CurlMix, a Black-owned haircare brand that was on the brink of extinction at the end of 2025, is already staging a spectacular comeback as the new year begins.
Kim Lewis, the brand’s founder, is celebrating and thanking her community of supporters after CurlMix met its urgent goal of 20,000 orders before the end of the year.
“We did it, Joe. We got the 20,000 orders to protect CurlMix,” she said while speaking to the camera in a recent video on Instagram.
“Thank you so much for anyone who’s ordered, texted, DMed, shared the video, all the things,” she continued. “Some people ordered twice, two, three times. You guys, I’m so grateful to you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.”
Lewis went on to explain that CurlMix — originally launched in Chicago in 2015 as a DIY natural haircare product box that grew significantly after its appearance on “Shark Tank” bolstered the company in 2019 — fell on hard times last year as it struggled to keep up with rising costs of doing business, tariffs and the economy. As a result, Lewis said she had to downsize from a team of 40 to 14 employees before making her plea on social media in November to “Protect CurlMix.”
With the orders fulfilled, she explained she was able to pay off roughly $500,000 in debt, allowing the brand to move forward with far more ease. Lewis said CurlMix was also able to add four new jobs after downsizing so aggressively and set aside operating capital, which will help the company continue to rebuild through the first quarter of 2026.
“The campaign also reached millions and millions of people. So way more people know about CurlMix than knew about CurlMix before,” she explained. “We added something, like, I don’t know, 10,000 new customers.”
However, she added, “the hard part begins.”
While acknowledging how challenging the last few weeks of 2025 were, Lewis noted that she now has to get the brand through the rest of 2026. After reaching 20,000 orders in just 60 days, she said her 2026 goal is to reach 100,000 orders.
“I think we can do 112 [thousand], what do you guys think?” she quipped before closing out the video and promising to provide more updates soon.
In the meantime, she asked customers for “patience” as her team works to fulfill the brand-saving pre-orders of bundles containing conditioners, shampoos, and styling products like gels and mousses.
“Please be patient with us. It was a going-out-of-business campaign,” she reminded with a chuckle. “And so we are still in business, but we still have a small team … So it’s going to take us a little while to get caught up.”
