The 2025 Business Influencer of the Year has built an interconnected Kenyan enterprise spanning skincare retail, professional treatments, beauty-business supplies and entrepreneurial storytelling—all while openly sharing her journey through business and motherhood.
Yvonne Kanyi’s entrepreneurial journey began with a problem she understood personally.
Like many consumers trying to improve their skin, she explored different tips, trends and products in search of solutions that delivered meaningful results. The experience showed her how difficult it could be for Kenyan shoppers to find trusted skincare products, practical information and personalized guidance in one place.
Instead of viewing that challenge only as a consumer, Yvonne recognized it as an opportunity to build something better.
That insight helped inspire Beauty Square Kenya, which has grown from a skincare idea into a multichannel beauty retailer with an e-commerce platform, two Nairobi locations, consultation support and delivery services.
Yvonne did not stop there.
She went on to establish Sage Sknn Aesthetics, a professional skincare and treatment business, and Sage Pro Supplies, which serves aestheticians, clinics, salons and other beauty entrepreneurs. Through the Founder Diaries Podcast, she also creates space for honest conversations about building, growing and leading businesses.
Together, these ventures reflect the mindset behind her public philosophy: becoming “1% better every day.”
Meet the Entrepreneur Behind the Brands
Yvonne Kanyi is a Kenyan entrepreneur, beauty-industry founder, content creator, podcast host and mother.
Her public platform brings together three major parts of her life: entrepreneurship, motherhood and steady personal growth.
Rather than presenting business success as a perfect journey, Yvonne shares the lessons, decisions and everyday realities involved in building companies. Her content allows audiences to see both the polished customer-facing brands and the founder working behind them.
That openness has helped establish her as a trusted voice among Kenyan entrepreneurs.
Yvonne’s story is particularly compelling because her businesses do not operate as unrelated projects. Each venture responds to a different need within the beauty industry.
Beauty Square Kenya serves consumers seeking skincare and personal-care products. Sage Sknn Aesthetics provides professional consultations and treatments. Sage Pro Supplies supports professionals building and operating beauty businesses. Founder Diaries extends the conversation into entrepreneurship, leadership and personal development.
She has created an ecosystem capable of serving customers, clients, industry professionals and aspiring founders.
Business Influencer of the Year 2025
In November 2025, Yvonne was named Business Influencer of the Year at the Pulse Influencer Awards Kenya.
The recognition marked an important moment in her journey.
She was no longer known only as the founder behind successful beauty businesses. She was also being celebrated as a nationally recognized voice using digital media to educate, motivate and document entrepreneurship.
The award reflected Yvonne’s ability to make business content both useful and relatable.
She shares founder lessons, behind-the-scenes experiences, customer stories, skincare information and personal reflections about discipline and growth. Her audience sees entrepreneurship not as an abstract idea, but as a lived experience involving decisions, adjustments and continuous learning.
By allowing people to follow that process, Yvonne has made her personal platform an extension of her businesses—and a source of encouragement for people building enterprises of their own.
Beauty Square Kenya: From Personal Need to Growing Retail Brand
Beauty Square Kenya forms the foundation of Yvonne’s beauty portfolio.
The company offers skincare, body-care, hair-care, makeup, fragrance and grooming products from Kenyan and international brands.
Its product categories include facial cleansers, toners, serums, moisturizers, sunscreens, exfoliants, masks, eye care, body care, hair products, makeup, fragrances, gift sets and men’s grooming essentials.
Brands featured through Beauty Square Kenya have included COSRX, Beauty of Joseon, La Roche-Posay, Purito, Biore, Anua, Haruharu Wonder and Medicube, alongside independent Kenyan brands.
This range allows the company to serve customers at different stages of their skincare journeys—from someone purchasing a first cleanser and moisturizer to experienced users building more targeted routines.
What makes the Beauty Square story especially meaningful is its personal beginning.
Yvonne had experienced the confusion that can come from trying numerous products and following different trends in search of results. That experience helped shape a company intended to make skincare shopping more dependable, accessible and educational for Kenyan consumers.
She transformed a challenge she personally understood into a business capable of solving that challenge for others.
More Than a Beauty Shop
Beauty Square Kenya’s value extends beyond making products available.
The company also helps customers understand what they are purchasing and how different products may fit into their routines.
Through social-media education, WhatsApp assistance and in-person consultations, Beauty Square addresses common concerns such as acne, recurring breakouts, hyperpigmentation and uneven skin tone.
Its educational content also helps customers understand sunscreens, brightening ingredients, exfoliants and the process of building a balanced skincare routine.
This guidance is important in a market where shoppers are constantly introduced to new ingredients and viral products.
Skincare can quickly become overwhelming when customers feel they need every trending serum or active ingredient. Beauty Square’s educational approach gives them an opportunity to ask questions and make choices more intentionally.
