Monique Rodriguez says her entrepreneurial success is emblematic of turning pain into purpose. Now the founder and CEO of the Black-owned hair care brand Mielle Organics, her foray into business followed a heart-wrenching loss.
In 2013, the then-mother of two lost her infant son. She experienced a uterine rupture while eight months pregnant and was rushed to the hospital, where doctors discharged her instead of keeping her for observation. She returned home, unaware that her son was losing oxygen to his brain each day. He was born brain-dead. Rodriguez, a labor and delivery nurse turned home health nurse, kept him on life support until he passed away at six months old.
