Speaker 1: Welcome to the Therapy for Black Girls Podcast, a weekly
Speaker 1: conversation about mental health, personal development, and all the small
Speaker 1: decisions we can make to become the best possible versions
Speaker 1: of ourselves. I'm your host, Doctor Joy Harden Bradford, a
Speaker 1: licensed psychologist in Atlanta, Georgia. For more information or to
Speaker 1: find a therapist in your area, visit our website at
Speaker 1: Therapy for Blackgirls dot com. While I hope you love
Speaker 1: listening to and learning from the podcast, it is not
Speaker 1: meant to be a substitute for a relationship with a
Speaker 1: licensed mental health professional. Hey, y'all, thanks so much for
Speaker 1: joining me for this special bonus episode of the Therapy
Speaker 1: Black Girls Podcast. We'll get run into our conversation after
Speaker 1: word from our sponsors as we kick off Black History Month.
Speaker 1: I'm hoping you'll join me in shopping with black brands
Speaker 1: and uplifting the black entrepreneurs who are making it happen
Speaker 1: on sale at a time. Today, we're in conversation with
Speaker 1: the founder of Mayo Organics, Monique Rodriguez, who shares her
Speaker 1: journey of becoming a successful CEO while balancing motherhood, mental health,
Speaker 1: and mission. If something resonates with you while enjoying our conversation,
Speaker 1: Please share with us on social media using the hashtag
Speaker 1: TVG in session or join us over in the Sister
Speaker 1: Circle to talk more about the episode. You can join
Speaker 1: us at community dot therapy for Blackgirls dot com. Here's
Speaker 1: our conversation, Monique, Thank you so much for joining us today, so.
Speaker 2: Much for having me. I'm super excited to be a
Speaker 2: guest on your podcast.
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely so. I would love for you to share
Speaker 1: with our community a little bit about your journey to entrepreneurship.
Speaker 1: So you had us start in nursing and now or
Speaker 1: the entrepreneur and owner of Mayel, So tell me a
Speaker 1: little bit about that journey.
Speaker 2: Yes, I was once a registered nurse. I worked in
Speaker 2: labor and delivery for five years, and the later half
Speaker 2: of my career I worked as a home health nurse.
Speaker 2: And during the course of my nursing journey, I've always
Speaker 2: had the entrepreneurial bug and wanting to get into starting
Speaker 2: and running my own business, but I didn't have examples
Speaker 2: of that when I was growing up. I didn't see
Speaker 2: that Mayel started from a place of pain. I lost
Speaker 2: my son in twenty thirteen from a high risk pregnancy,
Speaker 2: and I chose to channel that pain into my purpose
Speaker 2: and really decided to give my life to Christ, trust
Speaker 2: God and his leading and his guidance, and he has
Speaker 2: truly revealed to me my vision, which was to go
Speaker 2: on social media and to talk about hair, and that's
Speaker 2: how the brand got started. I began to document my
Speaker 2: hair journey from having severely heat damaged hair to wanting
Speaker 2: to nurse my hair back to its natural curl pattern.
Speaker 3: And it took me over the course.
Speaker 2: Of six months of using our world renowned Barbacue deep
Speaker 2: conditioner that helped me on my hair journey, and I
Speaker 2: shared all of that on social media and women started
Speaker 2: asking questions. They started gravitating to the information that I
Speaker 2: was providing because at first I started with homemade concoctions
Speaker 2: in my kitchen, and I quickly realized that there was
Speaker 2: a void in the industry and there were not a
Speaker 2: lot of education for black women on how to take
Speaker 2: care of their natural hair, and there wasn't a lot
Speaker 2: of products that really focus on ingredients and best practices.
Speaker 2: And with my health and science background, I was able
Speaker 2: to do a lot of research and leverage that information
Speaker 2: and create products that met the needs of the women
Speaker 2: that I was focused on and talking to at the time,
Speaker 2: and I was able to create content and create an
Speaker 2: experience that really focused on how we can educate, empower
Speaker 2: and excite our community to learn and understand how to
Speaker 2: navigate their natural hair journey. And so that's how the
Speaker 2: brand got started. And I knew that when I worked
Speaker 2: as a nurse that I wasn't living out my purpose.
