The British perfumer has admitted at the age of 11 years old she took on the responsibility of making and selling face and skin creams so she could help to pay the rent at her Kent home, and to ensure there was food to eat.
Speaking openly about her journey through her career and what triggered her entrepreneurial skill at The Mayfair Collective: The Women's Space event attended by BANG Showbiz, the mogul said: "I grew up on a council estate, two up two down, in Bexley Heath in Kent, and my dad was an architect, although he liked to gamble, and my mum worked for Revlon. But, as a kid it was up to me to make sure from the age of 11 there was food in the fridge and the rent was paid.
A post shared by Jo Loves (@jolovesofficial) on Mar 8, 2017 at 12:13am PST
"I know that sounds really weird; I was 11 years old, and we lived in a very different time, but I learnt when I was a very, very young kid that making face and skincare creams I could sell them."
And the founder of Jo Malone - which was later sold to Estée Lauder - and Jo Loves, forced herself to "memorise" every method and measurement accurately after watching her parents creating a new lotion so she could repeat it at a later date and "survive" with the profits made.
She explained: "So I would memorise as my dad and my mum were making lemon cleansing cream, for instance, I would memorise every single step because I'm dyslexic so I couldn't read a formulation. And I thought 'Ok, I know how to do that', so if I ever need to know how to feed us I know how to do that. And sure enough within the year I was making it myself.
"That entrepreneurial spirit and spirit of survival, it was just like I will survive this I will come through."