CEO to CEO: Where Mentorship & Networking Meet Success

TLC’s founder & CEO, Whitney Headen, meets one-on-one with Brianna Arps, her former intern at Essence and who previously worked at TLC, and is now the CEO & founder of Moodeaux. One of the beauties of The Life Currency is that we get down to the nitty gritty and talk about what others might shy away from. Read on as Brianna shares her journey of networking, setbacks, successes, and more, to becoming the CEO of her own clean luxury fragrance line as a Black woman.

WHITNEY: The Life Currency has always been my vision. I want to share the things that people don’t talk about. I’ve found that when you do that, you gain so much success and so many valuable lessons. As I think about how we’ve worked together in the past, I look back and think, “It took a lot for you to build this business and to be able to say that you have a finished product.” I want to highlight the beauty and the confusion of that journey. What did that look like for you? Walk us through a bit of the process of thinking of the idea and what it took for you to even have the courage to do it. What kind of resources did you tap along the way? 

BRIANNA: Moodeaux really started out a place of desperation. In October 2018, I was laid off from my last editorial role. It was a huge, crushing blow and I felt that it came out of nowhere. I wasn’t alone; about 40 other people were let go that day. I just remember feeling that it all happened so fast. Just as quickly as that happened, I was thrown into a depression. I didn't know what I was going to do, or how I was going to handle my finances. I needed self-care to survive. I went through a period where I had to remind myself of my basic daily needs: “Oh, I need to brush my teeth today. I need to actually get up and take a shower today. I haven’t eaten an actual meal in a week.” Having to go through that process sucked, but I really had to lean into self-care. It was on those days that I learned how important the little things were for me in order to get up and just do life. The little things could be as simple as taking a shower, putting on beautiful clothing, and a spritz of perfume. All three of those things just helped me to connect back with myself. Every time I did it, I realized I looked forward to doing it again. Getting myself ready was a consistent reminder that I’m worthy of giving myself a shot. Before long, I built up the mindset that “I won’t sit here and cry or take pity on myself forever.” Instead of looking at life and asking “How will I figure this all out,” my thoughts turned to “I HAVE to figure this out.” Fragrance became my catalyst. After doing some research, I realized that there aren’t a lot of mainstream Black-owned fragrance labels. There’s even fewer Black woman-owned fragrance labels, and I started to question the reality of that. Why can’t I walk into Nordstrom or Saks, or most other luxury boutiques and find fragrance lines by people who look like me? Why aren’t we there yet? It was through my research that I started to develop the idea of starting my own. I have a beauty and marketing background, and after being laid off, it became the perfect time to start figuring things out. 

Fun fact: I had to work backwards. We didn't start with the name Moodeaux. We started with the brand name Moody Beauty. My lawyer let me know that name wouldn’t work because two weeks prior to us having the conversation, someone filed for it. At first, that was a major setback, but then we landed on Moodeaux, and it definitely turned out to be the best name for this brand.

WHITNEY: Isn’t it interesting how that works out? You put in all this work and sometimes the name you envisioned isn’t what you needed, but you find your way eventually. You touched on your background a bit. Please share more about where your journalism background and how your experience in that field propelled you into Moodeaux?  

