Who We Are

We believe living well starts from the well inside and out. We create meaningful moments to pause, reflect, and reconnect with yourself and the world around you. Rooted in storytelling and thoughtful design, we create tools and experiences that bring clarity, calm, and connection to modern living. We are honored to be part of your journey.

Meet Yelka: Our Founder

Before Kume House was born, our founder, Yelka, was a young girl growing up in New York City, listening to her baba (father) speak about the power of stories. He often reminded her of their Finah heritage, a lineage of Mande storytellers, poets, and historians from West Africa entrusted with preserving the culture and relaying the most difficult parts of society. To him, storytelling wasn’t just entertainment; it was responsibility, connection, and a way of life.

Years later, when Yelka began therapy and started telling her own story, she finally understood what her baba had been trying to teach her. In giving language to her experiences—the questions, the uncertainty, the moments of both pain and joy—she discovered something profound: that stories could be tools for wellbeing. Through reflection, people could find clarity, and through self-awareness, they could begin to live more fully, both inside and out.

Kume House grew out of that realization. It is where our founder continues her family’s legacy in a modern form, through thoughtfully designed tools and experiences that invite people to pause, reflect, and reconnect with themselves. Each journal, workshop, and gathering is an invitation to explore the inner world, to make sense of life’s chapters, to transform old narratives, and to create new meanings.

At its heart, Kume House is a home for grounding and gentle connection. It’s where reflection feels calming rather than heavy, and where storytelling becomes a practice of self-connection.