Behind Her Empire Podcast: Finding Your 'Why' with Karissa Bodnar, Founder of Thrive Causemetics

Yasmin Nouri

Yasmin is the host of the "Behind Her Empire" podcast, focused on highlighting self-made women leaders and entrepreneurs and how they tackle their career, money, family and life.

Each episode covers their unique hero's journey and what it really takes to build an empire with key lessons learned along the way. The goal of the series is to empower you to see what's possible & inspire you to create financial freedom in your own life.

Behind Her Empire Podcast: Finding Your 'Why' with Karissa Bodnar, Founder of Thrive Causemetics
Thrive Causemetics

On this week's episode of "Behind Her Empire," hear from Karissa Bodnar, founder and CEO of Thrive Causemetics, a high-performance vegan, cruelty-free, direct-to-consumer cosmetics brand.


Karissa grew up on a farm in Washington State and has loved creating makeup since she was a young girl. After working as a make-up artist to pay her way through college, she landed a job at Clarisonic and then in L'Oréal's luxury division. Karissa never aspired to start her own business until she lost her dear friend Kristy to cancer. Kristy was just 24 years old.

As Karissa reflected on the generous life Kristy lived, she felt inspired to take action on her passion and create a brand that was truly bigger than beauty. A month later, Thrive Causemetics was born.

Starting out, Karissa self-funded the business, made formulas on her kitchen counter, and fulfilled orders all out of her one-bedroom apartment.

Six years later, Karissa has built a company with philanthropy at its core. Thrive Causemetics has donated over $100 million in funds and products to women's charities since its inception. However, none of this could have been done if it weren't for the success of her products. The company has grown to be a multimillion dollar company and is one of the fastest-growing brands in the industry. ⁠

Karissa has been named to Forbes' "30 Under 30" and its "America's Richest Self-Made Women" lists, as well as Marie Claire's "Most Powerful Women" and Inc.'s "Badass Female Founders" list.

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LA Tech ‘Moves’: Mapp Gains New CPO and CTO, Prodoscore Taps Boeing Exec

Decerry Donato

Decerry Donato is a reporter at dot.LA. Prior to that, she was an editorial fellow at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.

LA Tech ‘Moves’: Mapp Gains New CPO and CTO, Prodoscore Taps Boeing Exec
LA Tech ‘Moves’:

“Moves,” our roundup of job changes in L.A. tech, is presented by Interchange.LA, dot.LA's recruiting and career platform connecting Southern California's most exciting companies with top tech talent. Create a free Interchange.LA profile here—and if you're looking for ways to supercharge your recruiting efforts, find out more about Interchange.LA's white-glove recruiting service by emailing Sharmineh O’Farrill Lewis (sharmineh@dot.la). Please send job changes and personnel moves to moves@dot.la.

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This Week in ‘Raises’: GITAI Lands $30M, Steno Gains $15M

Decerry Donato

Decerry Donato is a reporter at dot.LA. Prior to that, she was an editorial fellow at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.

Raises
Image by Joshua Letona

A local space robotics startup raised fresh funding to expand the flight model manufacturing facilities throughout the U.S. and increase employment, while a remote litigation platform raised more funding to continue growing its footprint in new markets across the country, develop service channels for its clients and continue expanding its tech team.

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Gitai Raises $30 Million to Expand Manufacturing Footprint in Los Angeles

Samson Amore

Samson Amore is a reporter for dot.LA. He holds a degree in journalism from Emerson College. Send tips or pitches to samsonamore@dot.la and find him on Twitter @Samsonamore.

Gitai Raises $30 Million to Expand Manufacturing Footprint in Los Angeles
\u200bPhoto: Gitai

Space robotics company Gitai raised a $30 million Series B extension this week, bringing the total value of the round to roughly $47 million.

The funding will be used to further develop Gitai’s suite of space robots as well as build out its manufacturing footprint in Torrance. Previously Gitai announced it raised a $17.1 million Series B in March 2021; this additional raise is still part of that round.

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