BRIANNA: I’m a big believer in transferable skills. The myth is that you have to have a formal education and acquire all of these different types of education. Those are great but it’s what you pick up and carry along the way. However, I did graduate from college with a journalism degree. I chose to move to New York City because it’s the media capital of the world. I moved two months after graduation and landed my first role at Us Weekly. I worked in their marketing department and from that point, I knew I made a great decision. While I worked there, I picked up side projects. I eventually began working for Business Insider to help launch their beauty, fashion, and style verticals. From there, I did some freelance writing for The Zoe Report, Elite Daily and finally Refinery29. I filled all of these roles through networking. I reached Refinery29 through my network. Someone that I worked with at Us Weekly was also at Refinery 29 and they referred me for a temp position. It took off from there, I was hired as a temp with Refinery29, and I decided that I would just do my best. I made sure that I picked up the extra work. I stayed late to file stories. I made sure that I was available anytime someone might need something because at the time, I really thought I could see myself staying with that publication. After some time and a lot of hard work, I landed a full-time role as a Branded Content Editor. Everything really came full circle that way. I was still writing, but I also had a marketing angle given that we worked with a wide range of brand partners. Every step of the way, I relied on my transferable skills and the network I was building. I don’t think I would be at this point in my life without either of the two. That time in my life showed me that you have to lean into what you’re good at and to trust yourself. I moved to New York without a job, but I trusted that I could make something shake right. Then I tapped in with my network and made sure that I stayed in contact with people. I was good to people by offering my skills rather than taking the fruits of theirs. I chose to lean into what I was good at and I learned so many skills that lead me to today, especially building Moodeaux.

WHITNEY: I agree with you! I remember working on teams with you. Even as an intern, you made yourself memorable and needed. Nowadays, the word “networking” is a buzzword rather than a true action. You made sure it was an action and your work ethic reminds me of how often I’ve seen the intern become the CEO. While you were in these different positions, what did networking look like for you?

BRIANNA: Networking is definitely scary at first, but I wanted people to know me! I learned that you can’t be afraid to put yourself out there. I think that’s the first bit of networking. Whether you’re doing it laterally or otherwise, you have to be comfortable with putting yourself out there and being keen with yourself about what goals you have set for that connection. I had a vision for where I saw myself at the companies that I worked for. I saw myself being in New York for a myriad of different reasons. I think that gave me the confidence to want to speak up because the old adage of “closed mouths don’t get fed” is so real. So I always made sure that I spoke to people. I always made sure that I asked if there was anything that I could do, even as an intern. If there’s anything extra that I can do, or if my bosses could connect me with other people were crucial questions in putting myself out there. I realized that oftentimes people are most afraid about asking questions. That was one of the beauties of working with Time Inc., just being there allowed me to network with a plethora of other brands. I’ve had the opportunity to connect with the people at Essence, Sports Illustrated, InStyle, and People. Physical proximity to other brands can be beneficial as well. I knew I wanted to be in marketing in one capacity so I made sure that the ladies in the marketing department or on the event side of things knew who I was. I really grew close with Essence’s events team, marketing team, and special projects team, and I’m so grateful for all of those people and connections. I became known for who I was, how I showed up and the work I put in, even down to my outfits. I was the girl who wore the turban or who wore bright colors. I might not even have to say anything. It was in my demeanor and outward appearance. I wanted to make sure that I was memorable. 

WHITNEY: You definitely were! Like you said, you branded yourself to make sure that you were where you wanted to be. I recently watched an interview of Zendaya’s and they were talking about how she moved away from the cookie-cutter, Disney persona. In the interview, she’s sitting with Law Roach, her stylist, sharing how they cracked it. She touched on the fact that they had to begin by elevating her look and getting her on the red carpet. She didn’t want to be seen as the “seat-filler girl.” It sounds like you did the same thing. Your look and personality do build your brand. When I think about you, I see you as an influencer and a mark maker. Your personal brand is expertly curated because it’s aligned with who you are as a person which is why we loved having you at TLC. What originally attracted you to the program that we’ve built?

BRIANNA: First off, anything that you are involved with, I want to be involved with because I know that you are so committed to your vision and it shows up in your drive. There is a need for TLC because I remember how I felt when I graduated from college; even while I was in school. Between school, internships, and real life, there was just so much. Outside of that, there’s so much that people don’t tell you and then you just have to figure it all out on your own and life doesn’t have to be that way. I don’t want the fluff. I want to know the bad things. I want to feel prepared for life, and that’s one of the main things that attracted me to TLC. That’s what TLC has stayed true to building. The Life Currency was built on exposing the good, the bad, the ugly, and the unmentionable all-in-one and it helps to make for a well-rounded platform because you shouldn’t give with one hand and hold back the other. When we shy away from sharing the full scope of something, it makes it almost 10x more difficult to succeed. I remember sitting down with you and figuring out branding and marketing. It was through connecting with you and others in my circle that I understood the importance and depth of marketing and branding. Every part of it is important and I think people don’t understand how big branding and marketing is in every aspect of our lives. The two together are why people choose to go to Starbucks, Dunkin' Donuts, or Trader Joe’s for coffee. 

