Crowned by Curls: How Ama Amo-Agyei Built an £11M Haircare Empire Rooted in Culture and Clarity

At 30, Ama Amo-Agyei is reshaping Britain’s beauty landscape, not with borrowed formulas or buzzwords, but with a powerful blend of identity, intention, and instinct. As the founder of Plantmade, the UK-based natural haircare brand now valued at over £11 million, Amo-Agyei has done far more than create bestselling products. She’s built a movement.

Her journey didn’t begin in a glossy boardroom or a chemist’s lab. In fact, it started in 2020, at a moment most would call a personal crisis. Freshly laid off from her job during the COVID-19 lockdown, she could’ve slipped into despair. Instead, she tuned inwards. Armed with herbal knowledge passed down through generations and a keen eye for market gaps, she began formulating oils and tonics from her kitchen, remedies inspired by Afro-Caribbean and West African traditions.

With zero external funding, Plantmade took its first breath online. There was no PR blitz, no celebrity endorsement. Just products that worked and a founder who understood her audience like no algorithm ever could. Word spread quickly. Within her first year, she made her first million. Then came the surge. The company grew organically, scaling in both product range and consumer trust. Today, Plantmade ships globally, and its digital community runs into the hundreds of thousands.

But success has not dulled Amo-Agyei’s clarity. She speaks candidly about being a Black woman navigating a beauty industry that often sidelines textured hair. Her approach challenges not just how haircare is marketed, but how it’s understood. She doesn’t sell beauty as aspiration; she celebrates it as birthright.

Meanwhile, she’s been deliberate about protecting the core of her brand: wellness rooted in nature, transparency, and heritage. Ingredients are sourced ethically. Manufacturing is clean. The brand’s values remain non-negotiable. And while she now runs a team, Plantmade has remained fiercely independent, no private equity takeovers, no creative compromises.

Ama’s story is not a miracle. It’s a blueprint.

In a time where brands chase virality and validation, she has built something rarer: trust. Her rise isn’t only a proof of her entrepreneurial genius; it’s a cultural moment that redefines what success looks like for young British women of colour. From redundancy to record-breaking revenue, Amo-Agyei has flipped the script.

She did not just create a product. She nurtured a legacy. And she’s just getting started.