Jesseca “Judy” Harris-Dupart has built more than a beauty brand—she’s created a movement rooted in self-expression, culture, and community. As the visionary behind Kaleidoscope Hair Products, Judy has stayed grounded in who she is while uplifting others to do the same. Her journey is one of bold ideas, real connection, and a deep love for the people who’ve grown with her along the way. In this inspiring conversation with OTC Beauty Magazine, Judy opens up about the lessons, the legacy, and how community continues to shape everything Kaleidoscope stands for.
OTC: When you look back at how the beauty industry has evolved since you launched Kaleidoscope, what changes excite you the most—and where do you think the industry still needs to grow?
I like that more people are embracing their natural hair. I like that more people are learning to just love their curls. I think there was a battle prior to this with the naturals against the curly girls. But I think now it has become one band, one sound, of “I wear my hair how I want”. Whether it’s braids, whether it’s flat ironed, whether it’s a wash and go, whether it’s bantu knots, whatever. I like that.
Where do I feel like we can grow? I feel like founders could use more presence on the shelf.
OTC: Kaleidoscope is full of color, confidence, and culture. How do you keep your brand feeling real and relatable to your audience today?
I made sure that the brand is very authentic to me. So it’s not something that I have to remind myself to be intentional about because that’s who I am, and I try to make sure that the brand stands for that. It stands for being you, being yourself, and being confident. Whether that’s long hair, short hair…whether that’s size 6, size 16, or size 60. Just finding beauty in yourself because beauty is only defined by you, not by the standards of the world.
OTC: Kaleidoscope is known for beautiful bold visuals. Can you share a campaign or brand moment that was a personal favorite for you, and why it resonated so deeply?
One of my favorites to date was when we remade the W.A.P. video that Megan and Cardi did. It was almost to the T. It was almost exact, so that was one of my favorites. One of my most recent favorites is us remaking these random songs and just having fun. My favorite to date was W.A.P. It was called L.A.H. “Long And Healthy.”
OTC: Many entrepreneurs talk about feeling ‘imposter syndrome.’ Have you ever had moments of doubt, and how do you work through them while still leading with confidence?
I think when you let God lead your life, stuff can be so phenomenal that stuff can be unbelievable. So there will always be some doubt, there will always be some “am I worthy of”, there will always be “I can’t believe this is happening” or there also will be, in the moment of it happening, “this will all go away” or ”I’m gonna wake up and it will be a joke.” I feel like every human has experienced that, especially when you’re blown away by the things because you never imagined it.
OTC: You’ve created not just a business, but a movement that celebrates textured hair and individuality. What does legacy mean to you, and how do you want Kaleidoscope to be remembered years from now?
Legacy to me means the things that people say about you when you’re not around–the lasting impact that you give. Walking in a room and people saying “that’s such and such that does this” or “that’s such and such that does that”. I feel like you have to be intentional about the things that you attach yourself to, the things you say, how you live your life, the way you treat people on your journey. Because I think in today’s world legacies are so tainted and everybody wants to see salacious things, but you know just doing your best to stay away from things that might be connected to that is good.
OTC: What’s one part of running Kaleidoscope that people don’t see on social media—but is absolutely essential to your success?
I don’t know what people don’t see on social media, I’m so transparent about so much…. I think people know it’s hard work. But, I think a lot of people think stuff happens overnight. I haven’t posted a video in the warehouse in months, but I do go into the warehouse. I do whether people see me on social media posting my family more and posting myself more. My meetings ain’t stop, my schedule ain’t stop. I just now have tried to, and I say try to because I haven’t been able to master it. I’ve tried to add more time for content creation around my everyday life, like personal things, and not having it be so much business. But every single day of the week I’m working on Kaleidoscope.
OTC: How do you approach building your team—what do you look for in the people who represent and shape the Kaleidoscope brand?
Let’s be very transparent with this. I haven’t been the best at building my team. I think that is mainly because of the type of learner and teacher that I am. I am a person that is real actionable. I am a person that is real and gets it done. I’m a person that also teaches and learns from watching and experiencing. So I’ve had to learn that everybody isn’t like that, along with the fact that nowadays people are not self aware all the time about what they are capable of versus what they think they are capable of. So what I’ve been leaning into more recently, when we are first looking at a candidate, we date them for like 30/60/90 days before really committing, to be able to see if they are able to accomplish the things that we really need done.
OTC: As a busy entrepreneur and creative, how do you find balance between work, wellness, and your personal life? What helps you stay grounded?
There is no such thing, and balance is a fictional word that people want to throw around to hold you accountable for making sure you’re checking in. I’ll say this, at no point will it be even. At no point will it be 50% family, 50% work. At some point it’s gonna be 80% work, 20% family. At some point it’s gonna be 80% family, 20% work. I think trying to figure out balance, you have to make peace with the fact that it is going to be an ever changing thing. It’s almost like a life line, its up, its down, its up, its down. You just gotta make peace that on this journey you might be less accessible sometimes, but this might lead you to be way more accessible at another time.
OTC: How do you stay inspired in your everyday life—and how does that inspiration find its way into Kaleidoscope’s products or message?
Sometimes you get in a funk, so I’ve gone back to my prior work, and I try to challenge myself to be better at what I’m doing now. It’s hard to top what I did. So right now, let’s talk about what we did for Essence last year, how do you do something bigger than that? That sort of stuff keeps me on my toes because I go so far and do so much and try to reach so far that when it’s time to do something similar or do the same thing it has to be bigger than, better than, more efficient, better delivery, all of the things, and that will always keep me on my toes.
OTC: If Kaleidoscope had a theme or motto for this next chapter, what would it be and why?
This next chapter I think should be called “bloom.” I know where we’ve been, what we’ve been able to do in the past, but I know where we’re going and how much bigger of an impact we’ll have as we’re growing. We’re known for hair growth products, but a lot of people don’t know how great a lot of our other products are. We’re really about to take styling on, so something we hadn’t committed a lot of time, effort, energy, content to, now we’re about to put a lot behind that. Same way you saw us crazy before, now you’re gonna see us. And it’s not just gonna be isolated to half of the products, it’s gonna be all of the things.
OTC: Is there anything else you would like our readers to know?
We have some new exciting stuff coming out that a lot of people are gonna be excited about and they’ve been asking for, so be on the lookout.
