Karissa Bodnar is a powerhouse. Standing tall at 5’2, she has always been an inspiration to me, and she’s never failed to give me support. She tells me all the time that “the world is your oyster” and to always chase after my dreams.
To me, she’s my cousin (and a force to be reckoned with), but to the world of beauty and business, she is the founder and CEO of Thrive Causemetics.
She initially founded Thrive Causemetics in pursuit of making clean and vegan beauty products that women who were going through cancer treatment could use, as some chemicals in other products are too harsh.
Nowadays, Thrive Causemetics is a brand that’s bigger than beauty, donating to various charities and organizations for every product that’s purchased.
Karissa was featured in Forbes’ 30 Under 30 in 2019, and in America’s Richest Self-Made Women in 2021(alongside Rhianna and Oprah Winfrey no less.)
Jessica Fox, a master at helping others find their purpose, is the Head of Philanthropy at Thrive and Karissa’s big sister (and my cousin).
Jessica runs the giving operations to help Thrive commit donate to various charities and causes.
“We have now donated to nearly 500 charities across the country—and that’s in all 50 states,” Jessica said.
Their primary causes are homelessness, cancer, domestic abuse, women veterans, education, and LGBTQ+.
“We donate products and funds to our hundreds of giving partners all around the world. We give back to the planet by being environmentally conscious, vegan, cruelty-free, and by actively looking for ways to be more sustainable,” Karissa said.
“At the end of the day, our goal is to leave the world better than how we found it.” – Karissa bodnar
With two incredible women (that I happen to be related to) at my disposal, I had to ask them for some advice on life, finding your way, and starting a career.
Karissa explained that it wasn’t a straight shot from college to being a CEO. In fact, she felt a little discouraged before she even started college.
“I didn’t get into the University of Washington on my first try,” Karissa explained. “Even when I had an associate’s degree, I went to community college and I think it’s really important to write that and say I went to Bellevue Community College because a lot of people get really discouraged when they don’t get into schools. I know I did.”
All she knew was that she wanted to be in the beauty industry, and getting into a university like UW was a means to an end for her.
What made a real difference for her was her ability to hustle.
“I was that super hungry young person that wanted more and more responsibility,” Karissa said. “I definitely had a sense of entitlement, and I also had to put in the work. I worked the long hours, I went to any meeting that I could attend when I was doing administrative work so I could get into that product development room and ultimately start creating formulas and devices which was what my dream was in the beauty industry.”
At Thrive Causemetics, there is no such thing as “it’s not my job.” Everyone is expected to help out in every area no matter what.
“Don’t ever act like a task is beneath you because even when you’re a CEO you’re going to be taking out the trash—if you’re a great leader,” Karissa said.
Jessica too, found college to be more difficult than the rosy picture she had in her head.
After doing running start and therefore graduating college younger than most of her classmates, she hustled until she found something she was passionate about.
Though she majored in psychology at Seattle Pacific University, she “fell” into finance and wealth management.
“I think as students, I think the system makes us believe that you go to school, you study one thing and that’s what you do, and it’s just not that way anymore,” Jessica said.
She explained that her psychology degree gave her the ability to ask really good questions that help others find their inner goals and purpose, a skill she uses to this day.
“There’s gonna be a lot of starts and stops that happen within your entire career. It’s not going to be a lineal path, and that’s okay. That’s part of it.” – Jessica FoX
“At Thrive Causemetics, what she is doing is,” Karissa said of her sister, “we have a giving commitment that we make with every purchase, and Jessica is then taking that budget and saying, ‘Okay, how can we turn this purchase into purpose’ and really use that to fuel the philanthropy that we do with now close to 500 charities.”
Jessica stressed for new college grads to not be afraid to try new things, because the more you do it, the easier it gets, and you’ll never know where you’ll end up.
“We’ve definitely experienced when we have new college grads—they’re so focused on getting an A, a B, a C. And it’s like that doesn’t matter. It’s your effort,” Karissa explained. “I don’t care about talent or skill, I care about effort and passion, and showing up and expressing the passion for the work that you’re doing will go so much farther than having the greatest skill set in the world, or a 4.0.”