My Biz: Entrepreneur’s lip balm aims to be long lasting, and colorful, too

When Bri Silver was a little girl, she thought her lip balm should come in the same kind of eye-catching label as a LifeSaver candy wrapper, she said.

Now, she not only owns the lip balm, but the company that produces it, Gettin Lippy, beginning in October 2011.

It started with a little experimentation to eliminate the need to constantly reapply.

'I wanted a better lip balm for myself and my family, so I started messing around with the base of the lip balm trying to make one that would be moisturizing and long lasting,' she recalled.

Though not technically trained, Silver did all the base-testing herself. Once she was satisfied with the lip balm base, she decided to bring her colorful LifeSaver-inspired packaging back around.

'In our lip balms, each color is a new flavor so you get multiple flavors in one tube,' Silver said. 'And the flavors are not mixed, but rather layered. For example, we offer a lip balm where the red is apple, the white is pear and the blue is raspberry.'

Silver said despite the tri-color tubes, all her lip balm flavors go on clear. The company tag line is 'lay it on thick.'

Gettin Lippy headquarters are set up in Silver's Central City home, and her products are Iowa-made.

While Silver is the only employee of Gettin Lippy — handling everything from actually making the lip balms, to labeling, accounting, marketing and business expansion — she does rely on the help of a few friends when she needs to set up a booth at a local event or to help with labeling and filling orders.

Over the last few years, her lip balm business has truly blossomed. Customers can buy products directly from the website or through the Gettin Lippy Facebook page. Silver's lip balms also are available through a number of retailers, including Hy-Vee, Theisens and Simply Divine Candy Shop.

'We are looking at some distributors and getting into a lot more retail stores, salons, spas and other locations,' she said.

Gettin Lippy also recently expanded into the school logo market.

'It was a long process to become licensed for college logos but totally worth it,' Silver said.

Right now she offers University of Iowa, Iowa State and University of Northern Iowa lip balms, with other schools in the works.

• Name: Bri Silver

• Title: Owner

• Company: Gettin Lippy

• Address: Central City

• Phone: (319) 361-4200

• Website:

  www.gettinlippy.com

Know a manager or company that should be considered for 'My Biz'? Contact business editor Michael Chevy Castranova at michael.castranova@sourcemedia.net.