Carolyn Aronson, Founder and CEO of It’s A 10 Haircare.
photo courtesy of It’s A 10
Carolyn Aronson is a successful entrepreneur, philanthropist and the founder and CEO of It’s A 10 Haircare, one of the only female-owned professional hair care brands in the world. She announced full ownership of the company in 2017 and bought out her partner. In addition, as of November 2020, Carolyn announced the launch of Be A 10 Cosmetics, where she is also the Founder, CEO and owner of the brand, and in 2023, was announced as a co-founder of new men’s at-home hair color line, Rewind It 10 alongside her husband, Jeff Aronson and rapper, Fat Joe.
A self-made entrepreneur, Aronson began her career with 20+ years as a hair stylist and salon owner and continues to hold licenses in multiple states. It’s A 10 Haircare was born out of her frustration with brands that produced dozens of products with single benefits and hard-to-follow claims. She envisioned a line that was for everyone and delivered full, salon-quality results in just one bottle. She began with a star product, Miracle Leave-In, and the line quickly rose to fame through pro hair stylists, who shared the cult-favorite product with their clients. Since then, over 10 million bottles of the Miracle Leave-In are sold annually.
The Success of It’s A 10
Now a successful, global hair product company with a passionate celebrity and consumer following, It’s A 10 Haircare products are sold in more than 25,000 professional independent salons and 15,000 professional salon chains like Sally Beauty, Ulta, Cosmo Prof, SalonCentric, Regis and more.
It’s A 10 Haircare was born out of Carolyn’s frustration with single-benefit products with hard-to-follow claims.
photo courtesy of It’s A 10
Furthermore, the brand also announced their launch into the extensions-space, by unveiling their line called EX10SIONS by Carolyn. Carolyn plans to replicate the same booming success in the makeup industry with Be A 10 Cosmetics, as the brand is answering their customers’ needs – the ability to achieve a flawless makeup look in 10 minutes or less.
Currently, Carolyn is bringing It’s A 10 global, expanding the brand into 100+ countries, including major markets from the UK to India. Some international retailers include Harrod’s in the United Kingdom, and Chatters in Canada. In addition to her role as CEO and founder, Carolyn has been the face of her brand, appearing on QVC UK.
Carolyn has a fierce passion to create and provide value to the community, so every brand, formula and product she oversees needs to be a 10 out of 10. It’s a 10 Enterprises is a collection of top quality brands that extend past beauty and cosmetics to unprecedented new heights. This diverse portfolio will maintain Carolyn’s commitment to unparalleled excellence, community involvement and value to consumers.
With countless interviews with top-tier publications focusing on business as well as beauty, such as Entrepreneur, Fast Company, Ad Age, Forbes, Business Insider, TODAY, People, CNBC and many more, as well as huge speaking engagements on a local and national scale, she is truly a force to be reckoned with. Carolyn has also appeared on inspiring podcasts with national reach, including the Kara Goldin Show, Entreprenista Podcast, Women in Marketing Podcast, Glambition Radio, and many more.
Carolyn’s Initiatives, Advocacy & Ventures
Carolyn’s brand has helped women and men across the globe look and feel their best, while also allowing Carolyn to pursue her key priorities: Making the world a better place, raising a successful family and creating a culture that embraces diversity. With her kind and creative nature, she’s designed and continues to run several meaningful initiatives:
With her husband, Jeff Aronson, Angel Investor, CEO of Titan FC and Founder of Cash4Gold, Carolyn raises five children and extends the values of philanthropy to them. She created Kyana’s Dream Foundation in her daughter’s honor which is focused on providing increased security, education and emergency response for children in schools. Following the tragic Sandy Hook shooting, Kyana’s Dream Foundation partnered with Pine Crest School to develop a safer community for children and a teachable plan of action in case of emergency.
Aronson spends her time outside the office building green spaces. She transformed her former Fort Lauderdale home to a Silver LEED Certified building, the only green remodel in Broward County (South Florida). “Zen with a modern feel” is the way Aronson describes her home, and it mirrors her outlook on life.
In 2017, Carolyn made history as her company became the first indie-owned (not to mention female-owned) hair care brand to run a national Super Bowl spot. Proudly featuring individuals from all walks of life, Carolyn positioned the spot as a tribute to celebrating our nation’s diversity and to bringing Americans together, one hairstyle at a time.
“This ad captures the true diversity within American culture – we are all perfectly imperfect in our own way,” Carolyn said. “I’ve always gone where they don’t go, and there is no better time to push the envelope.”
Later that year, It’s A 10 Haircare founded National Love Your Hair Day on October 10th to champion diversity in beauty and challenge everyone to embrace their uniqueness. The brand continues to celebrate this important holiday year after year with huge activations across the country, including a Times Square takeover and national sampling campaign that distributed more than 100K Miracle Leave-Ins.
For National Love Your Hair Day 2020, Carolyn presented two grants, for $10,000 each, to two deserving “hair heroes” – Antonio Francisco Gonzales and Nicole Newland – to thank them for finding their way to help others through their craft. The “winners” thought they were only on GMA to share their stories, but were stunned to find out the real reason for their spotlight. Their reactions were priceless. The brand’s annual sale on 10/10 Day 2020 was the largest e-commerce sale activation in professional haircare history, selling roughly $1.5 million in just 3 days.
