From a Basement to a Billion Dollar Brand: The Greatest Founder Story You Never Heard
3/26/20261 hr 21 min
Monique Rodriguez built Mielle Organics from her basement into a billion-dollar brand and did it without a blueprint.
In this episode of Aspire, Monique shares the real story behind building one of the fastest-growing beauty brands in the world–from bootstrapping with her husband’s paycheck to risking their home, navigating criticism, and ultimately selling to Procter & Gamble while remaining CEO.
But this isn't just a business story. It started with loss, a leap of faith, and a decision to bet on herself before she felt ready.
This is a conversation about what it re...
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First 90 secondsEmma Grede· Host0:01
I am so excited to share my debut book with you all, Start With Yourself, which is available now. You might have seen the headlines, you might have seen the social, but this book is exactly what I intended, a conversation that will make you think, and it's a blueprint for anyone who wants success without the toxic positivity. Start With Yourself is about self-leadership because wherever I go, women ask me how I got to where I am. But what you really wanna know is how you can get there, so I'm doing what I do best, sharing and never gatekeeping what's worked for me in the hope that you can borrow from a philosophy that has served me so well. The truth is, I'm not an expert. I've just lived it. I've made the mistakes, I've had the failures, and I've learned what actually works. It takes a lot. It takes the most, and this book is for anyone who's tired of feeling like a passenger in their own life. It's about taking responsibility for your thinking, managing your emotions, and getting clear on your ideas, and then knowing your next step. It's about picking yourself up after failure, being accountable, but also forgiving yourself, pushing for wins, and never, ever apologizing for your ambition. It's also about challenging the rules that you've been told. There is no perfect time. Balance isn't the goal, alignment is, and there's nothing wrong with you wanting more. I'm precisely sure that the reason I've been so successful is so I can share it with you. Start With Yourself, my debut book, is available now. Visit emmagreer.com to purchase the book. Also available