Building Mielle: Purpose Before Profit with Monique Rodriguez

0:00Hey guys, welcome back to Skin Anarchy. This is a very, very special episode because we have someone here today who has built not only an absolutely iconic brand, but she is such a leader, you know, when it comes to business and strategy and understanding what it takes to succeed in the beauty industry, hair care industry. So without further ado, please welcome Monique Rodriguez, who is the founder and CEO of My Organics. Thank you. Thank you for having me. No, it's such an honor to host you. I am such a fan of everything you've accomplished, obviously, but really the space you've opened up for so many more people to create even more in the textured hair aisle in so many different ways.

0:37Without me ranting, I would love to get started. I know you have such an amazing background. I mean, before Myel even began, you know, you had a nursing career. I'd love to, if you could walk us down memory lane, like how was that, you know, leaving nursing and coming into entrepreneurship? sure.

0:51Monique Rodriguez:Yeah, no, great question. As I think about like my transition from my nursing career to being an entrepreneur, I think that people see the glory, the headlines, but they don't see that it took years of like preparation. So before my L became super successful, as you mentioned, I was working as a registered nurse. I was actually a labor and delivery nurse. I was a full-time mom and wife raising my family and also having a passion to step out on faith and to do something that I truly love and I was passionate about, which was the beauty industry and being able to navigate that of learning a business through trial and error and building it from one customer at a time.

1:29Monique Rodriguez:We were packing orders in our home. We were going to trade shows on the weekends and continuing to invest everything that we made from the business back into the business so we can basically grow the business. So it wasn't like an overnight success moment as some people may look at. It was years of consistency, grinding, and discipline and believing in a vision that very few people could see or understand at the time. And, you know, people questioned me a lot and wondered why I would leave such a stable career and do something that was so risky, something that was deemed pretty much impossible for someone that, you know, didn't have a wealthy background, didn't have any type of celebrity status.

2:10Monique Rodriguez:I literally built my L from the ground up by bootstrapping. And so being able to just have the courage to just bet on myself and have faith to step out, knowing that it was deemed impossible. But with my faith, I believe that with God, all things are possible. So it really just took me believing in myself to just lead that nursing career and transition. And was I scared and afraid? Absolutely. But I also had the courage to believe that I can do it. And sometimes you have to have a little bit of delusion. And that's okay. But you know, the delusion eventually pays off in the end. that's so i mean it's so interesting to me because yeah you didn't just build like a hair care brand you built a brand that it was like foundationally inclusive like foundationally that's what i think blows me away about my hell and the brand itself and the way it scaled is that when i first discovered it i was like oh wow this is meant for like legit everybody like it doesn't matter what your hair type is it's like the conversation shifted you know what i mean and that's where i think it's interesting because right now in marketing we see so many people that are like they're taking that one like blow horn and saying, hey, look, I made something for textured hair.

3:13And it's like, why are we thinking about it? Like, you know, like, so that's where I really have a lot of questions for you. Because how was that? Because you said you believe in yourself. And I love that. But like believing in really what you were doing, like you were creating a category. So how's that?

3:27Monique Rodriguez:You know, I looked at the category as like, for me as the customer myself, and I saw a void in the textured hair care space, I saw that there was a lack of relatability, a lack of science, a lack of, you know, understanding the proper technique to deal with our hair because textured hair is pretty unique and textured hair has no specific culture, race, ethnicity. Like you can be any ethnicity and have textured curly hair. And I really wanted to be inclusive of all and really think about like, how do I solve a problem for the overall category that I felt that other competitors in the aisle were not doing?

4:03Monique Rodriguez:So that's exactly what I did. And I said that, you know, I'm going to over serve better than the competitive landscape because I felt the void and the lack as a consumer myself. I would become a product junkie because I was trying all of these different products. And the reason why I would try all these different products was because nothing was working and no one was explaining how to work the products. No one was explaining the ingredients and the science behind the products. And so I wanted to come and approach hair care from a holistic and scientific approach, but also help people understand like proper technique and having the right technique will get you the right results.

4:38Right. No, that's actually really, really solid what you just brought up because I feel like this is like after homework that a lot of like brands end up doing is like figuring out like there's a teaching component to this, you know, like there's going to be a shift that happens for consumers and like they need to be able to grasp that, you know, in the way of like, how do I actually utilize these products? That's huge. And I want to actually kind of go back to what you said, because you mentioned bootstrapping the business and like That word gets thrown out a lot, but no one really talks about what that means, especially coming from a medical career.

5:08I know medical careers don't pay a lot, no matter what anybody thinks, and it's hard to start a business. So can you talk about that, the real financial stuff behind truly bootstrapping a growing brand?

