Sarah Jane Crawford | Clean Curls

Women to Watch | Beauty Founders

Sarah-Jane Crawford on Building Clean Curls, Starting Again and Why Experience Is Your Greatest Asset

“Your experience is the asset, not the obstacle. Ten years ago I couldn’t have built this because I didn’t have the story yet.” – Sarah-Jane Crawford

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Some founders build businesses. Others build them from lived experience.

Television broadcaster Sarah-Jane Crawford spent almost two decades in front of the camera before embarking on a new chapter as the founder of Clean Curls. Inspired by her own natural hair journey following years of chemical treatments, major surgery and embracing her curls, she created a clean, non-toxic haircare brand designed specifically for textured hair.

Today, Clean Curls is stocked by major UK retailers including Superdrug, Ocado and Debenhams, all achieved without outside investment. Built with purpose, authenticity and a commitment to cleaner beauty, Sarah-Jane is a natural choice for Darling’s Women to Watch | Beauty Founders series.

We spoke to Sarah-Jane about launching a business alongside a broadcasting career, why lived experience is one of an entrepreneur’s greatest strengths, and the advice she would give to women considering starting again later in life.

“The biggest wins in life come not from perfection but from consistency over time.”

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

I’m a broadcaster who’s spent nearly 20 years on air, who’s been sober for nine years, and has been a wife and mum of two for the past six years.

I’m also a woman who’s learned that the biggest wins in life come not from perfection, but from consistency over time. Two of my favourite quotes are:

“Do something today your future self will thank you for.”

and

“It’s never too late to be what you might have been.”

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

It was during my own hair journey, which included years of relaxers, weaves and formaldehyde blow-dries.

By 2015, I’d undergone two major surgeries, including breast surgery and the removal of large fibroids. It made me stop and think about what I was putting into and onto my body.

Within a couple of years, I’d transitioned back to my natural curls and, after lockdown and pregnancy, I realised I wanted to own my own narrative and intellectual property. I knew I had a problem to solve and a business to build.

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

There was a real gap in the market. Clean, non-toxic haircare for curls was often either expensive or ineffective.

Just before launching the business, I discovered the Yuka app. After scanning multiple beauty products, I realised that even many baby products scored poorly. I wanted to create a range that would achieve an ‘Excellent’ rating when scanned, while still delivering great results.

“Most days it’s spreadsheets, supplier calls and margin negotiations, not photoshoots.”

4. Was there a defining moment where you thought:

“I’m actually going to do this.”

The first moment came when I’d created such a strong pitch deck that a retailer was interested in placing an order before the products had even been manufactured. That’s when I knew I needed to find the right manufacturer and chemist who understood my vision.

The second was placing my first major production order. Suddenly it all felt very real.

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

Bootstrapping the business while continuing to work full-time in broadcasting.

Building a brand during evenings and weekends, without any outside investment, has been incredibly challenging.

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

That it’s glamorous.

Most days it’s spreadsheets, supplier calls and margin negotiations, not photoshoots.

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

At the beginning, success meant simply getting stocked by a major UK retailer so customers could physically see and buy the products.

Today, success is about sustainable growth, looking after our customers, solving genuine problems and expanding internationally — but doing it the right way.

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

Over the past year I’ve taught myself to run 5–10km, something I previously thought was impossible. I now run several times a week using the Runna app, which helped me build up gradually.

Being nine years sober, and speaking openly about my ADHD and perimenopause through my new podcast, Hormones & Heroines, allows me to both share my own experiences and learn from experts and other women going through similar journeys.

The Brand

9. Which product best represents your brand and why?

Our 2-in-1 Leave-In & Curl Cream.

It’s the Swiss Army knife of the range and genuinely different from anything else on the market. It’s incredibly clean but still highly effective. On wet hair, it works as the perfect leave-in conditioner, styling product and curl creator all in one, and it’s one of our bestselling products.

“Every purchase is a vote for a more honest beauty industry.”

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

That Clean Curls was created by someone with lived experience, not a lab-first brand chasing a trend.

Lean into what you’ve genuinely experienced in life.

11. What are you most proud of building?

Building the business from nothing to being stocked in Superdrug, Ocado and Debenhams without any outside funding.

It also means so much when customers tell me they’ve never found products that worked for their curls until they discovered Clean Curls. That’s when I know I’m achieving exactly what I set out to do.

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

I’ve recently launched my new podcast, Hormones & Heroines, with Clean Curls as its sponsor.

The two brands are closely aligned because they both support women’s health in an accessible way. That partnership will continue to grow, with our first Hormones & Heroines Live event taking place during Black History Month in October.

Darling

Complete this sentence…

“Beauty means…”

Making the very best of what is natural to you, not everyone else.

Complete this sentence…

“The one thing I wish every woman knew is…”

How much time you get back when you stop shrinking yourself to fit someone else’s idea of who you should be.

I wish I’d started earlier.

Why should people support independent beauty founders?

Because we’re the ones closing the gaps that bigger brands won’t — and often can’t.

Every purchase is a vote for a more honest beauty industry.

Sarah Jane Crawford

• After broadcasting, what inspired you to create Clean Curls?

I was feeling frustrated with the opportunities I was seeing in television after an exciting role I’d been offered fell through.

I’d always had an entrepreneurial side, and a TV contact introduced me to someone whose father worked in product development. After learning how the manufacturing process worked, I left feeling incredibly inspired and wrote a detailed business plan.

One of his team said, “I think you’ve got something with your haircare idea.”

At the same time, I’d stopped chemically straightening my curls and was watching them recover. I realised that even many products marketed for natural curls weren’t as “clean” as they claimed to be, so I decided to create something better.

• Has becoming a founder changed how you see yourself professionally?

Massively.

I’ve gone from being the face of other people’s platforms to building my own brand, equity and intellectual property.

• What advice would you give women starting later in life?

Your experience is the asset, not the obstacle.

Ten years ago I couldn’t have built this because I didn’t have the story yet.

Quick Fire

Favourite book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Morning or night? Morning!

Coffee or tea? Decaf soy latte.

One beauty product you couldn’t live without? Our Multi-Use Oil.

Favourite place to travel? The US — New York, Los Angeles and, most recently, New Orleans for the Essence Festival.

One piece of advice for founders? Start before you feel ready. And never underestimate the power of a great pitch deck.

Sarah-Jane Crawford’s journey is proof that some of the strongest brands are born from personal experience.

By combining lived knowledge with a commitment to cleaner ingredients and genuinely effective products, she’s built a business that’s changing the conversation around textured haircare while encouraging more women to embrace both their natural hair and their own entrepreneurial ambitions.

Visit: Clean Curls