The New York Times recently featured an interview with Lisa Price, founder and president of Carol's Daughter, one of the fastest growing beauty products companies in the country. Since Price opened up her first store in Brooklyn in 1999, Carol's Daughter has been on a steady rise, with loyal customers that include stars such as Erykah Badu, Jada Pinkett Smith and Brad Pitt. In addition, Carol's Daughter has been featured on the 'Today' show, 'The View' and 'The Oprah Winfrey Show.'

During her New York Times interview, Price provides several valuable pieces of information about how she grew her business from a one-woman show into a multitiered company with numerous employees. Price details the lessons that she learned along the way, which could be of great help to anyone who is, or plans to be, in business for themselves.


One of the most important lessons shared by Price concerned her process of bringing in "outsiders" with more experience and expertise as Carol's Daughter grew. Relinquishing control can be a difficult thing to do for anyone who has built something from the ground up; however, Price dealt with things in very practical terms, realizing that her skills and expertise could be put to better use in other areas as she started delegating. She realized that although the faces may change at her company, the values and principles upon which Carol's Daughter were built would remain the same as long as she remained present. Regarding this change, Price told the New York Times:

So, I sit at the table, but not necessarily at the head of the table. I feel like I'm the person in the room who's maintaining everything. The players change, but the story stays the same. The way the company was founded stays the same. What I believe in stays the same.

So I need to be at the table to make sure that integrity stays, but I don't need to sit at the head of the table and drive the conversation, because I may not necessarily drive it to the place that makes it profitable and makes it relevant. So I'm going to listen, but I know that I can interject if they go off track.

Being willing to adapt and change for the betterment of the company is the ultimate lesson learned from Price's experience. She has shown a willingness to change everything to help Carol's Daughter grow, from the employees to her management style. The one thing that hasn't changed is her influence within the company, and the vision that she started Carol's Daughter with all those years ago.

The reality is that most entrepreneurial ventures fail. And even for those entrepreneurs who make it, some failure is experienced along the path to success. Learning from Price's growing pains could help the next entrepreneur in beating the odds and getting a slight edge on the competition. As an African American business owner in the hair and beauty space, Price is a deserving African American business leader receiving mainstream attention.