According to the Los Angeles medical examiner, Chuter’s official cause of death is not yet determined, pending additional investigation.

Nigerian-born Chuter worked at PepsiCo, Benefit Cosmetics and L’Oréal prior to launching Uoma in 2019 in the UK. The prestige brand, known for its best-selling 51-shade Say What?! Foundation, quickly gained retail traction, scoring distribution at a diverse roster of UK, US and Canadian retailers including Ulta Beauty, J.C. Penney, Harvey Nichols, Nordstrom, Shopbop, Shoppers Drug Mart and QVC. In 2023, Chuter shared with Beauty Independent that Uoma raised $3.5 million in funding to prepare for its launch in 2019. Its backers included Unilever Ventures, Sinai Ventures and PLG Ventures.

In the wake of George Floyd’s murder in 2020, Chuter created Pull Up For Change and the #PullUpOrShutUp social media initiative, which called on beauty companies to divulge the number of Black employees they have in their organizations and leadership ranks in an effort to increase diversity and inclusion. Nearly 80 beauty brands, including Glossier, Milk Makeup and E.l.f. Cosmetics responded publicly within 72 hours.

Subsequently, Chuter also created the Make It Black campaign, which not only aimed to spark conversations about the negative connotations of the word “black,” but also enlisted brands like Briogeo, Maybelline and ColourPop to redesign the packaging of their most popular products in the color black and funneled gross profits from sales of the redesigned products to Pull Up For Change’s Small Business Impact Fund for early-stage Black-owned businesses.

By Feb. 2023, the fund had amassed nearly $1 million and deployed capital to almost 10 founders, including Undefined Beauty and SknMuse. In an interview with Beauty Independent at that time, Chuter said about the Impact Fund, “That’s what keeps me going, because we are directly touching people. Seeing these Black women thrive makes me happy, and I can’t wait to see some of them create companies, scale them and exit them for great valuations.”

In June 2021, Uoma rolled out accessibly priced secondary line Uoma by Sharon C. at Walmart. All products in the line, which Chuter called “a simpler, more attainable” extension of her original brand Uoma Beauty, were priced under $25. Uoma by Sharon C. later entered CVS.

The brand told publication Women’s Wear Daily in March 2023 that its business had increased sevenfold in 2022. In May 2023, Chuter stepped down as CEO and board member of Uoma. The brand then went “dark” on social media in August, and by November 2023 appeared to be in financial trouble. That month, Interfila Cosmetics, a Chinese subsidiary of beauty contract manufacturing company Intercos Group, sued the brand for breach of contract to recover over $50,352 it claims Uoma owed it. A preceding case involving Intercos and Uoma was dismissed in 2021.

In December 2023, MacArthur Beauty LLC, an offshoot of investment firm The MacArthur Companies, acquired the intellectual property of Uoma Beauty for an undisclosed amount. The deal represented the first beauty transaction for The MacArthur Cos. Uoma Beauty announced its return via Instagram in December 2024.

But in February, Chuter made headlines when she filed a lawsuit against The MacArthur Companies and former investor BrainTrust Fund for alleged fraudulent sale of Uoma Beauty’s assets. According to the complaint, Chuter’s May 2023 departure was a planned medical leave, during which time Uoma’s new management “suspended revenue generating activities while also barring Chuter’s return to the brand.” As of Chuter’s death, the lawsuit remains unsettled.

Chuter will be remembered as a dynamic and fearless leader and activist. When asked in our February 2023 interview with the entrepreneur what was exciting to her about the beauty industry at the time, her answer was prescient: “We will get a chance now to reinvent ourselves. The consumer is now challenging us, saying, ‘Tell me why I should be here,’ and the people who can give the right answers will survive. The people who can’t, unfortunately, will go.”