Speaker 2: I really became a nurse because that was what I
Speaker 2: was encouraged to do growing up. My mom was very
Speaker 2: very traditional, go to school, go to college, get a degree,
Speaker 2: and you work that job until it's time for you
Speaker 2: to retire. But that passion that I've always had for
Speaker 2: the beauty space, it never went away. And with me
Speaker 2: going through what I went through with the challenges with
Speaker 2: my son, I used social media as a way to
Speaker 2: creatively express myself and I have built this online commune
Speaker 2: unity and I just realized that this is something that
Speaker 2: I want to do full time. And I knew that
Speaker 2: if I gave this one hundred and ten percent, that
Speaker 2: I will be able to really leave my nursing career
Speaker 2: and focus on how do I become impactful to the
Speaker 2: women that I serve and make their lives better, not
Speaker 2: just focusing on hair, but really it was about purpose
Speaker 2: and changing the lives of the women that came in
Speaker 2: contact with the brand. And that's something that is so
Speaker 2: near and dear to my heart because we always say
Speaker 2: at Mael it's purpose over profit, and what we do
Speaker 2: is so purposeful, is very intentional, and ultimately, I'm very
Speaker 2: vocal about my faith and I always proclaim and confess God,
Speaker 2: and I really like to look at what I do
Speaker 2: as well as like marketplace ministry, so people that may
Speaker 2: be lost or may not have a relationship with God,
Speaker 2: when they encounter or experience myself the brand, they will
Speaker 2: experience the anointing of God as well. So I look
Speaker 2: at it as an ultimate, bigger purpose as well. And
Speaker 2: I look at how my son came into this world,
Speaker 2: and even though he was here for a very short time,
Speaker 2: he has blessed and accomplished so much, and more importantly,
Speaker 2: he has allowed me to deepen my relationship and my
Speaker 2: faith in God. So that's like the story behind how
Speaker 2: the brand was formed.
Speaker 1: H thank you so much for sharing that. I'm curious
Speaker 1: to hear how you went from such a big leap
Speaker 1: right because it feels like you are already making products
Speaker 1: in your home, but to go then from there to
Speaker 1: like having a product that is on shelves in stores worldwide.
Speaker 1: Where did you even start to kind of when you thought, Okay,
Speaker 1: I'm going to do my OL full time. Where did
Speaker 1: you start for like mentorship or guidance on that journey.
Speaker 2: Honestly, I didn't have any mentors. It was my husband
Speaker 2: and I and we were literally figuring things out as
Speaker 2: we go. And I always say that entrepreneurship is the
Speaker 2: only job that you can have where it's on the
Speaker 2: job training, you're learning as you go, have no experience,
Speaker 2: but you can be very restored and make something out
Speaker 2: of nothing. And that's what we did. We got really scrappy.
Speaker 2: We were out there grinding and just doing the work.
Speaker 2: And along the journey we were able to connect and
Speaker 2: meet people. But when I first started, there was no
Speaker 2: one to show us the blueprint. We literally had to
Speaker 2: figure things.
Speaker 3: Out on our own.
Speaker 2: You know, sometimes when you think of a mentor, people
Speaker 2: think that mentor has to be tangible. It has to
Speaker 2: be someone that you can have conversations with on a
Speaker 2: regular basis. But because I didn't have access to that
Speaker 2: type of mentorship, I looked at mentors that I couldn't
Speaker 2: have conversations with. I would study their stories. I would
Speaker 2: listen to podcast interviews. So podcast was something that was
Speaker 2: huge as a part of my learning experience, just learning
Speaker 2: from what other people did and how they built their brands,
Speaker 2: and people became mentors in my head. Like I never
Speaker 2: had a full conversation or any conversation for that matter,
Speaker 2: but I was always a student and I'm still a
Speaker 2: student of life, and so I always tried to find
Speaker 2: motivation and inspiration from people that I may admire, and
Speaker 2: I learn and study them.
