Meet Lisa Price, a beauty entrepreneur and female founder of multimillion-dollar business – Carol’s Daughter. The almost 30-year old beauty brand offers a range of products for hair, skincare and body. Price’s success is most notable for creating space in the beauty industry for black women and natural hair, and it all started right in her kitchen.
Always fascinated with fragrance, Lisa began her journey when she was inspired to create her own scented products. Back in the early 90s, she began mixing shea butters, essential oils, and natural ingredients in her kitchen.
Lisa continued to fuel her hobby creating beauty products and started giving them to friends and family as gifts. It wasn’t until Lisa’s mother, Carol suggested she start selling her homemade creations.
A few years later in 1993, with her mother’s advice (and her name) Lisa went on to create the early beauty brand, Carol’s Daughter. She began selling her products in flea markets and street fairs in Brooklyn New York. Fast forward to 1999, and her first boutique was opened in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. By 2000, she launched an e-commerce website and just two years later in 2002 Price was featured on the Oprah Show giving her brand the “Oprah Effect”, in other words, her products flew off the shelves!
“I actually got to watch dream come true. And to live something that I dreamt about. And, in that moment, I got to say to myself, well, now it’s time to dream even bigger.” She said.
Although it may seem like an effortless journey, Price admits success was not easy. Lisa Price has conquered financial problems, racial bias and unbelievable odds to become the successful businesswoman she is today. Here are her takeaways for black female entrepreneurs.
1. Don’t isolate yourself. When facing difficulties, do not get wrapped up in your own work. Look outside where people may have the same kinds of issues as yours. Learn to connect with them and ask for help.
2. Numbers always speak louder than any prejudice. You may have no control over the prejudice someone against you, but you are able to control your mind and action. Price has been the only women of color in many occasions through her career, her secret is staying focus on her own business.
3. Uplift the next generation. For Price, it’s an imperative to uplift fellow women of color. The ultimate goal for her is to let women of color entrepreneurs win a place in business, which is “to mix up the room where you pitch” in her words.
4. Kindness wins. Women entrepreneurs do not have to take on the persona of a man in order to make it in business. Your kindness, consideration circumspection and confidence as a woman is your treasure to help you build up your business and manage your team.
Aside from the building a successful global business out of her kitchen, what makes Price’s story truly exceptional is the new space that her business created for minority and black-owned businesses and consumers. Price recalls that when she first started, there was a huge gap in the beauty industry leaving black women out of many beauty product offerings, even more so if they wore their hair naturally.
Today, Carol’s Daughter is one of the most recognized beauty brands with products sold in Targets, Macy’s and Sephora’s around the world. The brand continues to make waves in the beauty industry even 30 years later, creating opportunities for black-owned brands and black female beauty entrepreneurs.
At Yes She May we bring the focus to women entrepreneurs and we acknowledge that black women and business owners face different challenges that need to be addressed. We encourage you to share stories and your favorite role models or women in your life. Send us an email with your story at info@meixu.com!