We recently connected with Krystle Toles and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Krystle thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?
When I was 12, I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, and everything became a fight — not just physically, but emotionally and mentally. I struggled with self-image, confidence, and simply keeping my head above water during what should’ve been the darkest time of my life.
Fast forward to my freshman year of college — I was recovering from major surgeries, stuck in a hospital bed, facing the unknown. And I made a decision:
If I was going to meet God and my ancestors again, I was going to look phenomenal doing it.
Hair, nails, and skincare became my light — the rituals that kept me going, the reminders that I was still me even in the face of pain. People often say beauty is vanity. I say it’s survival. Because when you look better, you feel better — and when you feel better, you shine, and you make the world around you shine too.
As a Black woman, it was even harder to access beauty that truly saw me. I’m alone like 3-4 shades 2 on a good day
Finding my correct makeup shade? A struggle.
Finding brands that carried it in my city? Rarer than it should be.
And trying to find a stylist who was willing to come to my home — let alone my hospital room — felt nearly impossible.
Whether I was in Detroit, Las Vegas, or Houston, I wanted access to my products and high-quality, licensed professionals when I needed them — not when they had time to fit me in. I needed my care brought to my door. And DoorDash and Uber Eats couldn’t handle what I was asking for.
Using 10 different apps just to piece together my products, services, and appointments became too much. So I decided to do something about it — for myself, and for everyone else who’s ever felt overlooked by the beauty industry.
That’s why I built RushLuxe.
My mission is to make beauty and wellness as easy and accessible as ordering a cup of coffee. Because beauty isn’t just about how we look — it’s how we live, how we heal, how we rise.
Krystle, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I didn’t build RushLuxe from a boardroom… I built it from a hospital bed. I’ve spent years battling ulcerative colitis, and during my toughest moments, beauty became more than vanity — it became my therapy, my power, my light in the dark. Even when I couldn’t control what was happening to my body, I could control how I showed up for myself. Hair done. Nails polished. Skin glowing. That feeling saved me more times than I can count.
But beauty access? It was a mess.
Back during the pandemic, like so many others, I was stuck in the house — nails broken, hair undone, and no time or resources to fix it. Delivery apps would drop off the wrong products. Appointments were weeks out. My favorite makeup shades were always out of stock or delivered broken. I got tired of piecing together 6 apps just to feel like myself again. That’s when I said: “There has to be a better way.”
So I built it.
RushLuxe is the first AI-powered beauty and wellness delivery app.
Think Uber Eats meets Sephora, but smarter. Users can book licensed beauty pros, get same-day product delivery, and even be matched with the perfect shade or service using our AI assistant, Lily.
We serve customers who’ve been overlooked: busy parents, folks recovering from surgery or illness, underserved communities, and anyone who’s just tired of the beauty industry’s one-size-fits-all approach. We also support beauty professionals and merchants by giving them tools to grow, sell, and thrive — all on one platform.
What makes us different?
AI personalization with real-world logistics
A deep focus on inclusivity (we see you, brown-skinned beauty)
Real people solving real problems, not just chasing trends
What I’m most proud of?
Building this with no budget, 30 strangers turned teammates, and a lot of faith. RushLuxe is proof that when women — especially Black women — build for themselves, the whole world benefits.
To anyone discovering us for the first time:
We’re not just another app. We’re a movement. A revolution in how we access care, glam, and confidence.
RushLuxe is powered by beauty, technology, and love. And we’re just getting started.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
My whole life has been one pivot after another.
When I was graduating high school, my grades were barely holding on — not because I didn’t care, but because I spent most of those years in and out of the hospital battling ulcerative colitis. I’ll never forget the admissions counselor at Wayne State University who told me I’d never get into any college, not even a community one. She overlooked the glowing recommendation letters from my teachers and the founder of my school. She didn’t see the fight in me — but I did.
I didn’t stop there.
My high school counselor, Ms. Ball, introduced me to Saul Davis at Concordia University. He took a chance on me. I went, but life threw another curveball. I came out of remission — again and again — and had to drop out to focus on my health and my work.
Years later, I had just quit my job at Enterprise to expand my consulting firm. We were growing fast — until COVID hit two weeks later. Just like that, everything stalled. But in that stillness, something sparked.
RushLuxe was born.
I had no tech background — the last thing I coded was a BlackPlanet layout in 2006. But I had the vision. And I knew the problem I wanted to solve — not just for myself, but for everyone who’s ever struggled to feel like themselves when life gets hard.
At first, I hired developers who gave me everything but what I asked for. They expected me to settle. I didn’t. I pulled the plug, shut the site down, and started over.
And then I found my tribe — 30 of the most brilliant, dedicated people who saw the vision, believed in it, and helped me build it.
We built RushLuxe from the ground up — an AI-powered beauty and wellness platform created for real people, by real people who’ve been through it. People like me.
What I’ve learned ? Life will throw everything at you. You’ll fall, you’ll cry, you’ll miss meals, you might not have a dollar to your name. But you keep going. You hold your vision close. You call on your team, your tribe, your community. And you don’t let go.
If something isn’t working, don’t fold — pivot.
Band-aid it, fix it, build it better.
And when life hands you lemons?
You make lemonade so damn good the world can’t stop talking about it.
Any advice for managing a team?
Transparency is everything. If you want your team to show up with their whole heart, you’ve got to show them yours. I don’t hide things from my team — the good, the bad, the ugly, and everything in between. We’re building this dream together, so it’s only right that they feel like co-owners in the vision, not just employees checking boxes.
I genuinely love my team. Like, deeply. So my biggest advice? Build a team of people who get you — who speak your language, who believe in the mission, and who vibe with your values. When you have that synergy, you’ve got something money can’t buy.
Create a culture where people feel seen, heard, and safe. Let them know you believe in them, and make sure they believe in you too — in your ability to lead them through the wins and the storms.
Small gestures go a long way. A check-in text. A shoutout in a team chat. Remembering their birthday or just asking how their kid is doing. People remember how you made them feel, not just what you assigned them.
And most importantly: don’t be afraid to break the rules. We’re not here to mimic stale corporate structures from 1999. We’re creating something new. I’ve hired people who applied for one job and ended up thriving in a completely different department — because I took time to really get to know them.
Hold after-work events. Laugh together. Cry together if you need to. Let your team see you as a human being, not just the boss with the to-do list. It’s 2025 — nobody’s clocking in for a cold, disconnected environment anymore. They want to know they’re building something with someone, not for someone.
At the end of the day, people don’t work hard for companies — they work hard for people who make them feel valued. I’m proof of that. I still have former bosses who could call me today and I’d pick up — just because of how they treated me.
That’s the kind of leader I strive to be. That’s the culture we’re building at RushLuxe.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.rushluxe.co
- Instagram: @rushluxeofficial
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rushluxefounder
