Ourside is a fragrance brand started by young BIPOC founder and Harvard Business School grad Keta Burke-Williams. Launched in January 2023 with three tightly edited distinct fragrances: Moon Dust, a citrus bergamot forward earthy/vetiver scent and Dusk, a fruity fig forward ambery scent and Nostalgia, a floral, jasmine forward woody scent. As a young, female entrepreneur with a Harvard Business degree, Keta has had the good fortune of being selected as one of eight BIPOC brands that are members of Ulta Beauty’s inaugural MUSE Accelerator 2022 program cohort, Tower 28 Clean Beauty Summer School 2020 and being personally mentored by Credo Founder Annie Jackson for Credo for Change 2021. Ourside and Founder Keta Burke-Williams were the recipient of a Beauty Matter 2023 Next Grant Cohort.
Cruelty-free, vegan friendly and made in the US for the clean luxury customer, Ourside fragrances are responsibly made, showing that the $47B category should invite more black voices into its ranks. The intention is to develop scents intended for self-care and connection based on love and community and is inspired by their mother and a recurring story she told of walking in a garden in Tunisia surrounded by night-blooming jasmine. The line is carried in Credo Beauty and Bergdorf Goodman.
After sharpening her skillset working for iconic companies such as Kraft Heinz and Carnival Cruise Lines, Keta Burke-Williams enrolled at Harvard Business School and it was there that her love for fragrance and a conversation with her sister sparked the idea that would eventually become Ourside. She started working on the idea for Ourside during the first Summer of Covid while on break from earning her MBA. Despite simultaneously working two other internships, she found dedicating herself to her business in the late nights was truly her passion. After graduating in 2021, Keta jumped right into building the brand and has been growing the business full time since.
Using a grant received from Harvard Business School, Keta and her sister Kaja launched a proof-of-concept sku fragrance called Moon Dust, that landed instant media recognition and speaking engagements from Harvard Business School to The World Perfumery Congress. Keta went on to raise capital as a black woman for the concept that is now Ourside – the fragrance house of the future.
Half-Jamaican and Ohio bred, Keta currently resides in New York City. In her early years she participated in competitive figure skaters as one of few black women in the sport. She studied Portuguese and Religion at Dartmouth College spending two years as a varsity track & field athlete, and taking active leadership roles, working on initiatives that still exist at the college today.
Ourside builds on the power of a moment that connects us, through fragrance, and through scent, our strongest sense. Welcome To A World Of Our Own.
