- 16 hours ago
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00For the next 45 minutes, we're going to be discussing how two phenomenal business owners
00:14started and scaled their business to what they are today.
00:18I think you may have heard of these brands and these amazing women.
00:22First, we have Monique Rodriguez.
00:25Come on out here, Monique Rodriguez.
00:26She is the founder and CEO of Myel, an organic natural hair company for natural hair.
00:35Monique founded her company back in 2014 after going viral for growing hair to her tailbone.
00:43Okay, who's trying to grow hair to their tailbone?
00:46Right?
00:47We need those tips too.
00:48We'll talk about that later.
00:50She also launched her business with one product, the Advanced Hair Formula.
00:55Now, Myel currently produces 10 collections of hair products that are available in over 87 countries
01:03and 100,000 stores across the U.S.
01:06Just let's give her a round of applause for that.
01:10Does anybody want their product to be in 100,000 stores?
01:14Anybody want the cheat code for that?
01:16I know I would.
01:18Okay, and next, but certainly not least, we have Andrea McBride-John.
01:23Come on to the stage.
01:24Looking fabulous.
01:26She is the co-founder and CEO of McBride Sisters Wine Company.
01:31Y'all know Black Girl Magic.
01:33A multinational wine company producing wine in New Zealand and California with three brands.
01:40McBride Sisters collection, Black Girl Magic, She Can Wines available in all 50 states across the U.S.
01:49Andrea founded her company with her sister, Robin, back in 2005 with a shared passion for all things wine,
01:57winemaking, and a desire to shake up the industry.
02:00Since then, the McBride Sisters Wine Company has grown to not only the largest Black-owned wine company in the world,
02:08but also one of the most inclusive, accessible, and socially aware wine companies out here.
02:15Give her a round of applause.
02:21Wow.
02:22I'm just blown away by the bios.
02:25Right?
02:26Amazing.
02:26But we're going to jump in.
02:27So, Monique, outside of going viral for your beautiful hair, and I'm rocking Myel today, too.
02:34Her hair is beautiful.
02:36She complimented me on my hair when I got here.
02:38And I didn't realize I was meeting, you know, Monique of Myel.
02:42And I have on Myel, right?
02:45Anybody on here got on Myel on their hair?
02:47I know somebody does.
02:49I know.
02:49I need to see more hands, though.
02:51We need to see more hands.
02:54Okay.
02:54Yes, but outside of going viral for your gorgeous hair and its length, what made you want to start your own hair care line?
03:03Yeah, so I guess I kind of fell into this hair care beauty industry because, you know, growing up, I didn't see this.
03:09You know, I worked as a nurse.
03:12I worked as a labor and delivery nurse.
03:13I did that for the first five years of my nursing career, and then I transitioned to being a home health nurse.
03:19So, you know, I didn't grow up seeing entrepreneurs, let alone black women, that were building their own companies and brands.
03:26What we see here today, it was so foreign to me.
03:28So it was something that I didn't even think was attainable.
03:31However, growing up, my passion has always been the beauty space.
03:36I've always been into hair care and, you know, taking care of myself.
03:40I remember being a little girl.
03:42I used to, you know, play with baby dolls, and at the time, those baby dolls didn't look like us, but, you know, I just knew I loved hair.
03:49So I would, like, style their hair, and, you know, so that has always been, like, my obsession and my passion.
03:55But, you know, growing up, you can't be what you don't see.
03:57So because I didn't see it, I, you know, went the route that I thought was the only way to success, and that was going to college and, you know, having a stable career, and that was in the nursing field.
04:09And even though nursing is a great career, it wasn't my passion.
04:12And so, you know, I had to, I felt like I had to do something that was fulfilling for me because being a nurse, I felt like I was in a box, and I'm a very creative person.
04:22And, you know, it took for me to go through something very tragic.
04:25I went through the loss of my son in 2013.
04:28I was eight months pregnant, and I had a high-risk pregnancy, and unfortunately, my son passed away due to that pregnancy.
04:36And sometimes when we go through painful, tragic, you know, situations, you know, you can either ball up and be depressed and continue to grieve, or you can ask God to see you through.
04:49And so my thought was I need to lean on my faith because God was the only thing that brought me through.
04:55And because of, you know, what I went through, I also took to social media as an outlet for me to, like, creatively, like, express myself.
