How Carolyn Aronson Turned Her Puerto Rican Roots Into a Beauty Legacy

For Carolyn Aronson, beauty has always been about more than what happens in the mirror. It has been a way to understand identity, express individuality, and, ultimately, create space for others to see themselves in an industry where they haven’t always had a seat at the table.

The founder, CEO, and owner of It’s a 10 has built a beauty empire spanning haircare, color, and hair growth. But her journey to becoming a self-made entrepreneur began long before the first bottle of It’s a 10 hit shelves. Born Iris Ernesta Reyes, Aronson entered foster care as an infant before being adopted and raised in Michigan. At 26, she reconnected with her biological family and discovered her Puerto Rican roots.

“I didn’t even know I was Puerto Rican till I was 26,” Aronson tells Glitter. “Connecting with your roots and really understanding who you are and why you are the way you are is powerful.”

Today, Aronson remains deeply connected to her biological family, more than three decades after finding them. That reconnection helped her better understand a part of herself that had always been there.

Building It’s a 10 From the Ground Up

That same understanding of identity and individuality has informed the founder’s approach to beauty. After decades behind the chair as a hairstylist, she launched It’s a 10 with $80,000, building the company without a famous name, venture capital, or the massive budgets of the beauty giants she was competing against.

She also built inclusivity into the formula, developing products designed to work across different hair textures and needs. It was an ambitious approach for a founder entering a market already dominated by beauty giants with significantly more resources behind them.

“I started this company with $80,000 up against P&G, L’Oréal, Paul Mitchell,” she says. “How do you start from absolutely nothing and get to where I am today without a famous name, without big budgets?”

Two decades later, that scrappy beginning has grown into a broader beauty empire. Aronson has expanded her portfolio beyond It’s a 10, launching brands including CLOUD (affordable haircare), Rewind It 10 (hair color for men), F.A.S.T. (hair growth), and Arise (haircare). Across each venture, she focuses on creating products that address different hair types, textures, and needs, a perspective shaped by decades of working with clients.

Now, It’s a 10 is entering a new chapter of its own. Aronson recently tapped Khloé Kardashian as the brand’s first-ever global ambassador, marking the first time the company has officially put a celebrity face at the forefront of its marketing. After two decades of growing It’s a 10 through organic love and word of mouth, the partnership introduces the longtime haircare staple to a new generation while adding another milestone to Aronson’s ever-expanding beauty legacy.

Making Her Own Seat at the Table

For Aronson, building a successful business is only part of the legacy. During Hispanic Heritage Month, she hopes her story reminds other Latina women that their backgrounds should never dictate how far they can go.

“I think the piece of advice for a Latina woman… is that we can do it too, and that we have the ability to be in the rooms, to use our voices, to be ourselves,” she told us. “We are allowed to be all that and be successful.”

She also emphasizes the importance of Latina women supporting one another rather than viewing success as a competition. “We are not in competition. We are here to support and love each other and help each other.”

That philosophy is also at the heart of her upcoming memoir, Lift, Hold, Shine, October 13, which chronicles her entrepreneurial journey and the challenges, risks, and “miracles” that shaped her career.

And when it comes to finding your place in the room, her advice is refreshingly straightforward: “You show up first. You dress up, then you show up, and then you show them what you know.”

For Carolyn Aronson, knowing who you are is the first step. The next is refusing to let anyone convince you that you don’t belong.