 Well, welcome to the new age indeed, where you can make money through beauty. So, for all of you who love makeup and beauty and to look all glammed up, today we have started this Entrepreneurship Tuesday morning with you. Please make sure you do participate in the conversation at Y254 channel on Twitter. The hashtag is Entrepreneurship Tuesday, hashtag Y in the morning. On Facebook, we are at Y254 and on Instagram, we are at Y254 underscore channel and on DSTV, we are channel 376. Now, with me in studio, I have one Sophia Wichengar, who is the founder of Zena Glam Kenya. Say good morning to the Y254 family. Hey, good morning. How are you? I'm happy to be here and thank you for having me. Yes, so we'd like to understand from Sylvia herself. This company that she has is two years old now, but she has styled the top of the top. So we just want to know what did she do? What was the secret? We want to know the story, so make sure you do participate in the conversation. So Sylvia, let's talk. How did you discover your passion in beauty? Actually, I think I have always had a passion in beauty from a very young age. I used to love staring at myself in the mirror. I used to love magazines. I used to love runway shows. So while I was still in primary school, one of my aunts gave me lipsticks and my mom gave me a mascara. So when I went to home, she just told me, hey, you seem like you love beauty. So she just gave me her lipsticks and my mom gave me a mascara. So when I went to home, I used to be so soft and quiet. So for me to make friends that ask someone to come, I put some mascara on them and lipstick. And that's how I started loving makeup because it made me feel like I was able to socialize with other people. It gave me confidence. Yeah, that I never like thought to give you confidence. Yeah, for some reason, I don't know because it made me feel like, yeah, because everyone would be like, yeah, I like your lashes. I like your lipstick. So yeah, I felt like it made me relate with other people. Then I never thought of it as a business. So after high school, I went to college and started doing accounting. Accounting? Actually, I did a bit of accounting. Yeah, but I used to love doing makeup every day. I'd wake up like two hours earlier. So that's why I'm on fleek all these. So even in the office, people used to ask me to do their brows, and I used to enjoy doing it. But I never like thought of it that I could do it as a business. So in 2017, I got into an accident and broke my leg. So I got into like a depression and whenever I do makeup, I'd feel like something has been lifted off me. So I started wanting to know more about makeup. I started getting a lot of information from you too. Yeah, we'd like to know. Because most people, do I really need to go to school to learn this? No, no. And how long did it even take you for you to get confidence? I think, actually, I just, I just dived in. I just, I think I just watched like a few, a few videos. And I was like, yeah, I can do this. I can do this. Then I started calling my friends, come, come home, visit me. I'll do makeup on you. And I started, immediately did makeup and posted, someone called me and I was like, wow. Business already started? Yeah, and I actually, at that point, I was still in crutches because I had broken my legs. I was like, yeah, I got some money and bought some few products and went and did makeup on them and it actually, and the feedback they gave me was actually a very good feedback that makeup was so nice. Everyone loved it. It stayed throughout the night. And actually, that's how it started makeup. And that's how it began? Yeah, that's how it began. I can imagine in the course of these two years, you have interacted with all sorts of skin types. So I would like to know as a makeup artist, how do you prepare for a particular skin type? So, for me, I know there are three types of skin. Yes. There's the oily skin and the dry one. The dry, the normal and then the combination. So, for oily skin, you... Okay, most people think that if you have oily skin, you don't need to moisturize, but it's actually the opposite. Oh, so when you have oily skin, you moisturize? You need to moisturize because when you don't moisturize, your skin will overcompensate for the oil that is not there. But when you moisturize, you see, the skin will know that there's oil, so it will not produce more oil. So, yeah, you need to moisturize, you need to use a primer. So, the primer and the foundation is what's different, what you will use differently. Because the primers that are suited for oily skin, the primers that are suited for dry skin and normal skin, it depending on what look you want to achieve. So, do you carry for all skin types for every time you go for a particular session? Yeah, unless I know like the client I'm going to meet, I just carry everything. You carry everything. Okay, interesting. I can imagine in the course of your work, what do you do when you have a client and you do their makeup and you're sure you've slayed and then they tell you, I don't like it. How do you deal with an unhappy client? First of all, before I start doing makeup on a client, I have to ask them, what look are you going for? What colors do you feel confident in? What colors are you comfortable with? So, for some that will be like, you just do you. For some that will be very specific. For some that even come with photos, I want to look like this person. But for some reason, it's not possible to look like a certain person because we are made differently. Our skin types are