Who is Melissa Butler?
Melissa Butler was born and raised in Detroit, attended Cass Technical High School and earned a bachelor's degree in business finance from Florida A&M University. She moved to New York to work as an analyst at Barclays but found Wall Street unfulfilling. In 2012 she began making vegan lipsticks in bright, bold shades in her Brooklyn apartment, selling about $27,000 worth in the first year. She later moved back to Detroit and went full time on The Lip Bar, reaching about $100,000 in revenue by 2015. That year she pitched on Shark Tank in Season 6 with creative director Rosco Spears, asking $125,000 for 20%.
All five sharks declined, with Kevin O'Leary saying the odds of it becoming a business were practically zero. Butler then pitched Target directly. The Lip Bar launched on Target's website in 2016, expanded to about 750 Target stores and 500 Walmart stores, opened a flagship store in Detroit, raised $6.7 million in 2022 and passed two million units sold. Butler has expanded the line into complexion and skincare products and launched a second brand, Thread Beauty, aimed at Gen Z shoppers.
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