Creating Your Own Category, With Babba Rivera

Summary

Podcast Summary: From the Ground Up – Creating Your Own Category, With Babba Rivera

Introduction

In the March 17, 2025 episode of From the Ground Up, hosted by Inc. Magazine's Executive Editor Diana Ransom and Editor-at-Large Christine Lagorio-Chafkin, listeners are introduced to Baba Rivera, the innovative founder of Ceremonia. This episode delves deep into Rivera's journey of creating a unique hair wellness brand that not only caters to the Hispanic and Latina communities but also transcends traditional market boundaries.

Background and Heritage

Baba Rivera's multicultural upbringing plays a pivotal role in shaping Ceremonia. Raised in Sweden within a Chilean household, Rivera navigated the stark contrasts between Latin and Swedish cultures. She reflects:

"Swedish culture is a little bit more about the individual, whereas Latin culture is more about the collective." (04:37)

Her parents moved to Sweden as political refugees during the Chilean dictatorship, facing significant cultural and professional challenges. This unique blend of cultures instilled in Rivera a desire to create products that honor her Latin heritage while embracing global beauty standards.

Founding Ceremonia

Launching Ceremonia in 2020 was fueled by Rivera's personal struggles with hair damage caused by mainstream beauty products that prioritized straight, non-black hair. She shares:

"I wanted to break free from that vicious cycle... imagine if I could just unlock my best natural hair." (06:08)

Recognizing the lack of authentic representation and effective hair care solutions for the Latinx community, Rivera aimed to fill this void by developing clean, culturally rooted hair products. Ceremonia's inception was not only a response to personal needs but also a commitment to celebrating and elevating Latin culture within the beauty industry.

Building the Brand and Community

Ceremonia's success is deeply intertwined with its strong community support. Rivera emphasizes:

"Our success is a shared success. It's meaningful because of the underrepresentation that we have all experienced." (22:40)

Central to Ceremonia’s brand is the use of ingredients sourced from Latin America, such as guava, which resonates with both Latinx and non-Latinx customers. This authentic approach has allowed Ceremonia to appeal to a diverse customer base, with approximately half of its users identifying as Latinx and the other half drawn by the brand's commitment to clean and sustainable beauty.

Challenges Faced

Despite its success, Rivera faced significant challenges, particularly in securing funding as a Latina founder. She candidly discusses the hurdles:

"Latina women actually receive like the smallest part of the pie when it comes to funding." (15:24)

Her perseverance led to securing $1 million in pre-launch funding from Sogal Ventures, followed by a successful $10 million Series A. Additionally, Rivera navigated the complexities of being pregnant while raising funds, confronting implicit biases from investors. A pivotal moment was her interaction with Anu from Female Founders Fund, who provided unwavering support and redefined Rivera's perspective on balancing motherhood and entrepreneurship.

Balancing Family and Business

Rivera's ability to manage a thriving business alongside raising four children is a testament to her disciplined approach. She shares her strategy:

"I have really sort of like compartmentalized what I'm focused on right now... family, work, and my health." (29:38)

Rather than striving for an unrealistic daily balance, Rivera focuses on weekly goals, ensuring that she honors her commitments to both her family and her business. This structured approach allows her to maintain productivity without compromising her personal life.

Growth and Achievements

Ceremonia's growth trajectory has been impressive, with the brand now featured in over 500 Sephora stores. Rivera attributes this success to the unwavering support of her community:

"We had so much organic posting about it. Community members like storming into Sephora doors with Ceremonia tote bags." (22:40)

The decision to open a physical flagship store was driven by the desire to create a consistent and controlled brand experience, fostering a dedicated space for Ceremonia’s community. This move not only solidified the brand’s presence but also provided a home for events, press days, and community gatherings.

Advice to Entrepreneurs

Drawing from her experiences, Rivera offers valuable advice to fellow founders:

"Focus on your strength and don't beat yourself up too much about your weaknesses." (36:51)

She advocates for leveraging one's strengths to drive impact, rather than obsessing over areas of weakness. Additionally, Rivera highlights the importance of community and authentic connections, emphasizing that building a supportive network is crucial for sustained success.

Conclusion

Baba Rivera's journey with Ceremonia underscores the power of cultural authenticity, community support, and unwavering determination. Her ability to navigate the complexities of entrepreneurship while honoring her heritage and balancing family life serves as an inspiring model for aspiring founders. As Ceremonia continues to grow, Rivera remains committed to elevating Latin culture within the beauty industry and beyond.

"If you can see it, you can believe it." (32:59)

Notable Quotes:

• Compartmentalizing Focus:

  "I'm really focused on, on family, work and my health. You really only get to pick three." (29:38)

• On Representation:

  "If you can see it, you can believe it." (32:59)

• On Funding Challenges:

  "Latina women actually receive like the smallest part of the pie when it comes to funding." (15:24)

• On Community Support:

  "Our success is a shared success." (22:40)

Final Thoughts

Baba Rivera's episode on From the Ground Up is a compelling testament to the intersection of cultural heritage and entrepreneurial spirit. Her story not only highlights the challenges faced by Latina founders but also celebrates the triumphs achieved through resilience and community empowerment.

