Q&A: Sienna Naturals' Hannah Diop

On Minnesota winters, interning in Japan, and making Issa Rae her cofounder.

“They stripped my hair of moisture and left me looking like a little biracial Ronald McDonald.” That’s a line from my Q&A with Hannah Diop, cofounder of Sienna Naturals (more on that below), and it’s been echoing in my head all week—especially after meeting Olivier Audemars, the Black-Swiss heir to Audemars Piguet, earlier this month.

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I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what it means to be the “only” or the “first” in the room, especially in investor meetings or business settings where I sometimes get the impression that I’m not being taken seriously due to my content creator background (okay yes I’m using a more sophisticated term for influencer lol).

It can be frustrating but also weirdly validating because I know something they don’t know. I know how it feels when the products on drugstore shelves don’t reflect me. And I also know what I want to buy. Which brings me to something I’m really excited about: a new Q&A series on Hannah’s List that highlights founders in the beauty and wellness space, specifically the people building what’s missing.

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The Q&A with Hannah Bronfman: Sienna Naturals’ Hannah Diop

We’re starting a new series on Hannah’s List spotlighting the people behind the beauty and wellness brands we love. It’s a closer look not just at how these brands run, but at the founders shaping them. First up: Hannah Diop, cofounder of Sienna Naturals.

Sienna Naturals is a clean haircare brand focused on textured hair and scalp health, now available at Sephora, Nordstrom, Credo Beauty, and more. Their formulas are rooted in science and dermatologist testing, powered by plant-based ingredients (yes, the two can and should coexist) without compromising on quality. I highly recommend taking their hair quiz to figure out exactly which products are right for you. Below, cofounder and CEO Hannah Diop talks career beginnings, hair fails, and what it’s like to have a celeb cofounder.

You went to Wharton. Did you always know you’d start your own business, or did that come later?

I always knew I wanted to do something in business or business-related. I grew up in Minneapolis as the daughter of an educator and a social worker. My parents provided a home filled with love, support, and exceptional guidance on how to build community and strong relationships. But even though they were hardworking, their careers didn’t offer them financial freedom.

It bothered me to miss out on sports or activities because we couldn’t afford them. And I understood early that a career in business, even if I didn’t yet know what that meant, might offer me the freedoms I saw missing in my childhood. That feeling of wanting more ultimately led me to study business at both Howard and Wharton.

Tell us a bit about your early career. Where did you start, and what did you think you were going to do with your life back then?

Like most young people, I didn’t have a clear picture of what I wanted to do. I just knew I wanted to learn as much as possible. Not to date myself, but back then, there was this idea that learning Japanese would give you a competitive edge in global business. So when I was at Howard, I majored in International Business and minored in Japanese.

One of my early internships was with an oil and gas company where I worked out of the Japan office. That experience was eye-opening because it made me realize that this was not the life or career I wanted long-term.

I spent time in commercial banking in the UK and New York after graduation. It was a great training ground but it wasn’t my forever home. I decided I wanted to do something that had more impact and that aligned more closely with my personal values.

What was the moment you knew you had to create Sienna Naturals? Was there a specific product fail or hair moment that pushed you over the edge?

Absolutely. I remember it clearly. I was working at McKinsey, living in a different hotel every week, and struggling to manage my hair on the road. I was transported right back to being a 9-year-old girl on swim team: cold, frustrated, and angry that there were no products that worked for my hair.

I grew up swimming 3–5 days a week in Minnesota winters and my hair paid the price. My parents were very much into natural foods and wellness, so we used products from the health food store. The problem was that those products weren’t made for textured hair. They stripped my hair of moisture and left me looking like a little biracial Ronald McDonald.