Sharmadean Reid graduated from Central St Martins with a First Class degree in Communication and became a brand consultant and fashion stylist for Nike, Asos and Arena Homme +. 

She started WAH as a hip hop magazine for girls in 2006 while still at university. She then founded WAH Nails as a side project in 2009.WAH completely changed the beauty landscape with its millennial voice, feminist attitude and innovative salon space. She then wrote two books, delivered global pop up nail salons for 100s of brands, created a product line with Walgreen Boots Alliance and was awarded an MBE from HRH Queen in 2015 for services to Beauty and Women.


Alongside all of this she shared her journey by organising business events for young female entrepreneurs culminating in futuregirlcorp.com.



In 2016 she opened an innovative salon in Soho, London, showcasing a Virtual Reality Nail Design app in collaboration with DVTK and a booking chatbot with Bowtie.AI and was curious about ways to push the service experience further through technology.


In 2018, she co-founded Beautystack, becoming one of the first Black women in the UK to raise VC funding. The platform used visual menus and social features to help users book beauty treatments, championing community-led marketplaces over ad-driven models. When the pandemic stalled its launch, she pivoted to advocacy — leading a national campaign on behalf of beauty professionals — and kept her community engaged with talks, mental health support, and curated cultural content.


Community has always been central to Sharmadean’s work and mid pandemic, in March 2021 she launched The Stack World. A platform that enables build the knowledge and network to grow. Become a Member today and join the conversation.


Alongside building Stack, Sharmadean deepened her storytelling practice. She published New Methods for Women in 2024, a cult book of 51 essays on self-reinvention, now in its expanded paperback edition.


Currently, she is building her next company: 39BC, a luxury bathing brand rooted in ancient beauty rituals and sensual modern cleansing. 39BC fuses historical storytelling with fragrance, art and commerce, creating products and experiences that explore the sacred intersection of water, pleasure, and ritual.

Sharmadean continues her commitment to telling women’s stories with two film projects in development exploring matrilineal trauma and a scripted TV series inspired by her experience in the venture capital world.