Transcript

[Diana Ransom]

So, Diana. Kate.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Christine.

[Baba Rivera]

Christine. Diana.

[Kate Luzio]

Kate.

[Diana Ransom]

Diana. Christine.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Do you remember the first time you stepped out of your comfort zone?

[Baba Rivera]

I have two brothers, one on each side.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Right.

[Baba Rivera]

So I remember the first time I came in crying and my dad said, what happened? And I said, I got pushed down. We were playing stickball, and he said, get your ass back out there and show them who's tough. And that was a big moment for me that I still remember. Whatever. I am almost 50. How many years later that I did, I walked back out there and got back up and said, I'm playing just as hard as you and let's go. And I think that is a through line for my entire life.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

This is from the ground up. I'm Inc. Executive editor Diana Ransom, and.

[Diana Ransom]

I'm editor at large Christine Ligorio Chavkin. Today's episode Creating youg Own category.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Hey, everyone. Christine and I are back with our special guest host, Kate Luzio, who's the CEO and founder of Luminary.

[Kate Luzio]

Hey, guys. Hey, Kate.

[Diana Ransom]

Good to see you again.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

So, Kate, I'm seeing you and your hair looks fantastic.

[Baba Rivera]

Thank you. Very dirty.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

It's very dirty.

[Kate Luzio]

Very dirty.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Is that like the dry shampoo?

[Kate Luzio]

Just.

[Baba Rivera]

No, I can't use dry shampoo.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Okay.

[Baba Rivera]

It is not good for my hair, but I have found that my hair is quite long and takes a long time to do, so I just let it be dirty and that's fine. Looks better sometimes.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Yeah. I mean, whatever you're doing works.

[Baba Rivera]

Thank you.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

But yeah, no. So we're totally. We're talking about hair products. We're talking about beauty products. The entrepreneur we're talking to today is Baba Rivera. She's the founder of Ceremonia. It's sort of a new company, and she's mainly focused on hair care products that cater to Hispanic or Latina population. And it's kind of revolutionary in the sense that there weren't really products for this community before she got started. I mean, they existed, but they weren't necessarily household names.

[Baba Rivera]

So I love Baba. We had Baba speak at Luminary when she was just launching Ceremonia and just seeing what she did prior. Right. Running her own agency, et cetera, to saying this is a real problem, given she didn't see anything in the market for her. And so I love what she's built. And I think it's not only a product for the Latino Hispanic population. I think it now goes to all hair. I mean, I use it what she is building and continues to build. Plus she's attracted a great deal of funding in order to build this, which I think is also historic.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Well, and she definitely talks about that. She talks about how one of the investors she ended up talking to along the way tried to give her advice on how and when to raise her family. Meanwhile, she's actually pregnant.

[Baba Rivera]

Wow.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

I mean, it's such a. It was like a earth shattering moment. I can only imagine what it must have been.

[Baba Rivera]

And I'm sure that investor didn't look like her.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

So Baba and I began by talking about her background and where the seeds for Ceremonia took root.

[Kate Luzio]

Ceremonia is a clean hair wellness brand that is very proudly rooted in my Latin heritage.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Your background is interesting. You're Chilean and you also grew up in Sweden. Is Ceremonia sort of a product of your own upbringing and heritage?

[Kate Luzio]

Very much so. I grew up in a very Hispanic household, but in Sweden, which I think culturally could not be more different from Latin culture. And my parents moved to Sweden more so out of necessity than anything else. I think sometimes people assume that, oh, like, how nice that they moved to Sweden. And they think they moved maybe for jobs or something like that. And like, it could not be further from the truth, what was happening. So there was the dictatorship in Chile that prompted the move. And my parents didn't pick Sweden by any means. Like, they just ended up there. They were accepting political refugees at the time. And so Sweden was a pretty tough landing, I would say, for my parents, culturally.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

What did they do for work when they got there?

[Kate Luzio]

So my mom, none of my parents have like a degree, so my dad had a bunch of jobs. He was a hairdresser back in Chile. So a little bit of a full circle moment for me to have a hairbrand now. He also would do electrician work and plumbing or whatever like he could do to make ends meet. And my mom, she had my brother really young, so she was home. And then when they moved to Sweden, my mom would do some cleaning jobs here and there. But even that was hard for her to get because of the language barrier.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

And then what was it like for you growing up in Sweden? Did you feel like any kind of tug and pull in terms of your own heritage?

