it! Don’t necessarily take the option that’s going to make you more money or give you more prestige. Take that thing that you’re passionate about doing and do it. In the end, it will give you more peace, contentment and fulfillment.”

An eventful and inspirational life she has lived, Jean now yearns for a little more “me time.” Unsure of what the future may hold, the only plan she has currently is to take life a little easier.