The character arc of Melissa Butler
Born in Detroit, Michigan, about 1985. Between then and now sit a finance degree from Florida A&M University, an analyst desk at Barclays in New York, a frustration with a beauty aisle that had nothing for her, vegan lipstick mixed in a Brooklyn kitchen, the founding of The Lip Bar, a flat no from every investor on Shark Tank, and a climb that carried the brand into Target, Walmart and thousands of stores. The line below draws the story so far, in order.
Tap the line to pluck it. Hover or tap any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of her life; the sources are at the foot of the page.
Who is Melissa Butler?
The analyst who left to remake the beauty aisle.
She grew up in Detroit, attended Cass Technical High School, and went on to earn a business finance degree from Florida A&M University. That took her to New York and a desk at Barclays, where she worked as an analyst on Wall Street. The paycheck was good and the work was steady, but it did not hold her, and a small frustration kept returning: she could not find affordable, bright, vegan lipstick made for a woman like her.
So in 2012 she started making it herself, mixing vegan lipstick in her Brooklyn kitchen and selling it on the side. That side project became The Lip Bar. In 2014 she left finance for good and moved back to Detroit to build the company full time. In 2015 she and her creative partner took the brand onto Shark Tank, and all five investors turned them down, one of them dismissive enough that the moment could have ended the story. It did the opposite.
She used the exposure, wrote to retail buyers herself, and kept building. In 2018 The Lip Bar reached the shelves of Target, and in 2021 it arrived in Walmart, then CVS, Meijer and more, past two thousand stores in all. Along the way it became the largest Black-woman-owned makeup brand carried in Target. Her line is worth reading because the no she was handed on national television became the fuel for a brand that now sits in aisles across the country.
The moments
Melissa Butler's timeline.
The 1980s
Born in Detroit
Milestone, and it changed her direction. Born in Detroit, Michigan, where she grew up and later returned to build her company.
The 2000s
Finance degree at Florida A&M
Milestone. She earned a business finance degree from Florida A&M University after Cass Technical High School in Detroit.
Analyst on Wall Street
Milestone. She moved to New York and worked as an analyst at Barclays, a steady finance career that did not hold her.
The 2010s
Made lipstick in her kitchen
Milestone, and it changed her direction. Frustrated by a beauty aisle with nothing for her, she began mixing vegan lipstick in her Brooklyn kitchen.
Founded The Lip Bar
Milestone, and it changed everything. The kitchen side project became The Lip Bar, a vegan and cruelty free brand, with about twenty seven thousand dollars in first year sales.
Keep the paycheck, or build
Crossroads, decided.
The paths laid out: leave finance and build, taken, or stay in the safe job. Going all in gave her the room to build a company that would reach Target within four years.
Left finance for good
Milestone, and it changed everything. She quit her Wall Street job and moved back to Detroit to build The Lip Bar full time.
Rejected on Shark Tank
Setback, and it changed her direction. She and her creative partner pitched The Lip Bar on Shark Tank, and all five investors turned them down.
Quit, or push on
Crossroads, decided.
The paths laid out: keep building the brand, taken, or walk away after the no. She pushed on, and the brand that was told to quit landed in Target and grew into a national name.
Landed in Target
Milestone, and it changed everything. The Lip Bar reached the shelves of several hundred Target stores, backed by New Voices Fund seed investment.
The 2020s
Named a top founder
Milestone. She was named to the Female Founders 100 list, recognised among the leading company builders of the year.
Landed in Walmart
Milestone. The Lip Bar arrived in Walmart, widening its reach to another national chain of stores.
Largest Black-owned brand at Target
Milestone. The Lip Bar became the largest Black woman owned makeup brand carried in Target stores.
A leading beauty brand
Milestone. A kitchen experiment had grown into a national brand in more than two thousand stores, from Target and Walmart to CVS, Meijer and Amazon.
The line reaches today still building, which is why it is drawn now rather than at the end. What it has set moving is already out there: the shelves that carry her brand, and every founder who heard that a flat no can be the start rather than the end.
In her words
Quotes by Melissa Butler
Honestly, they were very cruel. But it worked out in the end because we got tons of exposure.
I am a rebel with a cause to change the way people think about beauty.
Your turn
Every story draws a unique line.
Hers is a decade of building and still being drawn. Yours is already further along than you think, and drawing it takes about three minutes.
Sources
- Wikipedia, Melissa Butler, verified 17 September 2026.
- The Lip Bar, official company story, thelipbar.com.
- Melissa R Butler, official site, melissarbutler.com.
- WWD, How Melissa Butler Brought The Lip Bar From Her Kitchen to Walmart.
- Essence, Melissa Butler, the Shark Tank reject turned beauty entrepreneur.
- Inc., Female Founders 100, Melissa Butler, 2020.
- Melissa Butler on the Shark Tank rejection, The Detroit News.
- Melissa Butler, interview.