Side Hustle Pro: Women Entrepreneurs | Black Women Business Owners | Solopreneurs

Today in the guest chair we have former Wall Street analyst turned Founder and CEO Melissa Butler. Melissa is a visionary who challenges the standard of beauty through the products, pricing, and ingredients in her brand, The Lip Bar. You may have come across The Lip Bar since it’s become a celebrity fave shared by the likes of Taraji P. Henson on Instagram and it is now sold in select Target stores. But before there was Target, there was just Melissa and her business partner, squeezed into a tiny bedroom in Brooklyn. Melissa launched The Lip Bar from her kitchen. She describes her move from stocks and bonds to beauty as a natural one, not because she loved makeup, but because she was frustrated with the beauty industry and ready to create a solution. Not only that, but she was tired of the harsh chemicals in ordinary cosmetics, so she created a vegan and cruelty-free product line. On today’s show, Melissa shares why she was passionate about disrupting the narrative on beauty and creating a line of cosmetics t