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Dr. Drew Taylor, biomedical engineer and CEO of Acorn, joins Skin Anarchy to demystify regenerative aesthetics: what a secretome actually is, why exosome counts can mislead, whether older cells still work, and why banking your own cells early may matter.

Who is Dr. Drew Taylor?

A biomedical engineer who took a winding path through pro baseball. He played in the Blue Jays and Phillies organizations while earning a PhD at the University of Toronto, studying how a patient's own stem cells regenerate connective tissue. "I really do feel like I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing."

What is a secretome?

The full set of molecules cells release to signal and repair. Taylor stresses the root word is secretion, not secret. "That entire secreted population of things is the secretome." It includes exosomes plus free growth factors, matrix molecules like hyaluronic acid and collagen, binding proteins, cytokines, and PDRN, an orchestra rather than one instrument.

What is the difference between a secretome and exosomes?

Exosomes are the delivery vehicle; the secretome is everything being delivered. Taylor compares exosomes to Amazon packages that unbox themselves inside your cells. "The exosome itself is not the signal, it's the contents of the exosome." The secretome captures those contents plus the free molecules that travel outside exosomes.

Do older cells still work for regenerative treatments?

Yes, with the right process. Older cells produce the same molecules at lower efficiency, so collecting their output over time builds potent volumes. "You're able to actually offset about 85% of the loss over a 30 year period of age difference," Taylor says, noting patients as old as 87 have seen results from their own secretome.

What is the problem with donor exosomes?

Expansion ages them fast. To treat many patients from one donor, cells are multiplied repeatedly, a photocopy of a photocopy. "We're basically taking decades worth of aging in the human body and fast forwarding through that in a matter of weeks." He cites work showing donor cells from young children can end up performing like ones decades older.

Does the number of exosomes in a product matter?

Far less than the contents. Taylor points to research showing that after the fourth passage, exosomes lose regenerative power even though their count stays the same. "Advertising on a number of exosomes means very little." One product boasting a trillion exosomes, he notes, held a fraction of the protein his secretome does.

Can regenerative treatments really reduce wrinkles?

Yes, but by stimulating tissue, not filling it. In clinical work Taylor reports reversal of fine lines and even shallowing of deeper folds. "We're actually stimulating your tissues to perform at a higher level." He is clear this is not filler and not instant. "Regenerative medicine is a long game."

Why bank your cells early?

Because there is only one of you, and cells age with every division. Acorn captures cells noninvasively by plucking scalp follicles rather than harvesting bone marrow. Taylor frames it as "your biologic health insurance policy," preserving your youngest biology before time and demand degrade it.

Where is regenerative medicine headed?

Toward rapid acceleration. Taylor compares the field to early flight: decades to become useful, then supersonic and lunar within years. "Right now in the world of regenerative medicine, we're crossing the Atlantic," with trials in hair, skin, orthopedics, and fertility.

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Celebrity esthetician and skincare founder Joanna Vargas joins Skin Anarchy to share what three decades of hands on work taught her: why LED and microcurrent changed her practice, what clients actually want, how she vets ingredients, and why the basics still win over hype.

How did Joanna Vargas get into skincare?

By a winding road. She moved to New York hoping to be a fashion photographer, found she was too shy for it, and enrolled in aesthetic school, then fell in love with the one on one work. "I felt like I could be the big sister in that situation and really help guide people." That was nearly 30 years ago.

Why did LED change her practice?

Because it works across every skin type and tone. Early in her career, most spas offered one kind of facial, and she saw that nothing worked for everyone. LED did. "Whether you have oily skin, acneic skin, super dry skin... LED is something that can help." She believes she was the first esthetician in Manhattan to offer it.

What made microcurrent a game changer?

Its evolution from painful to instant. Early microcurrent stung and reddened the skin, but a later device delivered a visible lift with no discomfort. "You could actually feel like one side of the face was lifted and the other side wasn't." It arrived as clients sought noninvasive alternatives to filler and Botox.

What do clients actually want from their skin?

Not what the industry assumes. Vargas expected her first hundred clients to ask for anti aging; instead every single one wrote the same three words. "They wanted clean, clear, glowing skin," regardless of age. It shaped her mission to help people feel better without feeding their self criticism.

Is exfoliation good or bad for your skin?

Good, when done properly. Vargas pushes back on exfoliation's bad reputation, stressing the method should match your skin. "Your keyword that you just used is proper," she says, noting pollution, oil, and mature skin all make gentle exfoliation essential for products to penetrate.

