Zimbabwe’s beauty queen-turned-entrepreneur on what it takes to build a fragrance brand in Africa
Forbes Africa Brooke Bruk-Jackson did not set out to ruffle feathers. She was working in a beauty salon in Harare, Zimbabwe, in 2023, when a stranger handed her a piece of paper with a question: ‘What makes Zimbabwe unique?’ “The people,” she replied. Her answer prompted him to write down a phone number with an […] The post Zimbabwe’s beauty queen-turned-entrepreneur on what it takes to build a fragrance brand in Africa appeared first on NewZimbabwe.com.
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She was working in a beauty salon in Harare, Zimbabwe, in 2023, when a stranger handed her a piece of paper with a question: ‘What makes Zimbabwe unique?’
“The people,” she replied.
Her answer prompted him to write down a phone number with an instruction to call it if she wanted to find out more. She did, and on the other end of the line was the director of the Miss Universe Zimbabwe pageant. The country had not sent a representative to the global competition in 22 years.
Bruk-Jackson, a White woman in a predominantly Black population, won the competition.
We meet in an upmarket hotel in February in Johannesburg, where the 23-year-old entrepreneur is looking to purchase laser technology for a high-end wellness clinic she plans to open in the Zimbabwean capital.
“The beauty industry can be relatively easy to enter,” she reflects, “but very difficult to succeed in. The market is highly competitive, and while many people can launch products or services, building a trusted brand requires strong branding, consistent quality, and long-term investment. The real challenge lies in creating something that stands out, and maintaining customer loyalty over time.”
In May last year, Bruk-Jackson launched her fragrance brand, starting with Brooke Signature that consists of Turkish rose, lychee and bergamot, and is inspired by what she calls “stage presence”. It has since grown to include three fragrances, all with retail presence in Zimbabwe. She’s exploring a fourth, inspired by Africa.
The business has already been profitable and she’s now focused on expanding distribution and taking the brand into international markets.
“One of the biggest hurdles is navigating the ups and downs that come with building a brand, particularly when it comes to distribution and finding the right channels for growth. Developing a product is one thing, but getting it into the right stores and opening international opportunities is another challenge entirely. It requires persistence, relationship building, and patience.”
Skills she learned while competing for the title.
“I didn’t think I would win,” she smiles modestly. When her name was called, she stood frozen for a moment, whispering, “No way.” It sparked a frenzy of social media comments and while most locals supported her as the first White Miss Universe Zimbabwe, a backlash, largely from abroad, saw public debate and online messages telling her to “go back to Europe”.
But instead of worrying about people’s reactions, Bruk-Jackson focused her attention on the Miss Universe global competition due to take place a month later (in 2023) in El Salvador. “I had one job,” she says. “Represent Zimbabwe.”
In Central America, she placed in the Top 10 in Voice for Change with her platform focused on financial inclusion for women in the informal sector. She had partnered with a trust in Zimbabwe to build income-generating infrastructure from the ground up to support, among others, mushroom-growing facilities, beekeeping operations and basket-weaving enterprises. Successfully raising $10,000 to support the projects, she continues to do so with proceeds from her popular fragrance line.
If she hadn’t won the competition?
“I would still have built something,” she says.
“Managing a business is both rewarding and demanding, because you are responsible not only for the vision, but for every decision that brings that vision to life. Every day requires a balance of creativity and discipline; you might spend one moment developing a new idea and the next solving a practical challenge that keeps the business moving forward. What I find most interesting is that entrepreneurship constantly pushes you to grow, the business evolves, but so do you as an individual.”
While the crown gave her attention, tenacity and hard work are what keep her in the limelight.
The post Zimbabwe’s beauty queen-turned-entrepreneur on what it takes to build a fragrance brand in Africa appeared first on NewZimbabwe.com.
