Women To Know 2026 Editor Letter — 'Founding Mothers'
Editor’s Note: Women To Know 2026 — Honoring The ‘Founding Mothers’ Building A Brand And A Legacy
This year, Women to Know feels different. It feels deeper. More sacred. More… intentional.
For when we say Our Founding Mothers, we’re not just talking about women who built brands, we’re talking about women who built worlds. Women who are shaping culture in real time while raising the next generation inside of it. Black women beauty founders who are doing the audacious, exhausting, divine work of nurturing both business and family at the same time, often without applause, but always with intention.
At MadameNoire, we’ve always celebrated Black women who move the needle. But this year, we leaned into something even more layered: the brilliance that exists at the intersection of beauty and motherhood. The truth is, being a founder is one full-time calling. Being a mother is another. Doing both? Well, that requires something divine.
And that’s exactly what we found in Danessa Myricks, Janell Stephens, and Ashunta Sheriff.
These women are not just building businesses. Let’s be clear: this isn’t just about lipstick and leave-ins. It’s about lineage.
Ashunta told us bluntly, “Beauty to me is resilience.” And you feel that in every part of her journey from a little girl watching her mother fall in love with makeup, to becoming a powerhouse artist and founder with a vision rooted in culture and history. When she says, “Makeup was my ministry,” you understand that this work is bigger than products. It’s purpose. It’s making sure we never forget that Black women have, and always will be the blueprint.
Danessa’s story reminds us that becoming is a process and sometimes, the most powerful brands are born out of healing. “It is hard to love the beauty industry because it wasn’t loving me,” she shared. And yet, she stayed. She built. She transformed that pain into possibility. Today, her brand stands as a reflection of freedom, of self-acceptance, of what it looks like to finally show up fully. As she put it, “Beauty to me is absolute freedom… allowing the world to see every single part of you just as you are.”
And then there’s Janell—who started in her kitchen, as so many of us do, just trying to take care of her babies. “I wanted to solve a problem and a need for me and my family,” she said. What began as necessity became a movement. What began as motherhood became a multimillion-dollar brand rooted in wellness, intention, and love. But even in all her success, she reminds us to pause: “Stop and see what you really done. Pat yourself on the back.” A word, if we’ve ever heard one.
What connects these women, beyond their brilliance, is their clarity. They know why they started. They know who they’re doing it for. And they understand that legacy isn’t accidental, it’s built with intention, sacrifice, and an unwavering belief in what’s possible.
These are the women who are teaching us that you can nurture a child and a company. That you can be soft and powerful. That you can rewrite the rules and then teach your daughters (and sons) how to do the same.
So as you move through this year’s Women to Know, I invite you to do more than just read. I want you to witness. To reflect. To see yourself in these stories.
Whether you’re building a business, raising a family, or simply trying to honor the vision inside of you, remember that not only did you come from a founding mother, you have the beautiful ability to be a “Founding Mother” too.
So ask yourself, what will you birth into this world?
—Danica Daniel
Managing Editor, MadameNoire
