Monique Rodriguez

And we launched into retail. We had the meeting with them. We launched a following, Planet Graham Reset, which was amazing. February of 2016. And then when we launched, we sold out in every store that we launched in. Come on. So it was like the retail came after us.

And we launched into retail. We had the meeting with them. We launched a following, Planet Graham Reset, which was amazing. February of 2016. And then when we launched, we sold out in every store that we launched in. Come on. So it was like the retail came after us.

And once that retailer had the success that they garnered, other retailers started knocking because they're like, oh, well, we want to have a piece of that pie too. So it wasn't that we were searching for retailers. The retailers came to us. Which is a blessing.

And once that retailer had the success that they garnered, other retailers started knocking because they're like, oh, well, we want to have a piece of that pie too. So it wasn't that we were searching for retailers. The retailers came to us. Which is a blessing.

We barely had to pitch. Like it was so effortlessly like us going, we didn't even have a formal presentation when we met with Sally's. It was like, Hey, this is the brand. Our kids were sitting at the round table and it was so informal, but that's how bad they wanted us into their stores.

We barely had to pitch. Like it was so effortlessly like us going, we didn't even have a formal presentation when we met with Sally's. It was like, Hey, this is the brand. Our kids were sitting at the round table and it was so informal, but that's how bad they wanted us into their stores.

Oh yeah, it gets more challenging the bigger you are. You know, they always say more money, more problems, right? And that has some truth to it because there are more eyeballs on you. The more challenges are going to come, the more roadblocks. And we experienced a lot of different roadblocks and obstacles. And I talk about a lot of our challenges in the book. At one point, we were not profitable.

Oh yeah, it gets more challenging the bigger you are. You know, they always say more money, more problems, right? And that has some truth to it because there are more eyeballs on you. The more challenges are going to come, the more roadblocks. And we experienced a lot of different roadblocks and obstacles. And I talk about a lot of our challenges in the book. At one point, we were not profitable.

And at one point, I did not know if Mayel would make it, right? We were on the brinks of like,

And at one point, I did not know if Mayel would make it, right? We were on the brinks of like,

you know the bank's gonna come after us if we don't pay them their money back so it was a very challenging time that people on the outside didn't know because the brand was doing extremely well like the sales were through the roof so on the outside people are like oh this brand is amazing but on the underneath when you look at our financials it was horrible Wow

you know the bank's gonna come after us if we don't pay them their money back so it was a very challenging time that people on the outside didn't know because the brand was doing extremely well like the sales were through the roof so on the outside people are like oh this brand is amazing but on the underneath when you look at our financials it was horrible Wow

And we went through this process of having to turn our business around and we needed funding, right? Because at that point we had overspent, which is a common mistake a lot of entrepreneurs make, but we, felt that we had such great conviction that what we were building was still so great that we still had to show up with a smile on our face. We still had to serve our community.

And we went through this process of having to turn our business around and we needed funding, right? Because at that point we had overspent, which is a common mistake a lot of entrepreneurs make, but we, felt that we had such great conviction that what we were building was still so great that we still had to show up with a smile on our face. We still had to serve our community.

We still had to serve our employees. At one point, we were not paying ourselves so people can come to work and still do the job. They don't hear that, right? We were not making any money.

We still had to serve our employees. At one point, we were not paying ourselves so people can come to work and still do the job. They don't hear that, right? We were not making any money.

We had to sacrifice a lot to maintain face because we didn't want our employees to know what was going on because would they have the same level of enthusiasm to show up and work if they knew that the company was suffering on the back end? So those are the moments people don't see. And then once we were able to garner funding, we got a lot of no's.

We had to sacrifice a lot to maintain face because we didn't want our employees to know what was going on because would they have the same level of enthusiasm to show up and work if they knew that the company was suffering on the back end? So those are the moments people don't see. And then once we were able to garner funding, we got a lot of no's.

And I talk about one big no that stuck out to me as a part of this journey, the investors wanted 40% of our company. And it was a bad deal. And we had to walk away from that knowing that even though they were giving us the money that we needed, we were not willing to sacrifice and give that much of our company away because we knew how valuable our company was as we were building.

And I talk about one big no that stuck out to me as a part of this journey, the investors wanted 40% of our company. And it was a bad deal. And we had to walk away from that knowing that even though they were giving us the money that we needed, we were not willing to sacrifice and give that much of our company away because we knew how valuable our company was as we were building.