Monique Rodriguez Details How She Found Purpose Through Pain

Faith has been the foundation of Monique Rodriguez’s life from the very beginning. Growing up on Chicago’s South Side, she dreamed of becoming a model and one day having her face on the Just For Me perm box.

Fast forward to today, and the young girl who once fantasized about breaking into the beauty industry is now the founder of the multimillion-dollar textured haircare brand, Mielle Organics, but her journey to entrepreneurial success wasn’t easy.

Rodriguez, 41, is ready to share her inspiring story in her upcoming book, The Glory In Your Story: Activating a Fearless Faith to Change Your Life, Your Career, and World, set to hit shelves on April 15.

Her Passion For Beauty Products Started At Her First Pageant

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During a Zoom chat with MadameNoire about her new memoir, Rodriguez radiated with joy as she reminisced about her first and only pageant—a competition she entered after convincing and “begging” her mother. It was there that her passion for beauty and haircare sparked. The beauty entrepreneur reflects on the pivotal moment inside her forthcoming book. 

“I remember being very excited about this pageant, and my mom told me that I found all the information myself,” she chuckled. “I remember it was about maybe an hour drive away from our house. She drove me to this pageant, and it was a three-day event. I remember being so excited and seeing the other girls that were in the pageant, looking at them with admiration, like, ‘Wow, this is something that I really want to do.’ Also seeing [that] they probably had a different financial situation than me.”

Growing up in a low-income neighborhood on the South Side, girls like Rodriguez were a rarity in the pageant world, or so her mother believed. Her dreams of becoming a model were abruptly halted when her mother chose to pull her out before the competition ended.

“She told me then that she pulled me out because she felt that she didn’t want my feelings to get hurt. The other girls that were in this pageant, they had better dresses, better hairstyles, better makeup. I remember crying and saying that I didn’t want to leave, and she took me home anyway. It kind of put a damper on my dreams, because even if I didn’t place, it was still a great experience to know that you’re not going to win everything in life.”

Turning Pain Into Purpose

However, the loss wasn’t a setback for Rodriguez. Instead, it became a valuable lesson. She learned that sometimes, even our loved ones may project their fears onto us, but it’s up to us to listen to our hearts and fearlessly pursue our dreams, even in the face of doubt.  

In her new book, the beauty mogul writes about the importance of chasing dreams with audacity, and now, she’s teaching fans what she’s learned over years of perseverance.

She would lean on her unwavering confidence and determination again after the devastating loss of her son, Milan. At eight months pregnant, Rodriguez experienced a ruptured uterus due to complications from a previous emergency c-section with her second daughter, Mackenzie. Milan was delivered via c-section but tragically born brain dead, passing away months later—an unimaginable loss that has required years of healing.

While grieving the passing of her baby boy, Rodriguez channeled her pain into purpose, relentlessly pursuing her dream of making a mark in the beauty industry. With unwavering support from her husband Melvin, she created her beloved haircare brand, Mielle Organics, in 2014—a journey that, as the beauty mogul herself put it, was shaped by “a lot of trial and error.”

“I always say that entrepreneurship is the only job that you can have where you’re learning on the job. My husband and I built the company together, but neither one of us came from a business background.”

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Before the inception of Mielle Organics, Rodriguez had spent years working as a high-risk labor and delivery nurse at the University of Chicago Hospital, while her husband worked in logistics within the computer science field. Despite their lack of business experience, they knew that with their combined skills and determination, they could create something successful.

Holding on to faith yet again, the haircare star spent countless hours experimenting with products and creating her own “concoctions” at home. She began sharing her haircare creations on social media, letting her passion speak for itself. It was through social media that the doors began to open for the Chicago native. 

As she posted and connected with people, she unknowingly started marketing to an audience. This organic, authentic approach to marketing and promotion helped her build a loyal fan base, allowing people to truly connect with her and the brand.

“We entered into this new industry, this new space with no experience and with just hope, faith, and a prayer—praying that God will give us a provision because he gave me the vision to start this. I knew that the vision came from God and that he was going to provide the resources, the people, the funding—everything that I needed to be successful, and he has done just that.” 

Mielle Organics’ Partnership With P&G Beauty Has Taken The Brand To New Heights, According To Rodriguez

Since its founding in 2014, Mielle Organics has achieved incredible success. In 2023, Rodriguez’s journey took a significant leap when she entered a global partnership with P&G Beauty, the world’s leading beauty manufacturer. As an independent subsidiary of the global giant, Mielle Organics gained enhanced resources and expanded reach. While some fans voiced concerns over potential changes to the brand’s popular formulas, Rodriguez remained focused on her vision, tuning out the noise. 

Her goal was to build something greater for her supporters, extending her impact beyond beauty to connect with other industries and open doors for dreamers like herself. The partnership with P&G provided Rodriguez with an incredible opportunity to collaborate with the WNBA in 2023. Mielle Organics made history as the first textured haircare brand to sponsor the entire league under a multi-year partnership.

“These ladies need the same representation and support that other NBA players and athletes receive. They need to be shown in places and have endorsement sponsorships. Were the first brand to do that,” Rodriguez proudly proclaimed. “We opened the doors for a lot of other brands to now give the WNBA more opportunities.”

In 2024, Mielle Organics made history yet again, becoming the first textured haircare brand to sponsor the Paris Olympics. The brand created a salon suite specifically designed to serve athletes with textured hair—a groundbreaking initiative that, according to Rodriguez, had “never been done before.” 

Now, the busy entrepreneur is focused on launching her latest collection, the Kalahari Melon & Aloe Vera line, which recently debuted its second national commercial, made possible by P&G Beauty. As she reflected on her achievements, the dedicated businesswoman, mother, and wife shared that she felt Milan was watching over her from heaven, proud of all she had accomplished. She believes he played a pivotal role in helping her “find purpose.”

“What I was able to overcome. Most people may not be able to overcome that. Most people [would] probably still be in that state of depression and that state of darkness, and for me to come out of that, and, find the glory in what I was able to, what I had gone through—I think that’s God’s grace and God’s blessing,” she shared. “I feel like [Milan] is the angel that God has assigned to us, and he still serves a purpose. Even though he’s not here with us physically, he’s always in my heart. He’s with me everywhere. I think about him every single day.”

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