[Kate Luzio]

Yeah, I mean, a lot. I think it was interesting because on one hand at home, I had one set of values and, you know, learned about how to be as a human being. And then in school I was learning something different. So. And. And that's what I mean about Swedish culture being so different from Chilean culture. Swedish culture is a little bit more about the individual, whereas Latin culture is more about the collective. And in Sweden, I was also in school, celebrated for being an independent thinker and sort of like, questioning the norm. And if you question the teacher, that that's a good thing because it means you're an independent thinker. But in my household, questioning adults was considered rude. So it was just like this very interesting, like, dynamic, I think, as a child, trying to figure out what's right and wrong and, like, how to operate in this world, because I was being fed very different mess.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Right. Well, so flash forward, I guess, when you got to the United States. The United States is also very independent in terms of praising that. Did you feel like there was culture shock here for you at all?

[Kate Luzio]

No, actually, I came to New York. Right. Which is maybe not.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Not exactly America. America.

[Kate Luzio]

New York is a thing of its own. But coming to New York was a homecoming for me. I think it was the first time that I actually really felt like all of the different pieces that make up me were celebrated and probably stepped into my full self up and arriving here.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Cool. And what made you think Ceremonia was the right kind of company to start? At the moment you started, it was like, 2020, right?

[Kate Luzio]

Yeah. So I launched it 2020. I was working on it for a little bit over a year before. So there were two driving forces. On one hand, it was just a personal need. I spent over a decade frantically damaging my hair, which I think a lot of women can relate to. But I GRE in the era of, like, your hair needing to be super straight, ideally not black. So I bleached my hair. I was straightening it on a daily basis and putting all these, like, really toxic products that were promising me to tame my hair and to make it shiny and smooth. And the only thing that happened was that these were all band Aid solutions. And over time, my hair just got so damaged, frizzier than ever, and I just started to hate it even more. So I would basically wake up an hour earlier every day just to style my hair.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Just to do your hair. That's wild.

[Kate Luzio]

That's a wild imagine.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

And also those hours, you're just putting chemicals on it, like, daily.

[Kate Luzio]

It's like one. You're waking up one hour earlier to just do something bad for yourself. That's terrible. Right. So I wanted to break free from that vicious cycle. I think as I was growing into, you know, my adult self, I was just questioning that behavior. And I had simultaneously done a very interesting journey with my skin, where I used to feel the need to wear a lot of makeup. And then I Had embarked on a clean skincare regimen and actually used a lot of the products from a fellow Latina brand called Tata Harper. And I was really inspired by how I was able to transform my skin when I eliminated all of these toxic ingredients. And I basically unlocked real glow. And when you have real glow, you don't want to cover it up with makeup. So I remember thinking to myself, imagine if I could do that same journey with my hair. Like, what if I would just, like, unlock my best natural hair and I would just, like, wash it and let it air dry? What a concept. I mean, the other driving force here, truthfully, was also just realizing what a lack of representation the beauty industry has. And it was interesting because 2019 conversations about diversity were definitely happening. But for some reason, Latin representation was oftentimes overlooked in those conversations, which is.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Wild in the United States.

[Kate Luzio]

Yeah, we account for 20% of the population. Read that we're expected to reach 30% by 2060.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Wow.

[Kate Luzio]

So, like, the future really is Latinx. Like, whether you want to believe it or not, like, those are just the facts. And that was the driving force for me in wanting to create something that was rooted in Latin culture, because I realized that for the longest time, I had been neglecting my own relationship to my own heritage, and I wasn't carrying my culture with pride. And I realized that that was a result of just not having enough representation in an aspirational way. The only times I would see Hispanic representation was in a quite a, like, dystopian way. Like, in Hollywood, it equals being a drug dealer or a maid or, you know, so, like, that's not real representation. So I wanted to create a brand that really would put Latin culture on the world map and that would sort of, like, load Latinidad with positive attributes. And I'm very inspired by French beauty. They have really mastered to make French culture feel aspirational. And I've been buying French beauty my entire. And I'm not French. Right. And somehow that felt like a luxury thing. I want to create the same thing with Latin culture, where I want not only Latin people, but non Latin people to start aspiring to be part of this world.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Do you feel like you've already kind of transcended how much of your customer base ends up being Latinx versus not?

[Kate Luzio]

So that's actually what's fascinating is that we're four and a half years in, and about half of our customer demo identifies as Latinx and the other half don't. And the other half, like the imperial power user of ceremonia who is not Hispanic is actually like a pretty traditional, like, white woman who is just very conscious. It's almost like the goop customer, you know, like someone who's just, like, extremely conscious. And we do really well at this French retailer called oh My Cream. They have a super high bar for what they consider to be clean. And we learned that our customer is extremely savvy, and they read ingredients and they are very conscious consumers. They want to use sustainable things. They want to use things that are safe for them. So I would say that that's, like, really, like, the core of our business is the level of clean that we offer and the wellness approach to hair. And then because of our Latin heritage in the brand, we also very naturally appeal to the Latin demographic as well.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Right, but you're also using raw materials that are more akin to, like, Latin heritage or Hispanic heritage. Right?

[Kate Luzio]

Yeah. So our key ingredients are most of them are derived from Latin America. So guava is a big ingredient for us.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

I noticed you have a guava candle too.