5:20Monique Rodriguez:Yeah. I mean, bootstrapping means you're carrying the weight all by yourself. Yeah. What bootstrapping means, it means that you're making payroll and you're paying other people before you pay yourself. It means that you're taking risk, not knowing how things are going to work out. So during the period, like we were in two to$3 million in debt. And there were definitely hard moments where like the pressure felt overwhelming, where I didn't know if the business was going to sink or swim. But I knew that the vision was bigger than my current circumstance and my current problem. And I knew that we had to have better structure, become a better business, get the right people on board, because it's really about your team and building the right infrastructure.

6:04Monique Rodriguez:And going through that period of being in debt really caused us to mature as a company. It really caused us to like really tighten up like our operations, make better decisions, which is extremely important, and also become stronger leaders. So I do feel that the reason why I am the leader that I am today was because we went through that period of being in debt because once you have without, you don't want to go back to that place. And now you're going to do everything that you can to learn as much about the business and maintaining profitability. So basically you can continue growing and scaling.

6:35Monique Rodriguez:And so now while no one wants to go through a period of being in debt, it really was a learning lesson for us, a hard lesson, but you know, we learned a lot from it. Yeah, no, I mean, I can imagine and especially like keeping the doors open, keeping things moving forward. Like I can't imagine how difficult that is to juggle. And I feel like I have not been on this journey, so I can only speak from what I've seen. But I know there are a lot of times founders, they give up at one point, you know, and I would love to get your take on on that component of the psychological side of this, where it's like, everything's telling you to give up, but you're like, there's no freaking way, you know, like I built this, there's no way I'm going to give this up.

7:12Monique Rodriguez:Yeah, I mean, I think your conviction and belief in your vision has to be so strong and so powerful that it has to actually overpower the fear, the doubt, the anxiety, because we have to be real. Like we're humans. We have emotions like that will come, but it's like, what are you going to feed? You have to be like realistic and knowing that, okay, I think you have to have the understanding of knowing where your business is to say, okay, is it time for me to pivot or is it time for me to just keep pushing forward? And for me, for example, I knew that I couldn't give up because I knew that on the horizon, because even though we were in debt, the business was growing like crazy.

7:49Monique Rodriguez:Yeah. On the top line, our sales were through the roof. Retailers were still asking for us to partner with them. Other celebrities were asking us to partner with them. Like we were getting so many inbound inquiries that I knew that we were holding on to something special. We had such great momentum. And I knew that like, if I give up, what happens to all of the people that are attached to this vision? And I knew that I had to work harder to just find the right resources to help me in the areas that I felt that maybe I wasn't necessarily strong in to help me grow and help them see and paint the picture of like, this is the future and the potential of the brand.

8:25Monique Rodriguez:We just need a little help. So it's also you have to be realistic and really look at where your business is, because sometimes you do need to pivot. Like if you're tapped out and you're draining all of your funds and you can't pay your bills and you can't, you know, do the things that are priority and your business is not making sales and it's not growing, then that's a different story. But for us, we had such great moments and we just needed a little bit of help on the back end. And that's what told me that it wasn't time for me to give up. It was time for me to keep pushing forward. So I think every situation is different.

8:56Monique Rodriguez:And that's why I feel that like with prayer and really just doing a true evaluation and not doing things of what looks good for social media, but really understanding where you are as a business. Yeah, there's so many nuggets of wisdom in what you said. And one of the biggest questions becomes when you're in that phase, you've got a lot of people around you. There's a lot of voices around you. How do you convince those people that, listen, what we're doing is going to be so big? And even though we're at a dip right now, this is like the vision and this is where we're going. How did you make sure the people around you understood that just like you did and you created that core team for yourself?

9:34Monique Rodriguez:Well, I also use other case studies from other brands in the hair care space to show, obviously, what is the white space opportunity and what is the potential and what have brands that have gone before me, what they have been able to do and with the right help and resources. So it was using case studies to also paint a picture of like what that looks like. But also, you know, the saying that goes, the numbers don't lie. Yes, we were in debt, but the numbers on the horizon of how our distribution was increasing, how our top line sales was growing, like to see the trajectory of that. Like it didn't take a rocket scientist to see like, oh, this brand has great potential.

10:10Monique Rodriguez:They just need a little bit of help. And then also believing in us as founders. It wasn't just selling the overall picture and capabilities of the brand, but also showing how committed Melvin and I were as founders to this brand and to making it successful and not giving up and showing our work ethic and willpower to continue to fight for what we were heavily convicted that we will be, you know, we will make it successful. So it took for like investors and people around us to also believe in us as people and knowing that we also have the humility to like raise our hand and ask questions. We didn't go into any partnership or relationship thinking that we knew everything.

