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Background and Family
Lisa Price was born on May 18, 1962, in Brooklyn, New York. She is the founder and president of the popular hair, body, and skin care brand Carol’s Daughter. Price attended public schools in New York throughout her youth and was enrolled in the City College of New York in Manhattan before she dropped out in 1980. Afterward, she worked a full-time job at the United Nations, worked on the set of The Cosby Show, and even tried to launch a singing career before completely investing herself in her beauty business. She currently lives in Brooklyn with her two sons, Forrest and Ennos, and her husband Gordon.

Building a Business
Price always admired scents, especially floral ones, even as a little girl. Her interests originally began with mixing fragrances and cooking them on the stove for her friends, family, and coworkers as a hobby, using ingredients such as beeswax, honey, and even chocolate. She also experimented with other products, ultimately trying to find something to take care of her very dry skin. She was encouraged by her mother, Carol, and other family members and friends to put herself out into the world and sell her products to the public. The brand was officially founded in May of 1993. Price was so inspired by her mother that she named the brand after her.

Price first started selling her products at local flea markets before running the business out of her home. After thinking nobody was going to buy anything, she was pleasantly surprised when a fun day with her family at the flea market turned into selling out of all her products. When the holiday season came around, she decided to invest all of the little bit of money that she had (only $100 in cash) and purchase large amounts of jars and bottles to package her products, hoping that people would buy them. This leap of faith eventually paid off. Price developed a following of dedicated customers. People showed up at her doorstep asking for products before they were able to order them online and receive them in the mail. Her first store opened up in Fort Greene, Brooklyn in 1999. By 2001, she officially began to move the products out of her home and into a warehouse. In 2005, she opened up a flagship store in Harlem with the help of some investors. Family and friends were offered jobs to work for her new business.

About Carol's Daughter
Price’s target audience for the African-American owned brand is specifically catered for women with curly hair and dry skin. People love the fresh, natural brand not only because of the thought and consideration that goes into the making of each product, but also because they are inspired by Price’s hard work and her coming-of-age story. Price was inclined to start her own business by a movement in the ‘90s that encouraged people to wear their hair naturally. However, she noticed a lack of the number and variety of products for women with her hair type. The goal was to take these items from the bottom shelf to the top by expanding the quality and amount of products available. In addition to the natural hair care products, Price made body and skin care products as well.

Price’s family has inspired her and has even named some of the products after them. The Sweet Baby Body Butter was inspired by her son who had very sensitive skin. She would rub this lotion on him to soothe the irritation. Gordon also used to test out the men’s fragrance products and some of the lotions. Even though some of the creams or bath salts would not come out perfectly every time she made them, her family encouraged her to keep making them and to follow her dreams.

Carol's Daughter became very successful very quickly, turning into a multi-million dollar company. Big industry stores such as Target and Ulta began selling the brand's products, along with other retailers such as Macy’s and J.C. Penney. Celebrities such as Jada Pinkett Smith, Halle Berry, and Maya Angelou endorsed the brand by modeling some of the products for photo shoots and became frequent buyers of Carol’s Daughter products. Other celebrities such as Jay-Z, Mary J. Blige, and Brad Pitt invested in the brand and helped its expansion. The celebrity endorsement pushed the brand into becoming more and more popular and successful.

In 2014, Price made the ultimate decision to sell Carol's Daughter to L’Oreal. She faced backlash for this decision because people thought she was losing touch from her humble Brooklyn roots and giving into the money-hungry beauty industry. People also scrutinized her for selling her black-owned business to a white-owned company and felt betrayed by her. Price, however, said she remained confident in herself and felt that it was the best decision for the benefit of the company. She has used her success and wealth to give back to the community by donating to non-profit organizations such as the Arthur Ashe Foundation, Hale House, and the September 11th Fund.

Price played a huge role in the social media movement started by Carol’s Daughter for its 25 year anniversary called the #NoApologies and #BornandMade campaign, which encourages women to celebrate the beauty and strength that makes them individually unique and to embrace their heritage. The brand made its way back to Price’s home in Brooklyn to film for the campaign and to interview other social media influencers for the video. Price wanted to show viewers where she was born and raised—the borough that inspired her to start her own business and supported her through it all.

Experience
Price was interviewed by the New York Times for an article called “Four Executives on Succeeding in Business as a Woman.” In the interview, she revealed that people with more experience and expertise helped her grow her company when it started taking off. Soon thereafter, she became the one with the experience and expertise, but she never allowed herself to become completely immersed in being in charge of others. Price says that knows she has the authority because she worked hard to get to where she is, but she likes to be treated as part of the team and not as the head of it. At first, Price was afraid of speaking in groups and scared of being wrong, but since has grown more confident in herself and her skills. She says she never lets her emotions get the best of her because she does not want to seem weak and enforce the stereotype that men are stronger than women.

Memoir
Price’s transition from self-employment to business owner has inspired many. In 2004, she published a memoir titled Success Never Smelled So Sweet: How I Followed My Nose and Found My Passion, with the help of award-winning writer Hilary Beard. In her memoir, Price gives readers life advice and explains how she overcame hardships growing up such as bullying, failed relationships, and financial debt. The memoir encourages women to follow their dreams and explains the propitious possibility of leaving a nine-to-five job and working from home.

Future Endeavors
After celebrating the brand’s anniversary, Price revealed to Allure magazine, a women’s beauty and cosmetics media brand, that she has plans to retire from the beauty business soon, but she expects the brand to continue to thrive as it has for the last 25 years.