The company also discusses the connection between the skin and wider lifestyle factors such as stress, hormones, diet and sleep. That broader perspective helps customers understand that skin health is not always determined by a single product.
By combining retail with accessible education, Beauty Square positions itself as a guide within the customer’s skincare journey rather than simply a place to complete a transaction.
Growing Online and In Person
Beauty Square Kenya’s development from an idea into a multichannel operation provides a strong picture of Yvonne’s growth as an entrepreneur.
The company serves customers through its e-commerce platform, delivery services and physical locations in Nairobi.
Its Nairobi CBD location is situated at the New Stanley Building on Standard Street, opposite Lonrho House.
Its Lavington location is at Valley Field Court on Hendred Avenue, near Valley Arcade.
These locations give customers the opportunity to explore products and receive support in person, while the online platform serves shoppers who prefer digital convenience.
Beauty Square also offers international shipping to selected destinations, extending its potential reach beyond the Kenyan market.
This combination of e-commerce, physical retail, consultations and delivery reflects Yvonne’s understanding of the modern customer. Some shoppers want the speed of ordering online, while others appreciate the opportunity to speak with someone and examine products before making a decision.
By providing both experiences, Beauty Square has developed into a more complete and accessible retail operation.
Sage Sknn Aesthetics: Supporting the Professional Skincare Journey
Sage Sknn Aesthetics represents the treatment-focused side of Yvonne’s beauty ecosystem.
Where Beauty Square Kenya helps customers obtain products for home use, Sage Sknn provides professional skincare consultations, customized treatments and continued progress monitoring.
Its services and educational content have highlighted professional facials, acne-support treatments, chemical peels, skin consultations, hyperpigmentation care, rejuvenation and personalized treatment plans.
The business has also promoted experiences such as couple facial appointments, showing how skincare can become part of shared wellness and intentional self-care.
Sage Sknn’s content frequently documents gradual skincare journeys.
That emphasis supports an important message across Yvonne’s brands: healthier-looking skin is usually developed through patience, consistency and informed care rather than an instant transformation.
Professional treatments can provide important support, but the client’s routine between appointments also contributes to progress. Sage Sknn and Beauty Square therefore complement one another naturally.
One business supports professional assessment and treatments. The other helps clients access products for ongoing care at home.
Together, they create continuity within the customer’s experience.
Sage Pro Supplies: Supporting Other Beauty Entrepreneurs
Sage Pro Supplies expands Yvonne’s influence from consumer beauty into business-to-business support.
The company provides equipment, products and professional essentials for aestheticians, skincare clinics, salons and beauty entrepreneurs.
This venture is an important part of Yvonne’s portfolio because it allows her to support other professionals working within the industry.
Every growing beauty practice requires more than technical talent. Professionals also need dependable supplies, suitable equipment and access to products that help them deliver quality services.
Sage Pro Supplies responds to that need.
By serving beauty-business owners, Yvonne is participating in the development of a wider professional ecosystem. Her work no longer benefits only the customers purchasing products or booking treatments through her companies. It also helps other entrepreneurs operate and grow their own businesses.
This creates a meaningful cycle.
Beauty Square serves the consumer. Sage Sknn serves the treatment client. Sage Pro Supplies equips the professional. Each venture responds to a different part of the same industry.
Founder Diaries: Honest Conversations About Building Businesses
Yvonne’s influence extends beyond skincare through the Founder Diaries Podcast.
The program centers on honest conversations about what it takes to build, grow and lead a company.
Rather than presenting entrepreneurship as effortless or glamorous, Founder Diaries explores the decisions, learning experiences, personal sacrifices and difficult moments behind business growth.
This approach makes the podcast particularly valuable to aspiring founders.
Successful entrepreneurs are often introduced to the public after their companies have already gained recognition. Audiences see the polished brand without always seeing the uncertainty, discipline and problem-solving that made it possible.
Founder Diaries brings those less-visible experiences into the conversation.
As both a founder and host, Yvonne can approach guests with an understanding shaped by her own journey. She knows what it means to identify a market need, build customer trust, manage growth and remain visible as the person behind a brand.
The podcast allows her to transform personal business lessons into conversations that can serve Kenya’s broader entrepreneurial community.
Turning Passion Into a Sustainable Enterprise
In a March 2025 interview titled “The Money Story of Yvonne Kanyi,” Yvonne discussed the journey of turning passion into profit while building Beauty Square Kenya and Sage Sknn Aesthetics.
Her progression offers valuable lessons for aspiring entrepreneurs.
She began with a problem she personally understood. She used digital content to educate customers and build trust. She listened to what the market needed and expanded her services accordingly.
Instead of relying on a single business model, she developed complementary ventures that serve different groups within the beauty industry.
She also remained visible as the founder.
That visibility matters because customers increasingly want to understand the people and values behind the brands they support. By sharing her experiences, Yvonne gives her businesses a relatable human voice.