Amid the Coronavirus outbreak in the U.S in 2020, Carolyn and It’s A 10 Haircare donated over $5.4 Million in haircare and skincare products to the Good360 organization and a variety of localized efforts to give back to those directly impacted by the virus.
Aronson was selected as a Judge for the Miss USA 2020. It’s A 10 Haircare and Be A 10 Cosmetics were the official hair and makeup sponsors respectively to ensure that every woman participating looked and felt like the 10 out of 10 they truly are. At the pageant, Aronson debuted her incredible new makeup brand, Be A 10 Cosmetics, and the contestants were the first to experience the products. At the Miss America pageant in 2017, Aronson sponsored the show and gave over sixty thousand bottles of Miracle Leave In to viewers in a generous giveaway.
In December 2020, It’s A 10 was the #1 brand in Ulta’s beauty category and the #1 selling brand during all the retailer’s Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales.
In February of 2021, Carolyn gave birth to a baby girl, Aliya Dream Aronson, at 54 years old. Aliya is Carolyn’s first baby with her husband Jeff Aronson, and the fifth child in their beautifully blended family.
In 2022, Carolyn began a long-term philanthropic partnership with The Trevor Project, furthering Carolyn’s goal of making the world better for those who need their voices uplifted. She was also selected as a Rolls Royce Phantom Phenom, celebrating her philanthropic efforts with organizations such as Comfort Cases, Selfless Love Foundation, Children’s Diagnostic Center and a giveaway to hair heroes in honor of National Love Your Hair Day on October 10th. Additionally, in 2022, Carolyn co-founded Fat Cloud Aviation, a private jet aviation company.
As of December 2023, Carolyn introduced Rewind It 10, an easy-to-use, effective at-home hair and beard coloring solution, in partnership with her husband, and chart-topping rapper Fat Joe. In addition to its innovative approach to at-home grooming, Rewind It 10’s boxes feature celebrities across industries, including NFL Tight End Travis Kelce, R&B singer/songwriter Tank, model Tyson Beckford, music mogul DJ Khaled, professional MMA fighter Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson, singer Jencarlos Canela, tattoo artist/model/musician Kevin Creekman, and Fat Joe himself.
Carolyn in front of the It’s A 10 blimp.
photo courtesy of It’s A 10
With the global success of her brand, Carolyn was committed to expanding her influence in the dynamic world of haircare. After being approached by several brands over the years, she acquired Nisim® in December 2023, thanks to her belief in their science-backed formulations, which she is rebranding to Arise by the end of 2024. In April 2024, Carolyn unveiled her second mega-yacht, She’s a 10 Too.
In January 2025, Carolyn launched Cloud Haircare – a high-performing, affordable, vegan & clean haircare line – at CloudHaircare.com, CVS stores nationwide, and CVS.com. In Q1, the brand will expand to Walmart stores and Walmart.com. With Cloud Haircare, Aronson is expanding her portfolio into the mass retail space, aiming to lead the category with innovative products at accessible prices.
Giving back to the communities that have supported It’s a 10 Haircare is also a priority. Carolyn’s life is intertwined with her customers and devoted fan base that has made the difference through feedback, shared stories and heartfelt recommendations. These are just a few of the advocacy programs they’ve supported:
Comfort Cases
Puerto Rico Hurricane Relief Efforts
Right Action for Women (Christina Applegate’s Breast Cancer Foundation)
Boys and Girls Club
Children’s Diagnostics
Red Cross America
Best Buddies International
Trevor Project
Worth Up Alliance
Good 360
Selfless Love Foundation
Nova University
Center for the Great Apes
Mayo Clinic
Junior Achievement of South Florida (JA)
Beauty Changes Lives
…and so many more!
Carolyn began her career as a hairstylist, working at the chair for 20+ years.
photo courtesy of It’s A 10
Carolyn’s Awards & Achievements
NMSDC Minority Business Enterprise (2025)
Latinas & Power Corp. Advisory Council Board Member (2024)
South Florida Business Journal’s Ultimate CEOs (2024)
CT Barber Expo’s Barber Grammys, Lifetime Achievement Award (2024)
INC. Female Founder 250 List (2024)
NEW YOU Beauty Executive of the Year (2024)
Gold Winner: 20th Annual Stevie Awards for Women in Business: Best Female Entrepreneur – Consumer Products (2023)
Forbes 50 Over 50 List (2023)
Beauty Changes Lives Legacy Award (2023)
Junior Achievement of South Florida Hall of Fame (2023)
Key to the City of Miami (2023)
Entrepreneur’s 100 Women of Influence (2022)
Silver Winner: Stevie Awards for Women in Business: Best Female Entrepreneur – Consumer Products (2022)
Florida State University “Tlamatini Award” (2022)
Rolls Royce Phantom Phenom (2022)
SFMA’s Recognition of Excellence (2022)
Silver Winner: Stevie Awards for Women in Business: Best Female Entrepreneur – Consumer Products (2021)
America’s Beauty Show’s Hero of the Pandemic Award (2021)
Silver Winner: Stevie Awards for Women in Business: Best Female Entrepreneur – Consumer Products (2019)
For reprint and licensing requests for this article, Click here.
