The Lip Bar is known for its liquid lipsticks that have major staying power, are vegan, come in shades that work on a wide range of skin tones and are affordably priced — basically, they’re the whole package. The brand’s longtime creative director Rosco Spears is a high school friend of its founder, Melissa Butler, and was by her side when she pitched the concept on Shark Tank in 2015. The brand may have been rejected by the Sharks, but the duo didn’t give up. Now, The Lip Bar is on the shelves of major retailers, has partnered with the likes of Michelle Obama and is expanding across categories, including skincare. We spoke with Spears about how she joined forces with Butler, how the brand has evolved since its inception in Butler’s kitchen and more.
What was your career path before joining The Lip Bar, and did you ever see yourself going into the beauty industry?
A couple years prior to starting with The Lip Bar, I was finishing up a masters of science in criminal justice administration with an emphasis on juvenile justice and was also teaching at a high school in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I was asked by a friend to be the wardrobe stylist for a film that he was shooting. I had no experience but took on the job. After realizing that I could get paid to put clothes on people (which I found quite enjoyable), I worked for the next year as a freelance fashion stylist. In January 2012, I moved to New York City with plans to get my feet wet in the world of fashion. Prior to starting at The Lip Bar, I knew nothing about makeup and never would’ve considered a career in the beauty industry.
How and when did you team up with Butler?
Melissa and I have known each other since we were sophomores in high school and have been pretty tight ever since. I remember being at her mom’s house on the Eastside of Detroit trying on these wild colors of lipsticks — colors I’d never really seen before — and it was inspiring to say the least. My girl was making something with her bare hands that we could actually put on and wear outside. Once this idea became a reality, she knew that she would need a team to help bring this vision to life. As the artist and creative friend of the bunch, I became the creative director. During the little time that I’d spent styling by that point, I gained an interest in content production and I was intrigued by the idea of creating something special for my friend’s company, something that we both could be proud of.
What was your experience on Shark Tank like? What did you learn from the experience?
My experience on Shark Tank was amazing, informative — and a life lesson. I learned that you have to be your biggest supporter and always bet on yourself.
Tell me about your role at The Lip Bar. Has it changed over the years?
My role as creative director involves producing content and visuals to represent the brand and our story. I am responsible for any model campaign that you’ve ever seen from The Lip Bar, which involves coming up with the themes for the shoots, hiring teams of models and artists and doing the final photography selection. I oversee our design team, which can cover anything from approving design for web, social assets and in-store displays to providing direction on packaging design and more.
My role has definitely changed over the years. For the first five years, I was still working part time as a stylist because we couldn’t afford salaries. It wasn’t until around 2018 that I was officially full time with The Lip Bar.
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