If there’s anyone who knows what it really takes to build and sustain a profitable business from the ground up , it’s Carol’s Daughter founder, Lisa Price.
As a successful entrepreneur and author, the 2018 ESSENCE Festival speaker has also experienced her share of the highs and lows that come along with being the boss. While speaking on a panel during the 2018 Color Comm Conference in Maui on Tuesday, Price was presented with a question about the importance of self-care in light of the shocking news that designer and fellow entrepreneur, Kate Spade, had taken her own life.
“Wow, I did not know that…just…wow,” she said, taking a moment to digest the news of Spade’s passing, which broke just before the panel began.
Addressing the question at hand head-on, the Brooklyn native then shared a brief glimpse into her personal day-in-the-life to illustrate the true importance of knowing when to take a pause and make your wellness the priority.
“That part is really, really important,” she continued. “And just as an example, Thursday night was the 25th anniversary celebration of Carol’s Daughter [at the Smithsonian’s National Museum Of African American History and Culture] in Washington, DC. Friday, early afternoon, I flew to Tampa for HSN. I did four shows over the weekend at HSN, and then I flew from Tampa yesterday… and then 12 hours later, I was here [in Maui].”
She continued: “Now, on one hand, you can go to the dinner, go to the party, network, meet everyone who’s here… and that is certainly what the old Lisa would have done. I would have been telling myself, ‘Don’t miss the opportunity to network,’ and ‘You gotta be in beast mode and put your dress on and just go.’ But, I stayed in my room, I ordered some room service, I ate, I knitted and I went to bed.”
For Price, one of the biggest learning lessons of creating and running a successful business has been recognizing the value of self-care and putting the decisions that are in her best interest—like selling Carol’s Daughter, which she started with $100 in 1993, to beauty giant, L’Oreal, for a whopping $100 million in late 2017—at the forefront.
“I’ve learned that you can’t do everything all the time, you just can’t,” she added. “And you don’t have to explain it to anyone. The other part of that is, my manicure appointments, my pedicure appointments, my brow waxing; they are all included in my schedule now, because, as they say, if I don’t put the oxygen mask on me first, I can’t help someone else. And you also have to have those people that you can go to and talk to. It’s hard to find those people but, you have to find them— the ones you can cry and tell them, ‘I don’t know what to do and I need you to help me understand.’ You have to have to have those people because it is too difficult trying to battle stuff alone. I don’t do anything alone, nothing. I stand here today because of a collective.”
To hear more from Lisa Price at the ESSENCE Festival Beauty & Style stage in New Orleans this July, complete your free registration HERE.