Sunday, January 03, 2010
Life, In this Issue..., Style

Dream girl

Lisa Price is living proof that a dream and hard work can really pay off

By Tamara Crockett

Despite Carol’s Daughter debuting its ninth store at Lenox Mall in August, Lisa Price is still in awe of how far her hobby has taken her.

The Brooklyn, N.Y. native, who previously worked in television and film production, started out cooking up fragrances and accompanying products in her kitchen and sold them out of her home, at flea markets and craft fairs. She had no idea that the line—which is named after her mother, Carol—would take off the way it has.

“It started out in a very organic kind of way initially,” says Price. “I just kept reinvesting in the business and it continued to grow, and I was able to get a store. When I got my first store, because I was no longer in my apartment or in my home and I was out in the public, we started to get more press and have more of a customer base.”

A 2002 feature on “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” followed by the backing of celebrity fans and partners including Brad Pitt, Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith, rapper Jay Z and singer Mary J. Blige, helped launch the nature inspired line even further.

“It’s very surreal … after all these years, because these are people that I admire and look up to, that I think are not just talented, but they’re also smart business people, so they lead by example,” says Price. “And originally, when they just used the product, before they became investors, I felt like they could buy anything from anywhere, and they were seeking me out. And then to have them invest in me was just the ultimate, you know, to know that they believed that much to write a check was just great!”

Carol’s Daughter now offers handmade body, hair and skin products made of natural ingredients at its other locations in New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, and Los Angeles, on the company Web site, www.carolsdaughter.com, and in national stores including Macy’s and Sephora. Most recently, a collaboration with Disney further proves that Price is definitely onto something magical.

With the release of Disney’s newest animated film, “The Princess and the Frog,” which features the first animated black princess, Tiana, Carol’s Daughter linked up with Disney and created the Magical Beauty Collection. This four-piece hair and body collection includes a shampoo, conditioner, hair detangler and bubble bath.

“It’s fantastic,” says Price. “First African-American princess [and] wonderful products that I’m proud of. I think it will help to open us up to more people, because … someone walking by in the mall who doesn’t normally come in here may come in because they recognize the princess or because their child recognizes the princess. I think it’s great for us to reach out to a new market, and it’s great for [African-American] children to see someone reflected in a product that’s about beauty that looks like they do.”

As this collaboration brings even more attention to the brand, Price’s goal is to expand her line to kids and people of all nationalities.

“It’s not just an African-American brand,” she explains. “It’s run by an African-American woman, and the products were created by an African-American woman, so the assumption is that it’s just for African-American women, but it isn’t.”

She continues, “When it comes to hair care, we lean more toward textured hair because it’s very hard to create hair-care products that just work for everyone, [and African-American] hair-care needs are very specific. But then when it comes to skin care and fragrance, anyone can wear fragrance, anyone can use some foot lotion, anyone can use a shower gel, a lip butter, a fine fragrance, even the skin care. So it is for more than just [African-Americans], but that is my target consumer.”

As Price gears up for her 17th year in business, she’s still amazed at all of the success she’s achieved. Never in her wildest dreams did she expect Carol’s Daughter to grow and accomplish all that it has thus far. But she’s not resting on her laurels, Price’s focus for 2010 is to expand her hair care offerings.

“This is far exceeding my dreams,” she says. SP