different. Our face shapes are different. Our eyes are made that is different. So, yeah, but I try to achieve that. So, it's not been like a very common occurrence. But there are people, yeah, you still do makeup and they're like, I can't see myself. I've lost myself. I need it to be toned down. So, you just tone it down. Okay, so let me find out. Since you have styled the best of the best. I feel celebrities here. How did you get yourself on the map? I've been being only two years old. Like, I was surprised. Actually, I think just straight was on my side because... Oh, you were lucky. Yeah, I was just lucky. I think it's just God. So, that was our time. I first started working with celebrities when I worked with Kotua magazine. So, it was only I was sleeping. It was very late at night. Someone just called me. We have a shoot tomorrow. Would you be available by this time? This place? Hey, I was like, huh? It was around one in the morning. So, I was like, okay, let me... Because it was like a pro bono. I was like, okay, let me just try it because I'm still building my brand. I went and it was, yeah. It was a shoot for like, I think, Vivo. So, from then we used to work together. And that's when I used to meet up with a lot of celebrities and most of them liked my work. So, they'd call me back later for their own personal makeup sessions, yeah. Then after that, every TV reached out. I worked with them for almost a year. Then later on, Katie and reached out. So, yeah, that's how... Okay, interesting. So, when you decided you wanted to start now the business and you are now Xenaglam officially. How did you arrive at that particular year? Xenaglam. I fused two names, yeah. Because both my grandmothers, one of them is called Fena and the other one is called Esna. So, I matched them up to come. But then, of course, it sounds Kosterian and you know, Kosterians love makeup. And I love Arabic makeup. So, I was like, yeah, it's a cool name for her. So, it's handsome Arabic. Yeah, so most of the people actually think that I'm so hilly or... And most people think so hilly's know how to do makeup. So, they'll be like, yeah, she's so hilly. She must be good at her. So, the name actually works for you? Yeah, actually works for me. It's interesting. I wanted to understand for me, what do you think is the most important quality a makeup artist should have? Personal hygiene. Oh, personal hygiene. Oh, a hair. Yeah, I think personal hygiene and interpersonal relationships. Yeah, and you need to be very patient and very understanding. Yeah, think. Patience and understanding. Yeah, because you sent... You know, we men, we are all over the place. One minute you are happy, one minute you are no, one minute. So, you have to be like very patient and very calm. Yeah. There's some sort of calmness that you find in this. Okay, so I'm guessing for me that also how you were able to get on the map is that you referrals. Yeah, most of my jobs are referrals. Because I rarely like post on the clump pages. Because I'm kind of shy. So, I'm not out there. So, most of my jobs are referrals. So, what other techniques did you use aside from referrals? What other means did you use to market yourself? Of course, social media. I opened up a page. And networking, I did a lot of pro bonos. Yeah, I did. Oh, you had to do a lot of pro bonos. Yeah, I've done pro bonos. Wow. Actually, people really don't like to hear. Yeah, I've done a lot of pro bonos, especially things like, whether maybe fashion shows, mini, what are they called? So, you have to be willing to... Yeah, you have to be willing. You have to sacrifice. Yeah. Both resources and time. So, because that's the only way you'll network with people. But if you keep just posting, everyone is posting their work. Everyone is good at their job. So, you have to put more effort. So, what would you say is the most unique thing about Xenaglam? And as of compared to other makeup lines that we have in Kenya right now? The most unique thing about Xenaglam is that, okay, my makeup, most of it is... If you notice, it's not... It will still be the same person, but you'll be like a prettier version of you. I try to just let you be you, but not like, kick you up and make you look like someone different. Yeah, I'll just enhance what you have. All right. And people will be like, yeah, I'm still me, but I'm still pretty. So, you maintain some form of originality? Yeah, I still maintain you. All right. So, there's a lot of natural... Yeah, natural vibe. Transforms completely. Yeah, like those at least one minute you're you, the next minute you're someone totally different. Yes, I've seen boy child complaining a lot. So, I can see we're on your page. I can see you vote to Dan Helen Tawali's makeup. It's one of the celebrities I can see here. Oh, interesting. Can we scroll? Can we scroll down and then we can see some of the pictures so that we can also see some of the ladies that you... Oh, wow. Mm-hmm. I can see Thandiwe here go. They are looking so nice. Yup. I can see Dwee guys in that. Yeah, yeah. That's Dwee got the right design. That's Mui Kali. Thandiwe, of course, I don't know. Thandiwe is Miko. That's DJ Melo right there. DJ Melo? Yes. Okay. Even the DJs are doing makeup now. Yeah. Oh, you've got a sling. Have one. So, let me ask you. I can see Carol Lynn, can you see? Yeah, yeah, Carol Lynn. So, let me ask you, how do you keep yourself abreast with the new beauty trends? How do you keep yourself so they know? Because it's always changed. I'm always on YouTube. I think I'm always... Because every day I have to