How should you balance dermatologist advice with esthetician care?

Treat both as trusted advisors, and keep your own voice. Vargas respects derms and urges everyone to get skin cancer checks, but warns against appointments that leave you feeling worse. "Not everybody has your best interest all the time if they're making you feel bad." Whether to get filler, she notes, is an opinion, not medical advice.

Why does she stick to tried and true ingredients over hype?

Because efficacy outlasts trends, and she trusts primary research and her own testing over hype. Vargas reads the actual studies, cross checks with experts, and tests on herself before adopting anything. "There's nothing that replaces being able to try something on myself." She has watched vitamin C, stem cells, and niacinamide cycle in and out repeatedly. "I don't think that at this point in skincare we need to constantly be reinventing the wheel."

What is the simplest routine that actually works?

Four steps, done consistently. Vargas tells clients to wash daily, use one or two targeted serums, and finish with a moisturizer, night and day is fine. "If we could just get you to do that as the baseline." From there she adds weekly exfoliation and a sheet mask as a ritual of self care.

What is her advice for someone who feels stuck with their skin?

Stop throwing money at it and pare down. Beautiful skin is possible with the right steps, not more products. She reframes cleansing as the most important step, done for a full minute with intention. "Think of something that you love about yourself," she says, because how you talk to yourself matters as much as the routine. 

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Dominic Mazzone, CEO of VOS Collection, joins Skin Anarchy to pull back the curtain on medical aesthetic platforms: how his model differs from private equity, the split between medical and retail aesthetics, how clinics and skincare brands earn their place, and how to find a provider who delivers real results.

What is VOS Collection?

A medical aesthetics platform built by an entrepreneur rather than a private equity firm. A self described serial entrepreneur who has started 19 businesses, Mazzone acquires top clinics whose physicians become equity partners. "I'm not a private equity guy. I'm an entrepreneur... acquiring other entrepreneurs."

How is VOS Collection different from private equity?

By respecting clinical freedom instead of imposing quotas. Mazzone takes over the parts physicians dislike, bookkeeping, HR, procurement, and leaves the treatment room alone. "When it comes to that patient showing up inside that room with the clinician, hands off." His north star is remarkable outcomes, and good results turn out to be good business.

What is the difference between medical and retail aesthetics?

Depth of training and approach. Medical aesthetics uses highly trained providers offering a comprehensive plan; retail aesthetics handles the basics well. "Retail aesthetics are more lightly trained providers that are doing the basics." Both have a place, but patients deserve to know which they are choosing, especially as clinics doubled from 6,600 in 2019 to over 13,000.

How does VOS Collection vet the clinics it partners with?

Rigorously, starting with how a patient is treated at the door. Mazzone has walked out of clinics over a cold greeting, and screens partners for ethics and culture as much as skill. "We really vet our partners like mad to make sure that we don't hurt the culture that we've worked so hard to build."

Why does raising the bar help the whole industry?

Because a bad outcome anywhere hurts everyone. VOS is large enough that Mazzone sees industry wide reputation as his concern, not just his own clinics. "Bad outcomes in this industry is completely bad for everybody." Lifting standards keeps patients satisfied and keeps them in medical aesthetics.

What does it take for a skincare brand to get into a practice?

A real go to market plan, not just a good product. Mazzone likens his clinics to Whole Foods: he provides the shelf, but the brand must create demand. "Creating a great product isn't even 50% of it. It's probably 30%." And a founder's endorsement means nothing if the staff, front desk included, are not believers. He credits ZO for pairing product with real sales enablement.

How do you scale a medical aesthetics practice?

By getting treatments out of one person's hands. Many practices look big but do not scale because everything runs through the founder. The fix is more injectors and technicians. "You need to use other people's hands to do that," he says, pointing to a partner who made herself less essential and built a thriving business.

Why does mentorship matter in aesthetics?

Because it accelerates providers faster than anything else. VOS runs a mentorship program pairing young associates with masters across the platform. Mazzone describes a provider whose practice transformed within two months of mentoring. "There is no end if you can continue to care enough to continue to learn."

How can patients find a quality provider?

Through VOS Collection's site, built like a magazine rather than a corporate landing page. Each article pairs written guidance with provider videos, and patients can connect directly with clinics. Mazzone frames it as a source of truth in a market full of misinformation.

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Durana Elmi, cofounder of Cymbiotika, joins Skin Anarchy to talk about building a transparency first supplement brand: the loss that inspired it, why absorption matters more than dose, how the pouch format drives consistency, and the gaps in women's health.

