Monique Rodriguez always had a passion for beauty, but she didn’t start out with any intention of becoming a brand founder. “I had always wanted to work in the beauty industry, but my mother pushed me towards a more stable career, so I became a nurse,” Rodriguez tells GRAZIA USA. “I worked as a nurse for eight years but never felt fulfilled.”
After a devastating personal loss, Rodriguez turned to social media to talk about her true passion: haircare. “What started as an experiment in my kitchen to heal my damaged hair quickly became the lightbulb moment to create Mielle Organics,” Rodriguez recalls. “My audience kept asking if they could buy my homemade mixtures.”
The inspiration was drawn from Rodriguez’s own hair care journey — and the blind spots she saw in the industry. “When I was growing up, I felt that the beauty space did not have a lot of representation of diversity,” she explains. “Everything showed a very European, straight-haired look. There was rarely anything for black women and our community that showed how to care for and appreciate our natural curls.” That void in the market, says Rodriguez, inspired her “to provide empowerment to help women feel good about themselves and be confident while rocking their natural curls.”
Rodriguez and her husband, Melvin, launched Mielle Organics in 2014 with one core product: Almond Mint Oil. “I thought we had enough product for six months, but we ended up selling like crazy on Day One, and went through our entire inventory,” says Rodriguez. One of the biggest challenges Rodriguez faced when founding Mielle Organics was a lack of resources. “We didn’t have mentors or capital, which is necessary to grow and scale a business,” says Rodriguez.
But they managed to get it done and break through barriers. “One of our biggest wins was when we signed with Sally Beauty after just one year in business, which almost never happens, least of all for a small Black- owned business. We launched in 95 test stores, and every product sold out.” Since launching a decade ago, Rodriguez built Mielle Organics — made with natural ingredients known for their revitalizing properties — into a true beauty powerhouse and one of the fastest-growing Black-founded, women-led hair care companies in the United States.
“I am so proud of what we have accomplished in 10 years,” says Rodriguez. “Mielle is now distributed in over 85 countries and 100,000 retail locations across the globe, and just last year in 2023, we were acquired by Procter & Gamble with the largest acquisition ever for a Black female beauty founder, in which I will continue to serve as CEO of the company.”
Beyond beauty, Rodriguez’s impact extends to community empowerment and education, as Mielle Organics strives to inspire individuals to embrace their natural selves with confidence. “As Mielle celebrates its 10th anniversary, we’ve been reflecting on where we have been and where we want to continue to grow,” says Rodriguez.
“We’re focused on innovation and new product offerings, expanding production and access and increasing community-driven work through the Mielle Cares nonprofit that will provide resources and support to advance education and economic opportunities in Black and Brown communities. I also see us expanding into new categories – not just on hair, but also into skincare, and continue having the foresight to anticipate the needs of our consumers to remain ahead of the curve, innovative, and a solution-oriented brand.”
