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What You'll Learn in This Episode
Most people spend their whole careers waiting for permission to do the thing they actually love — and Monica Walls almost made the same mistake. A former HR executive in Silicon Valley, Monica walked away from a corporate path that wasn't fueling her passion and built Keca's Usna, a lipstick brand rooted in heritage, authenticity, and community. In this episode, Marques and Monica break down what it really means to be your true self in business, why authenticity is a competitive advantage — not a liability — and how Monica turned a childhood nickname and a grad school idea into a growing company with a community of women behind it. If you've been sitting on an idea out of fear, this conversation is the one you need to hear.
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Show Notes
[0:00] Welcome + Sponsor: Carpa Dia Law Firm
Marques opens the episode and hands the mic to sponsor Carpa Dia Law Firm, founded by Ilona Anderson. As Marques frames it: "Here's something most entrepreneurs don't think about until it's too late — is your business name legally protected?"
- Ilona specializes in:
- Trademark registration to lock down your brand
- Employee handbooks to protect against lawsuits
- Contracts that work in your favor
Whether you're bootstrapping or scaling a seven-figure company, Ilona works with entrepreneurs nationwide. Visit carpadiamlawfirm.com or connect with Ilona on LinkedIn.
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[2:15] Defining Authenticity: What Does It Really Mean?
Marques opens every episode with the same foundational question, and Monica's answer sets the tone for everything that follows.
> "Authentic means being your true self, regardless of what anybody else thinks, regardless of what is trending now, regardless of what is popular. Your core values are intact — your concrete pillars of who make you what you are."
For Monica, authenticity isn't abstract — it's structural. It's about knowing your "concrete pillars" and refusing to compromise them for the sake of trends or approval.
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[5:40] From Silicon Valley HR Executive to Lipstick Founder
Monica spent years as a senior HR executive inside major Silicon Valley companies. The last few roles, she's clear, weren't the right fit — "good people, but just didn't fuel my passion."
The turning point came from a childhood friend who called her bluff:
> "You've had an idea for lipstick since grad school. If you don't do this now, you're never going to do it."
Monica gave every reason it couldn't work. Single income. Mortgage. The timing wasn't right. His response: "Yeah, yeah, you'll figure it out. You need to do it."
That was the push she needed.
- About the brand:
- Keca was Monica's nickname as a teenager
- Usna is Croatian for "lip" — a direct tribute to her heritage
- Purple is her favorite color, woven throughout the brand identity
- The brand is built around Monica's actual personality: Tigger collections, Croatian churches, personal history — all of it
As Marques reflects: "A lot of people unfortunately will work a job that doesn't fuel their passion… if you have a passion, you have to find a way to get it done."
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[12:20] Why Authenticity Is a Competitive Advantage in the Beauty Industry
Marques introduces a new question he's been developing — one worth sitting with:
"What about your industry do you feel that being authentic allows you to do well? Why does authenticity give you an advantage in your specific industry?"
Monica's answer cuts right to it. In a world where people are searching for something real to connect to, showing up as yourself — without apology — creates the exact kind of magnetic pull that no ad budget can manufacture.
> "I'm able to connect with people who have already done what I'm doing. Some of them are farther ahead in their journey. Some of them are at the same places. And some of them haven't even started yet."
She describes a recent panel where she and two women who had never met before were so aligned on one message — "Don't let fear be the reason why you don't do it" — that women in the audience came up afterward and said: "I've had this idea. I was too scared. You gave me the courage. I'm going to do it."
Monica's bottom line:
> "You don't have to sell your soul to do what you love. And a lot of those things aren't for sale."
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[19:05] Building Keca's Usna: The Good, the Hard, and the Real
Monica is honest about what she assumed starting a business would feel like — and what it actually was.
> "I thought, oh, this will be a cakewalk. Not even close, not even close."
She describes the early days as a "crazy rollercoaster of fun and scary and rewarding."
What she learned — in her own words:
- Ask for help. "It's okay to build a little bit of a team around you. You're better off as a team than you are as an individual."
- Apply corporate skills differently. Her HR background gave her frameworks — she just had to translate them to her own business.
- Master what you don't know. She went deep on cosmetic formulations, factory relationships, and social media — none of which were part of her HR toolkit.
- Show up on social media as yourself. "I was used to kind of keeping that away just because of the nature of my job. And so now it's really, really different."
- Take your own advice. Monica used to tell employees: "I'll let you skin your knees, but not break your legs." Then she had to apply it to herself. "I'm going to skin my knees and I'm going to get bruises and it's okay. This is how you learn."
Marques highlights the social media shift as especially significant: Monica went from deliberately keeping herself out of the public eye to showing her full authentic self — and that vulnerability is a direct driver of the community she's built.
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[27:30] The Community Behind the Brand
What surprised Monica most wasn't the product — it was the people.
> "I have now built this amazing community of women who lift each other up, genuine, supportive. Nobody's creating a dead body to stand on, to get taller than the next person. We're all saying, there's enough room on the stage. Come on, we're gonna pull you with us."
She describes a slide in her presentations that lists every person who has shown up for Keca's Usna — friends who worked expos, stood on concrete at booths for long hours, helped put together pop-ups and presentations. The business has become a collective effort, not a solo climb.
> "This has been far more than what I thought when I first started. It's been unbelievably fantastic."
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✅ 3 Key Takeaways
> 1. "Being authentic is being true to yourself — your core values are intact." > Monica's definition of authenticity isn't philosophical. It's operational. Know your concrete pillars. Honor them. Don't move them for trends.
> 2. "You don't have to sell your soul to do what you love." > Authenticity in business is not a liability — it's leverage. In a world where people are looking for someone they can relate to, being exactly who you are is the differentiator that no competitor can copy.
> 3. "I'll let you skin your knees, but not break your legs — and I had to take that on for myself too." > The same grace Monica extended to employees, she had to extend to herself as a founder. Mistakes are the curriculum. The bruises are proof you're in the game.
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Resources Mentioned
- Keca's Usna — Monica Walls' lipstick brand: www.kecasusna.com (verify current URL)
- Carpa Dia Law Firm — Trademark, employee handbooks, and contracts for entrepreneurs: carpadiamlawfirm.com
- Ilona Anderson on LinkedIn — Founder of Carpa Dia Law Firm (search "Ilona Anderson Carpa Dia" on LinkedIn)
- Croatia / Croatian Heritage — Monica discusses her Croatian roots as foundational to the brand name ("Usna" = Croatian for "lip")
- Get Authentic with Marques Ogden — The podcast: find it on all major podcast platforms
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About Your Host: Marques Ogden
Marques Ogden played five seasons in the NFL with the Jacksonville Jaguars, Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills, and Tennessee Titans. After football, he built a multi-million dollar construction company — and then lost it all. From eight figures to $8.25 an hour. Bankruptcy. Rock bottom. But Marques came back.
Today, he's a five-time bestselling author, sought-after keynote speaker, and executive coach who has shared his frameworks with Fortune 500 companies, delivered 500+ keynotes, and reached 750,000+ people worldwide. His message is direct: "I don't teach theory. I teach what I learned the hard way — on the field, in the boardroom, and at rock bottom."
His programs don't just motivate — they equip teams with real tools for leadership under pressure, building winning cultures, and executing when it matters most.
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🎤 Book Marques to Speak at Your Next Event
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🤝 Work with Marques 1-on-1
If you're a leader, entrepreneur, or executive who's ready to stop wishing and start executing — Marques offers coaching built on the same principles that brought him back from rock bottom.
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