What inspired Durana Elmi to start Cymbiotika?

Loss. After she and her husband lost family members they could not help despite having resources, they set out to change how health is accessed. "The inspiration came from losing family members who we couldn't help." They saw an industry short on transparency and education, and built to fix it.

Why does supplement absorption matter more than dose?

Because most of what you swallow never reaches your cells. Elmi recalls her uncle, a doctor in Geneva, questioning her bag of pregnancy pills. "The delivery and the absorption... is so low." Cymbiotika's liposomal format, she says, delivers far more than a pill, which is why people feel a difference.

Why did Cymbiotika choose pouch supplements?

For consistency, which is the only thing that produces results. Elmi wanted something she would actually use daily rather than leave in a cabinet. "I need something to throw in my pocket that can go with me... that's the only way that I can be consistent." The format also lets customers share it easily.

How do you scale a wellness brand without compromising?

By never chasing trends and never cutting efficacy. Elmi says the company stays anchored to its liposomal delivery and to solving real problems. "We just don't take shortcuts in the efficacy and how we source our raw ingredients." She adds: "I don't believe that companies fail. I believe that founders give up."

Why does women's health get overlooked?

Because the research and the empathy have not been there. Elmi speaks candidly about perimenopause and thyroid struggles the culture treats as unspeakable. "What we experience and endure as a woman, no one talks about." She argues products built for women should be informed by women's actual experience.

Why is transparency so important in supplements?

Because it is the foundation of everything else. Rejecting proprietary blends, Cymbiotika publishes what goes into its products and how they are made. "Transparency creates trust and trust creates community." That community, she says, is what makes the brand durable rather than fear of competitors copying formulas.

How does Cymbiotika market without heavy influencer ads?

Through experience rather than hard selling. Elmi is skeptical of influencer pushes and invests instead in customer experience and cultural moments. "The real marketing today is how are consumers experiencing your brand?" The goal is an emotional connection that turns a product into a ritual.

How should you actually approach longevity?

Start with the basics before optimizing. Elmi points to sleep, movement, nutrition, stress management, community, and supplementation as the foundation. "It starts with the basics," she says, describing how wearables taught her that even a nightly glass of wine was quietly wrecking her sleep.

How do you compete with integrity?

By perfecting your own craft instead of tearing others down. "When you put other people down... you're really showcasing your own insecurities." Elmi ties it to company culture, from sourcing to monthly beach cleanups, arguing the brand's integrity reflects who the founders are.

What does uplifting other people really mean?

For Elmi, it is a superpower measured by how others feel in your company. "How do you make them feel, that is your ultimate superpower." She teaches her daughters the same, and mentors newer founders freely. "I don't feel like I compete with anybody. I want you to learn from my mistakes."

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Clinical psychologist and New York Times bestselling author Dr. Shefali joins Skin Anarchy to talk about conscious parenting: why emotional regulation starts with the parent, how mothers pass down beauty standards, and the blueprints for raising sons and daughters.

Who is Dr. Shefali?

A clinical psychologist and bestselling author who pioneered conscious parenting 16 years ago with her 2010 book The Conscious Parent, blending Western psychology with Eastern philosophy. "Children are undergoing the most acute mental health crisis of modern times, and parents are unknowingly messing it up."

Why does emotional regulation start with the parent?

Because the trigger is internal, not external. Dr. Shefali says children surface the exact feelings a parent was never allowed to feel in their own childhood. "It's not her who's unhinging me. I am unhinged." Real regulation means building an inner stability a delayed flight or a defiant toddler cannot knock off its axis.

What kind of self awareness actually creates change?

The kind that admits something must change. Knowing your favorite color is surface level; the harder work is accepting your own imperfection. "Most people don't want to change at that level... they want the other person in their life to change."

How do mothers pass down beauty standards to daughters?

Often unknowingly, by absorbing a narrow ideal themselves. Dr. Shefali traces it to what she calls "a white, skinny, rich female standard," which mothers internalize and hand down. Daughters absorb it whether or not a parent intends to, which is why she urges mothers to change the script first.

How do you prepare a child for racism or comparison?

By arming them early, before culture does the damage. She recommends teaching a child directly that people may judge their eyes, skin, or hair, then dismantling it with simple logic. "You begin to arm her... with an awareness that people are going to tell her, you don't look like the standard." She shares her own decades long work to undo an inherited belief that being Indian meant inferior.

