The Lip Bar

“We had like the number one selling lipstick for the first month of our launch with no marketing budget, and Target was like, whoa, we weren't expecting this of this brand, and so we grew very quickly.”

“So I'm explaining to them that, that the industry is changing, and that the bigger companies are slow to change, and we're this smaller company, and we're fast to change, and that's our strength.”

“So I think buying the units, and then actually getting them to my Brooklyn apartment may have cost me 13,000 dollars. And then on top of that, I have to buy all the ingredients. I'm planning a launch party. I have to have pictures taken. So the startup cost fo…”

“Oh yeah, totally. We'll, we'll get there. No, no doubt about that.”

“You know, if the first year we made 26,000, then I think the next year we may have made, like, 56,000, which is great.”

“So by leaning on them and making sure that they were super aware of what I was doing, I was also baking in a business model, essentially. And I think that's part of the reason why the Lit Bar has been able to grow, because It's just been this strong community …”

“So throughout this pandemic, even though it is uncertain still we've been able to grow the business 80% this year.”

“So the thing about launching in a retailer is it's not their job to sell your product. It's your job to sell your product.”

“Like the lip bar has grown since we've come back. Like we five X the business since I've moved back. To Detroit.”

“Yeah, I think the goal was to create a brand where black women could be the default. So, we create products, like you said, for every single skin tone. Like, it literally doesn't matter what complexion you are, we have something for you, but when we first laun…”

“I knew that New York didn't need me and that I could do a lot more in my hometown. You know, I never thought that Detroit really Deserved the bad reputation that it had gotten, and I wanted to be a part of, like, this new thing, and to meet the movers and shak…”

“Roscoe, who's our creative director, she moved to New York, like, she moved to New York three weeks before we launched, and, you know, some of my other friends in finance, I'm like, can you do our sales, can you do our branding, can you do, like, I had a team …”

“And he's like, wait, slow down, do you want lip gloss pigments or do you want soap pigments? And I was like lipstick. I knew nothing about lipstick, but I couldn't believe that I could buy lipstick pigments and that was it for me.”

“And what you see within the beauty space is, like, typically small businesses end up selling because there's a constant need for money and to out-compete these bigger brands. And the reality is, like, I can't out-market Maybelline in dollars. You know, I can b…”

“And so over time, I did realize that that was It's hurting the company with me not being at the forefront, because today, people are looking for brands that are going to be more transparent, and they want to know who's behind the business.”

“So the thing about launching in a retailer is it's not their job to sell your product. It's your job to sell your product.”

“I think the goal was to create a brand where black women could be the default brand. So we create products, like you said, for every single skin tone. But when we first launched in 2012, I was just like, I don't want black and brown women to feel like they hav…”

“I think one of the like magical things about being a first time founder, especially in an industry that you don't know anything about, you're completely naive and you think that everything is going to work.”

“Like, Michelle Obama just wore our red, which is our bestseller in the whole company.”

“And they would crush you like the colorful cockroaches you are. You only have so many minutes on earth, don't waste them trying to sell lipstick.”

“Oh, our website crashed that night. I want to say we had, like, 40,000 hits to the website within just a couple of minutes.”

“And that's the thing, like we don't, as a black business owner, I don't want you to support my business. I want you to shop my product because you think that this is great. Exactly. Because we make it easy for you to understand what products work for your comp…”

“So the startup cost for the business was probably around 30,000 dollars.”

“And we had like the number one selling lipstick For the first month of our launch with no marketing budget, and Target was like, whoa, we weren't expecting this of this brand, and so we grew very quickly.”

“Yes, I'm a beauty founder, but no, I don't know how to do makeup.”

“Our first year in business, we launched in 2012. I think we made 26,000 dollars, right?”

“Like, the lip bar has grown, Since we've come back, like, we five-x'd the business since I've moved back to Detroit.”