10:49Monique Rodriguez:And I think that was one of our strongest suits because we have one of our biggest investors, Berkshire investor that invested in us. And they said one of the reasons why they invested in us was because of our humility and our ability to ask questions. So I think that played your character. You can't teach either any or it's not. Yeah, you can't fake it. You can't fake that part. That's huge. That's really huge. I'm so glad you said that. And honestly, like that was one of my big questions too, was like the investment side of it. Because honestly, like no one talks about like how to pick the right fit for you from the investment side.

11:21And especially because when I look at Myel Organics and what you've built, it's like the brand has a very, very like strong foundation in what it stands for and what it's bringing to this industry. So like that's the question, right? Where it's like, how did you find the right people that were going to believe in what you were building from the vision and the mission of this brand without changing it? Because I see that a lot. Like brands are great and then they change. And it's like you guys just lost the whole foundation of why I believe in you as a consumer. But that didn't happen to you guys.

11:49So how was that?

11:51Monique Rodriguez:Yeah, I mean, I would say that like when you are in the building stages, like you have to really build your company like someone is looking at it. Someone's going to invest in it. Someone's going to acquire your company. You have to build towards that every single day. Now, as I look back, I would tell someone like this is not how I started, but I would look back and tell someone else like you have to have strong financials. You have to have clean systems, processes, infrastructure. You have to have great leadership. You have to have a good governance board, advisory board, and you have to be able to build a brand that people trust.

12:26Monique Rodriguez:And that's what matters. And so when I think about like looking for the right partners, you have to mentally separate yourself from the business, your identity from the business as well. Because a lot of people say like, oh, well, you know, you should hold on to it. Or like, is there like an emotional attachment? You can't have an emotional attachment to the brand if you are wanting to take on investors or eventually IPO or acquire, because it's really not your brand. It's the customer's brands, right? You're building it for them. And I just think that you have to take yourself out of the equation because how I think about it is like, I'm building something that will outlive myself.

13:04Monique Rodriguez:That's whether you sell it or not. But I feel like that's how every founder should think. They should think about longevity and sustainability and knowing that when you get into a partnership, like it is a marriage and you have to stay true to your vision. And for us, you know, we put it in writing in our contracts with every investor, even with P &G. It was like, OK, yes, we're selling you the company, but the sole DNA of the brand shall not be touched. It shall always remain the same. And that was very important for Melvin and I that they stayed committed to that. And I think that people need to also understand that just because you are scaling, you are growing, does not mean you have to sacrifice authenticity.

13:44Monique Rodriguez:Because when people invest in you, when a company acquires you, they're acquiring what you built. So it's like, why change and why try to fix something that's not broken? And so for us, it was, we were very adamant of making sure that it was outlined in our agreements. That's brilliant. And, you know, I feel like there's so much that we learn from that because I think a lot of times, like, it can be so tempting, I'm sure, as an entrepreneur when you're building and you're like, I just one day want this brand to be acquired. Like, that's my goal. And then along the way, it's like you start changing things.

14:14you start creating products that don't feel like they're yours. You know what I mean? That kind of thing. I see it happen a lot and it just makes me wonder like how much strength it must take to say, this is my vision, this is my ethos, and I'm not shifting from this. But, you know, I actually wanted to ask you because Myel's virality is like a case study, you know, like you can learn, everybody can learn through this. Marketers, business folk, entrepreneurs, everybody. And I wonder like when the brand really, really went viral, like on TikTok, everybody was talking about you guys. You know, at one point I remember opening TikTok and I kept seeing my every creator, everybody, and rightfully so.

14:47How did that feel? It contained something like that, like that kind of movement, but how did you really leverage that and say, here's where we're going to take this and use it to grow ourselves in the right way?

14:58Monique Rodriguez:I think first is understanding that having a viral moment, it can be very powerful, but it's also very temporary. It has the ability to like introduce your brand to millions of people overnight, that overnight success that everyone's looking for. But it can also create expectations and narratives, sometimes false narratives that you don't necessarily control. So that's why you really can't build a true business off of just going viral. You really build your brand off of people trusting you, the quality of your ingredients, the performance of your ingredients and delivering upon your promise. And that like sets the foundation.

15:35Monique Rodriguez:So when you go viral, like it may open the brand to more eyeballs and people may try you. But what happens after that viral moment? Do you have the consistency? Do you have the sustainability and the foundation to keep people coming back? Because if you go viral and you can't ship their orders, then they have a bad experience. They're not going to purchase anymore. Or if you go viral and you don't have the proper infrastructure to keep up with the orders, then they're not going to come back because the quality of your product is bad. So like viral is cool is great. But you know, we just have to make sure that as a company, as a business that you are foundationally solid.