How should you raise a son?

By honoring how boys are wired. Dr. Shefali describes boys as physical creatures who process through action, not words, and who need to feel purposeful. "If you want him to be regulated, let him move... give him a purpose." Unspent energy, she warns, can later erupt as aggression.

What are the pillars of raising a conscious son?

Seven, anchored by a few essentials: boys express physically, feel as deeply as girls, need purpose, need a male tribe, need guidance into healthy sexuality, and must be held accountable. "If boys learn to be accountable, they will grow up to be accountable men."

Why do some cultures prefer sons?

Partly biology, partly the lower cost placed on boys. Dr. Shefali notes the pressure many women face, especially in Indian culture, to produce a son. Wanting a boy to the exclusion of a girl, she says, is "a very rigid... primitive way of looking at life," since every seed still needs a female body to nurture it.

How do you raise a daughter beyond her looks?

By refusing to make appearance her identity. Dr. Shefali coupled her own identity to her looks after years of validation, and deliberately taught her daughter otherwise. "How you look is the least interesting part of you," she tells parents, pointing instead toward kindness, integrity, and hard work.

Should we raise boys and girls exactly the same?

She favors equity over identical treatment. Boys and girls are profoundly different in wiring, and denying that helps no one. "We should not want to ever be like a man. We should only want to be treated humanly." Equal in humanity, she argues, without pretending the differences do not exist.

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Lisa Hanna, former Miss World, longtime Jamaican cabinet minister, and founder of Lisa Hanna Beauty, joins Skin Anarchy to talk about rejecting the language of correction, building a science led luxury line in Italy, and the activist mission behind her brand.

Who is Lisa Hanna?

An "accidental beauty queen" who won Miss World in 1993 at 18, then built a two decade political career as one of Jamaica's youngest female members of parliament and a cabinet minister before retiring last year to enter beauty. "I think leadership has an obligation to give other people an opportunity to present their ideas."

Why did she move from politics into beauty?

Because she rejected how the industry talks about age. As she aged in demanding field work, actives like retinol and vitamin C stopped suiting her skin. "If we're constantly told that the evidence of time is something to correct, eventually we see ourselves and believe that time has diminished us."

What does aging intelligently mean?

Working with skin rather than fighting it. Hanna reframes skin as an organ deserving support, not correction. "Remember your skin is at its best when it's supported... when you're working in harmony with it." She sees longevity as overused and prefers accumulating knowledge over reversing time.

How are women in politics judged on their appearance?

Constantly, and before they speak. Hanna recalls being heckled entering parliament, then facing formal motions over sleeveless outfits and a national debate over a swimsuit photo at 51. "There's an ageist component to the beauty," she says, noting the judgment arrived "way before you open your mouth.

Why did she make her line in Italy?

For innovation and EU standards. She wanted regulated formulas that push boundaries without breaking the skin barrier. "I wanted my products to be EU regulated and to pass EU standards," working with a lab using mastic resin to stimulate the skin's own collagen rather than forcing change from the top down.

What is the science behind Lisa Hanna Beauty?

A proprietary quantum RECP delivery system across every product. It pairs mastic resin, protected vitamin C that activates only on the skin, green grape extract for inflammation, and matrikine peptides. "Skin must recognize what it already knows," she says, which is why the formulas absorb rather than sit on top.

Is Lisa Hanna Beauty only for certain skin tones?

No, and she resisted pressure to position it that way. Advisors pushed her to build a brand for people of color; she refused. "I want to do skincare for all skin types." The formulas are clinically tested to work across skin tones, and she argues luxury was wrongly withheld from many women for too long.

What is the fade bomb?

The line's breakout hero product, a hydrating balm for hyperpigmentation that doubles as a healing product. Built after visiting bleaching factories worldwide, it avoids harsh correctives. "That fade bomb is amazing," used on scarring, bikini line, and underarms across every skin tone.

Can luxury skincare be affordable?

That was the point. Watching post COVID economic pressure on women, Hanna built a premium seven product line meant to feel special without breaking budgets. "Every woman deserves when they go home to feel luxury," with glass bottles worthy of a vanity and formulas that are clinically tested.

What is the brand's activist mission?

Five percent of everything funds support for women and children with neurodivergence, especially in Jamaica, where child mental health resources are scarce. Drawing on her own son's experience and her time as minister of youth, she calls it an activist beauty brand. "Skincare can transform skin, but it can also transform lives."

