As someone who spent the early years of her career working in the CPG (Consumer Packaged Goods) space, I consider myself a bit of a grocery food nerd. I love scouring the store shelves for up-and-coming brands, looking at packaging and shelf placement, and nerding out about all the work it takes to bring a brand to life. With this context—and honestly, obsession—you can say that when I had the chance to interview DEUX CEO and founder, Sabeena Ladha, my inner fangirl was freaking out.

Sabeena Ladha Shares Her High-Vibe Morning Routine

Sabeena, a fellow Texan, grew up snacking on junk foods. (Relatable.) But over the years, she began to develop a desire to find a balance between better-for-you foods and less-than-healthy options. With this dual-craving in mind, Sabeena took her favorite snack—cookie dough—and reformulated it with clean ingredients and superfoods. (Gooey Brownie is my personal fave.)

Now with additional product lines like DEUX DRIP and the addictively snackable Donut Holes, Sabeena is continuing to grow the brand and bring a better-for-you perspective to some of our favorite sweet treats.

The team recently visited Sabeena at her Los Angeles home, where she shared a peek into her morning routine, the habits that set her up for success, and her hot-take skincare routine.

Tell us about your career and starting Deux. What has life been like as an entrepreneur?

At my house in Texas, we ate the Standard American Diet. I played sports and exercised, so externally I seemed “fine.” But really my insides were made of partially hydrogenated oil. Fast-forward to my first job at PepsiCo, I absolutely loved brand building, managing a P&L, and running big national programs and Super Bowl commercials. However, my eating habits were changing, and I wanted to work in the better-for-you space. I stayed in big CPG for a few years and left a little disheartened that I wouldn’t be able to impact the industry as deeply as I wanted to. But I was grateful to have learned the gold standard CPG.

I then went to McKinsey as a consultant in the Digital practice. This was back when “direct-to-consumer” was blowing up, and my career shifted from retail to digital. There, I developed a strategic skill set and became an excellent problem solver. 

My last stop before DEUX was at M13 in venture. I built the venture studio from scratch and launched three brands while I was there. (Surprise, all focused on women’s health!) It was there that I fell in love with startups.

I attribute a lot of our success at DEUX to diverse experiences, both mine and the team’s. It’s not quite linear, and at the time didn’t make the most sense. But those pivotal experiences built the skills that are now second nature and I use every day.

I don’t know that any passionate entrepreneur can ever be balanced, and I don’t know that I want to be.

Entrepreneur life now is incredibly fun and rewarding, but it takes over your life. I know we’re supposed to strive for “balance” but I don’t know that any passionate entrepreneur can ever be balanced, and I don’t know that I want to be. We have an astrology reader meet with each team member when they join (yes, really) and she emphasized my “house of career.” It will always be important to me, so I’m okay that it is so intertwined. I’ve learned to embrace the highs and lows that come with it. 

What does a typical day look like for you?  

I’m up at 6:15 (no screens!) and usually at the gym by 7. I work out, get ready for the day, and am on calls around 830/9. We now have a great office we share with a few brands like Bala and Brightland, so I am at the office most of the day.

Assuming I don’t have a founder dinner or event, I walk my dog around 6:30 and answer emails while my husband cooks around 7. (I am the luckiest woman in the world.) We usually watch a show together to wind down and cuddle with Pablo! 

What time is your wake-up call?

I am such a night owl by nature. I have quite literally forced myself to become a morning person. If I don’t do my workout in the morning, 1) I am cranky, and 2) It probably won’t get done. I used to run on maybe six hours of sleep for the first couple of years of the company. Now I try to get eight. I’m a better leader and teammate that way. 

What’s the first thing you do when you wake up? 

Aside from brushing my teeth… honestly, I have a Celsius. It’s for my workout! But I do not touch my screens—that used to be a bad habit of mine. I’m trying to do the whole Huberman “get sunlight in your eyes” thing but it’s too dark at 6 a.m.!

