More than 25 years ago, Lisa Price was working in television production and pursuing her big love making soaps, bath oils and body butters in her spare time. Soon, her hobby turned into a full-fledged business, and Price became the founder of a beauty company she named Carols Daughter , focused on multiracial beauty through the use of natural, environmentally friendly ingredients for the body and hair.

Carols Daughter caught the attention of Oprah Winfrey, who featured the company on an episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show in 2002.

The show aired and traffic on my site went from literally 17 people to over 10,000 in a space of four minutes, Price says. It was as if we had suddenly arrived.

Business began booming, and with celebrity investors like Jay-Z, Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith jumping on board, annual sales of Carols Daughter skyrocketed to $30 million. Price was a long way from the tiny operation shed started in her Brooklyn kitchen.

Then, cosmetics giant LOreal USA approached Price with an offer to acquire Carols Daughter. Happily, Price agreed and sold her company to LOreal in November of 2014. It was amazing, Price says. It was such a personal and professional victory for me.

But while Price was thrilled with the decision to sell, fans on social media were not.

The negative responses were very personal, and people called me a sell-out, Price says. They were upset and angry.