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Interior designer, HGTV host, and Volition Beauty collaborator Alison Victoria joins Skin Anarchy to talk about the free habits that actually keep her well, how your home shapes your health, how HGTV really gets made, building her Greek Goddess Glow Drops, and what it takes to break into television. Below are the biggest questions answered in this episode.

Who is Alison Victoria?

An interior designer turned television host and executive producer who knew her path at age 11. Design is the throughline of everything she builds. "Doing design makes me happy and being happy makes me healthy. And that's to me the most important thing."

What does Alison Victoria do for self care?

She anchors to the basics: a daily workout and long sleep. "I sleep nine, 10 hours a night... I do attribute so much of that to my sleep." She keeps a trainer purely for accountability, and champions the free habits over expensive trends. "Why not talk about the things that are free?"

How does your home environment affect your wellness?

Profoundly, in her view. She calls a happy home the foundation of a healthy life. "I feel safe here and I feel like hugged every time I come in the door." Waking up in a space you designed for yourself, she argues, sets the tone for the entire day.

How should you decorate to feel good at home?

With memories, not catalogs. She favors open shelving to display travels and family, and a mix of old and new over sterile perfection. "I don't like walking into a sterile home... it makes me kind of shut down and close up." Copying a showroom, she says, removes the story that makes a space feel alive.

How is HGTV actually made?

Slowly, and then compressed. Her show takes nearly 11 months to film and airs in about two and a half weeks. "The meat of it is sometimes lost," so she works as a producer to recreate authentic moments the cameras missed. Her early shows taught DIY steps; her rehab shows now inspire rather than instruct.

What is Greek Goddess Glow Drops?

Her hero product with Volition Beauty, a serum that treats and beautifies at once. She formulated it herself through 40 samples. "I truly had my hands in it from day one." Inspired by Greek summers, it uses peptides, squalane, and resveratrol, with a fresh fig scent and a nonsticky, glazed finish that suits sensitive skin.

Is the beauty industry oversaturated?

Yes, and she says so plainly even as a new founder. "I think the beauty world is oversaturated, which makes me feel like a hypocrite because here I am coming out with something." Her answer was restraint: one hero product instead of a sprawling line, a shift she expects the whole industry to make.

What does it take to succeed in a demanding career?

Relentless execution. "If I have an idea, I do everything in my power to execute. I don't let it just sit on paper." She describes failures that cost money and never once giving up, tracing the drive back to working at Subway at 14 to buy her own car.

How do you avoid burnout while scaling?

By building a team so the business does not depend on her alone. "You're only as good as the people that you work with." She admits to running near burnout and putting money into team building so that, as she puts it, if she checks out the wheels do not fall off.

How do you break into television today?

By going to them, not waiting. Her first show came from answering a cold email, then saying yes to unglamorous work and pitching herself as the first woman to host a Crashers show. "If you want something bad enough, you find a way." Casting agents scour social media now, so put yourself where they are looking.

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Chaz Giles, founder of Alida Labs and former head of external innovation at Estee Lauder, returns to Skin Anarchy to cut through the AI hype: where it creates real value in beauty and wellness, why midsize brands are outpacing the giants, how to get your data ready, and what AI means for executives and their careers.

Who is Chaz Giles? 

Two decades across Procter & Gamble, venture capital, and Estee Lauder, then founder of Revea and now Alida Labs. "How do you turn technology into things that consumers love and are good for business?"

Where does AI actually fit in beauty right now? 

Unevenly. "We had a custom GPT... that's why it didn't really help, because it wasn't the use case that was right." Real value lives in data, formulation, product development, and DTC analytics.

Where should a brand start with AI? 

With its existing strengths. "Think of AI as a superpower... where do you want to create a superpower?" Point it at your competitive advantage, not everything at once.

How can AI help a brand stand out in a saturated market? 

By formulating with claims in mind, mapping white space, and turning one concern like hyperpigmentation into multiple defensible mechanism claims. "It's getting more mileage out of the formulas and ingredients I have."

What is the difference between LLMs and agentic AI? 

Levels of value. "My agentic flows, I now can set up effectively AI employees and AI teams," letting a four person startup operate like a team of 40.

Why are midsize companies beating the giants at AI? 

"They are not [winning], because they cannot get out of their own way in terms of how to do that redesign." Nimble midcaps are leapfrogging larger rivals and halving time to market.

How should companies get their data ready for AI? 

Out of silos first. "There never was an award for the world's sexiest data." Consolidating scattered data unlocks synthetic testing and digital twins.

How much AI is too much? 