[Kate Luzio]

Right. I mean, we're obsessed with all things guava, and so is our customer. Our guava collection has, like, a more tropical scent too. And one of the most common questions I get is like, will you please make a guava fragrance? So there is something I think about just like, this transportive element of using very tropical ingredients that really have the power to transport you mentally.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Yeah, that's fascinating. Back to your background a little bit for a second here. You started your career at Uber, right?

[Kate Luzio]

Yes.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

So you're working. You're working at Uber in Stockholm, and then you ended up as the director of marketing at Away in New York City. And then you also started up your own marketing agency called By Baba. This is all before you launched Ceremonia. So you have, like, an incredible resume even before you launched a company. How was that helpful? How was having all these other varied experiences helpful for when you wanted to start Ceremonia?

[Kate Luzio]

I deem them very, very helpful. I am very glad that Ceremonia was not my first endeavor because there is just something about learning how to work. Like, my husband and I talk about this a lot. To learn how to work is a skill. And I'm so happy. I had, you know, my quote, unquote, dog years in my twenties of just working around the clock. And what I did not have an experience, I put in in hours. You know, gosh, Uber sweatshop. I mean, I worked very hard at, but I wouldn't change it for anything in the world. I loved my experience at Uber. I'M grateful for it. It felt like getting paid to do a business school, basically.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Awesome.

[Kate Luzio]

Yeah, it was a really cool experience. Did I have work life balance? No. But did I need that in my early 20s? No. Like I was hungry to learn. I just wanted to do, I wanted to grow. So that experience was super valuable. And I think the experience that I don't have. Right. Is beauty. Like if you think about it, my background is in tech basically. So that was, I think the scary part of entering a category that I technically did, but I think that also has been my advantage is that I've had a fresh perspective to it. I'm not married to old ways of doing things. I'm really looking to innovate because I'm not confined by the way it should be.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

So how did you gain that knowledge though? I mean, obviously you have perspective and you're coming into it as an outsider, but like, did you hire people who knew something about the beauty industry?

[Kate Luzio]

Yeah, I think obviously you can always hire for the things that you don't know. But I think that as a founder you have to understand like I think the core of your business at the end of the day. So I'm super close to product. We are a product business and I think it would be crazy if I didn't understand like the fundamentals of, you know, the creation of our product. That that's the DNA. I do some angel investing too. And whenever I see a tech company that is founded by people who don't understand the tech, then that's a red flag because you can't outsource the core of the business. So for me it was a lot about truly just like self taught, like studying it on my own while also doing knowledge exchanges. So I actually in the early days I had this other founder who he kept reaching out to my agency because he didn't know much about branding or marketing and he really needed help there but he couldn't really afford my agency services. And as I started to think about building a beauty brand, I was like, I have an idea for you. How about we do this like exchange where I help you with all things marketing and brand and you help me with all things.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Oh, this is brilliant.

[Kate Luzio]

Yeah, like chemical engineering. Yeah. So we literally had like three hour lunches and he also connected me to our first chemical engineer and he explained like how you work with labs and if you want to do formulations in house, what you need to think about. And it was just like so eye opening. And I hope I helped him equally much. I think that's something that I always recommend. Founders is that there are people that are, you know, amazing at what you're looking for. And. And don't underestimate your own genius. Like, you have something that someone else needs and like, you know, help each other.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Yeah. And super smart, especially when you're trying to stay scrappy when you're starting.

[Kate Luzio]

Like, I couldn't afford a consultant at the time, you know, so it was like I needed to just do it.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Yeah, you can't hire, you know, try to use your resources smartly. But you did manage to raise funding, Right? So ceremony has about 13 million in venture funding.

[Kate Luzio]

10.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

10 million. Okay.

[Kate Luzio]

So we. We actually raised a million dollars pre launch, which in today's day and age.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Is like, how's a Latina founder too? I mean, that's.

[Kate Luzio]

Yeah, I mean, it's crazy when you add the Latina founder element to it. It's just very depressing, I think. I mean, women.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Yeah, we don't need to go there.

[Kate Luzio]

Exactly. But just like, it's good for people to be aware. Like, Latina women actually receive like the smallest part of the pie when it comes to funding, but it's also among.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

The biggest groups that are sort of growing into entrepreneurship.

[Kate Luzio]

I know. So there is a huge discrepancy there because it means that it's not for lack of participation, it's just for lack of opportunity. So we raised 1 million pre launch. It was a pre seed. It was led by Sogal Ventures. They have been with the company ever since.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

They're super fans.

[Kate Luzio]

Yeah, they're on the board. They like, it's just been amazing working with women. And they know what it takes to be an early stage business because they have seen that movie many times. They invest early stage. They invest in diverse founders. Honestly, I was just lucky that I met them at the time.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

I don't know. I mean, you have a lot of operational experience. That must have helped you.

