Priyanka Ganjoo, launched a beauty brand, Kulfi in the middle of the pandemic. Now, 3 years and a Sephora launch later, we talk about work, life, and that ever-elusive sweet spot for founders,  balance. This article is meant to bring awareness during Mental Health Awareness Month and AAPI-heritage Month.

Kulfi is an Indian dessert.

Think ice cream, but creamier and usually accompanied by pistachio, saffron, or cardamom. Similar to ice cream, Kulfi is beloved and the perfect treat to bring people together.  In many ways, that is exactly what Priyanka’s beauty brand, Kulfi is all about.

Launched in 2020, Kulfi was created to celebrate South Asian heritage and dismantle narrow beauty standards.

The beauty products are inspired by Indian culture such as the Kajal Eyeliner, Mehendi Moment Blush, and Khadi Kiss lipstick. It’s a refreshing interpretation of beauty and invites everyone to celebrate their beauty, regardless of their cultural background.

“It’s more about expressing yourself and less about fitting into a Eurocentric beauty standard”,  Priyanka tells me.  It’s been 3 years since I originally interviewed her when she had just launched the company and we talked about her hopes and dreams for the brand. If you believe in the time-space continuum, this article feels like a rip in the system, instantly transporting us between those early days of wondering if she could really call herself a “founder” on Linkedin, to now, 3 years, shipping Kulfi product across 340 Sephora stores around the world. 

Not much has changed between the Priyanka I met then, and the one sitting before me today. Her passion then, even in the early days, was palpable. Her mission was always to make the conversation around beauty more inclusive, and it has weaved through every element of the Kulfi brand. Across their socials, fans run the gamut of gender, age, culture and sexuality. In their latest brand campaign for Nazar No More, the team conducted an open casting call across TikTok and Instagram, inviting their own community to model the new eyeliner, most of whom had never modeled before.

It seems Kulfi is one of those unicorn brands that knows how to speak to the ever-elusive Gen Z.

They’re inclusive, fun, clean, and socially conscious. When asked about her strategy, Priyanka said, “I actually found that a lot of Gen Z were our strongest supporters and I think it goes back to this idea that I have to unlearn a lot of my Millennial conditioning about what’s beautiful.  Gen Z  really came in with that perspective of being loud and proud about their culture and features that they have.” 

Throughout the course of Kulfi, communication and community has been pivotal to the success. In her early days, pre-launch, Priyanka turned to hundreds of Facebook groups to chat with women about what they wanted to see from a beauty brand. That 2-way street has continued to grow across their socials and overall strategy. But the biggest growth came from joining the Sephora Accelerator Program which connected founders of color with training and operations for a launch across Sephora.

After being accepted in 2021, Kulfi skyrocketed in 1 ½ years across 340 stores across the US and Canada.

She hasn’t looked back since. Today, Kulfi is partnering with the nonprofit organization Sad Girls Club by donating 5% of their Nazar No More eyeliner in celebration of Mental Health Awareness Month.

“In the past 3 years, it’s been an honor to build Kulfi and have conversations with our community who often share with us how their relationship with beauty is related to their mental health.  Some of the ways we see this relationship everyday is by: feeling empowered to set boundaries online and in real life when wearing makeup, without worrying about “what people will say”; not feeling guilty about spending time and money on beauty when it makes you feel good – even though in some immigrant households it could be considered wasteful or selfish; or wearing a colorful Kulfi kajal eyeliner for the first time and feeling like an absolute baddie! Our campaign is a celebration of these everyday moments and an affirmation towards our unique journeys with beauty and mental health”

We look forward to seeing what Priyanka and Kulfi do next!  Just for funsies – here’s a look at what we asked her in 2021. I think she is doing just that! 

What is your ultimate dream goal for Kulfi Beauty in 2021?

“My goal is that we create a viable business that is financially healthy. It needs to be a sustainable business but more importantly, if we can have a future generation think about beauty differently and feel like they are beautiful and included in the beauty conversation, it will be what I wish I had I was young.”