In shortLyric, a 13-year-old eighth grader in Fargo, has been making and selling flavored lip gloss under her own brand since 2020, operating alongside her mother's company, Woke Soap Apothecary.
3 things to know
1Lyric started making lip gloss at age nine or ten in 2020, beginning with bubble gum flavor, and now designs her own labels and sells at vendor shows.
2Her brand, originally called LVL Lips, is currently in a rebuild phase after her family moved between Fargo, Texas, and South Dakota before returning to Fargo.
3Her products are currently listed on her mother's site, buysoapnotdope.com, with plans to create a dedicated Facebook page for Lyric's brand.
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Lyric doesn’t act like a “young entrepreneur.” She acts like a kid who’s been doing this long enough that it feels normal.
She’s 13. She’s in eighth grade at Ben Franklin Middle School. And she’s been making lip gloss since 2020—back when she was nine or ten years old, sitting on her mom’s bed with a laptop open, building a supply list like it was the most natural thing in the world.
“I remember sitting on her bed and going on Amazon, looking at the gloss, the tubes, picking everything out,” she said.
It started as play, the way a lot of real skills do. But it didn’t stay there. By fifth grade, she was bringing gloss to school. Friends would ask for some. She’d hand it out because she’s nice, and because at that age, nobody is thinking about margins.
“They’d be like, ‘Oh, you should make me some.’ So I’d give them some,” she said. “Then I was like, ‘We should make this official. We should actually start doing this.’”
A Family Business, But A Separate Lane
Lyric is growing up inside her mom’s company, Woke Soap Apothecary, a Fargo-based brand that’s been around for 10 years. Her mom is in her 40s now, building on a decade of work that began when she was a single mom. She knows how hard it is to keep a business alive long enough to call it “established.”
“This is all her right here though,” her mom said. “I’m just the support.”
It matters that she says it that way, because it’s easy for a kid’s product line to get treated like an extension of the parent’s brand. In this case, it’s more like an apprenticeship that’s turning into independence.
Lyric helps with her mom’s business. She helps with names, labels, scent ideas, and product brainstorming. But she’s also carving out her own table at vendor shows.
“We do vendor shows, and I’ll have my little table next to hers with my stuff,” Lyric said.
“Yeah. I really loved bubble gum. I was addicted to the smell. I loved it.”
That’s the thing about the early versions of a product. They aren’t made for a market. They’re made for one person’s taste. The market comes later. And the actual process is more straightforward than most people assume.
“It’s not that hard,” she said. “You mix the flavor with the gloss, and you have a base that you put it into.”
Base gloss, flavor, tube. Then there are the details that are hers like stones embedded in some of the tubes.
“One is scented or flavored. She left it plain,” her mom said. “It has stones in it. A lot of people set intentions with stones and talk about balancing chakras.”
Staying “Mysterious”
If Lyric wanted to, she could probably move a lot of product through school.
She doesn’t.
“Do you ever try to sell them at school?” I asked.
“No,” she said. “I just like being mysterious. I don’t really let people know about my stuff.”
She’ll talk about her mom’s business. But she prefers to keep hers to herself. It fits her personality. She can be reserved, like when I first met her for an interview. And then, eventually, a switch flips, and she has total confidence, because she has a job to do.
The Design
A lot of kids can make things. Fewer can package them in a way that looks real. Lyric can.
In 2023, her mom taught her how to design labels. She taught her how to think about layout, theme, and the details that matter like ingredients.
She uses Avery to design them, building visuals around the product concept. One gloss line, Chakra, uses stones and a rainbow theme—so the label background matches: rocks, color, texture.
“We edit it ourselves and make it ourselves,” she said “We include ingredients, what’s in it, and the flavor.”
That last part, the ingredients, sounds small until you’ve done vendor shows. People ask. People have allergies. People want to know what’s going on their skin. Transparency is part of professionalism, and she’s learning it early.
They also try to source locally when they can.
“We try to keep ingredients simple. Things we can get in town,” her mom said. “Because ordering online takes time. We try to source locally, and I’m teaching her the same.”
Dallas, Then Back Home
Lyric’s business didn’t grow in a straight line.
Her family started in Fargo, moved to Texas in 2021, then returned to the Dakotas—South Dakota for several months, then back up to Fargo last year. That’s a lot of school changes at 13. A lot of social resets.
“Yeah, especially being older and having friends, and then moving away from them,” Lyric said. “But you kind of just get used to it.”
In Dallas, they had a shop, and Lyric wasn’t just watching from the sidelines. She sold products. She made crystal items. She sold lip gloss. She learned what it feels like to stand there while people browse, waiting to see if they’ll buy.
Then, back in Fargo, the model became vendor shows again with her mom’s table, and her table.
She describes herself as a kid who used to be shy—fine around family, but uncomfortable talking to people. Vendor shows changed that, because when your mom step
She describes herself as a kid who used to be shy—fine around family, but uncomfortable talking to people. Vendor shows changed that, because when your mom steps away, the table doesn’t pause.
“If my mom had to go to the bathroom, I had to learn prices and talk to people,” she said. “I’m really good at that now.”
The Scents, The Culture, And The Meaning Behind “Red Hand”
Within the family’s product world, there are two distinct aesthetics.
Her mom’s work carries more cultural intention with indigenous elements, traditional scents, and products designed to start conversations.
One candle in particular is called Red Hand, referencing the red handprint symbol associated with the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women movement.
“MMIW is Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women,” her mom said. “It’s a big movement. And my Red Hand scent has that red hand on the label, so when people see it, they know what it’s for.”
In Dallas, they used a visual that stopped people in their tracks, a red dress hanging outside with an explanation attached.
“People would ask what it was,” she said. “Then read it and realize it was for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women.”
What Lyric Likes
Lyric is still very much 13.
She likes being on calls with friends. She likes headphones and homework. She loves volleyball. She loves summer—especially tanning, swimming, and mall days with friends.
Her favorite candle scent is Fruit Loops.
“It’s so yummy,” she said.
She’s social in her own way.
“If I meet someone one day, the next day I’ll act like I’ve known them forever,” she said. “Like we’re locked in already.”
The Future
Ask Lyric what she wants to do long-term, and she doesn’t hesitate; she talks about taking over her mom’s business.
“My friends and I talk about it a lot, and I always say I’m going to take over her business,” she said. “She’s going to need me, and I’m going to need her.”
She’s learning the operation from inside. She’s learning design, sourcing, selling, and customer interaction.
Currently, she also has a job in mind at Island Park pool concessions. She plans to take CPR classes—not because she’ll be a lifeguard, but because it makes her a stronger candidate and because if something happens, she wants to be able to help.
What’s Next For the Brand
Right now, Lyric is in a rebuild phase, settling back into Fargo after moving, restarting her identity as she gets older, and deciding what her brand is called.
When she was younger, it was LVL Lips—LVL as in “level up.” Now she’s reinventing herself.
Where To Find Her Products
Right now, Lyric’s products are connected to her mom’s site, with a small section for her shop at buysoapnotdope.com. They’re also planning to build a Facebook page specifically for Lyric, so people can follow her work directly.
Editor of Fargo INC! — covering the founders, companies, and ideas shaping business in Fargo-Moorhead. Eleven years in, still no opinions, no politics, all business.