Speaker 3: And that's what kind of helped me as well.
Speaker 2: Is like studying what other people have done, how they
Speaker 2: have overcome challenges and problems, and how they have branded
Speaker 2: and marketed their company, and I take little bits of
Speaker 2: their nuggets and wisdom and I apply it to what
Speaker 2: I do. So that was what I did in the
Speaker 2: very beginning.
Speaker 1: MM. That's helpful for other people to know, because you're right.
Speaker 1: I mean, there are people that I think we want
Speaker 1: to have conversations with and we're like, oh, if I
Speaker 1: could get twenty minutes with this person, But if you
Speaker 1: look at interviews and books they've written, they have likely
Speaker 1: laid out some of the blueprints for you. Yeah. Absolutely,
Speaker 1: So what kinds of things have been helpful for you,
Speaker 1: Monique in managing your mental health as an entrepreneur.
Speaker 3: Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2: What has been helpful for me in managing my mental
Speaker 2: health has been my faith in God.
Speaker 3: That is first and foremost.
Speaker 2: And I tell entrepreneurs this all the time that being
Speaker 2: an entrepreneur it is not for the weak at heart,
Speaker 2: and you have to have a strong, solid foundation, and
Speaker 2: that foundation starts with God. And that has helped me tremendously.
Speaker 2: When things go haywire or when I feel overwhelmed, I
Speaker 2: will go sit down in my closet and I will
Speaker 2: journal my thoughts and I will read a scripture and
Speaker 2: I will feel ten times better than I did before
Speaker 2: I went into that closet. So that has been very
Speaker 2: helpful for me. And also having a very strong support
Speaker 2: system has been helpful for my mental health. My husband,
Speaker 2: he's my business partner, he's the CEO of Mayel, and
Speaker 2: he is my confidente. He's my best friend and we
Speaker 2: have had to lean on each other during times and
Speaker 2: hard times to get through things together. So he has
Speaker 2: been a great support system and Obviously, my mom has
Speaker 2: been extremely helpful with my kids, and I don't have
Speaker 2: to worry about babysitter. My kids are big now, But
Speaker 2: when I was building a company, not having to worry
Speaker 2: about who's going to watch my kids or who's going
Speaker 2: to be there for my kids because my mom has
Speaker 2: always been there. And I would say limiting my time
Speaker 2: off of social media has been huge for me, like
Speaker 2: I have been on this journey as of lately, like
Speaker 2: really limiting my time, like I have gone days where
Speaker 2: I don't even check social media, and if I do
Speaker 2: get on there, I've set my time clock like I
Speaker 2: cannot scroll no longer than thirty minutes, and I have
Speaker 2: developed a habit of doing that, so now I don't
Speaker 2: even have the urge to want to go on there
Speaker 2: to like check in and see what's going on. And
Speaker 2: I replaced that urge of wanting to on social media
Speaker 2: and like be in the know with reading books. So
Speaker 2: I have realized that since I've started this journey, reading
Speaker 2: books and like taking myself into a different world like
Speaker 2: reading stories or reading self help books has really helped
Speaker 2: my mental to not be on social media. Because I
Speaker 2: was starting to notice when I would get on social media,
Speaker 2: mood would change afterwards, and I really couldn't pinpoint like
Speaker 2: I was feeling okay, but like now I don't like,
Speaker 2: I feel like off or I feel like irritated or annoyed.