[Kate Luzio]

Yeah, actually I got an introduction to them from one of my early clients at Baibaba, actually, now that I think about it. So, yeah, one of my first clients when I was running my brand marketing agency was Aday, the Athleisure brand.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Oh, right.

[Kate Luzio]

Yeah. So Nina, the founder there, she works a lot with the Sogal team. And then when I told her I was starting ceremonial, she's like, can I please introduce you to Sogal? This will be right up their alley. And I was like, oh, yeah, sounds great.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

And then subsequently raised another 10 million.

[Kate Luzio]

Yeah. So we did a 10 million Series A and yeah. And that's been our journey.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

But while you were doing this, while you're having these meetings with venture capitalists, you were also pregnant.

[Kate Luzio]

Yes. I mean, I've been pregnant basically for four years.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Yeah. I have not been in your shoes necessarily, but I do have children who are like 17, 18 months apart. So I do remember what it's like to like not have any gap and not have any break. So, I mean, I can't imagine doing it in your scale. So you have four children, but at this point you're raising money, you have to have a conversation with them about like, hey, guess what, I'm pregnant. Did you have that conversation and what was that like?

[Kate Luzio]

Yeah, I would say that it was so hard with my first pregnancy because I think also I was just myself navigating a lot of fears. I didn't know what motherhood was going to mean to me. And all it was fed was basically that motherhood equaled, like, not being able to be a business professional. Like, it was sort of like this very binary. Yeah, yeah, you have to stop your career. Exactly.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

To halt everything.

[Kate Luzio]

And all my Swedish friends, they go on one year maternity leave. Right. So, like, that was also an expectation. And then the other extreme was, you know, American hustle culture where you don't get any time off and you just like shovel your kid out to, like daycare when they're six weeks old. And. And I mean, one thing actually that I realized recently is that you're not even allowed to adopt a dog until they're eight weeks old because they need to be with their mom. But in America, you can send your 6 week old baby to daycare just to put in perspective. But anyways, I was fed these very binary, you know, experiences, so I didn't know what to expect and I was super nervous. And I remember calling up every single investor to tell them the, in my mind, bad news that I was pregnant.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Oh, no.

[Kate Luzio]

And which is so sad. Like, it's the most amazing news, right?

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Yeah, yeah.

[Kate Luzio]

But who actually really flipped the script for me was Anu at Female Founders Fund.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Anu? Dougal.

[Kate Luzio]

Yes. So I remember I texted her, I was like, anu, I have to talk to you. Do you have a few minutes? And she's like, yeah, of course.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

She's like, are you dying? Are you? What's going on?

[Kate Luzio]

Because she had just invested. And then she's like, hi, what's up? And I was like, okay. So I want to tell you that, you know, I'm expecting. She's like, oh, my God, it's so exciting. Congrats. Wow. When are you due? And I was like, yeah, da, da, da. And she's like, okay, cool. So what did you want to talk about?

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Moving right along. Yeah.

[Kate Luzio]

And I was like, no, that was the thing. She's like, fava. She's like, have you seen our portfolio? They're all malls.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Well, female founders ones. Okay. Obviously, yeah.

[Kate Luzio]

But I understood that there were female founders, but I don't think I like, fully connected that these were women who also had personal lives, you know, so she really flipped the script for me. And then I was definitely much more unapologetic about it the second time around. And I mean, now I have four.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Kids, so yeah, now you're just like, whatever, I'm doing it, I'm doing it.

[Kate Luzio]

And I think I had to dismantle a lot of limiting beliefs for myself before getting to that point. But I realized that the reality though too is that as a founder, and especially an early stage founder and a venture backed business, there is no such thing as taking a year off. Like, if you just raised money to see if this company can fly. There is no such thing as, like raising money and then using that entire run rate to be home.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Right.

[Kate Luzio]

You know, like you have to prove, you have to prove your existence. That's the reality. Like, it's so different running a startup or even just working at a startup than it is to work corporate because you're fighting for your actual existence.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Wow.

[Kate Luzio]

That's the definition of startups. Like, there's no guarantee that the startup is going to be around.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

It's stressful just hearing you say that.

[Kate Luzio]

Yeah. And the moment I took in capital, I felt like I had an egg clock next to me.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Oh, yeah.

[Kate Luzio]

Because money will run.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Do you still feel that?

[Kate Luzio]

Yeah, all the time.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Okay.

[Kate Luzio]

I think I just learned to live with the stress.

[Diana Ransom]

Okay, hold on, hold on. Let's pause here for a moment. It really says something about American society and how we treat mothers that even when being surrounded by fellow female founders who were also moms, Baba felt like she had to be ashamed for wanting to grow both her family and her company.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Yeah, I definitely had a lot of empathy for her. I mean, I'm not starting a business, but I definitely am trying to balance a career and motherhood myself. So I feel like I've never been in her shoes. Exactly. But I definitely felt like I was in her shoes and can only imagine what it must be like to literally be pregnant or have children at home and trying to manage a company and fund it.

