Founder Diaries Podcast

Yvonne Kanyi
  • 5.0 (1)
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Updated Daily

Founder Diaries Podcast is a podcast that tells everyday entrepreneur stories. Hosted by Yvonne Kanyi, a Founder and a creator, sharing honest conversations about building, growing and leading a business. This podcast dives deep into what it truly takes to go from idea to execution the wins, the stumbles, the turning points and everything in between. Each episode offers listeners and everyone watching practical insights, raw reflections and human moments from those who’ve built something remarkable.

  1. 8h ago

    SN3, Episode 9: I Lost Close to 400,000 | Anne Muhia on Employee Theft, Motherhood & Building

    Anne Muhia is an entrepreneur, founder of Winners Arena Africa, and in this episode, she takes us through one of her earliest and most painful business lessons: a butchery story, and how she navigated employee theft at the time. From there, we trace Anne's full journey: from working as a group finance manager, to quitting impromptu, starting her own business, and how motherhood has shaped who she is today — including the ongoing reality of raising a daughter who requires special care while continuing to grow her business.We also get into the mindset shifts that separate founders who scale from founders who stay stuck, then we close with a look at the key numbers every founder should actually be tracking.lA personal note: Anne's journey through motherhood continues alongside her business, as she cares for her daughter who requires special care. If this story moves you, her family has shared a support link below — any contribution would go a long way.🔗 Support here: https://www.mchanga.africa/fundraiser/138250 This episode is brought to you by: 🔹 Beauty Square KE — Your go-to destination for premium, quality beauty essentials. Visit and patronize at beautysquareke.co SPONSOR HIGHLIGHT This episode is sponsored by Faida Elimu Insurance Plan by Jubilee Life Insurance — a plan built to protect your child's education no matter what life brings. It gives you peace of mind knowing your child's education stays funded by Jubilee even if you're no longer around, with the flexibility to save monthly, quarterly, yearly, or as a lump sum, topped up whenever it suits you. Your named beneficiary is legally protected — no court, spouse, or divorce can override your choice and after 2 years, you can access up to 10% of your fund without closing the policy. Plus, in the event of a claim, your family receives instant relief with KES 100,000 in last expenses paid within 48 hours. Learn more about the Faida Elimu Insurance Plan: https://jubileeinsurance.com/ke/life-... PARTNER HIGHLIGHT 🤝🔹 DigiTax — Simplifying tax and invoicing for businesses so you can focus on growth, not paperwork. Learn more: ⁠https://digitax.tech/⁠ | ⁠+254795279403 DigiTax — your tax assistant in your pocket Sarova We’re honored to have Sarova Hotels as our Season 3 partner. From creating beautiful spaces to curating unforgettable experiences, Sarova is the best fit for your staycation, business meeting or that special celebration. Visit their website to check out their facilities and services at www.sarovahotels.comOur other Season 3 partners are: 🎥 Royal Reel — our audio-visual partners / royalreelph. . 💄 Makeup City — on makeup / makeupcityy. . 👗 HAWI Ready To Wear— on the wardrobe https://www.instagram.com/hawi_rtw?ig... Follow Founder Diaries on socials: Instagram / founderdiar. . Tiktok / founder.diari. . Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/1CBpdVj... Follow our host on socials: Instagram / yvonnekanyi. . TikTok ⁠/ entrepreneurm. .

  2. 3d ago

    SN3, Minisode 16: What Are Your 3 Things? Are You Maximizing Your Best Sellers?