05:05And I knew that, you know, I needed to lean on God and have faith because at that point, I figured, like, okay, well, it has to be more to life than, you know, going back to a career that I wasn't invested in.
05:18And going through what I was going through, like, I was miserable.
05:23And so going to social media and talking about hair was, like, a way for me to express myself.
05:30And me expressing myself and having this passion, I saw that there were so many other women that were interested in hair care as well, and they were gravitating to, like, the information that I was providing on social media.
05:42So that's kind of how I went viral because it was, like, doing something that I love, and inadvertently, it turned into a very lucrative business.
05:50So, again, you know, I always tell people, like, if you have a passion and I have a burning desire, that desire and that passion is never going to go away until you actually act on it.
06:00And so it took for me to go through something to really have that much more belief in myself and faith that if I take the first step, that God is going to equip me with everything that I need to be successful.
06:12And he has definitely done so.
06:14So here I am eight years later, and I have the opportunity to be on this platform to share my story with, you know, the hopes of motivating others to follow their dreams and passions.
06:24Wow.
06:26Yes.
06:26Clap for that for sure.
06:28I am so glad that you followed your dream and pursued that passion.
06:34I'm so glad, and I know a lot of other black women are.
06:37But what I hear you saying is that it happened very organically and that you were pursuing something that you actually love.
06:45Now, Andrea, am I saying Andrea?
06:47Is it correct?
06:48Andrea, there are not a lot of us in the wine space, right?
06:53They're not.
06:53They're not.
06:54So how did you decide?
06:56How did you have the courage?
06:58Was it an organic transition as well?
07:00How did you just get the courage to go into wine?
07:03It was with my sister.
07:05Yeah.
07:06Mike?
07:07Can you hear me?
07:08No.
07:08No.
07:09Getting into the wine business was also driven by passion with my older sister, Robin, and we have a little bit of a unique story in that we grew up thinking that we were only children.
07:24We grew up on completely different sides of the world, and when we were united, I was still living in New Zealand.
07:33She was in Monterey in California, and I decided to come back to the United States for university.
07:39I came back, I came to the United States on an athletic scholarship, and I went to the University of Southern California, and I have to give a shout out to my academic advisor, Alami, who's sitting here right now.
07:54Nearly 17, 18 years ago, and she will tell you that I was all athlete and no student.
08:00But I was in Southern California, Robin was in Monterey, and whenever we could, we would meet halfway.
08:10I would drive up, she would drive down.
08:12We found ourselves in Central Coast wine country.
08:16We're both obsessed.
08:17We love wine.
08:18We study it.
08:19And we were really building our relationship as women, as sisters, in this environment that we found ourselves in these tasting rooms.
08:31And it became really clear and obvious that the way that we were treated in these tasting rooms was much different to the way that other people were treated.
08:39And we would leave, and we would be driving, and we would start talking about, like, okay, if we were going to have a wine company, if we were going to have a winery, like, how would we do it?
08:50You know, what would be the music that we'd be playing?
08:52You know, what type of wines would we make?
08:54You know, what type of food would we serve?
08:56And that was really the foundation of what our company is today.
09:01And that was based off of making our own rules, putting black women, global cultures at the center of a premium wine experience, and making it accessible to everybody.
09:20That's amazing.
09:21And I love that it's family and that it's sisterhood.
09:23Okay, I'm going to jump into, like, the hard question.
09:27Let's talk about scaling your business, right?
09:29There's so many black women who are solopreneurs, or maybe it is a family business, right?
09:34And you're doing everything yourself at the beginning often.
09:37I don't know.
09:38Can you relate to that, right?
09:39Oh, absolutely.
09:39How do you scale?
09:41How do you get to that next level?
09:42And we're going to come to the audience for one question I think we have time for, but if you could answer that, both of you.
09:48Yeah, so I would say I'm still learning to scale, you know?
09:51The thing is, you know, when you're scaling a business, you have to be okay with failure,
09:57because you have to know that you're not going to always get it right, right?
10:02And you also have to have a spirit of humility of knowing that, you know, even though you are the CEO of the company,
10:08you may be the CEO and founder, but my expertise is not in scaling.
10:12So my expertise is in what I created, and that's creating amazing, innovative products that meets the needs of our consumers.
10:18So, however, so you ask, okay, so how do you scale?
10:23What I'm really good at is asking questions and surrounding myself with people that know more than me in certain areas that I don't.
10:30That's smart.
10:30So I also, my husband is COO of the company.
