Boss Babes: HBCU Alums To CEOs

Climbing the rank to CEO is no easy feat, especially if you’re Black AND a woman. However, it’s not impossible! From starting and running major companies, to joining businesses to effectively make a change, these women are showing the world just exactly what comes out of our HBCUs. 

Melissa Butler – The Lip Bar 

Hailing from Detroit, Melissa Butler is the Founder and CEO of the beauty and cosmetics brand, The Lip Bar. Butler attended Florida A&M University where she earned her degree in Business Finance. After graduation, she ended up working as a stockbroker on Wall Street, but soon pivoted when she became frustrated with the lack of inclusion and representation in the beauty industry. After making lipsticks with bold colors in her kitchen, The Lip Bar was eventually born in 2010, highlighting a new standard of Black beauty, all while using 100% vegan and cruelty free products. Melissa Butler’s products were initially highlighted on Shark Tank with her partner Rosco Spears, where she received disapproval from the sharks, referring to her products as “clown makeup.” However, she did not let that deter her dream, and her products are now being sold at many Target and Walmart stores around the U.S.  

Caroline Wanga – Essence 

Caroline Wanga is not new to this, but really true to this! An alum of Texas College, Wanga currently serves as the President and CEO of Essence. Before holding her current position, she was Chief Culture, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer at Target and later joined Essence Ventures, a parent company of Essence, as the Chief Growth Officer in 2020. After earning her degree in Business Administration and Management, she started her career in supply chain at Target, and made a long-lasting impact on the diversity and inclusion standards of their business. Caroline Wanaga is unapologetically herself at all times, and she’s always transparent about her journey; sharing how she came to the U.S. as a Kenyan immigrant and raising a daughter at the age of 17. However, she refused to let her circumstances define her, with her famous quote being, “Who you are is who you are. If you cannot be who you are where you are, you change where you are not who you are.” Last year, she was named one of the 100 Most Influential African Women by Advance Media. 

Pinky Cole – Slutty Vegan 

Aisha “Pinky” Cole redefined Vegan food and culture with her plant-based burger and restaurant chain, Slutty Vegan. Born and raised in Baltimore to Jamaican parents, Cole graduated from Clark Atlanta University with a degree in Mass Media Arts and was even elected “Miss CAU” in 2008. Launched in July of 2018, Slutty Vegan started out as a ghost kitchen due to her craving vegan junk food, with her opening her first restaurant that same year in Atlanta. Since then, she has opened eleven locations in states like New York, Georgia, and Alabama. Her food is known to have memorable, sexual names, with her burgers being called “Sloppy Toppy” and “One Night Stand.” Pinky has also founded the Pinky Cole Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting Black entrepreneurs like herself. In 2023, she was named on TIME Magazine’s 100 Next list.

Janice Bryant Howroyd – ActOne Group 

Janice Bryant Howroyd is the epitome of Black excellence. As an alumna of North Carolina A&T, she earned her degree in English and Humanities before becoming the CEO and Founder of ActOne Group, a global employment and management company that services a wide range of industries, companies, and agencies. Beginning in 1978, Howroyd started her company with a phone, fax machine, and a $900 loan from her mother. Today, her company is worth billions, making her the first Black woman to own and operate a multi billion-dollar business in the U.S. Her drive and passion stems from her growing up in a segregated community, eventually wanting to change the narrative of the typical, professional  “Black job” like a preacher or teacher. Janice was even selected as an appointee to the White House by President Obama. Her advice to entrepreneurs? “You should never compromise who you are personally to become who you wish to be professionally.” 

Whether it be food, media, beauty, or business, it’s evident that Black women are more than fit to lead and enhance business and companies. Let this be a reminder that sometimes we don’t always have to have a seat at the table, we can simply create our own.