Carol’s Daughter Founder Speaks about “Success” at Macy’s
For
Lisa Price, founder of the multimillion dollar cosmetics company,
Carol’s Daughter, success has come in a variety of ways. Price, who
started the company from her kitchen, has watched Carol’s Daughter grow
into one of the most elite beauty brands in the business.
“There have been different levels of success in my life,” says Price,
who started her business with just $100 in 1993, during a recent Black
History Month event at Macy’s in Atlanta. “I usually define success not
by achieving a specific goal, but by achieving a goal and also feeling
that what I’m doing is worth something.”
Glowing endorsements from megastars like Oprah Winfrey and Jada
Pinkett-Smith, add to that success, but Price is careful to stay
grounded. She fondly remembers one of the first times she felt like she
made a tremendous accomplishment. “A white gentleman came to my home to
shop for his daughter, who was a fan of Carol’s Daughter,” she recalls.
“It involved taking two trains and walking 20 blocks through an African
American neighborhood to get my products. I thought that was pretty
amazing and I must have something special.”
Calling the business “something special” is a bit of an understatement
given the level of accomplishment she’s achieved since turning her
homespun enterprise into a recognizable brand. Price says that she
incorporates her natural woman’s intuition with sound business practice
to achieve the desired result.
“I didn’t graduate from Wharton and I didn’t write up the 15-year
business plan,” she says. “A lot of what I do is from instinct, passion
and love. Women have a different approach to how we do things — we act
off of intuition. Women understand the way that I’ve approached
business, because I don’t approach it the conventional way.” —jh