WHITNEY:  Everything is branding and marketing. I know we’ve detoured the conversation a bit but this is important. Think about the aesthetic of marriage and getting married. It dawned on me that this is all just great marketing. Somebody took a concept and said, “You need a diamond, and you need an expensive dress.” Somebody took the bridal industry and built it up and then sold it to us. Marketing and branding dictate every decision that we make in our everyday life and it’s a ripple effect, meaning it doesn’t stop at your close circle. The idea or experience you’ve created can have the power to reach people across seas; if you market and brand it well enough. It’s not a small thing and to reach a level of success where you’ve created a distinct brand and a distinct lane and an identity is probably one of the more difficult things that you do accomplish when launching a business. 

BRIANNA: Absolutely, I agree! I think it’s the difference we strive for, especially when it comes to fragrance and beauty. Beauty marketing is a whole different ball game. The hard part with curating an experience for fragrances is that your client base can’t smell anything unless they’re directly in front of the product. Unfortunately there isn’t smellovision yet, and whoever invents it is going to be a billionaire and their children are gonna be billionaires like, because it’s just so hard to convey a scent. Why would you want to purchase something that you can’t smell first? However with Moodeaux, I never consider it as a beauty brand. Yes, we sell a beauty or cosmetic product, but Moodeaux is a lifestyle and thus, a lifestyle brand. When you think of Moodeaux, I want you to think luxury and to think luxury, you have to approach a certain mindset. The common misconception is that a high price tag equates to luxury. Luxury with Moodeaux’s standard is transporting people to how you want them to feel.

WHITNEY:  Yes! At TLC, my personal vision was that I wanted people to see the yuck of it all rather than just the successful look of it on the outside. I’ve received the awards and the accolades and built the business but what did it take to get here? Whether it was mental, physical, emotional, or financial, it just seemed like people weren’t really honing in on it. I wanted to have conversations about the difficult things, or how much it took me to build myself to this point as a woman to be confident enough and standing tall enough to do some of the things that I've achieved. Standing in the concept that “just work hard” isn’t enough sometimes; it might take more trials and tears and pain and finances to grab your vision.  Hard work is extremely important, but it’s a holistic, full body experience too. Existing in this world and knowing that I wanted to create TLC from a foundation that was real and honest, where people were able to network up and down because I learn just as much from my team as I hope they learn from me. I remember working with the former Head of Marketing at Essence and saying to her, “Please be my boss when I work there.” She’s to tell me the same thing all the time, “You're going to be the person hiring me one day so you need to learn, act, absorb, and present in that way because that’s how the cycles work.” I think that’s a hard space for people to wrap our minds around sometimes. 

Issa Rae talks about networking laterally and working with people that are right beside you. I think that’s important. I also think mentorship in both directions is really important. How can we just expect to have honest conversations, but no one is sharing tips on negotiating a fair and worthy salary for yourself? How do you find your people? How would you know how to stand up for yourself or learn to use humility by staying in an uncomfortable space if no one talks about it? I want to talk about it. The vision was always to create this community and build a membership where people don’t have to have to learn those lessons the hard way. I think now more than ever, it’s so important to see the process because there’s so much fluff in the world, especially when you look at social media. That’s why I want to talk about your trajectory and journey more than your final products. While the final product is beautiful and amazing, we knew that you would be successful because of who you are, but how did you get here; and as a Black woman! I don’t often subscribe to the rhetoric of how do we do things as Black women? because I think it’s just how we do things as humans. However, I want to acknowledge that it is substantially harder to do things as a Black woman when it comes to funding, building businesses, and getting people to believe in you. That’s why it’s important to have spaces where people share their process. Everyone has been talking about becoming millionaires and having their million dollar-day and that’s great, but a lot of people are not being honest about what it took for them to get there. They’re also not being honest about how much of that money is actually in their pocket. Just because you hit $1,000,000 profit doesn’t mean that you actually have that to use. The biggest shock of my life was making a million dollars and realizing it wasn’t a lot of money, especially after taxes, putting money back into your business, and then paying your personal bills and yourself. You might be able to say you hit a million dollars, but it still feels like you’re actually broke. 

