Princess Tiana Isn’t a Magic Band-Aid: An Interview with Lisa Price, Founder of Carol’s Daughter

By Sexual Correspondent Andrea Plaid

My best friend Timolin tipped me to Lisa Price, founder of Carol’s Daughter, visiting the flagship store in Harlem.  I had to meet the woman who’s designed a special natural body product line for—and the only product tie-in to–Disney’s Princess and the Frog.*  Not McDonald’s (or any other fast-food chain, who are the usual companies hawking movie-related stuff to children), not Coca-Cola or any other junk-food company.  No clothing tie-ins (like Old Navy or Gap) or other stores.

What I thought was going to be a two-minute interview turned into twenty minutes of talking about the movie—and Precious.  And Color Purple.  And Chris Rock.  And magic band-aids.

Andrea Plaid: How did you get involved with Princess and the Frog?

Lisa Price: The opportunity presented itself for us to present our company to Disney as a potential partner with this film, with making products associated with the film.  And it was one of those situations where it was great to have the meeting and it was great to be in the room.  If something comes of it, great, but, wow, wasn’t it a great step to at least have the meeting.

My marketing team left the meeting with a deal in place.  Not all the details worked out, but [they had] an agreement to move forward.  It was amazing to have that opportunity and to be affiliated with something as the first African American princess.  It’s wonderful.

AP: Yes.

LP: To have the opportunity to make products that Mom doesn’t have to worry about, that perform …

…there are so many levels as to why I’m excited to be a part of this project:  the history of it, collaborating with a company like Disney, getting to make products for kids that are great that have a really nice fragrance.  I have a three-year-old daughter:  she tested everything, so she had a lot of fun.

AP: As it should be.  My follow-up question is, you thought you were pitching to Disney but, from what I heard, Disney only wanted you to be a tie-in for the movie.

LP:  I don’t know that they necessarily felt that [we] were the only brand to do it.  I don’t know they felt that way.  But I do know they were excited to meet with us, they knew our story, they feel it was some synergy between Tiana’s story and my story, and they felt it was a good fit.  But I won’t go so far as to say they thought we were the only one.  That would be nice, but I’m sure there were some other contenders.  It’s something that, when I first heard it, [I was] so excited but [I had to say to myself] “I can’t get too excited because this is a real long-shot and I’ll be really disappointed.  But I’m going to be positive, and we’ll see what happens.”  And when positive turned into “yes”—

AP: What could you say?

Would you mind giving me a small synopsis of your story and why Disney felt it very close to Tiana’s….

LP: Tiana is—

AP: –without ruining the plot because we’re going to see it.

LP: I haven’t seen the whole movie.  I’ve only seen snippets.  She is not a typical Disney princess: she’s not waiting for Prince Charming; she’s not waiting for someone to fix her problems for her.  She’s very pro-active, and she goes out and works hard to achieve her dream.  So, she sets a goal then works towards the goal.  Her father taught her how to cook.  He’s a chef, and she wants to take his recipes and have a restaurant of her own.

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