Speaker 2: And I had to realize that it was because I
Speaker 2: was scrolling. And when you're scrolling on social media, you
Speaker 2: may see something that inspires you and it may make
Speaker 2: you very happy, but then the next image that comes
Speaker 2: right after that is something that makes you sad or
Speaker 2: something that you shouldn't be taking in into your heart
Speaker 2: and your soul. And because it's that algorithm of like
Speaker 2: you don't know what you're going to come across when
Speaker 2: you're scrolling, that can affect your mental and you have
Speaker 2: to be self aware in order to realize that. So
Speaker 2: when I started to feel like anxiety or I started
Speaker 2: to feel off or annoyed, I had to really evaluate,
Speaker 2: like Okay, what did.
Speaker 3: I just do?
Speaker 2: And I started narrowing it down to like, okay, I've
Speaker 2: just got off of social media. And so now that
Speaker 2: I have seen like limiting my time on social media,
Speaker 2: I have been able to be more focused, I have
Speaker 2: had more clarity, and I can really accomplish and do
Speaker 2: a lot more things because I don't have that up
Speaker 2: and down cycle of happiness and sadness all in like
Speaker 2: ten minutes of scrolling.
Speaker 1: Mm hmmm. That's a good reminder, I think, because you're right, like,
Speaker 1: you can't control what you see a lot of times,
Speaker 1: even if you, you know, only follow certain pages or
Speaker 1: do certain things, you just never know what's going to
Speaker 1: pop up. So I think that's a helpful reminder for people. Yeah,
Speaker 1: more from our conversation after the break, So, what kinds
Speaker 1: of conversations are you having with your children around taking
Speaker 1: care of their mental health? What has been helpful for
Speaker 1: you and facilitating those conversations.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so number one is leading by example, And I
Speaker 2: brought that up because I see it in my daughter, Like,
Speaker 2: I am not the one to push my faith even
Speaker 2: off on my kids. I will teach them, i will
Speaker 2: show them the way, I will talk about it very vocally,
Speaker 2: but I'm not going to push it off on them.
Speaker 2: I want them to be able to discover and have
Speaker 2: their own relationship with God, their deeply personal relationship with God,
Speaker 2: and not have it to be forced or pushy. And
Speaker 2: because I've just led by example and we go to
Speaker 2: church every Sunday, when we're in town. My kids see
Speaker 2: me reading my devotional, they see me reading the Bible.
Speaker 2: They see my husband and I talking about our faith
Speaker 2: very vocally and talking about God. So they pick up
Speaker 2: on those nuggets. And I see it especially with my
Speaker 2: oldest daughter. My youngest daughter, she's young, she just turned fourteen,
Speaker 2: so I don't expect her to fully get it like
Speaker 2: she will as she gets older. But my eighteen year old,
Speaker 2: I see her mimicking what I'm doing. She gets up early,
Speaker 2: she reads her devotional, she's on social.
Speaker 3: Media, very vocal about God.
Speaker 2: She shows her social media audience that she prays before
Speaker 2: she eats. And this is not something that I've told her,
Speaker 2: this is something that she's seen me do. So she's
Speaker 2: now mimicking because she has formed her own relationship with God.
Speaker 2: She gets up and she'll go to church on her own,
Speaker 2: not because Mom's making her do it, but because she's
Speaker 2: formed her own relationship. So that's first and foremost. It's
Speaker 2: leading by example because your kid is going to pick
Speaker 2: up the good and the bad, So you better make
Speaker 2: sure that you are focused more so on like, how
Speaker 2: do you lead a good example? Because they're going to
Speaker 2: pick up on all of that, and then you know,
Speaker 2: Melvin and I were also very open with our kids,
Speaker 2: and I check in with my kids and I ask them, like,
Speaker 2: am I being a good mom?
Speaker 3: Is that being a good dad?
Speaker 2: Because I want to know, like how they feel, because
Speaker 2: I know and I see this a lot of times
Speaker 2: when I do panels or when I see other people
Speaker 2: doing panels.
Speaker 3: We always talk.
Speaker 2: About like our childhood traumas and you know, the things
Speaker 2: that we don't want to pass down to the next generation.
