Julissa Prado Started Rizos Curls In Her Cousin's Garage. Now, She Runs a Beauty Empire

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By All products featured on Glamour are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.Before founded and went viral on , she was just a teenager with a passion for hair.

Growing up in Los Angeles surrounded by her “huge Mexican family,” Prado's strong work ethic and love for beauty was engrained in her DNA.“You see a lot of people at a young age develop a little side hustle in LA," Prado tells Glamour. “I was the hair girl.” Of course, she wasn't alone: This was a family affair, as things often are for the Prado clan. “I also had a cousin who did eyebrows, another that did lashes, and another that did makeup," she says.Founded in 2017, Rizos Curls has become the go-to for Latina women looking to care for and enhance their natural hair texture, attracting both and celebrities alike ().

In the beginning, Prado ran her business out of her cousin Nathaly's garage, while orders were fulfilled by other cousins. “I'm completely self-funded," she says. “I've never had investors.

But something money can't buy is 100 first cousins in LA.”Rizos Curls was the answer to Prado's own problem: she couldn't find clean hair care products that worked for her natural hair texture. “I wanted to learn how to do my own hair to help my clients, and I remember going to the store when was not a thing and neither was textured haircare," she says. "I saw a frizz oil and cream that were full of silicones, so I was like, 'No, I'm going to have to make my own.'”Fast forward to today and Prado runs a clean curly hair care empire that embodies everything about her Mexican and Latina heritage. “Being Mexican, it’s embedded into everything that I am, from the formulas.