Social Currency with Sammi Cohen Babba Rivera (Ceremonia) on Making Business Personal, Winning Retail, and Convincing Investors to Bet on Latinx Communities
Dec 2, 2025
Babba Rivera, Founder and CEO of Ceremonia, a haircare brand celebrating Latin heritage, shares her inspiring journey from agency work to building a culturally-rooted business. She reflects on blending her Swedish upbringing with her Chilean roots, early beauty rituals, and tough lessons from leading teams at Uber. Babba discusses rapidly growing Ceremonia, securing funding during COVID, and how she turned marketing cuts into profitability. She emphasizes a community-first approach in beauty and the importance of supporting Hispanic consumer narratives.
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Launch One SKU DTC First
- Launch direct-to-consumer with a single SKU to learn fast and collect customer feedback.
- Use that feedback to co-create the rest of your collection before retail expansion.
Label Mistake Became Branding
- A label print mistake added a black border to 5,000 bottles, which Babba embraced rather than reprint.
- That accidental border became a permanent part of Ceremonia's identity.
Retail Scale Requires Operational Readiness
- Big retailers like Sephora offer scale but require heavy marketing, rigorous data tracking, and operational bandwidth.
- Early indie validation (e.g., Credo) can act as a credibility stamp for larger retail entry.