In this episode of Returns on Resilience, host Dr. Dawn Sizemore sits down with Candace Mitchell, co-founder and CEO of Myavana and WEI board member, to explore the art of the pivot. With 13 years in beauty tech, Candace unpacks how she transformed a Georgia Tech prototype into an AI-driven personalized hair care platform and what it really takes to know when to change direction.

On Finding the Problem Worth Solving

Why passion for the problem (not just the solution) is the real test of founder readiness

What it means to live with a problem 24/7 and why that drive matters when things get hard

How Candace's own hair care frustrations became the foundation for Myavana

On Market Timing & Demand

The difference between a great idea and a market that's ready for it

Why being too far ahead of your market can cost you years of unnecessary struggle

How authentic demand signals separate viable businesses from passion projects

On Scalability & the Business Model Canvas

The turning point when Candace realized her original model couldn't scale

Planning for your first 10,000 (or 100,000) customers from day one

Why founders need to stress-test their model before falling in love with it

On Data, Instinct & Faster Failing

How gut instinct and data work together (not against each other)

Using data to read market timing and user behavior

Why failing faster is a feature, not a flaw, when you're making informed decisions

On Investors as Partners

Shifting the mindset from "getting money" to finding the right partners

Founders don't need all the answers; investors can fill the gaps

What it looks like when investor relationships actually work

On the B2C to B2B Pivot

How Myavana went from consumer product to enterprise licensing

What it means to plug into the "machines" of partners like Shea Moisture and Ulta

Why this pivot was the unlock for scale

The Pivot Playbook: Advice for Founders

Pivot vs. iteration: Know the difference before you make a move

Talk to at least 10 customers before committing to a major change

Protect your IP before entering any partnership

Carve out dedicated ideation time so the business can evolve, not just execute

Key Takeaways

Love the problem, not just the solution: If you don't care about solving it around the clock, entrepreneurship will wear you down

Market timing is a variable, not a given: Even a strong idea can struggle if the market isn't ready

Scale starts on paper: The Business Model Canvas isn't just an exercise; it's a survival tool

Strategic pivots create momentum: Moving to B2B licensing let Myavana grow by leveraging what already existed

Guest: Candace Mitchell is the co-founder and CEO of Myavana, an AI-powered personalized hair care platform, and a board member of the Women's Entrepreneurship Initiative. She started Myavana as a Georgia Tech student with a prototype and has spent 13 years building at the intersection of beauty and technology.

Returns on Resilience is the official podcast of the Women's Entrepreneurship Initiative, empowered by Invest Atlanta. For more resources and stories, visit weiatlanta.com.

Produced by the Women's Entrepreneurship Initiative, Empowered by Invest Atlanta & Could Be Pretty Cool

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