When Shae Thompson pulled her 27-year-old hairbrush from her bag, her friends gasped in horror. ‘Why have you got a dog brush in your bag?’ they asked her.
But this was no dog brush.
The 29-year-old from Liverpool told This is Money: ‘I’m mixed; black, white and Caribbean, and that was the same brush I’d used daily since I was a child.
‘Only then did I realise how much I relied on it and how much of a staple item it was for me.’
Somewhat pressured to find a ‘prettier’ looking brush, Shae searched all the big brands to buy a similar product but she found nothing.
‘It felt like there was no space for the slicked-back brush. The only place I could get something similar was the black hair shop, a 45-minute drive away,’ she said.
Little could Shae have known that she would go on to hit six figures in sales within six months, selling slicked-back brushes for all hair types.
Slicked-back hair emerged as the certified ‘clean girl aesthetic’ in 2022, styled by many celebrities including Hailey Bieber, Lizzo and the Kardashians.
Shae Thompson, 29, launched her business GRIP on TikTok Shop in March this year with just one product – a brush for slicked-back hair
But finding a brush that works for all hair types is the trickier part.
Shae’s initial search for slicked-back brushes began in August 2024. Juggling her social media manager job at the time, Shae worked with a supplier to create the perfect brush.
Due to the nature of her job, Shae already had an audience on TikTok. She decided to sell on TikTok Shop because ‘it seemed like a great marketing avenue for the business’.
She added: ‘Although I had never sold anything on there before, it seemed much easier than creating my own website.’
Come December 2025, they finally had a market-ready product.
It took five sample rounds, with five brushes tested in the process, to develop the brush with a wooden handle, boar bristles and nylon.
While the initial samples cost around £200, Shae’s first stock order consisted of 1,000 brushes to be sold at £17.99 each.
To gain exposure, Shae started giving the brushes to as many hairstylists as possible.
‘It was crazy from week one and – I don’t want to say lucky, because it took a lot of hard work – but prior to launch, when my stock landed, I started gifting the brush to as many celebrity hairstylists as possible.
‘They’re on set every day, they’re probably going to use the brush frequently and they’re going to create content for me. So it was a bit of a nifty way in order to get some content in as well as exposure and connections in the industry.’
During the week of the launch, the Mobo Awards were on, followed by the Brit Awards, strengthening her reach.
That same week, Samie Elishi, who had just won Love Island All Stars, contacted her, raving about the hairbrush used on her by her stylist.
Her product has also been used by stylists on other celebrities, such as Molly-Mae Hague, Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Ella Thomas, and has been endorsed by Andrew Fitzsimons, whose past clients include Kim Kardashian and Madonna.
Popular beauty entrepreneur P.Louise has also reviewed the brush.
Officially launched in March 2026, Shae ‘broke even’ a month later, making more than £10,000 in sales and recovered her initial costs. Those initial costs – including samplings, stock, packaging and branding – were £4,000.
After gifting the brush to celebrity hairstylists such as Remi Laid, its popularity soared. Love Islanders, including Ella Thomas from season ten, used the product
Little Mix’s Leigh-Anne Pinnock was another star who used the brush within days of its launch, after hairstylist Naomi Brooks was gifted it
Shae funded the business herself using income from her freelance social media work. She didn’t have to dip into her savings or use external investment.
One of the first major milestones was generating more than £5,000 per week in revenue.
Now, the business is on track to surpass six figures in sales within six months of launching.
Shae explained that on good days, the business can sell more than 100 brushes, with sales exceeding £1,500 a day. On a steady day, she sells around 30 to 40.
Her brand sells completely via TikTok Shop, with 77 per cent of her revenue coming from the platform.
The brand has achieved 8.8 million views organically, without paid advertising. This consists of people using the brush, as well as content showing the brush itself.
Shae explained that TikTok Shop can help sellers get the ball rolling by offering promotions and discounts.
She said: ‘TikTok will tell you to do things like a little flash sale. They’ll say, “I think you should do this sale. If you can’t afford to right now, kind of let us know”, and they sometimes can subsidise the cost for you.
‘So you as a seller don’t lose out on any of your profit.’
Shae runs the business alone, with help from her family from time to time. They assist with packaging while her dad, she joked, acts as ‘warehouse manager’.
She also has freelance support for PR and paid advertising.
Stock is kept in her own two-bedroom flat, with the largest restock consisting of 5,000 brushes.
Shae admitted the hours she puts into her company are ‘endless’.
‘You don’t really switch off. I’ll be checking sales until midnight,’ she added.
Her client base mostly consists of women styling slick-back looks, mums buying for daughters, gymnasts, female footballers, cabin crew and people with a wide range of hair types.
Shae runs the business alone, with occasional help from her family, and keeps the stock in her two-bedroom flat
Shae continued to freelance alongside the business until around July, when growing demand forced her to go full-time.
She said: ‘It was literally a case of can I afford to quit now? (In terms of are my bills paid and is everything covered?) And it was like, yeah, OK. And that’s when it felt right for me.’
Although Shae did not feel comfortable sharing her salary now, her top tip for succeeding when starting a business is to listen to your audience and cater for their needs.
Ensuring the product works for all hair types is central to Shae’s mission.
To anyone looking to start their own business, she says: ‘You need to have a genuine passion for it and you need to just be really genuine.’
‘I think that’s why it’s done so well, because I brought everyone along on the journey with me from the very get-go of, you know, a big lorry turning up outside my two-bedroom apartment to bring in the stock and documenting all of that, to then all of the success of it and things.
‘I think you have to just be genuinely all in and give it your all, and just be as kind of honest and genuine as you can be with your customer, with your audience.’
She added: ‘Nothing was rushed and no corners were cut. So we’ve only launched, you know, six months ago. I have no intention of just churning something out for the sake of it.
‘Everything’s going to take time and effort to make sure that it’s right.’