16:09Monique Rodriguez:So you can keep that virality coming from all those new eyeballs that was exposed to your brand. Right. No, that makes a lot of sense. I mean, I just can't imagine like how that feels for, you know, a team to see that like, oh, my God, we are absolutely blowing up. Literally, like every time I open social media, I was like, Myel is killing it. That's really, really cool though that you had that real rise and everybody got to know because honestly as somebody who did not understand all the options that can exist in the texture hair category like you guys were genuinely the first brand for me as a consumer that like kind of introduced that you know like where it was eye-opening almost like I didn't know like you could have this kind of difference maybe all it was before was like a hair mask or here's a hair oil or three or four products you know what I mean so that's crazy what the brand has been able to do in this space But that's actually where my next question is for you is that you've created a movement.

16:59And, you know, with that, like, I would love to get your take on where do you think the industry is headed when it comes to textured hair, the innovation that you're seeing, you know, just the progress, I guess, overall.

17:09Monique Rodriguez:Yeah. So when I think about just the textured hair care space overall, I do feel that it is still moving towards inclusivity. You know, we speak inclusivity all the time, but, you know, I think that there's still a lot of opportunity and learning to grow in that space. I would like to see the textured hair care aisle expand more because when I think about like the majority versus minority, textured hair will continue to be the majority. I also see like the innovation focusing on overall like wellness and using products that perform well, that focus on like overall wellness and scalp care as well, because our scalp is our foundation.

17:49Monique Rodriguez:And internally, how we take care of our bodies from an overall wellness perspective also dictate how our hair performs and how our hair reacts to products. Because your hair can react to products or just anything based off of like seasons, your hormones, the foods that you eat, diet, exercise, all of that plays into our hair care routine. So eventually, like I see that as we think about innovation, it will really come from a true holistic approach as we continue to like innovate. But I do think that scalp care will continue to grow and evolve because so many people have different scalp issues just from lack of education.

18:25Monique Rodriguez:I do also hope to see as well. And what we're also doing as a brand is really buckling down on educating our consumers. Because, again, we're not here to just sell products, but we want you to use the products and be happy with them and get great results. So in order for you to do that, we have to really help educate you on how to take care and nourish your hair from an inside out and wellness approach. you know, I feel that our customers will be happy and that's what we strive to do is to make our customers empowered, excited and happy about their hair care. I love that. Yeah. I mean, honestly, it was really, really cool.

18:57And I wanted to ask you this. What I see when I look at Myel is like, you know, we can say if it's a black owned brand, it's the fastest growing black owned brand in hair care. That's cool. But it's actually like so much more than that. And I would love for you to speak on this because I feel like personally as a consumer and past the stage of like only identifying brands based on that. You know, like, I think it's amazing. I support all cultures. And like, you know, like, if it's a person of color, like I'm more likely myself to support that brand. But at the same time, the qualities, that's what speaks to me.

19:26And you built that. And I would love for you to offer like some words of wisdom here for any founders who are like building that space, you're coming from like a minority group, but you want to grow a brand that's way beyond that.

19:35Monique Rodriguez:Some advice that I would give, you know, an entrepreneur that's looking to build a brand from a culturally relevant and educational standpoint, I would say like, number one, you're never gonna feel completely ready. So if you're waiting until you have all the answers right, like you're gonna be waiting forever. So I tell people to just like start where you are, like just take the first step. You know, you're gonna learn as you grow and just be very consistent in your efforts. The first thing or the first version that you do will not be the final version. I feel that every successful business continues to evolve.

20:08Monique Rodriguez:I think the biggest difference between people who dream and the people who build is that the builders take action. So you have to just do it like Nike. Like it's just not a saying, but you really have to just do it and take the first step because you're going to learn as you grow and know that how you start is not necessarily how you finish. If you see like our packaging and bottles before when we first started in 2014 compared to now, you know, it'll blow your mind. Some people won't even start with like makeshift made at home bottles. But I always encourage people to just start where you are, build community, focus on over-serving.

20:42Monique Rodriguez:And I think that, you know, anyone will be fine. Yeah, that's actually really, really great advice. I know like a lot of times like I've had ideas and I'm like, oh, I can't do this. I don't have nearly enough cash to like get this going and all that. So that's really, really great advice. But no, this is I mean, this is amazing. I just I think what you've done is just phenomenal. And I think there's so much to learn from it. I mean, I guess like my final closing question is really like if you were to do it again, And is there anything that stands out to you where you're like, well, I would have done this differently or I would have done it the same way?