Speaker 2: We talk about breaking generational curses because of what our
Speaker 2: moms did, and it's not necessarily bad thing. Yeah, you
Speaker 2: want to break generational curses, but if I can try
Speaker 2: to avoid that conversation of my kid is saying that
Speaker 2: they want to break generational curses by checking in with
Speaker 2: them now to see what we can do differently. Now,
Speaker 2: that's what I want to try to get ahead of
Speaker 2: the curve, so they're not having conversations like, well, I
Speaker 2: want to break this generational cycle because my mom didn't
Speaker 2: do this, or my mom didn't do that, Like tell
Speaker 2: me what I'm not doing now so I can try
Speaker 2: to fix it now. So just being very open and
Speaker 2: transparent with our kids and observing their needs and concerns
Speaker 2: has been very helpful for us as a family. And
Speaker 2: we also recently just announced our partnership with P and
Speaker 2: G where we launched my Old Cares, which is our
Speaker 2: nonprofit organization that champions the mental health and well being
Speaker 2: of preteens and teenagers that helps them nurture a positive
Speaker 2: and resilient mindset. And that's what I'm so passionate about
Speaker 2: with our teenagers because I know that they have so
Speaker 2: much thrown at them, so much information, and the mission
Speaker 2: is to help equip teams with access, with opportunity resources
Speaker 2: to create a future.
Speaker 3: In which they believe in.
Speaker 2: And so I believe in igniting like that post positive
Speaker 2: change through different programs initiatives that helps our teams thrive
Speaker 2: mentally and physically. I want to make sure that the
Speaker 2: example that I'm showing at home that other teams and
Speaker 2: pre teams also have that opportunity to champion their mindset
Speaker 2: because success is all about mindset shift, and if we
Speaker 2: can help our teenagers change their minds, we can help
Speaker 2: them change their lives. And that's how I approach dealing
Speaker 2: with kids.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for that. So what's next for Mayel?
Speaker 1: So you just talked about mael Cares. Are there any
Speaker 1: other things or initiatives that you're working on that you
Speaker 1: can share?
Speaker 2: Of course, we're always working on something that is super exciting.
Speaker 2: Like always challenge my team to be better than we
Speaker 2: were last year. Of course, there are competitors in our field,
Speaker 2: but I like to be in competition with myself and
Speaker 2: be better than I was before and to really be
Speaker 2: that trendsetter, that leader, and the disruptor in my community.
Speaker 2: And that's what I really like to focus on. We're
Speaker 2: hitting our tenure anniversary and all I can tell you
Speaker 2: is just watch out, because it is going to be
Speaker 2: an amazing tenure anniversary and I'm super excited about it.
Speaker 2: And we're gonna take all of our Maivens, our Mavericks
Speaker 2: on this journey with us, the ones that's been with
Speaker 2: us from the very beginning, the ones that are new
Speaker 2: that are just coming on board. They're in store for
Speaker 2: something really spectacular for our tenure.
Speaker 1: So we have to just stay tuned for all that
Speaker 1: excitement to unfold. So you've already mentioned how incredible and
Speaker 1: how piovotal having your mom along for this journey has
Speaker 1: been to supporting your entrepreneurial success. What other tips or
Speaker 1: suggestions would you have for other busy moms who are
Speaker 1: also entrepreneurs about how to navigate that life.
Speaker 2: Any advice and I can give to moms that's trying
Speaker 2: to navigate life and parenting and building a career entrepreneurship,
Speaker 2: you know, so avoid feeling like overwhelmed and burnt out.
Speaker 2: Lean on your support system. Create that support system, because
Speaker 2: if you are tired, burnt out, and overwhelmed, you can't
Speaker 2: pour into anybody else. Lean on your people, have help
Speaker 2: with taking the kids places to their activities, preparing meals,
Speaker 2: whatever it.
Speaker 3: Needs that the household needs.
