Tabitha Brown did not treat Donna’s Recipe like a standard celebrity endorsement. She brought an audience, a public identity built around vegan living and encouragement, and a business opportunity in hair care.

Brown’s commercial visibility grew years before the brand. In 2017, her Facebook review of Whole Foods’ vegan TTLA sandwich went viral and led to a brand ambassador relationship with the grocer, according to a Time profile ↗. In 2020, Time reported, Brown joined TikTok and grew her following with videos centered on food, affirmations and everyday warmth.

That visibility could have supported sponsorships alone. Brown also worked with major retailers, including a 2022 Target collaboration that the company described as part of an existing influencer relationship and a series of limited-time collections across apparel, home, food and kitchen categories. Target tied that partnership to its REACH commitment and support for Black-owned businesses and Black talent, according to Target’s corporate fact sheet ↗.

Donna’s Recipe is a different business case. The hair-care company is publicly presented as co-founded by Brown and Gina Woods, and its public footprint includes branded products, retail listings and registered intellectual property. For Black business readers, the point is not just whether a creator can move products. It is whether a founder team can turn attention into a company with assets beyond social media reach.

Donna’s Recipe’s founder page ↗ presents Brown and Woods as co-founders and places Woods alongside Brown in the brand’s origin story. The company describes the line as vegan and sells products through its own site, Ulta Beauty and Target.

Public records do not disclose equity splits, governance rights or the full operating structure. Outsiders should not assume more than the record shows. The available record supports a narrower conclusion: Donna’s Recipe has moved from creator visibility into product assortment, trademarks and national retail channels.

From influence to intellectual property

Donna’s Recipe emerged as creators became more valuable to advertisers and retailers. Brown’s Whole Foods moment showed that her recommendations could attract attention from consumers and brands. Her TikTok growth placed her inside a market where creators increasingly influence buying behavior.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau projected that U.S. creator-economy ad spending would reach $37 billion in 2025, up 26% year over year, and said marketers increasingly view creators as a full media channel rather than only a social tactic, according to IAB’s 2025 Creator Economy Ad Spend & Strategy Report ↗. Deloitte has also reported that creator reviews can influence shopping decisions, especially among younger consumers, in its research on shoppable media ↗.

For founders, reach is only one part of the business model. A sponsored post can generate income. A product company requires formulas, packaging, pricing, fulfillment, customer service and replenishment. If customers return, the company can build brand value and customer relationships over time. That is why Donna’s Recipe fits larger conversations about [creator entrepreneurship](/creator-entrepreneurship/) and founders trying to convert audience trust into durable businesses.

Trademark records add another layer. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s TSDR record for DONNA’S RECIPE BY TABITHA BROWN lists a Nov. 9, 2020, filing date, registration number 6702619 and an April 12, 2022, registration date. The record lists Do You Believe Enterprises Inc., a California corporation, as the owner of record, according to the USPTO TSDR record ↗.

That does not contradict the company’s public co-founder descriptions for Brown and Woods. It does mean readers should distinguish among a trademark owner, a brand’s public founders, an operating company and any private ownership arrangements. In a creator-led business, those details can affect control, economics and decision-making as the company grows.

Gina Woods and the operating side

Brown remains the best-known face of Donna’s Recipe, but the brand’s public story also includes Woods. A Women’s Business Daily interview ↗ describes Woods as involved in the brand’s development and retail growth. A Dec. 10, 2024, episode listing for “It Takes A Village with Delina Medhin” featuring Brown and Woods describes a conversation about product creation, community building, direct-to-consumer sales, affordability and co-founder roles, according to the Apple Podcasts episode page ↗.

That operating work matters. Creator attention can open the door, but hair care depends on repeat use. Customers judge products by ingredients, scent, texture, price, performance and how the product fits their hair routines. Founder identity and audience familiarity may help people try a line, but the products have to earn repeat purchases.

