Kelly Keith: Building Brands and Celebrating Beauty’s Legacy

Kelly Keith’s relationship with Bronner Bros. began early in her career. Years later, she is helping the historic Black beauty organization think about its future and creating a new way to celebrate the people who helped build the industry.

It is one part of a career that has taken her from major global companies to working closely with founders on the decisions that can determine a brand’s next stage of growth.

Kelly has worked with L’Oréal, Unilever, Coty, and Godrej Consumer Products, building experience in brand strategy, innovation, and new product development. In 2021, she founded Yellow Jelly Beans, a strategic growth and brand consultancy for established beauty and consumer businesses.

Many of the brands she advises have already found an audience. They know people want what they sell. What they need now is a plan for growing without losing what made the business work in the first place. Kelly might help a founder move from online sales into retail, rethink a product line, reach a different consumer, or map out the next several years of the business.

“Once a brand gets to a certain size, the question isn’t simply, ‘How do we market this better?’ You have to look at the entire business. Where is the growth actually going to come from?”

She also asks founders to be specific about what sets them apart. With new products appearing every day and consumers able to discover and buy them almost instantly, being visible is not the same as being memorable. Kelly’s question is direct: “Who does it like you — and only you?”

The answer, she believes, has to show up in more than a tagline. It should guide the products a brand makes, how it treats its customers, the stories it tells, and the choices it makes as it grows.

That same attention to identity informs her work with Bronner Bros., a client of Yellow Jelly Beans. Kelly helps lead its marketing and brand strategy as the nearly 80-year-old company considers how to carry its legacy forward and connect with the next generation.

Her role has also grown beyond brand strategy. Kelly is the creator, Visionary, and Executive Producer of the Bronner Bros. Beauty Icon Awards, which recognize people whose work has influenced beauty, entrepreneurship, and culture.

The awards reflect something central to her view of the industry: Black beauty has created far more than products. It has opened businesses, built careers, inspired artists, and shaped culture. Honoring those contributions is part of understanding where the industry goes from here.

Kelly has spent much of her career helping other people’s brands find their direction. Now, through her consultancy and the platforms she is creating, she is bringing her own perspective into clearer view.

“Growth for the sake of growth isn’t enough. I’m interested in building businesses that understand who they are, who they serve and why they deserve a place in the consumer’s life.”

The Bronner Bros. Beauty Icon Awards, themed Midnight Bloom, will take place Saturday, October 10, 2026, at Riverside EpiCenter. Showtime begins at 7:00 PM. Attire is black tie. Tickets are available at BronnerBros.com.