Founder Gets Emotional After Becoming the Largest Black-Owned Makeup Brand in Target Stores

Melissa Butler, founder and CEO of The Lip Bar

Melissa Butler, the founder and CEO of The Lip Bar, recently become emotional in an Instagram post after revealing that her brand is the largest Black-owned makeup brand available in Target. Her brand's continuous massive success comes years after being harshly rejected on Shark Tank.

Butler recently shared on her Instagram that her makeup brand is now taking up 6 feet of shelf space in Target, making it the biggest Black-owned company in the retail giant. She got emotional when she saw the vast display of her products at a local Target she visited, as seen in the video she posted.

"We've been working on this for so long. When you see a lot of the brands with the big space, it's conglomerating. It's not like little Black girls from Detroit taking up this much space," she said, adding that it all just started with one SKU.

Butler, who is an HBCU graduate, founded her vegan beauty brand in 2012 out of frustration with the chemicals in makeup and the lack of diversity. She started creating her own lipstick formulations made of vegan ingredients in her kitchen and began selling them online.

In 2015, Butler appeared on Shark Tank with hopes of securing an investment to expand the company but she was turned down. Instead of giving up, though, she used rejection as fuel to keep going.

Now, The Lip Bar offers several beauty products and is available in 750 Target stores, 500 Walmart stores, and its flagship store in Downtown Detroit.

Learn more about The Lip Bar via its official website at TheLipBar.com

Also, be sure to follow the brand on Instagram @TheLipBar

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