This week in the guest chair, I’m joined by Tisha Thompson, the founder and CEO of LYS Beauty, the first Black-owned clean cosmetics brand to be carried at Sephora. Tisha shares her inspiring path from staff accountant and part-time makeup artist to leading her own beauty brand that launched during the pandemic and quickly sold out in 10 days.

In this episode, Tisha breaks down how she strategically pivoted from finance to beauty marketing, cold-pitched Sephora with a bold email (before she even launched!), and developed products that center clean ingredients and inclusivity. Her brand LYS, short for Love Yourself, is not only disrupting the beauty space with triangle packaging and affirmational product names—but it’s also remained profitable every year since launch.

In this episode she shares:

How she got her foot in the beauty industry using her finance background
Why she took a demotion to pivot industries
How personal loss and purpose led her to finally launch LYS Beauty
What made Sephora say "yes" to a brand that hadn’t even launched yet
How she developed 35 inclusive foundation shades with a clean formulation
Why representation and self-love are at the heart of her business model

Highlights Include:

00:00 Intro

02:10 How a staff accountant became a makeup artist

04:50 Taking a demotion to move into marketing

10:54 Losing her dad and finding the courage to launch

15:45 Cold-pitching Sephora and landing a deal pre-launch

20:00 What clean beauty means to her (and her skin)

27:00 Packaging, affirmations, and triangle symbolism

30:00 Navigating DEI backlash and economic shifts

45:00 Building a team and staying profitable

Check out episode 467 of Side Hustle Pro podcast out now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.

Links mentioned in this episode

LYS Beauty Website: https://lysbeauty.com
LYS Instagram: https://instagram.com/lysbeautyofficial/
Tisha’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/glamourgirl5/
Cosmoprof: https://cosmoprofnorthamerica.com
MakeUp In Trade Shows: https://makeup-in.com
Luxepack: https://luxepack.com

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Guest Social Media Info

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/glamourgirl5/
LYS Beauty Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lysbeautyofficial

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467: From Accountant to Clean Beauty CEO: How Tisha Thompson Launched LYS Beauty Into Sephora

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