Meet Stormi Steele; she is the founder of Canvas Beauty, a beauty brand she conceived in a night. At one of the lowest times in her life when she was in college in 2010, she had a dream. She told VoyageATL that in her dream, the name of her business and her mission statement were revealed to her.
“I ended up dropping out of college with a 3.7 GPA and 23 credit hrs left to going to cosmetology schools pursue that dream of becoming a cosmetologist. Literally, everyone thought I was crazy but within a year, I became a 6figure stylist and owned my own salon,” said Steele.
In August 2018, she said she stepped away from the chair as a stylist and switched her brand to 100% e-commerce with the launch of her hair care product line.
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She started with a hair serum made with cayenne pepper in her kitchen and later introduced her clients to it. Her clients eventually convinced her to share their results on social media and offer the serum for sale.
“It just ended up having a life of its own after that,” she told Forbes. In her first year of operation, she sold more than 1 million units. In 2019, the company experienced significant growth, increasing its monthly orders from 6,000 to over 30,000. This resulted in the business falling months behind on orders as it was managed by only Steele and her husband. However, she worked to create a fulfillment center and hire a customer service team.
“Everything was a challenge. We had to build a complete fulfillment center, and we had to build a complete customer service team. I even had a struggle getting inventory because we were making it by hand, so now, I have to find a manufacturer to help mass produce it,” said Steele in her interview with VoyageATL.
By 2020, the company was in better standing, recording $20 million in sales, as noted by the Business Insider at the time. In 2021, Forbes reported that it was shipping within the U.S., Canada, and Australia.
Despite the early success she enjoyed, her journey was not smooth sailing. She nearly lost her company but weathered the storm to remain in business. On June 8, 2024, she became the first creator to reach $1 million in sales from a live session on TikTok. The TikTok global team shared the news with her after the live session.
“A MOMENT FOR LIFFEEEE!! … this was the 1m dollar live moment from here in Alabama and LA!!! Im going to carry this with me forever! We freaking made the BLUEPRINT,” Steele wrote in an Instagram post celebrating the TikTok Live’s success.
“To be the FIRST person and brand to accomplish this epic feat and being a part of TIKTOK history is a dream come true! Add being a BLACK FEMALE from a no stoplight town learning on her own on top of that just makes it that much sweeter!!! And now I’m excited to help find other amazing brands find success on TIKTOK as well!!
“That’s what CANVAS BEAUTY is all about! That’s the why! My obedience is connected to soo many other people’s destiny and I take that to heart the LONNNGGGG WAY!!! oh and btw why if you ain’t on BODY GLAZE by now, let me tell you, it’s time!!!”
