Taking the easy road has never been an option for Jessica Bellanti. The demon of adversity has dogged her at every turn of her life, hurling one obstacle after another in her path. But the relentless demon met its match in this fierce and tenacious beauty entrepreneur.
Today, Jessica Bellanti wears the sheen of an accomplished professional. This savvy salon owner, sought-after Portsmouth stylist, and L’Oreal National Artist is the portrait of success. Success, though, came with a price: an uphill climb fraught with challenges and upheaval.
Bellanti’s tribulations began early in her life. Her high school cheerleader persona cloaked an insecure teen battling dyslexia and ADHD. Disaster struck in her junior year when a serious car accident derailed the remainder of her high school education. Bellanti later earned her GED but struggled with a lack of confidence and direction.
Her longtime interest in hair and makeup finally decided her life’s trajectory, and in 2005, she enrolled in Portsmouth Beauty School of Hair Design. Here, Bellanti discovered her passion for making people feel good about themselves. With growing confidence, she envisioned this becoming a lucrative career and set her sights on owning a salon.
The determined young stylist formed a partnership with one of her clients, and in 2012, she opened Jessica Todd Salon under her then surname. Her first business venture would bring great success but also mounting challenges, leading Bellanti to make the difficult decision in 2023 to move on, leaving her Jessica Todd brand–and identity–behind. “After spending a decade building a reputation with that salon,” she says, “I had to be willing to walk away from everything to start over again.”
Six months pregnant with her daughter Luna at the time, Bellanti credits motherhood with her newfound fortitude. “Having my daughter,” she says, “gave me the courage to do what I felt was right for me, even though it wasn’t the easy path.” Choking up, she adds, “I didn’t want her to grow up afraid to make hard choices.”
Bellanti’s hard choices blossomed into an unexpected blessing: she realized the importance of community. Support enveloped her from all around, bringing her to tears more than once. In a stunning display of loyalty, all 24 of her former stylists followed her to Jessica Bellanti Salon, her bold new venture boasting her married name.
But adversity wasn’t finished with the plucky Bellanti yet. Ensconced in a temporary location for six months, she and her stylists eagerly awaited the new salon’s move to its permanent space. On the day after the birth of her daughter, the lease fell through at the last minute due to state septic regulations. Luckily, in March of 2024, fate intervened, and the salon found its permanent home.
The January 2025 opening of the new salon on Portsmouth’s Islington Street heralded the parallel rebirths of both the business and the woman that is Jessica Bellanti. “I am not the same person anymore,” she says. “I have learned hard lessons, and I have built grit over time.”
Bellanti channels this hard-earned experience into mentoring young stylists, something she calls “the whole reason I became a salon owner.” This generous boss mentors with more than just words, investing heavily in her stylists’ education and training. Her genuine goal is for them to flourish both personally and professionally.
For the reborn Jessica Bellanti, this new chapter of her life is about “embracing the calm.” Long gone is the adrift, insecure young woman. “I’m approaching this new salon knowing exactly who I am, and believing I have nothing to prove,” she says. “I feel confident, grateful, and excited for what’s to come.”