Lisa Price, founder of Carol’s Daughter on staying humble
Price had the dream of creating a series of hair, body and beauty products made in her Brooklyn kitchen. Today, she has turned her dream into the successful company, Carol's Daughter.
Video Transcript
LISA PRICE: I was always blessed to be in spaces where I would stand there and look around and say oh my god, am I actually here?
DANA OLIVER: Hi, beauties. I'm Dana Oliver. And on this episode of "My Beauty, My Way," I'm chatting about beauty, hair, and business with the legendary Lisa Price. Lisa is the founder of Carol's Daughter, a multicultural beauty brand with products that pamper and treat your hair, skin, and body. Your mother inspired you to start Carol's Daughter back in 1993 out of your Brooklyn home. Can you take me back to that time?
LISA PRICE: It was something that I was doing as a hobby and for fun. I didn't think of it as something that would be a business. I never thought of selling it. That was my mother's idea.
And she just happened to say St. Mary's is having a flea market in two weeks. You should take out your butters and see what happens. It was the first time that someone handed me money for what I was making. And then I was giving it to someone that I didn't know.
DANA OLIVER: You are one of the most humble spirits that I know in this industry. You got to tell me, how do you stay so grounded?
LISA PRICE: The major reason is how I was raised. You work hard. You give back. You take care of your family. And you're humble.
I was always blessed. But then I came home and I was mom. And I was LP to my husband's GP.
Being a person that has done something that others had not done, you end up being this person that's a role model. And you have that responsibility of giving back. I'm super, super proud of myself. But I also recognize every day how blessed and highly favored I am.
DANA OLIVER: Since then, you've literally poured your knowledge, your passion, your love into products. Do you have any products that stand out to you that you think wow, I did that?
LISA PRICE: One of them is the Black Vanilla range in general-- this sexy, like almost dirty vanilla. Ylang-ylang and frankincense shampoo went with the Black Vanilla conditioner. To see it today as this range for moisture and shine, to have it be so popular, to be in so many different stores, is just-- it just blows my mind.
DANA OLIVER: Thank you for creating that collection, because it's absolutely one of my favorites. When I think of Black women pioneers in the beauty industry, you're on my list of women, alongside Annie Malone, Madam C.J. Walker, Eunice Johnson, who have shown us that yes, you can be your own boss. But I need to know, what does success mean to you?
LISA PRICE: I've gotten to do for 27 years something I love. Doesn't mean that it's easy. It doesn't mean that it isn't hard work. I know how blessed I am that I have got to be passionate about my job for almost three decades.
DANA OLIVER: I have a work mantra. It's like work with passion. I want to get up and I want to do something. I want to create something everyday that I'm passionate about. As a mother myself, I have to ask you, what are some of the lessons that Becca has taught you as a parent, and also as a Black woman?
LISA PRICE: I made the assumption that because she's my daughter and I'm raising her and I'm Carol's daughter, she's never going to have an issue about her hair. She's never going to complain about her edges. And you forget that there's TV and there's digital and there's friends. And you have to have conversations about confidence and self-image. I've learned that the way that I parented before is not the way that I can parent today.
DANA OLIVER: Are there any Carolyn's Daughter products that are in heavy rotation for your Self-Care Sundays?
LISA PRICE: Some really, really great stuff is coming for 2021. In 2020, we launched something called the Wash Day Delight and it-- the micella water shampoo, so it goes from water to foam. And everybody was like where's the conditioner? Where's the conditioner? That's coming in 2021.
I didn't want to have-- the shampoo have to share the spotlight with the conditioner. And the conditioner is a transformative texture as well. I've been using my Monoi Mask quite a bit. And there's a new item in Monoi called the Monoi Miracle Bond Builder.
And it's the last step. Like you shampoo, you condition, and then you use that. It helps to strengthen your hair.
DANA OLIVER: So my final question for you, Ms. Lisa Price, complete this sentence for me. My beauty is--
LISA PRICE: --love. When I have something difficult that I have to learn how to do or move through or overcome, love is how I get to the end. I need to feel love to steel myself for the work.
