Melissa Butler of The Lip Bar: 3 Tips for Black & Latinx Women Entrepreneurs
Developing thick skin, investing in personal growth, being okay with failure, and pivoting to actionable restoration are all Melissa Butler’s key tips to being a female founder. During her “#undividedATTENTION” Instagram live segment, Melissa Butler, Founder & CEO of The Lip Bar, shared all things vision, purpose, and action driven as it pertains to challenging everyday beauty and media standards.
During the live episode, Melissa dropped gems on how to align action with the visualization of purpose, how to fail forward, and how to change the world with something valuable. Melissa shared her journey with The Lip Bar in a way that was transparent, authentic and relatable for other Black and Latinx women entrepreneurs . Here are three valuable tips she shared:
- Start with Acceptance and Acknowledgment
Christina Brown, Director of Communications at digitalundivided, opened up the discussion about how The Lip Bar started. While discussing the foundation of her business, Melissa encouraged viewers to challenge the norm by taking up space as an individual and as a brand. The Lip Bar began from a place of acceptance and knowing that Black women actually are the standard of beauty, even though the media beauty and fashion industries project different messaging. Melissa’s belief that Black women look great in any lip color helped propel her business and sales forward by promoting the beauty of Black women. Ultimately, Melissa was led to create a space where Black women felt seen. Her efforts are revolutionary, and speak to the importance of intention behind business strides.
2. Challenging the Norm Will Not Be Easy
Entrepreneurship is no walk in the park. Not even for Melissa Butler. Just like she has experienced some major wins, she has also experienced havoc and failure throughout her journey. What keeps Melissa going? Her willingness fail with grace. Melissa is not like most. For her, failure is not permission to cease all efforts in building and maintaining a remarkable business. She is a woman who welcomes failure, and pivots quickly. Melissa encourages viewers to come face to face with entrepreneurial hardship by choosing to believe in themselves. Choosing to believe in yourself and your capabilities means never losing focus on what’s in your heart. Growing discernment and making the decision to move through life by what the heart and gut says is a major key for Melissa. Knowing how to move to the momentum of the heart and gut aligns you with vision and purpose.
3. Press Forward, Even Through Discomfort
During the live discussion, Melissa discussed the discomfort she feels on the day to day after deciding to expand her product offerings at The Lip Bar. Branching out was scary, and she was transparent during the live series about her history of wrestling between changing the name of her brand to coincide with the growth of her business beyond lip products. A valuable piece of advice Melissa left viewers with is to,“feel the feels,” and to keep pressing forward. She wants other female entrepreneurs to know that it is completely normal to feel the pressure of discomfort and to move on. Discomfort and fear will come. These added pressures should not prevent you from conquering and building a successful business. Overall, there is value in becoming laser focused and intentional behind your business venture.
Want more advice from amazing Black and Latinx women entrepreneurs? Check out these seven money tips My Fab Finance Founder, Tonya Rapely shared on her #undividedATTENTION episode.
