Founder Spotlight // Tope Mitchell, Founder & CEO of Reflekt Me
Since its beginning, XRC’s investment philosophy has demonstrated the importance of building a diverse startup portfolio. Out of all XRC investments to-date, nearly 47% have been female-founded and nearly 41% were founded by a BIPOC founder. This month, we’re highlighting some of the incredible Black founders bringing essential retail tech solutions and consumer goods to market.
First up we have Tope Mitchell, Founder and CEO of Reflekt Me. Reflekt Me is a B2B SaaS platform enabling beauty and fashion brands to monetize their user and employee generated content by curating and displaying images that reflect untapped online communities, resulting in a 1% top-line revenue increase for large brands. Tope earned a Ph.D. from Indiana University in Sociology with an emphasis on Social Psychology. Before founding Reflekt Me she worked as a lifestyle analyst and business strategist at award-winning companies (Mintel, Kantar Futures, and Three Group) and taught business courses in entrepreneurial marketing, new venture creation, and business and society at the undergraduate and graduate level.
Check out the interview below to learn more about Tope and the culmination of life experiences that inspired her to start Reflekt Me.
What motivated you to become a founder and start your business? Walk me through your career up to this point.
I have worked as an institutional researcher, brand strategist, senior researcher, and Associate head of multicultural insights at award-winning international companies. I was successful in these positions because I have a PhD in Sociology with a heavy focus on the intersection of race, class, and gender along with training in qualitative and quantitative methods. While in these roles, I was delighted to discover that companies from the Department of Defense to TNT want to learn more about Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion to authentically reach diverse audiences.
I became a founder when my daughter was very young and learning to wash her hands in the bathroom. She was distracted by her own reflection, and I caught the look of pure love that she gave herself in the mirror (and still does!). I decided from that moment on I would use everything that I have learned and worked for to help preserve her self-love, and bring this essence back to us as adults. A lot of my research found that imagery, particularly media and social media platforms, can distort the image we have of ourselves and cause us to dehumanize marginalized identities.
Where did the idea for your business come from?
I was motivated to become a founder based on what I learned as a researcher and corporate executive. The passion to create this business is fueled by the love I have for my children. The idea of what it would look like came from a few sources, including V (formerly known as Eve Ensler), George Gerbner’s research on symbolic annihilation, Jessica Ridgeway Clayton’s work exploring retail technologies, and Beyonce’s hit song, Flawless!
I watched an interview where V talked about traveling to another country and asked the women there if they compared themselves to each other. One of the women responded to V and asked, “Why would I compare myself to another woman? That is like one tree comparing itself to the next? Why don’t I focus on what is beautiful about my body and what it helps me to do every day?”
This response was hugely impactful to me and I’m still working on this myself. After having children, I looked at my body in an entirely different way. My body grew, held, birthed, and fed two of the most important people in my life. My children love me and they never judge my body because I am their Mommy, and that makes me beautiful to them. Just like they are beautiful and perfect to me.
Who and what inspires your entrepreneurial ventures?
The level of accountability that Gen Z and younger millennials have put on corporations to provide more authentic representation. I’m also inspired by the companies who are shining a glowing light and moving towards more inclusion in their practices like Sephora, Aerie, and Fenty Beauty.
What are the most common mistakes that new business owners make?
A common mistake, and a mistake that I made with my first business venture, was not spending more time with lawyers. We have worked with a legal team on our company structure, fundraising, Intellectual property, hiring, everything. This saved us a lot of heartache even though it was pricey. There are some wonderful law firms out there and programs such as Davis Wright Tremaine’s Tech Equity Hub and Women’s Entrepreneurship Bootcamp that allow you to connect with a lot of very smart lawyers.
What do you enjoy most about being in the XRC ecosystem?
The XRC ecosystem is amazing! Every top company that we would dream to work with is connected to XRC. Founders I looked up to as I began my journey are in XRC, and my cohort was full of very smart, driven, wonderful people.
What part of your day do you look forward to the most?
Reading nighttime books with my kids. To be fair, this is the easiest and most relaxing element of our hectic nighttime routine with a 2 year old and a 6 year old. 🙂
What advice would you give to your younger self?
Enjoy the process and celebrate your wins. I always push myself too hard, and I’m working on taking time to give myself grace and empathy through challenges and success.
Do you have any hidden talents?
I have boring talents that help me quite a bit in my real life. I can read quickly, almost at a glance. I can type quickly (60 wpm if I am being timed) because my mom always made me play a Mario computer game that made Mario run as fast as you could type. I also honed this skill while working with my Dad on his newspaper.
What could you give a 30 min presentation on with absolutely no preparation?
The need for diversity, equity, and inclusion within the fashion and beauty industry.
What accomplishment are you most proud of?
Working on Reflekt Me full-time while homeschooling my two kids during the pandemic. Despite how hard this was, we were able to land our large enterprise client during this time as well.
