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As the founder of Mary Louise Cosmetics and Lucky Girl rosé, Akilah Releford Gould is one to watch. The impressive 28-year-old is the brains behind two successful companies and has big ambitions to be the next Gwyneth Paltrow. She tells The Daily how she’s created her brands and what’s ahead.
Tell us about your background.
I was born and raised in Hancock Park in Los Angeles. I love it and still live here. My parents [Dr. Bill and Debra Releford] have a home on the next street over, and my sister has a house on the next street over. We’re always together. My mom was a marketing director at IBM, and my dad is a serial entrepreneur. He’s a surgeon and specializes in diabetic wound care and amputation prevention; if people are recommended for amputation, he will save their limbs. Now he’s in biotech and runs a company called The Wound Pros. They’re the largest wound-care management company in North America. It’s a very science-y family, who were focused on eduction, which is ironic because I didn’t finish school. I went to Howard University as a premed student with a biology and chemistry minor. During that time I realized medicine wasn’t for me. I feel fortunate to have parents who have been supportive of my entrepreneurial journey and were excited when I wanted to start a brand and encouraged me to take a break from school to explore that. You usually hear of young founders who don’t have that kind of support from their parents. I feel grateful for that!
Lucky Girl rosé (Courtesy of Akilah Releford Gould)
You started Mary Louise Cosmetics from your dorm room. How did that happen?
In high school, I was a DIY queen, including skincare. This was the time when haircare and skincare tutorials were a thing on YouTube. I love making skincare products myself. I had bad eczema in high school and, in combination with over-the-counter ointments, I would make a honey oatmeal and egg white mask that I would put on my face in college. I would walk down the hallway and the girls would ask what was on my face and if I could make them some. It was for my personal use, but they wanted to know what I was doing. I didn’t know at the time that it was the ideal focus group to cater to. I went back home that winter break and told my dad and asked him if he could help me make a skincare product. We sat down at the dining room table and formulated a product, and I took some samples back to school and the girls loved it. They asked if I would ever consider putting it on a website so they could still order products when we went home for summer break, and that’s what we did. That’s how it all started!
Why is it called Mary Louise?
That’s my middle name and also my maternal grandmother is named Mary and my paternal is Louise. I thought it was a fun and cute vintage name.
How did you take it to the next level?
At this point I was getting online sales and making all the content myself, like tutorials on Twitter. I asked my parents if I could take a semester off to focus on the brand, and I’m still on that semester off six years later! I knew nothing about beauty. Though being in L.A. is probably the best place to be to launch a natural skincare line. I was able to network with a lot of people. It was a crash course from making a product from scratch and then selling it online.
Mary Louise Cosmetics (Courtesy of Akilah Releford Gould)
You also recently launched Lucky Girl rosé.
Yes, that was born out of TikTok and also my parents purchasing a winery a little over a year ago. My TikTok content is not about beauty skincare; it’s more about homemaking and lifestyle. I started posting when I got married and it turned into this Ina Garten/Martha Stewart/B. Smith baby. It felt like a creative release for me to do something that wasn’t business- or work-related. I post a lot about hosting events or dinner parties. I felt like the rosé was something that was organic to launch to an audience. People were asking if I had a product.
Why did you decide to call it Lucky Girl?
I was at a party with my husband [Andrew Gould] and someone had Liquid Death water, and I’m huge on energy and names. I said to my husband that I need to call it something that is the complete opposite of [the name] Liquid Death. Something that personifies the content and who I am. He said, “Why don’t you call it Lucky Girl?” Like pouring positivity and luck into a glass. I thought that was fun and cool. I was surprised it wasn’t already taken!
What differentiates the product?
It’s zero carbs and zero sugar. It’s made through a special fermentation process that our winemaker makes at the winery. What also sets us apart is most wines that are available either come from a winery or a vineyard. Most properties are not both. There’s a ton of great wines, but I think when people fall in love with beverages it’s through aesthetics and how they identify with it. It’s the storytelling that sets us apart. As a young woman of color, I don’t see a lot of us in the beverage space. I want to see more.
You’re 28 years old and already so successful. What are your long-term plans?
I want to be the Black Gwyneth Paltrow. I don’t think there is a voice of a Southern California–living woman, especially a woman of color. All the material is here, and through storytelling there’s a real opportunity to bring everything to the masses through quality products and events; I’m always having something at my house! I hosted a 60-person dinner party in December. I come from a big family of women. I have nine aunts. My mom is like Clair Huxtable from The Cosby Show. Homemaking and cooking and bringing family together are very much in my DNA.
Akilah Releford Gould (Courtesy of Akilah Releford Gould)
What is it about Gwyneth that you admire? Have you met?
I’ve never met her but have friends who are good friends with her. What I like about her goop brand is that it’s very organic and easy, but it feels like inclusive exclusivity. If I’m from middle America and in my own bubble, she gives a look into what Southern California luxury living looks like but also gives you access to it through food, content, and skincare. It’s a whole universe. We’re not as goop adjacent. I think we’re more Ina Garten adjacent. Let’s shuck oysters, go on a boat, and then go light a fire. It’s approachable.
We know Oprah Winfrey was an inspiration to you. Who are some of your professional role models?
I love Sara Blakely. Obviously Mother Martha [Stewart.] I love post White House Michelle Obama. She has a great personal brand. I love her book and how she markets herself. I love Sophia Amoruso, who started Nasty Gal clothing. She’s cool. I love Meghan Markle, too!
We read that you attribute gratitude to part of your success. What does that mean to you?
My parents are spiritual and they credit their success to being grounded spiritually. That means looking to something higher than themselves. Every single morning in our family group chat there’s a gratitude quote. At a young age we were taught that to get what you want or to have more of something that you want, you have to be grateful for it first. You have to be grateful for it before it happens or you’ll be in a constant state of wanting. Believe it first and then you’ll see it. It’s worked for me in all aspects of my life. I think of it as a spiritual piggy bank. You don’t know when you’ll need to withdraw from it, but it’s there. We’ve always been taught to be grateful.
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