What morning rituals set you up for success?

I will say it for a third time because I think it is so important: not looking at my screen first thing. I heard someone once say it’s equivalent to letting a hundred people into your bedroom in the morning at once. That sat with me. It’s absolutely terrifying and incredibly hard on your nervous system. 

Active rituals: exercising first thing, reviewing my calendar to make sure I’m prepped for every meeting, taking my probiotics, fish oil, multivitamin, maaaybe vitamin C, collagen in my coffee, and journaling. (Not all days, but the days that I’m tense.)

What’s always on your nightstand?

Pretty much just my journal and The Daily Stoic. I try to keep the bedroom free of clutter.

Describe your morning beauty routine from start to finish: 

This might be a hot take, but I don’t wash my face in the morning. I’ve had really bad cystic acne for many years, and the only thing that’s helped is doing less. It sounds counterintuitive, but it changed my skin.

Now my nighttime routine is stacked. I use the Summer Fridays cleanser, alternate days with Biologique Recherche’s cult-favorite toner, and occasionally swap in the AlphaRet Overnight Cream. I usually use the Summer Fridays’ Heavenly Sixteen All-In-One Face Oil, then The Outset’s Firming Vegan Collagen Prep Serum. After that, I moisturize to get super glassy before bed.

What’s your daily uniform?

If it were up to me, boyfriend jeans and a white tee! Nowadays though, I have a ton of customer and investor meetings, so I’d opt for a casual white button-down and criss-cross jeans. I dress a bit more masculine during the week than on the weekends. 

Favorite getting-ready soundtrack? 

Kaytranada. It gives “glass of champagne while putting on makeup in the bathroom with the girls before dinner” vibes. Without being over the top. 

How would you describe your personal style? 

Trendy, feminine, chic. 

Wow, don’t tempt me with a good time. I would stretch (what an old person answer!) and make a proper breakfast. Nutrition is so important, and I often shortcut with a protein bar. 

What do you eat for breakfast?

Most mornings, a Think peanut butter bar (my shortcut). If I have time, egg tacos are my fave. Or Greek yogurt, berries, and our DRIP—honestly tastes like dessert.  I need protein in the morning to stay full and fueled.  

What will we always find in your refrigerator? 

DEUX cookie dough and now donuts! No really, the amount I eat my products is wild. Salmon, fruit, and veggies, a leftover coffee from the morning, wine…

What are one or two things you do every day to live a more joyful life? 

The most impactful way to add joy to my life is taking the extra step to make something special. That looks like buying fresh flowers, lighting candles, and taking an extra loop around the neighborhood for my walks. 

What has been your biggest learning over the past year? 

I’ve gotten really good at recovering quickly. Not just the bad, crazy fire stories (I have way too many of those) but also the amazing adrenaline-pumping, dopamine highs. Practicing stoicism is a goal of mine, and remaining even-keeled throughout the journey is something I will continue to prioritize and strive for. I think it’s made me a stronger leader. 

What’s something you’re looking forward to this year?

So many things! On the business side, we are launching our Donuts nationally in over 1300 doors very soon. But also spending time with the team is what I am most excited about. We’re lucky to have a really fun, hard-working, positive team. It really is a dream team.

If you could pin your success down to one thing, what would that be?

Tenacity. I have this general belief that I can solve anything. 

Sentence Finishers:

I never leave the house without: A snack. I have a fear of being hungry.

Healthiest morning habit: Exercising. Or not looking at my phone. 

Worst morning habit: Celsius.

One thing I want to be known for is: Creating something meaningful. 

The one thing I fear the most: Failure. 

When I feel that fear: I remind myself “there’s nothing you haven’t gotten through.” 

One trait you need to succeed in life is: Delusion. 