    Back in Season 1, we talked about McDonald's and how they arrived at the 3 things on their menu. This minisode is a callback to that idea, and a challenge: do you actually know what your 3 things are?Go into your numbers and look at what genuinely brings you the most profit and what you sell the most of. If you had to trim your entire business down to 3 products or services based on demand and profitability, what would they be? And once you know that, ask yourself the harder question: are you actually giving those 3 things enough marketing support? Are you pushing them enough, talking about them enough, presenting them to customers as the solution enough? Are your customers even aware they exist? And how can you maximise more on that because more profit is more money in your pocket, and that's the entire point of being in business. This episode is brought to you by:🔹 Beauty Square KE — Your go-to destination for premium, quality beauty essentials. Visit and patronize at beautysquareke.co PARTNER SPOTLIGHT Sarova:We’re honored to have Sarova Hotels as our Season 3 partner. From creating beautiful spaces to curating unforgettable experiences, Sarova is the best fit for your staycation, business meeting or that special celebration. Visit their website to check out their facilities and services at www.sarovahotels.comOur other Season 3 partners are:🎥 Royal Reel — our audio-visual partners / royalreelph. . 💄 Makeup City — on makeup / makeupcityy. .👗 HAWI Ready To Wear— on the wardrobe https://www.instagram.com/hawi_rtw?ig...Follow Founder Diaries on socials: Instagram / founderdiar. .Tiktok / founder.diari. .Spotifyhttps://open.spotify.com/show/1CBpdVj...Follow our host on socials:Instagram⁠ / yvonnekanyi. .TikTok⁠ / entrepreneurm. .

  3. 6d ago

    SN3, Minisode 15: The Number That Tells You If Your Second Branch Was Worth It

    This minisode was sparked by an insight from someone who's worked in mergers and acquisitions, reviewing businesses being valued, bought, or sold. It's something that's easy to overlook as a founder: running a separate P&L for each branch of your business, instead of housing everything under one. She shared how a well-known brand runs every single branch like its own separate business, each with its own P&L. That idea alone led me to requesting separate P&Ls for Beauty Square and Sage. If you're running more than one location or branch under a single set of books, this might be the number you've been missing. This episode is brought to you by: 🔹 Beauty Square KE — Your go-to destination for premium, quality beauty essentials. Visit and patronize at beautysquareke.co PARTNER HIGHLIGHT 🤝 We’re honored to have Sarova Hotels as our Season 3 partner. From creating beautiful spaces to curating unforgettable experiences, Sarova is the best fit for your staycation, business meeting or that special celebration. Visit their website to check out their facilities and services at www.sarovahotels.com Our other Season 3 partners are: 🎥 Royal Reel — our audio-visual partners / royalreelph. . 💄 Makeup City — on makeup / makeupcityy. . 👗 HAWI Ready To Wear— on the wardrobe https://www.instagram.com/hawi_rtw?ig... Follow Founder Diaries on socials: Instagram / founderdiar. . Tiktok / founder.diari. . Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/1CBpdVj... Follow our host on socials: Instagram⁠ / yvonnekanyi. . TikTok⁠ / entrepreneurm. .

  4. Sep 21

    SN3, Episode 8: The Host Becomes the Guest: Yvonne Kanyi's Untold Founder Story

    Today's episode looks a little different. We're switching seats — Yvonne is on the guest chair this time, interviewed by Victoria, Founder of Vspa, Thao Tree, and Titii Kenya. If you've ever wanted to know our host a little better, this is your chance. The conversation covers Yvonne's full entrepreneurial journey, building Beauty Square and Sage from the ground up, her journey into motherhood and how it reshaped her relationship with work, the moment that almost made her quit, and what it's actually taken to build a team that runs efficiently without her having to hold everything together herself. This is Yvonne, unfiltered. SPONSOR HIGHLIGHT This episode is sponsored by Faida Elimu Insurance Plan by Jubilee Life Insurance — a plan built to protect your child's education no matter what life brings. It gives you peace of mind knowing your child's education stays funded by Jubilee even if you're no longer around, with the flexibility to save monthly, quarterly, yearly, or as a lump sum, topped up whenever it suits you. Your named beneficiary is legally protected — no court, spouse, or divorce can override your choice and after 2 years, you can access up to 10% of your fund without closing the policy. Plus, in the event of a claim, your family receives instant relief with KES 100,000 in last expenses paid within 48 hours. Learn more about the Faida Elimu Insurance Plan: https://jubileeinsurance.com/ke/life-individual/faida-elimu-insurance-plan/ This episode is brought to you by: 🔹 Beauty Square KE — Your go-to destination for premium, quality beauty essentials. Visit and patronize at beautysquareke.co PARTNER HIGHLIGHT 🤝 We’re honoured to have Sarova Hotels as our Season 3 partner. From creating beautiful spaces to curating unforgettable experiences, Sarova is the best fit for your staycation, business meeting or that special celebration. Visit their website to check out their facilities and services at www.sarovahotels.com Our other Season 3 partners are: 🎥 Royal Reel — our audio-visual partners / royalreelph. . 💄 Makeup City — on makeup / makeupcityy. . 👗 HAWI Ready To Wear— on the wardrobe https://www.instagram.com/hawi_rtw?ig... Follow Founder Diaries on socials: Instagram / founderdiar. . Tiktok / founder.diari. . Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/1CBpdVj... Follow our host on socials: Instagram ⁠ / yvonnekanyi. . TikTok⁠ / entrepreneurm. .