Never too much data, easily too much AI. "AI should be used in places that it's giving me more value than I can create with my org chart today."

How is AI changing beauty investment? 

"AI is eating software," erasing old moats. Brand and distribution matter more again, and a new crop of AI native brands is coming.

What does AI mean for executives? 

A hard mirror as the value of information trends toward zero. "It's about how to apply, how to integrate, how to lead the teams and the transformation."

How do leaders stay indispensable in an AI future? 

By leaning into what machines cannot do. "You as a leader are still uniquely positioned to take that information and translate it into valuable action."

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Content creator Marjan Tabibzada joins Skin Anarchy to talk about building a career with no blueprint: her start at the MAC counter, representing brown and Middle Eastern women in beauty and fashion, surviving online hate, vetting brand deals honestly, and the Times Square campaign that made a childhood dream real.

Who is Marjan Tabibzada? 

A creator who built a following representing women who rarely saw themselves online. "There's so many of us out there."

How did she get started in content creation? 

Posting on the side while at Cal State Northridge and the MAC counter. "I really felt like I was doing a bajillion different things." TikTok took off, and she chose creation over law school.

What did she learn at MAC Cosmetics? 

That inclusivity could be a foundation. "Every shade of the foundation that you can" imagine was there.

How do you build a following with no blueprint? 

Relentless trial and error. "There will be hundreds of my videos that have flopped... and you have to pick your butt back up and keep creating."

How does she keep content relatable across cultures? 

By reworking revealing trends into modest looks. "We are the brown girls where we can't really show... so let's make this a little bit more modest."

How does she handle online hate and cancel culture? 

By refusing to let it take root. "If you just allow those comments to take over, you're going to go into such a dark place that getting out is going to be very difficult."

Where is influencer marketing headed? 

Creators replacing traditional ads. "People trust the influencers, and when you relate to a content creator, it brings such a powerful take on why brands should work with you."

How does she vet brand deals? 

Authenticity first. "Would I genuinely recommend this if there wasn't a campaign attached to it?" She has refused deals that asked her to lie about results.

Does becoming an influencer make you rich? 

Not how people assume. "Just because you make content does not mean you're gonna be rich." Her first brand deal paid about a thousand dollars.

Why do content creators need a plan B? 

Platforms are not permanent. "You need a plan B." She kept her degree and built across Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, and more.

What advice does she have for aspiring creators? 

Start before you feel ready. "I learned by doing, by making mistakes, and by staying curious." Age is just a number.

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Monique Rodriguez, founder and CEO of Mielle Organics, joins Skin Anarchy to trace her path from labor and delivery nurse to textured hair care leader: bootstrapping through millions in debt, protecting the brand's DNA through the P&G acquisition, surviving a viral moment, and where textured hair innovation goes next.

Who is Monique Rodriguez? 

A former labor and delivery nurse who bet on herself. "I literally built mine from the ground up by bootstrapping."

How did she build Mielle as an inclusive brand? 

By solving for a category, not a demographic. "Textured hair has no specific culture, race, ethnicity... I really wanted to be inclusive of all."

What does bootstrapping actually mean? 

"It means that you're making payroll and you're paying other people before you pay yourself." Mielle ran two to three million dollars in debt.

How do you know whether to pivot or push forward? 

Read the business honestly, not emotionally. "I knew that we were holding on to something special... it was time for me to keep pushing forward."

How did she get investors and her team to believe? 

Data and character. A Berkshire investor backed the founders for their humility and willingness to ask questions. "You can't teach that."

How do you choose the right investors? 

Separate your identity from the company. "You can't have an emotional attachment to the brand if you are wanting to take on investors... it's really the customer's brand."

How did Mielle protect its DNA through the P&G acquisition? 

By putting it in writing. "Yes, we're selling you the company, but the sole DNA of the brand shall not be touched."

How should a brand handle going viral? 

Treat it as exposure, not a foundation. "Having a viral moment can be very powerful, but it's also very temporary."

Where is textured hair care headed? 

Toward wellness and scalp care. "Textured hair will continue to be the majority," with innovation moving to a holistic, education first approach.

What advice does she have for founders building beyond a label? 

Start before you feel ready. "The biggest difference between people who dream and the people who build is that the builders take action."

Would she do anything differently? 

Nothing. "All of the mistakes and bad decisions that we made were all a part of the learning lessons."

Listen to the full episode with Monique Rodriguez of Mielle Organics on Skin Anarchy, available wherever you get your podcasts.

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