[Baba Rivera]

And I just think it's amazing that she stuck to her instincts. She knew what she wanted to build. She didn't let anyone tell her she couldn't build it. And, and what she's done and how she's done it is really admirable and I think puts her on a great trajectory, but also really is role modeling for other founders that can see her and know they can do it too.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

She's stood up for herself in a way that I think that I think entrepreneurs can learn a lot from her.

[Diana Ransom]

That's fantastic. What did you guys talk about next?

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

When we come back, Baba talks about a major milestone. You have experienced some considerable success, you know, so kudos, you know, flash forward. You're in around 500 Sephora stores now. The first Latinx hair care brand, right?

[Kate Luzio]

Yeah.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

So congrats to that. And you also launched like a physical store in 2023. So what do you attribute that growth to?

[Kate Luzio]

Honestly, our community. I really feel it in my heart that we could not have gotten here without them. I feel very much the support from our community in the sense that our success is a shared success. It's meaningful because of the underrepresentation that we have all experienced. So when we entered Sephora and became the first Latina founded hair brand to ever do so, our community showed up big. Like we had so much organic posting about it. Community members like storming into Sephora doors with like ceremony at tote bags and it was just like, like that level of brand awareness would have been impossible for us to gain without the community.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Yeah. So why start a physical location? You know, you have all the, the exposure to Sephora's around the country. Why do a physical store? What's the benefit there?

[Kate Luzio]

Yeah, so actually because of that, because at Sephora we have a really hard time controlling the brand experience. It's a wild, wild west. You know, you're competing with customers attention for so many things. Your real estate is really, really limited. And when we launched at se, we only had one shelf and we were at the bottom. Like literally we're on the floor.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Oh man.

[Kate Luzio]

Yeah, I mean we're, you know, the underdog. And we still are, by the way, like we're still, you know, proving ourselves out and you have to like fight for your very existence in this highly competitive space that is the beauty world. So I remember feeling like I don't want that to define my brand. And we are so community driven and we don't have a home for our community. Every time we want to gather them, we have to reinvent the wheel, recreate a branded. And we were actually spending so much money in the end trying to create these experiences. So by having a physical space, we not only were able to really define our brand, but we're also able to create a home for our community and we're able to do things consistently. So.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

So were you like renting out spaces to have.

[Kate Luzio]

Yeah, you would do, you know, like a buyout. You would take over a restaurant or you would, you know, rent out a space. And now we our flagship and it's perfectly on brand. We host press days there. We do photo shoots, interviews, community days, happy hours, press previews.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

And did her USA kind of prompt any of this desire to have a physical location? And what is her USA or what was it?

[Kate Luzio]

Yeah, honestly, this was probably 10 years ago when I moved to New York. I launched a female network called Her. I was running the US chapter together with a co founder. Her name is Marika. And my friend was running it in Europe. And it was really just a collective to get women together to help each other professionally. We felt like this was something that men were really good at when they meet, they talk work and they share notes and they introduce each other to people. I remember when I met my husband.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Who by the way, is also an entrepreneur. Yes.

[Kate Luzio]

And sold his company and has been.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

A great sort of like, we've written about his company. Oh, really? Yeah, yeah.

[Kate Luzio]

I mean, of course. Yeah, he's been a great inspiration for me too. Just I had basically a front row seat to his entire journey with Tiktale and. And I remember that, like, I would sit in on conversations with him and his friends and the way they were helping each other was just so fascinating. And then I would sit with my girlfriends and the conversations would be about completely different things. And then no one was even helping each other professionally. So I wanted to basically like take a page from the men's book and apply that in my female's fair. And I am so glad I did. My entire network today somehow leads back to her.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Oh, wow.

[Kate Luzio]

Yeah, it's incredible. The reason I know so many founders today and even investors are because of the early days of her. Like, I really built my network through peers. And we were all just, you know, in our early 20s. At the time I was marketing manager at Uber. Someone was like a marketing manager at Sweet Green. Someone was at Glossier. And then next thing you know, these people have become right.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

They move on. They rise up the career ladder and become super influential. Yeah, that's amazing to hear that. And so from that you were standing up kind of events. These were like networking events. And the whole idea of having a community has seemed to have followed you.

[Kate Luzio]

Through your career too. Yeah, I think that's just like the way I grew up. Our little tiny apartment in the projects of Sweden was the center point of my family's community. We would have my cousins over with their four kids in our two bedroom apartment, no questions asked. We would have have salsa parties. Like, community is so ingrained in my blood. I don't know anything else. So I think, what's a salsa party like?

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Does everybody bring their own salsa?

[Kate Luzio]

No. You dance salsa?

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Oh, you dance? Yes, I'm very food oriented.

[Kate Luzio]

Sorry. I mean, same. I'm like, we should add that element though. Salsa.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

You bring your own salsa and then we dance.

[Kate Luzio]

That's new salsa. We're coming soon.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

We're gonna do it. So we talked about Carl for a minute and you described what it's like to have had the front row seat to seeing his business. How hard is it to have two entrepreneurs in the family?

