You may know her as a stylist to the celebrities, namely Travis Scott, but Jamaican Barbie’s journey to the top of the hair game wasn’t an easy one.

Growing up in one of Los Angeles’ toughest communities, Jamaican Barbie, whose real name is Yasmin Adams, says her upbringing though rough, having seen a lot of death and self destruction was eye-opening pushing her to take a route few trodd.

Adams shared that she had always had a love for hair and was often called ‘coolie gyal’ and  ‘Miss Jamaica’ owing to her father’s heritage having hailed from the community of Tivoli Gardens.

While being born in the United States, and having only visited the island once,  Adams said she grew up in a household steeped in Jamaican culture and considered herself a daughter of the soil.

“I visited Jamaica once as a small girl. I am planning to go back this year, as I owe a lot of who I am to the island culture,” Adams said.

Adams shared that dancehall culture, particularly how people styled their hair, meant that she has always rocked 27 inches of hair, sporting many colours which fueled those in her community to take note referring to her as ‘miss Jamaica’ and ‘ barbie’.

A mash up of her two monikers led to the name ‘Jamaican Barbie’.

Adams, who is a self taught hairdresser, and recently completed a bachelor’s degree, says it is her creativity and ability to stand out that ultimately led to her landing a chance opportunity to serve as a stylist for rapper Travis Scott.

“You got to be yourself, be creative, you got to know how to network. One of my closest friends gave my number out to Riff Raff’s manager and from there on Riff Raff has opened the door for me in this industry,” she told  Terry Worten TV.

Later on Adams would go on to work closely with Scott’s ex, Kylie Jenner, who she credits as liberating her from knock-off labels to her first ever real Chanel bag, which was given to her as a Christmas gift.

Her Christmas present was just the beginning as she was regularly called to style the hair of Jenner’s daughter, Stormi Webster.

Soon she’d even get an opportunity to touch up Offset.

However  Jamaican Barbie shared that while he day job is hairstyling, she also is a mom an aspiring rapper and a philanthropist

According to Jamaican Barbie while it is easy to bask in having arrived in a space where things are much more financially comfortable, she always remembers where she came from and she believes in giving back to her community.

Adams’ Project Desarden, is a charity that helps out low income and homeless families.

 “It’s been real real good for me coming from L.A., you know just being out here in these streets because me being in the industry is one thing, but me coming back to L.A. and being a fan in my real area and out in the hood is totally different,” she said.

“I always like to come back to my home and my people and my real peoples and let them know, you know, what you can be,” she added