learn something new every day because there are new makeup trends every day, there are new products every day. There are new ways of doing different things every day. There are new life hacks every day, makeup hacks. So, yeah, I'm still learning. I'm still a learner. I never settle. I never feel like I'm the best. I always want to learn, learn, learn every day. Yeah, I never get tired of learning because there's more to learn. There's hallways. You can always do it. Yeah, and there's a lot of information, especially on the Internet. Especially on the Internet. So, it's a place people can go and pass out here. Yeah, you can be anything with YouTube. You can be a cook. You can be a tailor. YouTube schools say that they should start giving degrees now. It appears so many people actually have come and say they learned a lot of their craft on YouTube. There's something you said about when I asked you about the qualities that a makeup artist should have. And you talked about personal hygiene. So, there's a question here that has popped up that I find very interesting. When and how do you clean your tools? Okay, for brushes especially, you should clean them after every client. You should always have something like to clean alcohol or something. Or you should have lots of brushes like me. I think I have hundreds of brushes. Because when you keep a brush, even when you're doing makeup for yourself, you should always clean your brushes. Because the bacterial, they are not in the brush. And when you use it on your face... You mean they multiply in the brush? In English? Some of the brushes, we don't know any. I know. When they multiply in the brush and you use the brush on your face, you end up being infected, you end up breaking out. Because I'm seeing like there's a lot of that issue. People don't trust a lot of makeup artists because they don't know whether they've cleaned the brushes. But a clean brush will always look clean. Clean? No, there's nothing like it looks clean. No, it's because you want to use a brush because most brushes are white. It will look brown, so you can't use it on someone else. So also the trick is the color. If I see someone with a lot of black products, I'll be like... Actually, I don't see a lot of black brushes or brown brushes. Most of them have like white, white fuzz. I can see a video here of someone. Is this one of your clients? Yeah, yeah, actually for last Saturday. Have you ever encountered a bright zilla? How about it? It has to be an interesting story to hear. Not really. Okay, not for makeup, but with other things, yes. But for with makeup, I think... No, because me, I'm so chilled. So I'm always scared of drama. I'm like, God, please let this be a nice day. Let me not encounter dramas, dramatic people. But now when it's there, what do you do? Imagine, I've only encountered one. And I think she was not like a bright zilla, bright zilla. She was a very emotional bride. And I think she's not used to makeup. So when I did her makeup and then she looked at herself in the mirror. I had put lashes. She started crying, oh my God, this is not me. This is not me. And then so I had to remove the lashes. Then she had to chill for a minute. Then when she looked at herself, she was like, oh, I look nice. That's why she's like... But I was like so scared because she was one of those public figures. So I was like, my goodness. This one can go and ruin my name now. I'm about to be posted on B-Wen. But I'm about to find yourself on a blog. But actually, she eventually liked it. I think she was just emotional at that time. Maybe it was other things, maybe not even Jilly, the issue of makeup. She felt like she's not her... Yeah, because I see there's a lot of perception of... And that's also the issue about confidence, which you talked about in the beginning, that some people don't have any confidence. Like when they don't have, they make up on. And what do you have? What are some of the stereotypes you have encountered in this industry that you can let us know before we talk about the highlights of your career and the favorite celebrity that you did your thing on? Some of the stereotypes I have encountered is that if you have makeup on, you are a liar. No, it's so fine. Like you're lying. You're not like a genuine person. You're hypocritical or something. But I'm like, you know, we're not born with purple eyes. All you look at me, see me with purple eyes and think like, wow, she has purple eyes. Of course that's makeup. Or maybe red lips. No one is born with red lips and that's your... So yeah, makeup is just there. For us ladies, I think, we just put on makeup for fun. Yeah, when you feel like you want to have... Yeah, you just want to look nice. It's like carving a haircut. It's like making your hair. Yeah, it's the same thing. I don't feel like makeup is there to like lie to people or... So people should stop imagining... Yeah, or hiding imperfections or... Let's talk about hiding imperfections, by the way. If somebody who has a break out, like a lot of pimples or acne, there's even adult acne, I discovered the other day, what do you do? What procedures do you do? How do you hide everything? Concealers. Concealers. No, actually you can actually minimize. Because you see, when you use something dark on the skin, that like on a pimple, it will recede. When you use something light, it will bring it forward. Oh, so it's the same on the back side? Yeah. So if you have like a bump, just use like a darker concealer, darker than your skin tone, yeah, then you put foundation. And then it actually