From a Basement to a Billion Dollar Brand: The Greatest Founder Story You Never Heard

Aspire with Emma Grede

E13 Media

Entrepreneurship, Business, Society & Culture

4.6 • 874 Ratings

🗓️ 26 March 2026

⏱️ 81 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

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 really takes to build something meaningful… and what happens when you finally reach the other side. In this episode, Monique shares: Why you don’t need to feel ready before making a life-changing decision How personal adversity can reshape your ambition and clarity What founders get wrong about scaling too early How to know when it’s time to bring in experienced operators Why building with the end in mind changes how you run your company The real risks founders take behind the scenes How to navigate criticism as your company grows What it actually means to lead after a major acquisition How to protect your vision while growing at scale Why success doesn’t always eliminate the feeling of having something to prove Monique Rodriguez’s story is proof that you don’t have to be ready to start, you just have to be willing. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	So today I get to sit down with the incredible founder, Monique Rodriguez, who founded a company called
0:16.1	Mael.
0:16.8	Now, this is quite literally the American dream come true. When you start a brand at your
0:23.3	kitchen table, raise millions of dollars and then sell it to one of the biggest conglomerates
0:29.6	in the space. But it wasn't all smooth sailing. And what I love about the interview is that
0:34.6	she's really honest about what it actually took to build and sell
0:38.1	this business when she didn't know anything about the space or the category and had no idea
0:44.2	about what it would actually take to make it successful. What is so amazing is that Monique is actually
0:50.3	on the other side. She's still the CEO of her brand, which was acquired by Procter & Gamble.
0:55.5	It's pretty much a masterclass in what it takes, and I know you guys will love this episode.
1:00.4	Don't forget to like and subscribe.
1:04.2	The start with yourself tour kicks off on April 15th in New York City.
1:08.6	Tickets are on sound now at emigree.com. Moni, welcome to aspire. Thank you. I'm so excited to be here. So happy to be here. And I am so excited to have you. We've got so much to talk about. Yes. So I'm trying to figure out if we've covered it all before, but we're going to cover it for the people all over again. We're definitely going to cover it today. I promise you. Oh yes, we are. And I love you for that.
1:31.0	When I think about you, Monique, your journey has been like quite literally any founder's dream.
1:37.1	And what I wanted to ask you was like when you pull the curtain back, what do you think the
1:41.3	hardest part has been in building myel? Wow. Well, I would say the hardest part in building myel was not having anyone to show me the blueprint.
1:51.4	And really just figuring this out as I go, like we were flying the plane and building it at the same time.
1:58.4	And so that can come with a lot of mistakes, a lot of trial and error,
2:02.0	also not having the capital to sustain. When we first started out, we were bootstrapping and
2:07.4	using our paychecks and what we had and our savings to fund the business. And that was a huge
2:13.2	risk because, you know, I was working as a nurse. My husband was an engineer. And we were really just betting on ourselves.
2:19.6	And we had to make this work because, you know, we didn't have a plan B to fall back on, right?
	...

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