BRIANNA: Becoming an entrepreneur really is a sacrifice. For example, I have this Chanel bag that is haunting me! I was on a trip in Vegas and purchased this bag just because I could and to this day, I’m upset with myself for buying it because I did not have to spend that money. Once you start building your business, you start looking at your purchases and thinking, “Just because I can, doesn’t mean I should.” Some of these shoes, bags, vacations, etc. need to be lowered or removed all together on the list of priorities. It might get to a point where you have to sell those items to build your business. It’s nice to have these luxuries and, for me, reaching that point has been crucial in securing my entrepreneurial bag. I think a lot of people aren’t even having those conversations because it could feel embarrassing to not have what you want or to see others with what you want, but when you know what you need to accomplish, a lot of that noise goes out the window. Having those types of conversations is crucial in building up your finances to become an entrepreneur, so I’m glad that TLC is a space for topics like this. 

WHITNEY: We loved having you when you worked with TLC! You were definitely an integral part in helping to make TLC what it has grown to be today. What was it that made you want to be one of the voices of our platform and help create a community like TLC?

BRIANNA: Simply because TLC was extremely important to me when I was trying to navigate my own life; not just because of the real life lessons or advice that TLC is offering. It’s the fact that it’s all done within a strong community aspect. The biggest draw with me wanting to be involved and wanting to stay engaged is the idea that “we don't have to do this alone.” We truly go so much further when we’re working together, sharing our salaries, confusion and lessons learned. When we’re giving real-time feedback, and just discussing the reality of what’s going on in our lives and our careers, it’s invaluable. The Life Currency is a pioneer of that dynamic and conversation. I would recommend TLC to anyone especially because there’s information being shared that would be useful to all aspects of career growth or placement. There’s so much growth potential in mentorship and networking across all directions that you don’t want to miss out on or think, “if only I knew that when____”. With that being said, if you are not doing so already, follow TLC. If you are not reading TLC, subscribe to the newsletter and get hip because this community will continue to grow and evolve and you don’t want to miss out! I’m looking forward to the events again as well!

WHITNEY: We are most definitely working on it and our subscribers will be the first to know about our lineup of events! As I said earlier, I love the work you’ve done and being able to see your vision come to fruition. Part of that Moodeaux vision is the scent Worthy. What does being worthy mean to you? And what made you choose Worthy as the first fragrance of your launch?

BRIANNA: Being worthy is setting your intentions with yourself first. I’ve always believed it starts there. When I wake up every morning, I look at myself in the mirror and I’m repeating “I’m worthy.” That means regardless of what I’m going through, I’m worthy of giving myself a shot. In the aspect of Moodeaux, I am worthy of clean luxury, and beauty that doesn’t compromise my health. I’m worthy of getting everything done and succeeding in the goals I have set for myself. I’m worthy of taking a shot, taking that chance and that really is the whole mentality behind Moodeaux. It was natural for Worthy to be the first fragrance launched. It was the mood I was in when I decided that I didn’t want to be depressed or sad about my situation anymore. The name Worthy means more to me than a scent, and while the scent reinforces what I believe and have experienced, I hope that people resonate with it while they wear it.

Learn more about Brianna’s fragrance line Moodeaux here.