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Dec 15, 2023

Ask Me Anything: Bossing Up, Not Just Glossing Up

Essence Beauty joined the beauty talk with panelists Britni Richard and Melissa Butler, moderated by Essence Content Director Nandi Howard, to give the inside scoop on beauty and business on the

Essence Beauty joined the beauty talk with panelists Britni Richard and Melissa Butler, moderated by Essence Content Director Nandi Howard, to give the inside scoop on beauty and business on the BeautyCon™ stage. The beauty influencers took a seat to discuss how to pivot beyond being an influencer by moving into entrepreneurship. As the big bosses when it comes to glam and image, these founders bring in money with one of the biggest industries in the world — beauty.

Founder of Cota Skincare, Richard set a new standard in beauty with real people and real results. From the ground up, she let us in on how she started Cota, and the ins and outs of building a business with no money. For Butler, founder of The Lip Bar and Thread Beauty, she boosted not only her business, but mindset after her products were rejected on Shark Tank. From rejection on national television to the largest Black makeup company in Target, Butler shared how to start, scale, and overcome feelings of doubt.

“I came up in a very different time in the beauty industry and I was advocating for us first,” Butler said. “Black beauty was not trending.” She shared how nervous she was in “Bossing Up, Not Just Glossing Up” as she created a brand for Black women to see themselves and have a seat in the industry. The reality is, only you can stop you, and you have to believe that even in moments of doubt, she says, to boss your money up.

For Black women, finding an investor to start your business may be difficult. As a community subject to the lowest generational wealth and systematic disenfranchisement, obtaining a loan to boss up your business could feel unattainable. “A lot of people get discouraged when they don’t have a lot of money,” Britni said. “I was one of those people who wasn’t fortunate enough to have a loan or an investor to start up my brand.”

Both BeautyCon™ panelists provided guidance on how to succeed against all odds, including financial disparity. Richard had to sell raffle tickets to raise money for her brand. “You do not have to have thousands of dollars to start up your brand,” she said. Butler responded with the suggestion to invest in how to be more business minded as the first step in any start up. “There are so many entrepreneurial books to not only boost your business but your mindset,” she said. “Once you start making a little bit of money, you can start to hire a team.”

You may prefer to hire family and friends to cut costs. However, the inside scoop says working with familial partnerships could be more difficult than not, unless their vision is consistent with yours. As you start to scale your beauty brand, your business plan has to remain as confident as your mindset. But external opinions do not impact Richard’s vision. She never doubted herself or felt discouraged, waking up every day with a plan ready to be executed, she says.

Prepared for the future of beauty, our BeautyCon™ panelists remained growth minded. “When I started The Lip Bar I knew nothing about makeup, business, logistics, none of that,” Butler said. “I’m excited to grow Thread Beauty which is already growing faster than The Lip Bar.” For Cota Skincare Founder, Richard, she is setting her mind on integrating Cota onto retail shelves as the next step to bossing up in Black beauty.

Visit BeautyCon™ the Essence Fest edition at essence.com for more on the latest Black beauty panel.