Tracee Ellis Ross: Actress, entrepreneur and advocate for empowerment

Let’s not pretend: You’ve heard of Tracee Ellis Ross, we’ve heard of Tracee Ellis Ross, everyone has heard of Tracee Ellis Ross. She’s not just the daughter of one of the most famous women of all time but also an accomplished actress and entrepreneur in her own right with decades worth of credits to her name.

So how exactly did Ross go from being a nepo baby to a well-established professional, host of the 2024 Billboard award show and star of hit films like Candy Cane Lane with Eddie Murphy? In this article, we’ll cover Tracee Ellis Ross’ movies and TV shows and the journey out of her mother’s shadow and into her own much-deserved spotlight.

Early life and education

Like any child of a celebrity, Tracee Ellis Ross was born with a mixed bag of advantages and disadvantages. Luckily for her, she would eventually develop a taste for the attention that inevitably follows celebrity children.

Family background

Tracee was superstar singer Diana Ross’ second child, after Rhonda Ross Kendrick, whose biological father was Motown founder Berry Gordy. Tracee’s father, the music manager Robert Ellis Silberstein, adopted Rhonda and later had another daughter with Ross, Chudney Lane Silberstein. Ross’ future marriages would add even more half-siblings to Tracee’s blended family, with whom she remains close.

At first, the younger Miss Ross didn’t appreciate the fame that inevitably followed her. On red carpets and at photo shoots, Tracee was shy and withdrawn. But she was a different person at home—goofy, silly and energetic, traits that would all lay the groundwork for a future career as a comedic actress.

Academic pursuits

As Tracee grew up, she developed an interest in modeling, no doubt influenced by her mother. After attending The Dalton School in Manhattan and Riverdale Country School in the Bronx as a kid, Ross chose Brown University for college, intending to study fashion.

While at Brown, Ross picked up an acting class and fell in love with the craft, much to her own surprise. On stage, she found her shyness slipping away and her perceived flaws turning into strengths. By the time she left Brown with a theater degree, Ross’s interest in fashion had transformed into a drive to pursue acting as a career.

Career in acting

Even with plenty of name recognition as well as some modeling and acting under her belt, the young Tracee Ellis Ross was intimidated by the prospect of trying to make a career in Hollywood. Ross knew firsthand how fickle fame can be, and she was prepared to work hard to make her mark on the industry.

Breakthrough role

Fortunately for Ross, she didn’t have to wait long for opportunity to come knocking at her door. In 1996, she landed her first role playing Kiki in “Far Harbor,” which was directed by her college classmate, John Huddles.

That appearance led to a few more small roles in films like “Sue,” (1997) “A Fare to Remember,” (1999) “Hanging Up” (2000) and “In the Weeds” (2000). But it was the small screen that would end up being the launching pad Ross needed to start her career in earnest.

After playing a minor role in an episode of Lifetime series “Any Day Now,” (1998-2002) Ross finally landed her breakthrough role as Joan Clayton on the ensemble comedy show “Girlfriends,” which wound up running from 2000 to 2020, filming over 170 episodes and cementing Ross’ reputation as a comedian and actress.

Notable achievements

Besides “Girlfriends,” Ross is probably best known for starring as psychologist Carla Reed on the first season of BET sitcom “Reed Between the Lines” from 2011 to 2015, as well as portraying Rainbow Johnson on the ABC comedies “Black-ish,” “Grown-ish” and “Mixed-ish.”

In fact, Rainbow was written by “Black-ish” creator Kenya Barris specifically for Tracee Ellis Ross. As intended, the role suited her perfectly and led to a slew of award nominations for the actress. These included:

• Hollywood Critics Association Television Awards for Best Actress in a Broadcast Network or Cable Comedy Series
• Black Reel Awards for Television for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series
• Gold Derby Awards for Comedy Actress
• NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series
• Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series

Although Ross was passed up for the win in most of these cases, she has netted a BET Comedy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for “Girlfriends,” a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Musical or Comedy Television Series for “Black-ish” and multiple NAACP Image Awards for “Reed Between the Lines,” “Black-ish” and “Girlfriends.”

Transition to entrepreneurship

Even as Tracee Ellis Ross was proving to herself and the world that she could maintain a flourishing career in acting, she was already eyeing her next endeavor—entrepreneurship. While starring on “Girlfriends,” Ross had an idea that would end up launching a second career for the budding businesswoman.

Business ventures

Inspired by the beautiful and varied hair textures of her castmates on “Girlfriends,” Ross first began dreaming of a hair care brand that supported curly hair (rather than straightening it) over 20 years ago. That dream wouldn’t become a reality until 2018, when Ross launched Pattern Beauty alongside co-CEO Christiane Pendarvis after 10 years of development and five years of market research.

Now, Pattern Beauty offers more than 50 different products, is sold in 11 store chains and employs more than 40 people. Tracee Ellis Ross’ net worth currently amounts to $16 million.

Key skills for entrepreneurs

As an actress and model, Ross went into her new business venture knowing more about being on the receiving end of beauty products than she knew about making and marketing them. That’s why her first order of business was seeking out partners like Pendarvis with deep experience in working with retailers and expanding companies’ reach over time.

Of course, being a leader means knowing when to break with standard procedures. When it came to marketing Pattern, Ross felt that the old way of doing things—establishing a problem and presenting your product as the solution—wouldn’t work for her business. Instead of treating Black women’s hair as a problem, Ross decided to frame her brand as a celebration of the natural beauty and variety of curly, coiled and textured hair.

Advocacy and empowerment efforts

Recently, we had an opportunity to see Tracee star with Yara Shahidi in the “Old Navy” commercial, promoting well-known fashionable garments for the summer. But she has lent her star power to more than just TV sitcoms and beauty brands over the years. In fact, Ross has become a steadfast advocate for women’s rights, the end of mass incarceration and more.

As a woman who remains intentionally single and childfree even in her 50s, Ross has generated an unsurprising but unfortunate amount of pushback from those who believe women are better off raising kids than chasing their own dreams. By 2017, she was finally ready to fight back, starting with a viral speech at Glamour’s Women of the Year Summit, which was followed by her speech about the wisdom of women’s fury at the next year’s TED Conference.

Ross has also been credited for co-founding the Time’s Up movement against sexual harassment in Hollywood and has been outspoken about her opposition to mass incarceration because of its many harmful effects on Black women and families.

Want to learn more about the co-stars and contemporaries that defined the 2000s along with Ross? Check out our archives for all the info you could want about other Black actors you should know.