10:35He's also back there, but, you know, our backgrounds are totally different, and that's why we work so well together,
10:42because his background is in operations, finance, you know, logistics, and, like I said,
10:48I'm more of the creative, the innovative, I work on, you know, marketing and media.
10:52So you have to make sure that you complement yourself with someone that has an opposite skill set as you that can help you scale.
11:01And, again, don't be afraid to ask questions.
11:03There is no question that is a dumb question.
11:06And, you know, get out here and network.
11:09You know, it's very important to network, to your network.
11:12That statement is so true.
11:13I would tell you that the reason why I'm here today and the reason why Myel has scaled to the capacity that it has scaled
11:19is because we have networked with a lot of different individuals that have added value to my brand.
11:26And also hiring the right people and not hiring too fast, because what I see a lot of businesses do,
11:33they will hire the people before their company reaches those certain milestones.
11:39And, you know, you don't necessarily know if you're going to need those people, right?
11:43So hire as the business grow.
11:45I like to call it, like, champagne problems.
11:49I'd rather my business grow and scale and me not have the infrastructure to support it versus having all of these people,
11:55and I've invested all of this time and money and effort in training these people,
11:58and the business has not grown to that scale as of yet, and then you have to lay off people.
12:04So, you know, don't be afraid to, you know, start small.
12:07Don't despise small beginnings.
12:09Bring people on as you need them.
12:11Don't hire for needs that you haven't met yet if your company, especially if you are a small black-owned business,
12:17because we don't have the resources, right?
12:19Right.
12:20So, you know, start small, hire small, and hire as your company grows,
12:24and, you know, find the right people to surround yourself with.
12:28That's so important.
12:29And I think because we're both makers, you know, Monique, you had this idea.
12:37You took it out of your mind, and you created an actual physical product.
12:41It's the same as wine.
12:42You know, you have an idea and a vision for wine.
12:44You farm it.
12:45You know, you turn it into this beautiful product,
12:49and I think when I think back to the journey for Robin and I,
12:54I think what was really key was this million-dollar mark in revenue.
13:01And what was really important about that was the person that you have to become,
13:08the skills that you have to acquire in a really short period of time,
13:13the people that you have to surround yourself with,
13:15the people that you have to convince, you know, on this crazy idea that you have,
13:22you know, bring them into your dream under this pressure,
13:26and the sacrifices you have to make that people won't understand,
13:34and what that, the emotional and mental strength
13:38that you have to learn to adapt really quickly.
13:41And then it's getting that product to the market,
13:45and then people actually liking it and wanting to buy it.
13:49You know, I feel like all of those skills,
13:53plus getting to that revenue stage,
13:56then they're after a million dollars to five, ten, twenty, fifty.
14:00It's so much easier because that base that you created,
14:06that knowledge you acquired, the skills that you now have,
14:11when it comes to scaling beyond that,
14:15all the fundamentals are there.
14:19And so, you know, just to sort of build on what Monique said,
14:22it's that it's like putting people around you that are complementary,
14:25really knowing what your strengths are,
14:30being able to fill in where you're not so strong.
14:33And then, I'm the same way.
14:35You know, I don't want to expand too quickly with the people and the infrastructure.
14:40I want to be able to grow and then fill it in.
14:43All right.
14:44Yeah.
14:46That makes sense.
14:47Do we have any questions?
14:49I know someone has a mic right there in the center.
14:52You can just step up to this mic right here.
14:54Hi, what's your name?
14:55Hi, my name is Shantina.
14:57Hi, Shantina.
14:58How are you guys doing today?
14:59Good.
14:59I like your shirt.
15:01Yes.
15:03Hips, thighs, and fries.
15:04Whoever can see it.
15:06What's your question?
15:07My question is, so, I'm starting a business
15:10and I get conflicted information.
15:14Like, some say make a business plan.
15:16Some say don't make a business plan.
15:19Some people say just go for it.
15:21So, I mean, I got a business plan, but then I got to finesse it
15:26because when I presented to people, they're like,
15:28well, that's not enough.
15:29I need more.
15:30So, they kind of like discouraged me to do more
15:34or like what are they looking for to get help, right?
15:37Yeah.
15:37So, how did you, if you had to go through that,
15:40how did you bypass or what did you do
15:41or did you get somebody else to help you to get through that?
15:46Yeah.
15:46So, I guess my question for you is,
15:49what are you creating a business plan for?
