She Built A Brand By Being Real And Unfiltered

April 13, 2026
The Luxurist Team

Karishma, a 2026 Apprentice finalist, exemplifies how authenticity, trust and cultural connection drive modern entrepreneurship, transforming honest storytelling and lived experience into a powerful, scalable skincare brand with meaningful impact.

The TikTok Girls Are Building Businesses… And Honestly, It’s Bigger Than We Think

I need to tell you something, and once you see it, you won’t be able to unsee it. There is a whole generation of girls building serious businesses right in front of us, and they’re doing it in a way that feels so effortless that people are still mistaking it for luck. They’re filming content that looks like chats with friends, they’re laughing, oversharing, being a little chaotic, showing up without overthinking every word, and somewhere in all of that, they’re building trust at a level most brands would spend years and millions trying to achieve. And then one day you realise they’re not just influencers, they’re founders, they’re operators, they’re marketers, they’re the entire ecosystem, and they’ve done it all without waiting for anyone to give them permission.

And that’s exactly what you feel when you come across Karishma. Not in a distant, aspirational way, but in a way that feels almost too familiar, like she could easily be sitting next to you telling you exactly what worked for her skin, what didn’t, who annoyed her that day, what she’s building next. She has that rare energy where you don’t feel like you’re watching her, you feel like you’re in on it with her, and that’s the secret, because when people feel included, they invest, emotionally first and financially after.

And when she talks about her skin, it’s not polished or scripted, it’s raw in a way that lands straight away. “I suffered with severe cystic acne for so many years… the dermatologist had nothing for me… if anything, they did more harm than good, so I thought, let me find the solution myself,” she says, and you can almost feel the frustration that pushed her into action. That’s not a marketing story, that’s a lived one, and when a business starts from that place, it carries a different kind of weight. Her brand, Kishkin, doesn’t feel like something created to fill a gap in the market, it feels like something created because she needed it to exist.

Now let me tell you what really stayed with us, because this is where it all clicked properly. At Hey Gorgeous, her stall wasn’t just busy, it had that pull, that kind of energy where you find yourself drifting towards it before you even know why. And when you got closer, you realised it wasn’t hype, it was connection. Girls were waiting, properly waiting, four deep at times, holding products, asking questions, sharing their own skin stories like they already trusted her enough to be vulnerable. And she met every single one of them with the same level of attention, the same warmth, the same excitement about what she was building. No switching it on and off, no selective energy, no sense that she was “on”. Just fully present, fully engaged, fully herself.

And then you look around her stall and you see what she’s actually done, because this is where the business brain really shows up. Boards filled with before and after photos, real results, real people, real transformation. Not overly edited, not curated to perfection, just proof. And you realise this is exactly why she’s winning, because this generation understands that people don’t trust brands anymore, they trust people, and more specifically, they trust results. Social proof isn’t something she’s added on, it’s the entire foundation. When you see enough people saying something has worked, when you see visible change, when it feels like a conversation rather than a campaign, buying doesn’t feel like a decision, it feels like the natural next step.

What’s really interesting though, and this is the bit I think people underestimate, is how sharp she actually is underneath all of that personality. Because it would be easy to look at her and think she’s just naturally likeable, she’s just good on camera, she just “has it”. But listen to her speak about her journey on The Apprentice and you start to see the layers. “I thought I’d go in there and it would be about entertainment… but people are seeing my business savvy and I think that’s what got me far,” she says, and there’s something in that where you realise she knew exactly what she was doing. She understood that people might underestimate her, and she let them, because it gave her space to outperform.

And then she says something that honestly just stays with you. “Firstly, I feel like Lord Sugar needs some spice in his life… and my business, it needs to be on billboards, it needs to be at Duty-Free, so I need Lord Sugar.” And it’s said with humour, but underneath it is pure clarity. She knows exactly where she wants to take this, and she’s not dressing it up to sound more acceptable or more realistic. She’s saying it as it is. Big. Bold. Unapologetic.

But don’t think for a second that it’s been easy, because the way she talks about being on the show gives you a completely different perspective. “Behind the scenes, it was crazy… 20 people with a big, big dream, and you’re competing not for some pocket change, for a quarter of a million pounds,” she says, and you suddenly remember what’s actually at stake. This isn’t just a TV show, it’s pressure, it’s intensity, it’s being surrounded by big personalities, big egos, big ambitions, and finding your place within that.

And then there’s the part that feels so honest it almost catches you off guard. “I walked in there trembling, scared… thinking I am not going to be able to do this… and here I am now.” Because behind every confident moment you see on screen, there’s usually a version of someone who didn’t feel ready, who questioned themselves, who felt like everyone else was more capable. And that’s what makes her journey land, because it doesn’t feel like someone who has always been certain, it feels like someone who decided to back herself anyway.

And then comes the shift, and this is the bit I think every woman needs to hear. “The biggest lesson I’ve learned is that I am that bitch… I need to stop underestimating myself.” It’s bold, it’s funny, it’s very her, but it’s also deeply true. Because how many of us are still holding ourselves back, still waiting for external validation, still playing smaller than we need to be.

Her experience with Lord Sugar adds another layer to it all, and the way she describes it is exactly what you’d expect from her. “Lord Sugar is way scarier… you can’t even anticipate how your nerves will be in the same room as him… he has an incredible aura,” she says, and you can almost picture her sitting there, hands shaking under the table, trying to hold it together. And then she laughs about how he looks “like AI, like a wax figure” until he starts speaking and suddenly it’s very real. That mix of humour and honesty is what makes her so watchable, and more importantly, so relatable.

There’s also something really powerful in the way she speaks about where she comes from. “I was a girl that grew up in Southall… ‘Little India’… and now I’m here representing my business, my people, my skin… that’s insane to me. I’m proud.” And you feel that pride, not in a loud, performative way, but in a way that feels grounded, like she understands what it means to carry that with her into rooms where people like her haven’t always been visible.

And then, just when you think you’ve figured her out, she lets you in on something else. “On social media, everyone thinks I’m very funny… but in real life, my staff are scared of me. I’m very much the Lord Sugar of my building,” she says, and you realise there’s this whole other side to her that people don’t see. The discipline, the seriousness, the standards. Because being likeable might get people in the door, but being sharp is what keeps a business growing.

What I think I loved most though, and this is the bit that doesn’t always get talked about, is her heart. “I’ve always wanted to be a part of someone’s story… if I can change lives through a bottle of skincare, why not?” And when you hear that, and then you see the way people respond to her, it makes sense. Because people can feel intention. They can feel when something is genuine, when someone actually cares about what they’re putting out into the world.

And maybe that’s the real takeaway from all of this, the thing we don’t say out loud enough. This generation hasn’t just figured out social media, they’ve figured out people. They understand connection in a way that feels instinctive, and they’ve built businesses on top of that understanding. They’re not waiting to be chosen, they’re choosing themselves, every single day, showing up, speaking directly to their audience, building trust one video, one conversation, one product at a time.

So when you see someone like Karishma, it’s not just about her success, it’s about what she represents. It’s about what’s possible now. It’s about the fact that you can go from filming in your room, talking about your skin, to standing in a room with industry giants, to building a brand that people genuinely believe in.

And if I’m honest, it feels like we’re only just seeing the beginning of it.