When Monique Rodriguez sold Mielle Organics to P&G, she was attracted to the beauty conglomerate by its sense of community.
The former labor and delivery nurse began textured hair care brand in her kitchen with one product. Today, it makes hair care and skin care products that are sold at major mass retailers, including Walmart, Target and CVS. Bestsellers include Rosemary Mint Scalp & Hair Strengthening Oil and Pomegranate & Honey Moisturizing and Detangling Shampoo.
The brand was acquired by P&G in January 2023 for an undisclosed sum. As part of the deal, Mielle and P&G each committed $10 million to Mielle Cares, a nonprofit aimed at providing resources and support to advance education and economic opportunities in Black and brown communities.
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“It’s important for the community to know that number one, we didn’t have to sell. I wanted to because I wanted to continue on the legacy and scale my brand globally,” she said at the The Wear House at SXSW. “If I wanted to be a mediocre brand and just stay where I’m at then I would’ve just stayed where I’m at. But my vision is a lot bigger and I want to touch consumers all across the globe so that everyone should have access to high quality products and ingredients such as Mielle and in order to do that you need funding. You need the access, you need the expertise.”
She told the audience that the brand, which was profitable, had several suitors, and it was that sense of community that made P&G stand out.
“When we chose to partner with P&G, it was really about aligning with the vision that we have for our brand because I think when you form a partnership like that it’s a marriage, so you have to go into it thinking do I like this person, do I like this company, do I like the people?” she said.
“For us our community is everything so when P&G committed to donating $10 million to Mielle Cares…that showed us their commitment, and that’s why partnerships like these are so important because it allows us to give back to our community.”
At the times of the sale, there were concerns that product formulas could change, as has happened in the past when big conglomerates purchase popular indie brands.
But Rodriguez said she had it written into the contract that they won’t.
“[We want] the formulas to never change,” she said.