recedes. Interesting, I didn't know that, but at least now I've learned that feeling. So now because you've talked about break zillers and the tough experiences, let's talk about your favorite experiences. Was it a celebrity that you glammed up and they were like, Well, I think most of my innings are my favorite ones, because sometimes someone just calls you and you're like, ah, maybe it's just someone's I want there. And then you go there and it's actually like a celebrity and you're like, wow, innings have trusted me to do their makeup. I think everyone, I mean, I've met people that I've admired and that has just made me feel so humbled. Yes, I can see Thandi here looking very happy with the way she looks. Yeah, actually I think if there's something I live for, it's for someone to feel like their best self with my makeup on there. Okay, so let's talk about this industry now in general, even now in Kenya as this particular country. What can you say are some of the changes that need to be made when it comes to this industry? Some of the changes are, I think for makeup artists especially, every face has their own kind of makeup, not all makeup, as in all makeup techniques work on every face. Because you'll find a makeup artist, the way they do their makeup and the way they do their clients makeup is the same way, so all of them end up looking the same. Looking the same, twinning? Yeah, they all twin, I'm like, wow, their eyebrows are different, their face structures are different, but they'll end up looking the same. So for me, I feel like you need to study your client's face. You need to study what works for them and what does not work for them. Don't just do it because it's done like that. Yeah, just be creative, because most people follow what's on the book. If you're supposed to put this highlighter here, you put it there. If you're supposed to put this lipstick here, you put it here. Yeah, you should feel free and try different things. Be creative, yeah. I think creativity, most people like creativity. So there's a niche of creativity in this industry. People are busy twinning their makeup. Yeah, that's twinning thing. I am like, wow. It gets you all different. Because these people are two different people. How are they looking the same after makeup? Interesting, so for someone at home who is maybe interested in joining this beauty industry in line, what words do you have for them, aside from the ones that you've already told us? Number one. Creativity, what else? For makeup, I think don't take it as a hobby. Take it as a business. Because it's so easy. Yeah, take it seriously. And number two, invest in your products. Make sure you have genuine products. You have genuine tools. You have things that... Because such little things will affect the quality of your work. Yeah, just be honest. Especially makeup artists. Because sometimes you have like, especially around the wedding season, there are so many clients. You can end up like booking for brides in a day. Just be honest. Tell them I have these brides already. So, no. Instead of like, overbooking, then when that day comes, you can't hack. Because you know Nairobi is in traffic. So maybe you have a wedding with Kian Bu Road and another one is on Gong Road. Also it's important for you to tell the truth. You just tell that. Because you'll end up messing. You'll end up being late. And that really affects your work. Because as makeup artists, you need to be calm. You can't work under pressure. I can imagine you take a lot of time. Sometimes I just block people's voices. If someone talks to me, I'm like, yes, you're talking to me, but I am not listening to you. So, yeah. I think honesty. And just be willing to share with other makeup artists. Maybe you have so many jobs and maybe you know other people who don't have jobs and they do a good job you can't share. Because for me, I've gotten referrals from other makeup artists and we've never met. I give jobs to other makeup artists we've never met. I feel like when you share, yeah. Because what do you mean? You're like, yeah, these are my clients. These are my clients. You end up losing them. Because maybe you'll not always be there for them. Yeah. Maybe you're someone else. Yeah, share knowledge. Have you taken anyone under your wing? I think I'm always teaching people. I love explaining things. Do you like to explain? Even when I'm doing makeup on my clients, I'm like, you need to use this. Your skin type is this. I feel like the more you explain, the more you internalize, the better you become. You want to know. So, the more you share, the more you also learn. Yeah, you also learn. Interesting. That's a very good message that you have left us with here today. And I wanted to know, if the fans wanted to reach you, just in case they have just slide into this interview right now. Where can they find you on social media? At Xenaglam. On Facebook, I'm at Xenaglam, makeup artist and hairstylist. I also do hair, but I major in makeup. And yeah, I'm just on IG and Facebook. On your social media. Thank you very much for coming, Sylvia. Thank you for having me. It's been a pleasure. Thank you for sharing your story. I hope you have learned something. If you're interested in the beauty industry, the interview is coming soon. Please follow on Twitter. You can find us on the hashtag Make sure you let us know your hassle and what you're doing. And on the STV, we are on channel 376. Just in case you are not aware. So, thank you very much. My name is Hilda Wadibi. Please do not go anywhere. My God, I was getting...