[Kate Luzio]

It is pretty hard. Luckily, he is an employee now.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Oh, right, right. He works at Shopify because the company was acquired in 2018.

[Kate Luzio]

Yeah. So he sold his company, Shopify, and then started working there. So I do appreciate that there is at least a little bit of stability in our household.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Health insurance.

[Kate Luzio]

Exactly. But for a while, we were, you know, I was running by Bob and he was running tiktow. And I'm glad we only had a dog to think about at the time and not four kids, but having two professionals in general under the same roof with very demanding jobs. Because even though he's an employee, he has a super demanding job. He has to travel if something breaks at shop. He oversees such a big part of the company, he's always on call. So it just puts a lot of pressure on a system at home. So in many ways, I feel like this past year and this year will continue to be a period in our life of really setting the foundation for what it's like to be a family.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Yeah.

[Kate Luzio]

With one kid, you can just like, wing it. With two kids, you can almost wing it. But when you have four kids, you're running another company.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Wow.

[Kate Luzio]

It's like the Rivera Corp.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

This is like a conglomerate almost too. And you're also renovating a home.

[Kate Luzio]

Yes.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

That is its own headache. I'm sure if you tack on Ceremonia being like, considered your fifth baby. So that's five under five, if you were to think about this.

[Kate Luzio]

Yes.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

It's kind of wild. So how do you manage it all? Like, what do you do to stay centered?

[Kate Luzio]

It sounds boring and I never thought these words would come out of my mouth, but routines, I used to hate routines and now I am a subscriber. Routines is where it's at.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

So what's your routine?

[Kate Luzio]

So the routine is I don't think that the perfect balance exists on an everyday, every minute basis, but I do think that you can have it all, just not all at once. So I've really sort of like compartmentalized what I'm focused on right now. And that doesn't mean I'm not going to re engage with other areas of myself at a later time. But right now I'm really, really focused on, on family, work and my health. And you really only get to pick three. Like, that's just the reality of it. And then to even make room for those three things, you have to be super disciplined. So I'm really disciplined about how I spend my week. And I might not have a perfect work life balance on a daily basis, but when I zoom out on a week basis, my goal is to be able to say that, yeah, that was a good week.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Yeah. How did you learn this rule of three that you're talking about?

[Kate Luzio]

I don't know. Maybe just like reading ink.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Exactly. I don't know. Wait, is that something that, I mean, very possible?

[Kate Luzio]

Yeah, very possible. No, but I really, I feel like my husband. I always come back to that. Like, you only get to pick three. Like whenever we try to add a fourth or, you know, a fifth, things break. I don't, I don't make up the rules.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

You're like, I tried it, it doesn't work. Yeah, yeah, we learn. So you also have an incredible following. I mean, I was just looking on social media for you. It's like 175,000 people follow you. I mean, you bas become kind of a fashion icon, but also people are interested in learning about you and your life. Does it ever feel like you're putting yourself out there and it's exhausting, like, to have to put yourself out there like that or has it been helpful?

[Kate Luzio]

Yeah, honestly, this is a passion. It's really just coming from a place of joy and I think that's why it flows so seamlessly. Like, it was never a goal of mine to like acquire followers or, you know, like, but for some people it is like, I want to be famous or I want this or that was never like an end goal for me. This is more so a buy product of me pursuing My passions and connecting with people, again, connection, Community has always been super important, and being able to do so through my digital platform has been such a gift, and it's been extremely helpful in business. Like, I cannot underline that enough. It's helped me with product development. It helped me with retail relationships. Like, we get some retail partners because our followers will literally reach out to them and be like, why can't I buy ceremonial hair?

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Oh, wow. Yeah.

[Kate Luzio]

So, like, it has an incredible power, but I only think it has that power if it's done from a place of authenticity.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Right, right. So you're being real with people.

[Kate Luzio]

Yeah. Like, I obviously post a lot about Ceremonia, but if you look at my account, it's not a. I am the founder of Ceremonia, and I only talk about products. Like, I give a lot of myself and my full self, and I do it because I enjoy it, and I love to be an expander to people. I feel like I grew up with a lot of limiting belief. I did not have any role models in my household or in my near preview. All of my parents friends were really struggling financially and emotionally, and I didn't have any expanders. So if I can play that role for someone today, that means a lot.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Right. And to some degree, what you're doing is offering representation. Like, showing a successful, you know, Latina founder is showing other people who are just coming up that it can be done.

[Kate Luzio]

That it can be done. Yeah. If you can see it, you can believe it. And it's such a cliche, but it really stands true.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Do you draw a line anywhere?

