‘Another glass ceiling broken’ as Mielle Organics partners with P&G Beauty
The popular Black-owned haircare brand reaches another business milestone, this time with a major new partnership.
A win is a win. Today, Mielle Organics co-founders Monique and Melvin Rodriguez announced that the haircare brand has joined forces with P&G Beauty, a division of Procter & Gamble.
As an independent subsidiary of P&G Beauty, Mielle Organics will retain its current leadership. The Rodriguezes will continue to act as CEO and COO, respectively, and work to “further [expand] access to healthy hair products and services for Black women around the world.”
In a series of Instagram posts, Monique Rodriguez captioned the announcement, “another glass ceiling broken.”
From a business perspective, she’s absolutely right. By partnering with a larger corporation like Procter and Gamble, Mielle Organics gains access to an abundance of resources that will allow the company to grow exponentially.
“Today is a remarkable moment for our brand and for the climb of Black entrepreneurs everywhere as we collectively continue to break barriers and accelerate the opportunities for growth,” Rodriguez disclosed in a press release.
As theGrio previously reported, Mielle Organics recently went viral on TikTok because of its rosemary-infused hair oil. An uproar resulted when longtime users feared the brand would change its formula and pricing because of an increase in demand. Rodriguez assured customers that the cult favorite oil’s ingredients would remain the same.
Many Black devotees of the brand expressed fears that Mielle Organics would fall into an all-too-familiar pattern — increased pricing, new-target demographics, formulas, etc. — that has become common when Black-founded brands gain popularity and larger conglomerates acquire them.
Rodriguez emphasized that none of Mielle Organics’ formulas will change as a result of its new partnership with P&G Beauty. “We have no plans to change the formulas. And we will still continue to innovate and formulate, as we always have. But now, it’s even better resources. Now, you guys know I have always operated with integrity and transparency. And that will not change. That is who I am,” Rodriguez said in a video announcing the partnership.
In the video, she also addressed concerns about the direction of her company, while also pointing to the big picture. “I feel that every Black entrepreneur should be able to scale and have access to opportunities to grow and expand their business like any other culture without being labeled a sell-out. Because this is not a sellout. This is a sell-up. This is a level-up. This is called growth for our community. “
Continued Rodriguez: “When we have more, we can do more to give back and uplift our community. When we create businesses in the community, and allow them to grow and scale and not feel bad or ashamed. It’s about a win for our community, when businesses have the opportunity to grow and expand.”
Haniyah Philogene is a multimedia storyteller and Lifestyle reporter covering all things culture. With a passion for digital media, she goes above and beyond to find new ways to tell and share stories.
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