03/11/2023
Wealth to me starts in the mindset! π§ And one of the people that's really killing it in the beauty industry that I would like to honor for is the beautiful Melissa Butler of The Lip Bar.
The Lip Bar was founded in 2012 when Melissa become frustrated with the lack of affordable vegan lipsticks in bright colors. So she started slanging' out-of-the-box bright, popping, lipsticks out of her living room in Brooklyn eventually moving back to her hometown of Detroit, MI! π₯³
In 2015, her and her creative director went on SharkTank and it was one of the most cringe-episodes I've ever seen! One judge even had the audacity to refer to them as "colorful cockroaches" (P.S. why wasn't he cancelled for that? π) and instead of letting that stop her she used it as fuel to keep going and is now featured all over the U.S. with her products inside of several hundred Walmart and Target stores! ππΎ
As a beauty brand strategist, here are a few key takeaways I've learned from The Lip Bar's success that I feel would be super helpful for anyone looking to make their mark in the industry:
1. Your audience matters. You could have the best product in the world, but in the eyes of the wrong audience, your products would come off as mediocre.
2. She identified perfectly the problem her audience was experiencing and turned her product into the solution! The problem? Lack of affordable and vegan friendly lipstick! The solution? Her popping lipstick colors that are both vegan friendly and affordable.
3. You have to learn to PIVOT and keep pushing! Being called a colorful cockroach on National TV, inspired Melissa to reach out to other heavy weights in the investor industry... eventually landing her the deal with Target via LinkedIn!
and another bonus thing I've learned is that your story sells! Based on her upbringing, people could easily count her out and label her as another girl from the east-side of Detroit but HER STORY pushed her entrepreneur journey forward and allowed her customer base to connect to her and her brand in a powerful way π€πΎ
So if this is something you're interested in doing, I've helped multiple clients be able to do it and working with Melissa would be a Dream Client for me but I want to help you too! Click the link in the comments, so that we can work together and create magic β¨