The Soulful Founder's Blueprint: 3 Lessons on Building a Brand That Matters
From the Left: Sarah Hall, Julissa Parado and Stacy Blackman
In a world saturated with products, how do you build a brand that truly connects? How do you create something that feels less like a commodity and more like a movement? We often look to venture capital or complex marketing plans for the answer, but the real secret is much more human.
To find it, we looked at the stories of three remarkable female founders in the beauty and skincare space: Julissa Prado of Rizos Curls, Stacy Blackman, a co-founder of Stryke Club, and Sarah Hall of B.Beauty Brows.
On the surface, their products are different. But their journeys reveal a shared, unspoken blueprint for building a business with soul. This is their guide to turning a personal mission into a thriving brand.
Principle #1: Solve Your Own Problem First
The most resonant brands aren't born in boardrooms; they're born from a real, personal need. Before you can change the world for your customers, you must first solve a problem that matters deeply to you.
This is the unifying thread in each of these founders' stories. Their businesses weren't just market opportunities; they were necessities.
For Julissa Prado, it was the lifelong struggle to find quality products for her natural curls. Frustrated by a market that didn't cater to her, she created Rizos Curls to celebrate the beauty of curls, kinks, and waves everywhere.
For Stacy Blackman and the other moms behind Stryke Club, it was seeing their teenage sons navigate acne with outdated 80s products or things borrowed from their sisters. They saw a clear gap and created clean, effective skincare that speaks directly to boys.
For Sarah Hall, a celebrity makeup artist with a background in biochemistry, it was the need to create gentle, vegan products for her own children's dry, sensitive skin that led to her product line.
The Mentor Takeaway: Stop searching for a gap in the market and start looking for a gap in your own life. The most authentic, powerful business ideas come from solving a problem you understand intimately. Your personal experience is your greatest competitive advantage.
Principle #2: Embrace "Ready-Enough" — Action Over Analysis
The journey from idea to execution is often blocked by a single, paralyzing obstacle: the feeling that you are not ready. Not experienced enough, not funded enough, not smart enough. Every one of these founders teaches us that the only way to get ready is to begin.
This "begin before you're ready" mentality is a superpower. Stacy Blackman lives by this, arguing that many entrepreneurs spend too much time analyzing and often talk themselves out of a good idea.
"I am a big fan of just diving in, before you feel ready," Stacy shared, "learning as you go, and being willing to fail and pivot and stumble your way to success."
This leap of faith is a recurring theme. Julissa Prado made the incredibly difficult decision to leave her high-paying leadership position at Nestlé to go full-time on Rizos Curls, without knowing what lay ahead. She had to overcome the fear and invest in her passion.
The Mentor Takeaway: You don't need to see the whole path; you just need to take the first step, and then the next. Overcome the imposter syndrome not by thinking, but by doing. As Stacy Blackman advises, "Take consistent action despite the fear." That action builds the proof that you are, in fact, ready enough.
Principle #3: Your Community Is Your R&D Department
In a world of multi-million dollar marketing budgets, how can a new brand compete? By building a genuine, reciprocal relationship with its community.
Julissa Prado built Rizos Curls into a global brand that has shipped to over 59 countries by staying radically true to her vision and her customers. Her advice is a masterclass in modern brand building:
"Make up in creativity what you lack in marketing dollars... Don’t be afraid to reach out to your customers for help. Some of your best ideas might come from your own customers."
This philosophy turns customers into co-creators. Stacy Blackman echoes this, stating that she generates new ideas by "listening hard to the consumer and truly processing their feedback and inputs."
The Mentor Takeaway: Your first 100 customers are your most valuable asset. Talk to them. Listen to them. Ask them what they want. A loyal community that feels seen and heard will do more for your brand than any ad campaign ever could.
A Founder's Final Word: Advice for the Journey
Building a brand with soul requires a different definition of success. For Sarah Hall, success isn't a destination; it's a mindset rooted in "happiness & peace." She advises that the key to maintaining success is to find it internally, not to look for it in external validation.
Her final piece of advice serves as a perfect summary for any founder on this path:
"Stay focused, try to avoid distractions and most of all be patient. Patience is the key to having true success. You must be careful along the way to not burn bridges and treat people with the proper respect through your journey. You never know what paths you will cross again."
Ultimately, the blueprint these founders provide is clear: solve a real problem that matters to you, have the courage to begin before you feel ready, build a community with authentic connection, and lead with patience and heart. That is how you build a brand that lasts.
