If you’re a household and personal care consumer, there’s a chance there’s been a bottle of Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day soap in your bathroom or dish soap in your kitchen.

Monica Nassif is the entrepreneur who created the popular range and its sister line, Caldrea. Before making her way into the cleaning category, Nassif worked at Target in media roles and later at Kilter Incorporated, her marketing design firm. 

Eight years after launching Caldrea, Nassif sold both brands to SC Johnson in 2008. When her 18-month contract was up, she left SCJ and shifted careers. Fast forward to 2026, Nassif is sharing her entrepreneur story in “I Bottled My Mother: The Mrs. Meyer’s Story: Grit, Grime & Growing a Business,” which debuted in March with IdeaPress Publishing.

Happi: What does it take to be a successful entrepreneur?

Nassif: Most successful entrepreneurs start out with a big, bold idea that will disrupt an entire category. Then they execute minute by minute upon this dream to make it a reality. Our vision for Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day was to offer an entirely new way of caring for your home with earth-friendly ingredients, personal-grade fragrances and stunning packaging. And the magic trick was providing a singular fragrance across all categories of cleaners, such as dish soap, hand soap, counter-top cleaner, laundry detergent and more. So, if a consumer loves lavender, for example, she can care for her entire home in one fragrance.  

In addition, I have observed that most successful entrepreneurs possess high energy, a strong work ethic, creativity and the ability to act without a lot of information.

Happi: How do you build a long-lasting, beloved brand?

Nassif: At its core, a brand is a promise. All beloved brands are authentic and authoritative. You create this emotional aura by being true to your mission and vision. By competing fiercely—standing out and shouting out next to your competitors. By proving sustainable for the long haul. And by offering the consumer an unforgettable experience when engaging with your product.

Happi: Where do you come up with all of your ideas? 

Nassif: By walking around. By watching and learning from everything I see. I’m a very visual learner. I love to tour stores, walk around major cities, study fashion and home décor brands and magazines, and visit art museums. I keep track of interesting things by taking pictures and noting them in an Excel document. Then I try to connect the dots.

Happi: What’s the first thing one should do if they want to launch their own brand?

Nassif: Make sure you create something extraordinary or you will not be noticed by your consumer. Imperceptible changes to a current product or service will be lost in today’s crowded marketplace. Study the players in your industry and those industries that are inspirational to you. For example, I studied top companies in the beauty industry to understand how they created their assortments, showed up on shelf and marketed their brands. Once you do that, then build a business
plan you can execute.