Leading to Execute: Mielle Organics’ Monique Rodriguez

An extreme funding gap exists for Black female entrepreneurs who, in 2021, received merely 0.34% of the total venture capital spent in the U.S. in the first half of the year, according to Crunchbase. And while more concerted efforts to diversify capital allocation have come out of these jarring figures, the community of adequately funded Black female founders remains incredibly small.On this episode, we speak with one of the select few Black female founders who got her funding. In 2021, Monique Rodriguez, founder and CEO of Mielle Organics, broke the glass ceiling for Black female founders, inking a nine-figure, non-controlling investment deal with Berkshire Partners. She shares how she turned her passion for women’s health and a nursing background into a global beauty business, and discusses how her atypical path into entrepreneurship became her biggest asset. Then, host Carla Harris sits down with Monique to discuss the obstacles and opportunities that lie ahead for her as a leader at this pivotal juncture of scaling Mielle. And Carla draws upon leadership insights from her latest book, Lead to Win.https://www.morganstanley.com/what-we-do/inclusive-innovation-and-opportunity Disclaimer textThe guest speakers are neither employees nor affiliated with Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC. (“Morgan Stanley”). The views and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of Morgan Stanley. The information and figures contained herein has been obtained from sources outside of Morgan Stanley and Morgan Stanley makes no representations or guarantees as to the accuracy or completeness of information or data from sources outside of Morgan Stanley. Morgan Stanley is not responsible for the information or data contained in this podcast. This podcast does not provide individually tailored investment advice and is not a solicitation of any offer to buy or sell any security or other financial instrument or to participate in any trading strategy. It has been prepared without regard to the individual financial circumstances and objectives of persons who receive it.© 2022 Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, Members SIPC.