He Built His $30 Million Brand Without Quitting His 9-to-5

Darrell Spencer built a $30 million body butter brand without quitting his day job. When it comes to entrepreneurship, social media has created a vision of freedom. But Spencer’s story proves that scaling a business takes more than hopes and dreams.

In 2024, he launched Crowned Skin, a cologne-infused body butter he says ranks as the No. 2 men’s personal care product line to sell on TikTok Shop. It is no accident that his brand took off on social media platforms. After years selling digital ads at Meta, Google and LinkedIn, Spencer applied that playbook to his own products.

He sat down with The Root to discuss his journey of scaling a business while working his 9-to-5, and the lessons entrepreneurs can take from it.

Turning a skincare necessity into a multimillion-dollar brand took more than belief. It required calculated risk and a slow exit from the corporate world. “I intentionally worked in corporate America while still growing my companies,” Spencer said. “I actually pivoted; this is my second company.” After sunsetting his first e-commerce line called King’s Crowning, which sold satin bonnets for men, he used lessons from that venture to launch his skincare empire.

Related Topic: From HBCU to CEO: Black Entrepreneurs Who Have Built Successful Businesses

“I believe in failing and failing forward,” he said. “I think most times people fail fast and then they fail back, so [they] actually move backwards. They allow failure to stunt their growth.”

While working his full-time job, Spencer used his own salary to fund his vision. Leaning into bootstrapping, Spencer invested $15,000 of his own money into his company. “I utilized my corporate salary to invest into my company, and when I was able to replace my corporate salary with my company’s revenue, that’s when I chose to pivot,” he said. “It was a slow burn to move from corporate America, but it was an intentional burn.”

Spencer bet on himself, which eventually landed him in front of millions of viewers on ABC’s “Shark Tank,” where he pitched Crowned Skin to show investors and secured a deal. He got $500,000 from Rashaun Williams for 10% equity.

Though appearing on national television was a life-changing win, Spencer attributed it to his willingness to take a leap of faith and bet on himself. 

“I was never fearless when it came down to building, creating, and scaling, but I was … willing,” Spencer said. “And I think that’s one of the biggest pieces of advice I would give people is it’s it’s okay to … have some fear. I think it’s natural and it’s going to always happen. But I would say the biggest thing is being willing.”

That willingness helped him spot a major gap in the market. Noting a “lack of community in men’s personal care,” Spencer built solutions around his own lived experience. By turning everyday male grooming into a lifestyle category, he carved out space in an industry long dominated by women.

Succeeding in that space required recognizing hard business truths: great products solve problems, but poor positioning delays growth. Entrepreneurs often stall by relying on friends and family for validation instead of testing the market. If a business isn’t growing, the issue is likely how it communicates its value.

“You can have an amazing product, but if it’s not hitting, it’s typically a messaging issue,” Spencer said. “Figure out what resonates most with your consumer.” To expand, you must look beyond your personal circle.

Scaling also requires financial discipline. “I know my numbers like the back of my hand,” Spencer explained, emphasizing the importance of tracking profit margins. For entrepreneurs without massive financial resources, Spencer recommends growing intentionally. He shared that “scaling slowly” let him build revenue over time and reinvest in advertising and strategic partnerships.

Whether you want to build a family business or sell the company, Spencer says you have to plan for that exit from day one. Map out your three-year milestones and track your numbers.

In the end, he keeps it plain: “The way you start is the way you finish.”