Donna’s Recipe product pages list oils, shampoos, conditioners, creams and styling products through its own website, Ulta Beauty ↗ and Target’s Black-Owned or Founded Brands section ↗. Allure included Donna’s Recipe Sweet Potato Pie Extra Creamy Hair Cream among its 2024 Best of Beauty hair winners, according to Allure’s 2024 list ↗.

The company also states on its website that Ulta Beauty recognized Donna’s Recipe as Black-Owned Brand of the Year in April 2023. BlackBizDaily could not independently verify that award from an Ulta press release in available public materials, so the claim should be treated as the company’s statement unless Ulta confirms it.

Retail access brings opportunity and pressure

Retail can change a young beauty brand’s path. Placement through Ulta and Target can put Donna’s Recipe in front of shoppers who may not visit the company’s website or follow Brown online. For brands listed in Black-owned or Black-founded retail sections, that access can also help shoppers find products tied to a specific ownership or founder category.

Retail also brings pressure. Brands must meet retailer requirements, maintain inventory, support promotions, manage packaging standards and protect margins. Direct-to-consumer sales may give a company more control over customer relationships. Wholesale can increase volume and visibility but may reduce flexibility. Those trade-offs sit behind many stories about [retail distribution](/retail-distribution/) and [Black women founders](/black-women-founders/) trying to grow without losing control.

Donna’s Recipe also operates in a retail climate where corporate diversity commitments face pressure. The Associated Press has reported on Black-owned businesses reassessing strategy as diversity, equity and inclusion programs face political and business challenges, according to AP reporting ↗. That backdrop makes careful language important. Public listings may place Donna’s Recipe in Black-owned or founded shopping categories, but the company’s exact private ownership structure is not fully visible in public records.

Financing is also not clear from public materials. Podcast descriptions and founder interviews may discuss parts of the company’s growth story, but the available public record does not fully explain how Donna’s Recipe has been financed. Without confirmation from the company, readers should not assume whether growth came from founder capital, reinvested revenue, debt, outside investment or another structure.

Trust remains the core asset

Brown’s commercial appeal depends heavily on the relationship she has built with her audience. That trust creates value, but it also creates obligations.

When a creator endorses someone else’s product, the audience evaluates both the product and the creator’s judgment. When the creator owns or co-founds a product, the link is closer. The founder’s personal credibility becomes part of the brand promise.

The Federal Trade Commission requires influencers to clearly disclose material connections in endorsements, according to its guidance for social media influencers ↗. Owned-brand promotion can look different from a paid endorsement, especially when the relationship is obvious, but transparency still matters. Audiences should understand when content is also commerce.

Hair-care marketing also requires care around product claims. The FDA says products marketed with claims to affect the structure or function of the body, including certain hair restoration or growth claims, may be treated as drugs depending on intended use, according to FDA cosmetic and drug guidance ↗. Specific performance claims should be backed by substantiation or presented as customer opinion, not independent fact.

Donna’s Recipe works as a useful business case because it combines several forces: a widely known creator, a publicly identified co-founder, registered intellectual property, beauty retail distribution and open questions about ownership structure.

Brown’s audience helped give the brand attention. Woods’ public role points to the operating work required to turn attention into a company. USPTO records show formal trademark registration. Ulta and Target listings show that the products reached major retail channels. Allure’s recognition gave at least one product visibility in beauty media beyond Brown’s own platforms.

The unanswered questions remain important. How is ownership structured? How much revenue comes from direct-to-consumer sales compared with retail? How does the company manage inventory risk? What decision rights does each co-founder hold?

Those questions do not weaken the story. They make it more serious. Creator entrepreneurship has entered a phase where visibility alone is not enough. For Black business readers, the next phase depends on who owns the brand, the intellectual property, the customer relationship and the upside. Donna’s Recipe shows one version of that transition, with enough public traction to matter and enough open questions to keep the analysis grounded.