Mielle Organics Founder Opens Up About Their Acquisition By P&G

Founder and CEO of Mielle Organics, Monique Rodriguez, opens up about the major decision to sell her popular haircare company to P&G Beauty earlier this year. She referred to the move as “business success” and one she hopes the Black community sees more of.

Rodriguez spoke with AfroTech about what led her to accept the acquisition and give back to the Black community by leaving a successful legacy.

Faith—in herself and her idea for a haircare product business—came into full focus after losing her son due to a high-risk pregnancy. Despite being new to brand development, the CEO turned to all methods to obtain knowledge, such as listening to podcasts, attending seminars, and reading books on the subject. Her hard work turned into an overnight sensation through social media chatter.

“And in turn, that painful situation allowed me to ultimately be led to my purpose to impact and inspire lives all across the world,” expressed the wife and mother. “And the vessel to do so has been my haircare company.”

Since its establishment in 2014, Rodriguez and her husband have learned a valuable lesson in the financial tradeoffs of marketing. While Mielle Organics was known nationwide, it was failing to turn a profit due to the allocated funding,

“That’s why I say people see the glory, but they don’t know that on the back end. As we were trying to get the brand out there and spending big bucks to make sure that Mielle is a household name, our financial books were suffering.”

Then, the company weighed multiple risks over rewards, including turning down an initial offer to be sold in Walmart stores. However, their smart financial assessment and desires for their company’s leadership led to its acquisition by Procter & Gamble in January 2023.

While the decision made headlines as naysayers wanted the company to stay Black-owned, the former nurse came to her own conclusion on the matter.

“What I want our community to understand is that this is the normal trajectory of business,” Rodriguez said. “This is what business success looks like. And this stuff happens all the time in other cultures, other races. The problem with our community is that we don’t see it enough because there are not enough Black entrepreneurs that are getting to the point where they can scale and have acquisitions such as these.”

Rodriguez wants members of the Black community to encourage one another to make weighty business goals before rushing to critique, as she is now creating generational wealth for her family through her deal with Procter and Gamble.