Jo Malone traces business success to resilience and creativity

Malone spoke with Barnaby Molloy, chief executive of Guernsey Finance, at “The Art of Wealth” event. Raised in a council house in Bexleyheath, Kent, she said she became her family’s sole breadwinner at 11 because her parents were bad with money. Her father was an artist and her mother worked in the beauty industry. Selling paintings in a market, she said, taught her about storytelling, creativity and beauty.

She left school at 15 without qualifications, having experienced severe dyslexia, and started her first business at 19. In 1983, she built Jo Malone London from handmade skincare products. Malone said creativity and resilience were essential to building a business. She married Gary Willcox at 21, describing him as the legal and financial partner in their work.

At 38, Malone was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer and given nine months to live. She joined a trial involving intensive chemotherapy; she said the treatment killed the cancer, but she lost her sense of smell and could no longer remain in the business. She sold Jo Malone London to Estée Lauder in 1999 for an undisclosed sum and stayed on as creative director until 2006. After her sense of smell returned, she launched Jo Loves in 2011. The business is estimated to be worth £3 million to £4 million ($4 million to $5 million). In 2025, she also launched Jo Vodka, a trilogy of fusion vodkas.

Now 63 and living in Dubai, Malone said she wants to encourage entrepreneurship through education. This year, she worked with Victory Heights Primary School in Dubai on a fragrance project: pupils helped develop packaging, pricing and promotion, and the school produced 1,000 bottles over eight months. Malone said children should learn about entrepreneurship from age five, not wait until 16. She was awarded a CBE in 2018 for services to the British economy, having previously received an MBE.

Molloy closed by describing stewardship as protecting what matters to a family while adapting to its needs. Guernsey, he said, provides a domicile for families pursuing those objectives. The forum’s theme covered how financial structures and professional services support wealthy families and assets, including property, marine services, classic cars and art.