Keshia & Fleur East | The Kurl Kitchen

Women to Watch | Beauty Founders

Keshia & Fleur East: The sisters behind The Kurl Kitchen share how family, heritage and textured hair inspired a brand dedicated to celebrating natural curls.

“We built this brand for our community first.” – Keshia East

Some of the best businesses begin with a shared understanding of a problem. For sisters Keshia and Fleur East, that understanding came from a lifetime of caring for textured hair.

Growing up, they rarely saw curls, coils and waves celebrated in the mainstream beauty industry. Products often felt like an afterthought rather than being thoughtfully designed with textured hair in mind. Rather than accepting the gap, they decided to help fill it.

Together they created The Kurl Kitchen, a haircare brand inspired by their Ghanaian heritage and powered by ingredients such as baobab, okra and wild yam. Alongside No Knot Co., their growing portfolio of brands reflects a commitment to creating products that genuinely work while celebrating natural texture rather than trying to change it.

What makes their story particularly refreshing is that it isn’t simply about launching products. It’s about representation, education and encouraging people to embrace the hair they were born with. Building the business together has also strengthened their relationship as sisters, allowing each of them to bring different strengths to a shared vision rooted in authenticity.

As part of Darling Magazine’s Women to Watch | Beauty Founders series, we spoke to Keshia and Fleur about entrepreneurship, textured hair, sisterhood and creating brands that put community before trends.

“Confidence often comes after you start, not before.”

1. Tell us about yourself. Who are you outside of your business?

I’m a founder, content creator and entrepreneur who’s been self-employed since I was 21. Outside of work, I love travelling renovating our home and finding new ways to challenge myself. I’m naturally curious, so I’m always learning -whether that’s through business, personal development or simply trying something new. I genuinely believe you never stop growing.

2. When did you first realise beauty was going to become part of your career?

Beauty found me quite naturally. I started as a makeup artist in my late teens, and it quickly became more than just a hobby. What I loved wasn’t just making people look good- it was how beauty made people feel. That passion eventually evolved into creating products and building brands that solve real problems.

3. What problem were you trying to solve when you launched your brand?

With No Knot Co., I wanted to create hair tools that worked for textured hair without causing unnecessary breakage or discomfort. Then with The Kurl Kitchen, Fleur and I wanted to celebrate textured hair with products inspired by ingredients we’d grown up knowing and trusting, while making them accessible to a wider audience. We formulate it in Ghana, (we’re half Ghanaian) – with products such as Baobab, Wild Yam and Okra.

4. Was there a defining moment where you thought:

“I’m actually going to do this.”

There wasn’t one dramatic moment. It was a series of small decisions where I chose to back myself. Once I realised, I was spending more time thinking about the business than talking myself out of it, I knew I had to give it everything.

5. What has been the biggest challenge you’ve overcome as a founder?

Learning that resilience is one of the most valuable skills you can have. Every founder faces setbacks – whether that’s manufacturing delays, cash flow, retailers, product issues or simply hearing “no.” I’ve learned that success isn’t about avoiding challenges; it’s about continuing despite them.

“We wanted to celebrate curls, coils and waves rather than asking people to change them.”

6. What’s one thing people assume about running a beauty brand that simply isn’t true?

That once you land a major retailer, you’ve made it. The reality is that’s often when the real work begins. Building a sustainable brand takes constant innovation, marketing, forecasting, customer service and problem-solving. Products don’t sell themselves.

7. What does success mean to you today compared to when you first started?

When I first started, success looked like sales and growth. Today, success is building something with longevity. It’s creating products people genuinely love, building a business that gives me freedom and opportunities, and hopefully inspiring other women to believe they can do the same.

8. How do you look after your own wellbeing while running a business?

I’m much better at protecting my time than I used to be. Exercise, spending time with family, walking the dogs and switching off when I can have become non-negotiables. I also remind myself that rest isn’t unproductive- it’s part of performing at your best.

The Brand

9. Which product best represents your brand and why?

The Kurl Kitchen hair oil. It perfectly represents what we stand for: celebrating textured hair with high-performing products that nourish curls without compromising on quality. I love the oil because it combines all the amazing oils, we have across the range including Okra, Baobab and hemp.

10. If somebody had never heard of your brand before, what would you want them to know?

That we built this brand for our community first. Every product is created with intention, informed by real experiences and designed to help people embrace and care for their natural hair with confidence. It’s a labour of love. We spent 4 years to build the formula, multiple trips to Ghana. We are self-funded and genuinely want to make a change in the textured haircare market.

11. What are you most proud of building?

Beyond the products themselves, I’m proud of building trust., seeing customers come back, and educating our community; that means more than any sales figure ever could.

12. What’s next? Any launches… Projects… Collaborations… Dreams…

We’re continuing to grow The Kurl Kitchen while exploring new product innovation and expanding our retail presence. Personally, I’m also passionate about sharing more founder content and showing people what really goes into building a business behind the scenes.

Darling

Complete this sentence…

“Beauty means…” Inclusion, individuality and celebrating what makes you unique.

Complete this sentence…

“The one thing I wish every woman knew is…” that you don’t have to wait until you feel ready. Confidence often comes after you start, not before. Whether it’s a new hobby, business or a new job.

Why do you think women should continue supporting independent beauty founders?

Because behind every independent brand is a real person taking risks, solving problems and building something from the ground up. Supporting independent founders doesn’t just help a business – it helps innovation, diversity and fresh ideas continue to thrive.

“Supporting independent founders doesn’t just help a business. It helps innovation, diversity and fresh ideas continue to thrive.”

Keshia & Fleur East

• How has building a business together strengthened your relationship as sisters?

It’s given us a completely different appreciation for one another. We’ve always been close, but building a business together has taught us how differently we think, how we complement each other’s strengths and how much trust we have in one another. It’s made us stronger both as sisters and as business partners.

• Why was it important to create products that celebrate textured hair?

Growing up, we didn’t always see textured hair celebrated or catered for in the mainstream beauty industry. We wanted to create products that felt intentional; not an afterthought, and celebrate curls, coils and waves rather than asking people to change them.

• When you’re not working, what’s your favourite way to spend time together?

Keeping it simple. Whether that’s catching up over dinner, travelling together or spending time with family, it’s those moments where we can switch off from work and just be sisters that mean the most.

Quick Fire

Favourite book? The Fourth Wing series – Rebecca Yarros

Morning or night? Morning

Coffee or tea? Both!

One beauty product you couldn’t live without?  Eyeliner

Favourite place to travel? Asia, the most beautiful continent.

One piece of advice for aspiring founders? There is never a perfect moment. You will never feel ready. So start now!

For Keshia and Fleur East, success isn’t measured solely by sales or retail listings. It’s measured by the confidence their products help create and the community they continue to build around textured hair.

By combining their personal experiences with their Ghanaian heritage, they’ve created brands that feel authentic, thoughtful and deeply connected to the people they serve. Every product reflects years of research, persistence and a genuine desire to celebrate natural texture rather than reshape it to fit traditional beauty standards.

As they continue expanding The Kurl Kitchen and sharing more of the realities behind entrepreneurship, their journey serves as a reminder that some of the most meaningful brands are built by people who understand their community because they are part of it. In doing so, Keshia and Fleur are helping redefine what inclusive beauty looks like for the next generation.

Whats next for Keshia & Fleur East?

Kurl Kitchen: we just launched our summer minis

No Knot Co: we have an exclusive Kurl Kitchen X No Knot Co cross over brush colour

Visit: Kurl Kitchen

Visit: No KNOT Co