  5. Sep 18

    SN3, Minisode 14: Why Rest Isn't Recharging You — The 5 Types of Rest You're Probably Missing.

    Ever taken a whole weekend off and still felt exhausted? That's usually because rest isn't one-size-fits-all — and most of us are only resting in one dimension while running on empty in the rest. In this minisode, we break down the different types of rest based on where your exhaustion is actually coming from, so you can identify what you really need.✅ Physical rest ✅ Mental rest ✅ Emotional rest ✅ Creative rest ✅ Sensory rest Rest isn't something you earn, it's something you need in order to function and produce your best work. This minisode is a reminder to find the right balance between work and actual, effective rest.This episode is brought to you by:🔹 Beauty Square KE — Your go-to destination for premium, quality beauty essentials. Visit and patronize at beautysquareke.co PARTNER HIGHLIGHT 🤝We’re honored to have Sarova Hotels as our Season 3 partner. From creating beautiful spaces to curating unforgettable experiences, Sarova is the best fit for your staycation, business meeting or that special celebration. Visit their website to check out their facilities and services at www.sarovahotels.comOur other Season 3 partners are:🎥 Royal Reel — our audio-visual partners / royalreelph. .💄 Makeup City — on makeup / makeupcityy. .👗 HAWI Ready To Wear— on the wardrobe https://www.instagram.com/hawi_rtw?ig...Follow Founder Diaries on socials: Instagram / founderdiar. .Tiktok / founder.diari. .Spotifyhttps://open.spotify.com/show/1CBpdVj...Follow our host on socials:Instagram⁠ / yvonnekanyi. .TikTok⁠ / entrepreneurm. .

  6. Sep 15

    SN3, Minisode 13; More Customers Isn't the Only Way to Grow Revenue | Here's the Formula

    This minisode breaks down a simple, repeatable formula for growing revenue that applies to pretty much any business model.When most founders think about increasing revenue, the instinct is usually: open a new branch, spend more on marketing, hire more staff, or add more products. But there are 3 key drivers that can move revenue without necessarily requiring more input into the business.We also break down how to calculate your customer growth rate, so if you've been assuming growth only comes from spending more, this reframes where to actually look first.This episode is brought to you by:🔹 Beauty Square KE — Your go-to destination for premium, quality beauty essentials. Visit and patronize at beautysquareke.co PARTNER HIGHLIGHT 🤝We’re honored to have Sarova Hotels as our Season 3 partner. From creating beautiful spaces to curating unforgettable experiences, Sarova is the best fit for your staycation, business meeting or that special celebration. Visit their website to check out their facilities and services at www.sarovahotels.comOur other Season 3 partners are:🎥 Royal Reel — our audio-visual partners / royalreelph. .💄 Makeup City — on makeup / makeupcityy. .👗 HAWI Ready To Wear— on the wardrobe https://www.instagram.com/hawi_rtw?ig...Follow Founder Diaries on socials: Instagram / founderdiar. .Tiktok / founder.diari. .Spotifyhttps://open.spotify.com/show/1CBpdVj...Follow our host on socials:Instagram⁠ / yvonnekanyi. .TikTok⁠ / entrepreneurm. .