15:51Is it for yourself or are you creating a plan for investors?
15:55For someone to, like Robin said, I'm sorry,
15:58Andrea, that's your sister.
15:59That's okay.
16:00Like she said, you're pitching people to believe in your dream.
16:05So, it's like, what are you creating the business plan for?
16:07And the reason why I'm asking that is because when I first started,
16:10Miel, I didn't have a business plan.
16:12I didn't even know how to put together a business plan.
16:16I had an Excel sheet with a task list of what I had to do
16:20and what I had to check off and I went with that.
16:23But I also was, you know, it was me and my husband doing it.
16:26You know, I wasn't getting someone to believe in my dream.
16:29I think the only, when you need a true business plan
16:32is when you're looking for people to buy into your dream
16:35and you're looking to sell it and you're looking to get money
16:38to help invest in your company.
16:40If you're not doing that, I would say, you know, have a plan.
16:43You want to plan something, but do you need a formal business plan,
16:47the ones that you see on Google?
16:48Not necessarily to start, but, you know,
16:51when it's time for people to buy into your dream,
16:54of course you need a plan.
16:55And, you know, there are so many different avenues
16:59that you can get help with creating that plan.
17:02Like you can go to SCORE.
17:03You know, they have these pitch competitions.
17:06You have the new voices.
17:08There are so many resources that can help you put together your plan
17:11so you're not doing it on your own.
17:12Because if you're like me as a founder
17:14and you didn't come from the business space,
17:17you don't know how to put together a business plan.
17:18So you have to go find resources to help you put those plans together.
17:22I would say don't try to do it on your own
17:24because you're going to waste more time and energy
17:25putting effort in something that is not your lane of strength,
17:30your lane of expertise.
17:32So if that makes sense.
17:33So when you say that, so like I do want to go out
17:37and just go out.
17:38Like I've gone out and just did things without charging people.
17:42Like I'm doing like a business marketing platform
17:46for small entrepreneurs and business owners
17:49because we don't get enough recognition.
17:52So I come in and I help you do that, right?
17:54So but when I present it to people,
17:56they love the idea and all the other stuff that I added to it.
17:58They're like, well, can you add this to it and do this?
18:01Like they're trying to add a little more sauce to what I already have.
18:04But I didn't give my whole kit and caboodle what I got
18:08because what I have, I don't want nobody to take it
18:10because I know it's good because nobody's doing it, right?
18:13So it's just like, what do I do?
18:16Because my sauce over here is like banging.
18:18Over here, they think it's a little bit of like fairy dust,
18:21but it's not fairy dust, right?
18:23So it's just like, how do I present it?
18:26But then if I present it, it's like, how do I trademark it?
18:28Because when I try to trademark it or not trademark,
18:31but patent, excuse me, it's like,
18:35well, you got to pay $5,000 or $500 to start it.
18:37So it's like, dang it.
18:39So it's just like, I'm not discouraging myself
18:41or not wanting to do it.
18:43I just want to just go for it.
18:46And I want to also have something like,
18:48like go Shantina, don't let it stop you
18:50or just which direction do I go?
18:53Yeah.
18:54So I think, you know,
18:55it sounds like you really need to be able to identify
18:59and you just sort of talked about it,
19:01the opportunity gap.
19:03And then you need to be able to say,
19:04this is the problem that my business is solving.
19:07And then be able to articulate in,
19:10this is, these are the types of customers I'm serving.
19:13This is what the consumer segment looks like.
19:16This is a potential size of this market.
19:19This is what it's going to cost me to operate a business like this.
19:22And this is what I think the financial return is.
19:25So I think, you know, with,
19:27there's a lot of like resources,
19:28especially here with new voices.
19:32And they can step you through
19:34all those important fundamental things.
19:37You need to evaluate the viability of your business
19:40to make sure it's really strong.
19:43So when you go out and you launch,
19:45you know, you will be able to become a sustainable scale.
19:48I would really encourage taking a look at that.
19:51It's, it's a really awesome, awesome organization and tool.
19:55I appreciate you.
19:57Yes.
19:58And also, yeah,
19:59you can just step to the mic right here for a question.
20:01There are also,
20:02we have C-suite coaches here with Angelina Darasaw.
20:06She's actually going to be coming to speak to you all in a few.
20:09And so there are actual resources here
20:10that you can access as well.
20:13Go ahead, ma'am.
20:15Hi.
20:15Hi.