Her journey shows that passion can provide the beginning, but building a lasting enterprise also requires systems, customer understanding, patience and the ability to evolve.
Motherhood and Entrepreneurship
Motherhood is an important part of Yvonne’s public identity.
She discusses family life alongside business leadership, content creation and personal development, offering an honest picture of a woman carrying several meaningful responsibilities at once.
This adds warmth and relatability to her platform.
Many women are building careers and companies while also raising children, supporting families and making decisions that affect more than themselves. Yvonne’s content reflects that reality without suggesting that every part of the journey must always appear perfectly balanced.
Motherhood and entrepreneurship can both involve learning, patience, sacrifice and the ability to adapt.
By including both in her story, Yvonne shows that ambition does not have to exist separately from family. The two can become connected parts of a woman’s growth, values and motivation.
Her journey can encourage other mothers who have business ideas but wonder whether there is room for entrepreneurship within an already demanding life.
The Meaning of “1% Better Every Day”
The phrase “1% better every day” captures Yvonne’s wider philosophy.
It is a belief in the power of small, consistent improvements.
Not every day produces a major breakthrough. Some days are devoted to refining a system, learning from a mistake, improving customer service or making one thoughtful decision.
Over time, those small actions accumulate.
The philosophy applies naturally to entrepreneurship. Sustainable businesses are rarely built through one perfect decision. They grow through continuous learning, testing and improvement.
It also applies to skincare.
Healthy skin usually requires consistency rather than a dramatic overnight change. A suitable routine followed patiently can be more valuable than frequently switching products in pursuit of instant results.
The same principle can be seen in motherhood and personal development. Growth often occurs through ordinary choices repeated with intention.
For Yvonne, becoming 1% better is not about demanding perfection. It is about continuing to move forward.
Digital Storytelling as a Business Tool
Yvonne’s 2025 Pulse Influencer Award recognizes her ability to use digital media as more than a sales channel.
Her content combines skincare education, product information, customer progress stories, founder lessons, podcast conversations, motherhood, lifestyle and reflections about discipline.
This variety allows audiences to connect with different parts of her journey.
A customer may discover her through skincare advice. An aspiring entrepreneur may follow her for business lessons. A mother may relate to her family experiences. A founder may find encouragement through an episode of her podcast.
Those connections strengthen her companies because audiences are not only interacting with products. They are following a story and developing trust in the person behind the brands.
Yvonne’s approach offers a valuable example for modern entrepreneurs. Founders can use content not only to promote what they sell, but also to educate, build community and communicate the values guiding their work.
Building a Connected Beauty Ecosystem
Yvonne’s portfolio is powerful because every part has a distinct role.
Beauty Square Kenya provides skincare, beauty and personal-care products.
Sage Sknn Aesthetics offers professional treatments, consultations and guided skincare experiences.
Sage Pro Supplies supports aestheticians, salons, clinics and beauty entrepreneurs with professional products and supplies.
Founder Diaries Podcast shares entrepreneurial education, founder experiences and conversations about business growth.
Together, the ventures allow Yvonne to serve people across the beauty-business journey.
She can help a customer find a product, support a client seeking professional treatment, supply an aesthetician building a practice and encourage an entrepreneur learning how to lead a company.
That connected structure demonstrates thoughtful business growth.
Rather than expanding without direction, Yvonne has developed ventures that respond to needs she has encountered within the same industry.
Why Yvonne Kanyi’s Story Matters
At Sisi Kenya Spotlight, we celebrate entrepreneurs who are building successful companies while creating opportunities, knowledge and inspiration for others.
Yvonne Kanyi’s story matters because it shows how a personal challenge can become the foundation for a growing enterprise.
She entered the beauty industry with an understanding of how confusing the search for effective skincare could be. She responded by creating a company that combines products with education and customer support.
She then expanded into professional treatments, business supplies and entrepreneurial storytelling.
Her journey also demonstrates that women do not have to be defined by one role. Yvonne is a founder, mother, creator, podcast host and business influencer. Each part adds depth to the others.
Through her visibility, she helps make entrepreneurship feel more accessible. She shows the progress while also acknowledging the work behind it.
Building Brands and Bringing Others Along
Yvonne Kanyi is doing more than selling skincare products.
She is building an ecosystem that helps customers make informed choices, gives treatment clients access to professional support, equips other beauty entrepreneurs and creates honest conversations about business.
Her 2025 Business Influencer of the Year award recognized what her audience was already seeing: a founder who uses her platform to educate, inspire and lead.
Beauty Square Kenya, Sage Sknn Aesthetics, Sage Pro Supplies and Founder Diaries may serve different audiences, but they share one foundation—Yvonne’s belief in solving real problems and improving consistently.
Her story is a reminder that successful entrepreneurship does not always begin with a perfect plan.
Sometimes it begins with a personal need, a useful idea and the commitment to become just 1% better every day.