  7. Sep 14

    SN3, Episode 7: The Business Side Of Makeup | O`rnella Nthambi on Building Makeup City Academy

    O`rnella Nthambi wears many hats — makeup artist, content creator, beauty educator, and entrepreneur and in this episode, she takes us through the full journey of building Makeup City and Makeup City Academy from a passion project into a business that's sustained her for over a decade.Her very first hustle wasn't in beauty at all. In high school, she sold viazi karai to her fellow students for 10 shillings. After high school, instead of the conventional path into driving or computer packages, she convinced her mum to pay for a short makeup course at Ashley's, a decision that quietly set the direction for everything that followed.We get into the real numbers behind her growth: how she went from charging KES 25,000 for a one-month makeup class to KES 45,000 today, and what it took to actually master pricing along the way. She also walks us through the process of setting up a physical academy space, what she's most intentional about teaching her students, and how she manages finances in a service-based business.This episode is brought to you by:🔹 Beauty Square KE — Your go-to destination for premium, quality beauty essentials. Visit and patronize at beautysquareke.co PARTNER SPOTLIGHT🔹 DigiTax — Simplifying tax and invoicing for businesses so you can focus on growth, not paperwork. Learn more: ⁠https://digitax.tech/⁠ | ⁠+254795279403 DigiTax — your tax assistant in your pocketPARTNER HIGHLIGHT 🤝We’re honored to have Sarova Hotels as our Season 3 partner. From creating beautiful spaces to curating unforgettable experiences, Sarova is the best fit for your staycation, business meeting or that special celebration. Visit their website to check out their facilities and services at www.sarovahotels.comOur other Season 3 partners are:🎥 Royal Reel — our audio-visual partners / royalreelph. .💄 Makeup City — on makeup / makeupcityy. .👗 HAWI Ready To Wear— on the wardrobe https://www.instagram.com/hawi_rtw?ig...Follow Founder Diaries on socials: Instagram / founderdiar. .Tiktok / founder.diari. .Spotifyhttps://open.spotify.com/show/1CBpdVj...Follow our host on socials:Instagram⁠ / yvonnekanyi. .TikTok⁠ / entrepreneurm. .

  8. Sep 11

    SN3; Minisode 12:You Already Know | The One Thing You're Avoiding That Could Change Your Revenue

    There's usually one thing every founder already knows they should be doing to increase revenue and it's usually the thing that keeps getting pushed to "next week." In this minisode, we challenge all founders that instead of juggling 5-6 major tasks a day and touching a hundred things without finishing any of them, pick that one thing you already know needs to happen, and make it the only thing you work on — whether that's dedicating 3-4 hours every morning to it, or making it your single focus until it's done — before moving on to the next task.This episode is brought to you by:🔹 Beauty Square KE — Your go-to destination for premium, quality beauty essentials. Visit and patronize at beautysquareke.co PARTNER HIGHLIGHT 🤝We’re honored to have Sarova Hotels as our Season 3 partner. From creating beautiful spaces to curating unforgettable experiences, Sarova is the best fit for your staycation, business meeting or that special celebration. Visit their website to check out their facilities and services at www.sarovahotels.comOur other Season 3 partners are:🎥 Royal Reel — our audio-visual partners / royalreelph. .💄 Makeup City — on makeup / makeupcityy. .👗 HAWI Ready To Wear— on the wardrobe https://www.instagram.com/hawi_rtw?ig...Follow Founder Diaries on socials: Instagram / founderdiar. .Tiktok / founder.diari. .Spotifyhttps://open.spotify.com/show/1CBpdVj...Follow our host on socials:Instagram⁠ / yvonnekanyi. .TikTok⁠ / entrepreneurm. .

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About

Founder Diaries Podcast is a podcast that tells everyday entrepreneur stories. Hosted by Yvonne Kanyi, a Founder and a creator, sharing honest conversations about building, growing and leading a business. This podcast dives deep into what it truly takes to go from idea to execution the wins, the stumbles, the turning points and everything in between. Each episode offers listeners and everyone watching practical insights, raw reflections and human moments from those who’ve built something remarkable.

Information

  • Creator
    Yvonne Kanyi
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    83
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Yvonne Kanyi
  • Show Website
    Founder Diaries Podcast

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