Speaker 2: Know that you can delegate those needs and responsibilities. I
Speaker 2: think that especially as black women, we tend to have
Speaker 2: the superwoman complex, like we have to do everything because
Speaker 2: that's what makes us a wife, that's what makes us
Speaker 2: a mom. But we have to get rid of that
Speaker 2: complex because that is not healthy, and it is okay
Speaker 2: to ask for help. It is okay to delegate because
Speaker 2: that is really a sign of strength, is not a
Speaker 2: sign of weakness, and that does not means that you
Speaker 2: are less of a mom, less of a wife.
Speaker 3: You do what you need to do to get the
Speaker 3: help that you need.
Speaker 2: So you can thrive in an environment and be the
Speaker 2: best mom, the best wife, for your husband, for your
Speaker 2: kids and friends, sister. Whatever it is your role is,
Speaker 2: you want to be the best version of that, and
Speaker 2: asking for help is the key to be in that
Speaker 2: best version. Give yourself grace when you're running a household,
Speaker 2: being a present mother, and running a business is hard.
Speaker 2: Don't be hard on yourself. Give yourself some grace and
Speaker 2: working out. Exercise is also really good for my mental
Speaker 2: health as well. It boosts your mood, it releases all
Speaker 2: of those endorphins, it provides you energy, and you also
Speaker 2: have to make sure you take time to rest. I'm
Speaker 2: actually reading a book right now by Joyce Myers, and
Speaker 2: she is specifically talking about wisdom nuggets that she would
Speaker 2: give to her younger self that she wished she would
Speaker 2: have had when she was younger, because at one point
Speaker 2: she was doing everything and was saying yes to everything,
Speaker 2: and the power of saying no is so powerful, but
Speaker 2: also the power of rest. We live in a time
Speaker 2: where people want to glorify team no sleep, but rest
Speaker 2: is extremely important for your health, for your mental well being.
Speaker 2: And Joyce talked about she likes to get seven to
Speaker 2: nine hours of sleep, and I am not too far
Speaker 2: from that. I at least get probably like eight, but
Speaker 2: if I can get nine, I'm taking my nine hours
Speaker 2: because res is very key to my mental well being.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for sharing those tips with us, Monique.
Speaker 1: Where can people stay in touch with you? I know
Speaker 1: you said you're not on social media very much, but
Speaker 1: if we want to stay in tuned for all the
Speaker 1: excitement that you have for your ten year anniversary, where
Speaker 1: should people be looking.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so, I'm on my personal page like I do
Speaker 2: check in, but I'm not scrolling like how I.
Speaker 3: Used to be.
Speaker 2: So I have a personal social media page. I still
Speaker 2: post on there when I want to post when I
Speaker 2: feel like sharing, but it's at exquisite mode. You can
Speaker 2: follow me there, and then, of course you can follow
Speaker 2: my yel Organics at my Yel Organics, on Instagram, on TikTok,
Speaker 2: and also on Facebook and Twitter.
Speaker 1: Perfect. Thank you so much for sharing that and for
Speaker 1: sharing some time with us today.
Speaker 3: Absolutely no problem.
Speaker 1: I'm so glad Monique was able to join me for
Speaker 1: this episode, so learn more about her and the work
Speaker 1: she's doing. Be sure to visit the show notes at
Speaker 1: Therapy for Black Girls dot com slash myel don't forget
Speaker 1: to text this episode to two of your girls right
Speaker 1: now so that they can check it out. If you're
Speaker 1: looking for a therapist in your area, visit our therapist
Speaker 1: directory at Therapy for Blackgirls dot com slash directory. And
Speaker 1: if you want to continue digging into this topic or
Speaker 1: just be in community with other sisters, come on over
Speaker 1: and join us in the Sister Circle. It's our cozy
Speaker 1: corner of the Internet designed just for black women. You
Speaker 1: can join us at community dot Therapy for Blackgirls dot com.
Speaker 1: This episode was produced by Frieda. Lucas, Elise Ellis, and
Speaker 1: Zaria Taylor. Editing was done by Dennison Bradford. We'll be
Speaker 1: back with our regular episode next Wednesday, but until then,
Speaker 1: take good care.
Speaker 3: What's