Stormi Steele has seen firsthand the power of social media.
Steele is the founder of Canvas Beauty, a beauty brand she conceived in a night, Forbes mentioned. It all started with a hair serum made with cayenne pepper in her kitchen, which she introduced to her clients at her hair salon. After her clients’ rave reviews, she was encouraged to sell the product. Now, Steele’s Hair Blossom Serum remains the leading product in its marketing sector, the outlet notes.
“It just ended up having a life of its own after that,” Steele told Forbes.
Steele found great success since the launch of her business in 2018. In its first year, Canvas Beauty sold more than 1 million units, according to information provided to AFROTECH™. In 2019, going viral led the business to earn 30,000 monthly orders compared to 6,000 before the exposure, per Forbes. However, the influx of orders prompted Steele and her husband and business partner, Courtney Beasley, to learn a quick lesson about running an online business. They worked to create a fulfillment center and hire a customer service team. By 2020, the company was in better standing around Black Friday and had earned $20 million in sales, Business Insider mentioned at the time.
Despite Steele’s victories, she still experienced the growing pains of launching a business. In 2022, she neared the brink of losing her business altogether.
Yet, today, the business remains strong — further proven on Saturday, June 8, 2024, when 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 on 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!!!”
