Beauty Redefined: What Is Modern Beauty?

 

On this episode of 3×5, a podcast by ThenWhat, Host Grant Barth talked with Cece Meadows, Founder, and CEO of Prados Beauty, which designs and crafts high-quality cosmetics, makeup brushes, and lashes. He also talked with Julie Thibault, Founder of Martingale Advisors, which manages equity portfolios for many of the world’s most demanding corporate pension plans, foundations, endowments, public retirement systems, and multi-employer funds.

Thibault started her career in finance, private equity, and banking. After business school, she found herself in brand strategy, eventually falling into the beauty world. In her last role, she was the Head of Retail Innovation for Global Beauty. She then founded Martingale Advisors, which works with beauty companies, as well as other industries.

“My passion is ultimately consumers and figuring out why consumers do what they do and helping to solve some of the problems that exist,” Thibault said.

Meadows is an innovator on a different level. She started out as a makeup artist and has some experience in banking. Prados recently launched under Thirteen June inside JC Penney, an e-commerce beauty platform focusing on black and brown beauty products. Meadows started her brand in her baby’s nursery with $150 and the dream to be a global beauty brand one day.

“We’re the first Chicana- and Indigenous-owned beauty brand in a major retailer,” Meadows said. “It’s pretty exciting.”

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Image

Latest

team
Why Treating Everyone the Same Is Hurting Your Team
January 28, 2026

For years, management best practices emphasized uniformity: standard processes, standardized expectations, and treating everyone the same in the name of fairness. But today’s workforce looks very different than it did in the late 1990s and early 2000s. With multi-generational teams, shifting attitudes toward work-life balance, and an increased focus on emotional intelligence, leaders are…

Read More
giving back
Corporate Heartbeat: The Win-Win of Giving Back
January 28, 2026

Corporate giving is increasingly viewed as part of local economic infrastructure—not discretionary generosity. In the U.S., 13.7% of households experienced food insecurity in 2024, impacting millions of working families and signaling stress within regional labor markets. As cost-of-living pressures persist and metro regions like North Texas continue to grow rapidly, business leaders are reassessing…

Read More
setting scope
Crafted Journey How To: Setting Scope, Saving Sanity, and Protecting Long-Term Client Value
January 27, 2026

The independent workforce continues to grow, with professionals increasingly choosing solo and fractional paths over traditional employment. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that independent contractors now represent 11.9 million workers, or about 7.4% of total U.S. employment. Without the structural guardrails of traditional roles, independent professionals must define scope, success, and boundaries…

Read More
Culture of Safety
Beyond Drills: Building a Culture of Safety in Schools
January 27, 2026

School Safety Today podcast, presented by Raptor Technologies. In this episode of Principals of Change, host Dr. Amy Grosso sits down with Jeff Bryant, Principal of Jefferson Middle School, and David Sally, Associate Principal of West Aurora High School, to explore how effective school safety goes far beyond drills and locked doors. Drawing on…

Read More