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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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