20:16My name is Efua,
20:18and I'm a fashion designer.
20:20And I'm a naturally talented,
20:22so creative, sorry.
20:24So I learned how to sew by myself.
20:27I didn't go to school for it.
20:29My question is,
20:31I think I'm at a place where
20:33I'm good enough to move
20:36to the next level,
20:37but I don't,
20:38I don't have any help,
20:40like the financial help
20:41or what to do,
20:43where to go to get the help
20:45so that I can be out there
20:48and do that.
20:48Everybody can wear my outfit.
20:50You're a walking billboard.
21:03Do you want to sign us up?
21:05Can we sign up?
21:07So it's a question about funding, though,
21:09investment.
21:09Funding, mentor,
21:11whatever I will do
21:14that I can move
21:15from where I am now to...
21:17So I think what you're saying is
21:19you're looking for investment
21:20and maybe a mentor.
21:22How can you connect
21:23with investors and mentors?
21:25Quickly, we have to wrap,
21:26but yeah.
21:27I was going to,
21:29I keep on preaching
21:30about new voices,
21:31but I think such an awesome organization
21:35and being a solopreneur
21:38is really hard.
21:40And so within these different organizations,
21:44there's community,
21:46and I think you will be able
21:47to not only get good mentorship,
21:50but potentially find somebody
21:51that maybe is, you know,
21:54the operations finance,
21:56loves fashion,
21:57but they're not the creative, right?
21:59And be able to find
22:02a complimentary partner
22:03so you can lean into
22:05all of the design
22:06and the gorgeousness
22:08that you have on right here.
22:11But there are more resources
22:12available to us
22:13that there weren't before,
22:16and I think you'll find
22:18great community
22:19and definitely find funding
22:21and there's a ton
22:22of pitch competitions now,
22:24you know,
22:24that can give you
22:25a little bit of seed funding
22:27to start.
22:28So that would be my advice.
22:29I don't know
22:30if you have some of it.
22:31No, I agree.
22:32And I think what you're doing now,
22:33you're showing up,
22:34you're here.
22:35You know,
22:35connecting with other entrepreneurs
22:37is very important
22:38because, you know,
22:39sometimes when you are
22:40an entrepreneur,
22:40you don't have a group
22:42of other people
22:42that, you know,
22:43you can share
22:44some of the same challenges
22:45and things that you go through.
22:46And sometimes you're just
22:47having a conversation.
22:48Well, what did you do
22:49to raise funds?
22:51And sometimes you'll get
22:53the answers that you need
22:54by just being in the room
22:55with other like-minded individuals
22:57because I can see myself
22:59in you eight years ago.
23:00I went to every networking event
23:01that I could possibly go to.
23:03I connected with other people
23:04and I built organic relationships.
23:06I was never forceful
23:07about building relationships
23:09with people
23:09and I also made sure
23:10that the relationships
23:12that I built are reciprocal
23:13and there's something of value
23:14that I can offer
23:15before I just ask someone,
23:17can you be my mentor?
23:17What can I offer
23:18that person as well?
23:19And just organically
23:20like build that relationship
23:22and it'll happen.
23:23It may not happen overnight.
23:25Like, New Voices is a partner,
23:28an investor in Miel,
23:29but that relationship
23:31was a two, three year relationship
23:33before they even, you know,
23:34made that investment.
23:35So just organically build
23:37and be patient.
23:38And I also think to prove,
23:40like if you have
23:41like a direct to consumer platform,
23:44you know,
23:45and even if it's just a small thing,
23:46you're just selling,
23:47you know,
23:47a small amount of your garments,
23:50being able to take that
23:52and show like, you know,
23:54you have customers,
23:55you have demand,
23:56that is like a really important
23:58stepping stone
23:59to finding partners,
24:01finding funding.
24:02And I think everybody
24:03in the room can agree
24:04or you could probably get,
24:06you know,
24:06a few people here,
24:08you know,
24:09let me know too, please.
24:10I'd love to support.
24:11Yeah.
24:12Yeah.
24:15So much great information.
24:17Thank you, ladies.
24:17Are you all available
24:19to talk on the side
24:20for any of our entrepreneurs?
24:21So we're going to have
24:22to close out right now,
24:23but the ladies are available
24:25just on the side
24:26to just answer a few questions.
24:29So thank you so much.
24:30Let's give them a round of applause.
24:32Thank you so much
24:33for that information.
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