Entreprenuership is a risk that Monique Rodriguez was willing to take on.
Business Risks
Rodriguez is the co-founder of haircare brand Mielle Organics, which she launched with the help of her husband, Melvin. She shares on the “Black Tech Green Money” podcast, hosted by AFROTECH™ Brand Manager Will Lucas, that her earliest risk in her entrepreneurship journey was walking away from a stable position as a registered nurse. Melvin also took a leap, leaving his corporate role. Together, they trusted in what they believed was a vision from God and created a blueprint that ultimately led to success.
“We didn’t just leave our jobs and say, ‘Oh, we don’t have a plan in place or we don’t have income.’ We had to have a solid plan in place to map out how we were going to get some type of income to still keep our bills afloat and food in our kids’ mouth. So we had to plan that out. But it was a huge risk of the unknown, of both of us turning away from our jobs,” Rodriguez mentioned on the podcast.
As AFROTECH™ previously reported, the couple lost their son after Rodriguez delivered him at 8 months during a high-risk pregnancy. However, they turned that pain into purpose in their kitchen, where Mielle Organics’ earliest products were created. Upon the company’s founding in 2014, social media helped to increase the brand’s exposure.
Within a year and a half, Mielle Organics secured its first retail deal thanks to Sally Beauty, bringing its products into 95 stores. A loan from Melvin’s friend of nearly $200,000 helped to support the cost of inventory. The couple also made the decision to use their home as collateral.
“When you’re going to get a line of credit and you’re a small business, you don’t have banks that are just trying to throw money at you,” Rodriguez commented. “They’re very cautious, because what they want to know is how you’re going to be able to pay it back and what type of assets you have that we can use as collateral. So the risk was we have to put our house up for collateral, the house that we live in, the house that we raise our family in. And if that line is called due, what happens next? They take your house. That was a huge risk.”
Acquisition
Ultimately Mielle Organics went on to be shelved at over 100,000 stores across the nation through retail deals that included Target, CVS, Walgreens, Kroger, JC Penny, and Walmart, according to information on the company website.
The first seven years of Mielle Organics’ life had been primarily self-funded until 2020 when it scored an investment from Richelieu Dennis, former CEO of Shea Moisture and founder of Sundial Group, Essence notes. In 2021, the company scored $100 million in a non-dilutive nine-figure round led by private equity firm Berkshire Partners.
Mielle Organics was acquired by P&G Beauty in January 2023. According to a press release, Monique and Melvin still lead the company under the titles of CEO and COO, respectively, and it operates as a separate subsidiary of P&G Beauty.
The acquisition sparked controversy among the Black community, which Rodriguez also addressed. She believes there is a different perception about Black and white companies when being acquired, giving the example of poppi, a prebiotic soda that has white founders and was acquired by Pepsi for $1.95 billion in March 2025.
“It starts with our thinking, first and foremost, that when a brand is built for us, it doesn’t mean that other communities and other cultures can’t use what’s for us,” she expressed.” It doesn’t mean that other cultures are going to come in and take from us. It just means that what we’re building is great… That is something that should be celebrated within our community. And what I want our community to understand is that when we don’t celebrate it, what we do is we create fear and investors.”
She later added, “The real wealth is when you build your business and you exit and you sell it to a major conglomerate. That is how other cultures have been doing it for years. That is why we are behind, because we have to catch up and become educated on why it’s important to build something and become acquired.”
Watch Full Episode Here
To watch the full episode of the “Black Tech Green Money” podcast, click here.
