In 2018, Gibbons began experimenting with fragrance oils in her kitchen. She loved expensive perfumes but wanted more affordable options. With approximately $300, she bought fragrance bottles and carrier oils to test her own formulas. What started as a personal hobby soon attracted interest from coworkers who wanted to buy her creations.
That small beginning grew into Brown Sugar Babe, an Atlanta-based fragrance and body-care brand known for its oil-based scents. Rather than relying on outside investors, Gibbons built the company through self-funding, customer feedback, and careful business decisions.
Her approach includes listening to customers through social media surveys, developing products around their interests, and building a community around the brand. Brown Sugar Babe also expanded beyond online sales, opening a flagship store in Atlanta in 2025 after an investment of approximately $1.2 million.
In this video, discover how Maekaeda Gibbons started Brown Sugar Babe with just $300, developed a fragrance business around affordable scent oils, and grew the company into a multimillion-dollar brand without outside investors.
**Watch to learn about:**
- How Maekaeda Gibbons started her fragrance business with $300
- How Brown Sugar Babe grew from a kitchen experiment into a major fragrance brand
- Why she chose fragrance oils instead of traditional alcohol-based perfumes
- How customer feedback and social media helped shape the business
- How Brown Sugar Babe generated $21 million in gross revenue in 2025
- Why Gibbons chose to build her business without outside investors
- How the company expanded with a flagship store in Atlanta
- Business lessons from a Black woman entrepreneur building a brand on her own terms
Maekaeda Gibbons' journey offers a closer look at entrepreneurship, self-funded business growth, product development, and the fragrance industry.
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