[Kate Luzio]

Yeah, I think I have an invisible line. Like, my kids are in my content here and there, but they're not main characters. You know, I'm not trying to make my kids famous. Like, that's not a purpose. And I mean, it can be. Right. Some people really want their kids to be a model or something like that. That's not an aspiration of mine. I prefer if they don't. But we do some shoots together where it feels like it's an opportunity to do something together that feels joyful. So it's like, it's a very, like, fluid line, you know? And I think that is very much a representation of how I live my life. I don't try to, like, confine myself with too many rules. If it feels right, it probably is right, and if it doesn't feel right, it probably is not right.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Did you always want to be an entrepreneur?

[Kate Luzio]

No. I didn't even know what entrepreneurship was because it's not in my family. And risk taking is also not something that was promoted in my family. My mom, all she could pray for was for me to one day hopefully get a full time job. Oh yeah, maybe have health insurance. That would be great. Like, and then I remember I got my first job and I mean, it was, you know, I think it was like a marketing coordinator or something. And I had like paid vacation. My mom was like, hold on to that job. Instead of being like, oh, amazing, like, how do you want to grow in your career? Like, what I'm trying to say is that I grew up from such a place of scarcity. So entrepreneurship was not even in this, you know, in the vocabulary. It was a later realization. And in many ways I actually think meeting my husband has expanded my preview a lot. And he also comes from a super humble beginning, but he had more of a risk taking appetite.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Yeah. Do your parents still live in Sweden?

[Kate Luzio]

Yeah, they do.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

And is Ceremonia carried anywhere in Sweden?

[Kate Luzio]

It is. And oh my gosh, you bet. They are very proud. They cannot stop talking about it. I'm sure their friends are like, yes, we know.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

That's so cute. I could just imagine your parents, like, very proud parents, like going and taking pictures of all the displays.

[Kate Luzio]

I actually just had my mom here in New York and I took her to Sephora yesterday because I had to see our new, we have new end caps in some of the Sephora stores and my mom, I had to drag her out of there. She was like talking to everyone in Spanish about the brand.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Oh, that's so sweet. That's so touching. Sorry, I have to ask you. So you were at the bottom of the show shelf and then how did you end up with end caps and all that?

[Kate Luzio]

Yeah. So I mean, Sephora is a highly competitive space, very data driven. But I will say that they are also mission driven and I think that they recognize that the new generation wants to see representation. So even if the sales data is not there to fully confirm that to be the case yet, they're willing to take some bets. And I see this across multiple categories. They have definitely taken a bet on us. I'm a small investor in Amicole and they are also part of the makeup's next big thing and they're black owned and they're also part of the 15% pledge, which doesn't help us Latinx people, but it helps speaks.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

It's speak to the mission.

[Kate Luzio]

Yeah. And like it just speaks to the mission at large for Sephora. So I think what Ceremonia brings to Sephora is that we are truly the cleanest of hair care and we are one of the very few brands, brands that is rooted in culture. And the new generation is really, really craving culture. We see this across on TikTok, even like Diwali, I feel like was a huge thing this year. And Hispanic Heritage Month grows every year. So I think Sephora recognizes that the future of beauty is multicultural and they.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Probably know that 30% of the population will be Hispanics Latinx one day. And then your best advice for fellow.

[Kate Luzio]

Female founders Founders, focus on your strength and don't beat yourself up too much about your weaknesses. Early on I learned, I think the old school, leadership school was that you should make your weaknesses your strengths. And I don't think that's surrealistic. I think we can spend a whole lifetime trying to improve our weaknesses, and we obviously can, but it will be in incrementals.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Right.

[Kate Luzio]

But if we double down on our strength, we can have astronomical impact.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Right? No, that makes sense. You're wasting your time almost trying to.

[Kate Luzio]

Fix yourself, and it doesn't mean that you shouldn't acknowledge and try to be better in the areas where you're not good. I work on my weaknesses too, but I don't think that's where I'm going to have the biggest impact.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Right. And in the end, you could also barter, right?

[Kate Luzio]

Yes, exactly. I mean, that's the learning, right? Just do a knowledge exchange with someone.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Yeah, this is great. Well, Baba, thank you so much for your time and I've really enjoyed talking with you.

[Kate Luzio]

Thank you so much. Much.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

So after my conversation with Baba, I'm left with both admiration and curiosity. I'm curious where she'll go next. What are the new mountains she'll climb? And admiration in the sense that she stuck to her principles when it concerned her company and the brand she wanted to build. And also doing it all with four kids at home under the age of five. Of course, it helps that she's been comfortable putting herself out there, but her persistent persistence is what strikes me. That's a lesson for all of us.

[Diana Ransom]

That's all for this episode of from the Ground Up.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Be sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your podcast platform of choice. Also, if you like this episode or have suggestions on what topics you'd like to hear about, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or reach out to us on inc's social channels.

[Diana Ransom]

From the Ground up is produced by Avery Miles, Sam Gabauer and Hawa Ohtori with Diana Ransom and myself lead producer is Blake Odom. Editing by Matt Toder. Mix and sound design by Nicholas Torres. Our executive producer is Josh Christensen.

[Christine Ligorio Chavkin]

Thanks for listening, and we'll see you next week.

[Kate Luzio]

Panoply.