There’s a romance surrounding the French way of life. An inherent enjoyment of beautiful things, delicious experiences, and the present moment that permeates daily rituals and routines. There’s no doubt that French Girl clichés abound, but still: there’s an undeniable je ne sais quoi possessed by every French woman I’ve met that goes beyond what she looks like or what she’s wearing. It’s her presence—her charm, wit, and sophistication—that makes her absolutely magnetic.

A central part of all of this is food culture—the French love food to a degree that borders on obsession, and the ability to appreciate it is a nonnegotiable. Which is why my friend, celebrated food writer and stylist Rebekah Peppler, has spent the past several years of her career living in Paris and traveling throughout France, telling stories and sharing secrets behind French food. Her newest book, Le Sud, shares the food, drink, and lifestyle of the South of France—a place that’s long captured my imagination (and that I’m finally visiting with our family this summer!)

“The thing is, all the clichés you’ve heard about the south of France are true,” says Peppler. “The light takes on new forms by the hour, casting beauty on the simplest pleasures.

There are open-air markets bursting with sun-ripened produce; the surprisingly loud, surprisingly comforting surround sound of cicadas in late summer; acres of olive trees, lavender, and sunflowers; cliffs that drop into salt-heavy turquoise coves. And the food? It’s not overrated. The figs, the ratatouille, the aïoli, the crispy panisse, pissaladière, braids of garlic, Provençal melons, an overwhelming variety of local cheeses, actually good tapenades, and all the rest.

Peppler notes that this is the part of France where the French themselves holiday. “It is where throngs of Europeans descend for summer vacances—doing their best French cosplay while lounging, flirting, apéro-ing in the sun. American in Paris, yes yes sure, but the south is no stranger to American expats, of which I am just one in a steady line.”

Cheers to French Girl Summer

If you think of French food as fancy or fussy, these recipes are not that. Instead, these are simple meals cooked from the freshest ingredients at home in Provence or on a picnic blanket on the Côte d’Azur. The places where the French themselves holiday, “lounging, flirting, apéro-ing in the sun.” So, what better way to welcome summer than by cooking like a French girl on vacation? Whatever your travel plans are for the months ahead, cooking a meal from Le Sud is the perfect way to escape to a golden-lit reality. And you might as well invite a few friends to join.

Read on for your South of France dinner party menu from the pages of Le Sud—and be sure to grab your copy and romanticize your cooking all summer long.

This is the spritz to make when you’re by the sea (or want to be) and desire something lightly bitter and bubbly and giving sunset in a cup.

“For the most ease, ask your fishmonger to clean and scale whatever is freshest and make this version, prettily stuffed with lemon slices and a simple pistou,” says Peppler.

Bendita Entre los Melones

Literally “blessed between the melons,” this recipe title is inspired by a Spanish saying, “bendito entre las mujeres” or “blessed among the women.”

There are few things in life better than devouring fresh, ripe fruit by the sea. However, when you also have a coastal cocktail and fresh-caught dinner in your evening lineup, you may have just peaked. In her new book Le Sud, Rebekah Peppler shares this simple melon recipe—and dare we say it’s the perfect way to end a summer meal.

With a name meaning “blessed between the melons,” Peppler’s recipe draws from a Spanish saying, “bendito entre las mujeres” or “blessed among the women.” This appetizer is far from your typical serving of fresh fruit—sprinkled with a touch of salt and a sweet chilled white wine; it’s one of those dishes that inspires one to remember—the simplest things are so often the best.

Ingredients You’ll Need

Peppler’s recipe keeps things easy and breezy—leaving more time for sun and sand.

Charentais melon: A type of French Cantaloupe, Charentais melon is distinct in flavor and slightly more intense in aroma than the melon we know and love. However, if a cantaloupe is all you can get your hands on, feel free to sub it in.

Sweet white wine: Muscat de Beaume-de-Venise or Sauternes are Peppler’s picks, but anything you have on hand will do.

Flaky sea salt: fruit brushed with a bit of salt is a highly underrated summer snack.

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