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Priyanka Ganjoo didn’t see herself in beauty, so she built the brand she always needed. Kulfi Beauty was born from a cultural gap in representation and a product gap in shades that actually worked for South Asian skin tones. Four years later? They’re in every Sephora in the US and Canada.

For DTC founders scaling from organic roots into omnichannel retail...

Why Priyanka started with zero ads and leaned all-in on community and cultural storytelling
What she learned launching in Sephora (hint: velocity is everything)
The unexpected go-to-market power of a $500 Central Park picnic
How DTC creates halo effect on retail shelves (and vice versa)
Why Kulfi still handpicks every creator they work with

Who this is for: Founders navigating retail, community-led brands, and anyone building for an underrepresented audience

What to steal:

Use FB groups and 1:1 convos to validate early product ideas
Build an ambassador program that turns into your model roster
Don’t try to script creators—let their authentic POV fuel your ads

Timestamps:

00:00 Why Community Is the Real Growth Engine

02:16 Why Priyanka Built Kulfi Beauty

03:40 The Product and Emotional Gap in South Asian Beauty

09:14 Building Community Before Spending on Ads

14:11 How Kulfi Got Discovered and Scaled With Sephora

18:46 Velocity Is the Only Retail Metric That Matters

21:58 Why UGC Powers Almost All of Their Meta Ads

Hashtags:

#DTC #DTCPodcast #BeautyBrands #BeautyFounders #Sephora #UGCMarketing #CreatorEconomy #MetaAds #TikTokForBrands #RetailStrategy #FounderStory #SouthAsianFounders

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Ep 568: How Kulfi Beauty Grew from a $5K Launch to 720 Sephora Stores with Zero Paid Ads

DTC Podcast