For many entrepreneurs, the product becomes the centre of every conversation about their work. They explain what they sell, who it serves and why someone should buy it. Yet the knowledge behind that product can be just as valuable.
Vivian Kaye’s journey offers a useful example. The Ghanaian-Canadian entrepreneur founded KinkyCurlyYaki, built it into a seven-figure business and developed a public presence that also encompasses speaking, media appearances and education.
Her story invites founders to consider a question: beyond your product, what do you want people to recognise your expertise for?
A business rooted in personal experience
Born in Tema, Ghana, Vivian moved to Toronto as a toddler. Before launching KinkyCurlyYaki, she worked in several industries and established Vivian’s Decor & Designs, a wedding décor business she started in 2006.
The idea for her next venture emerged while she was working as a decorator. She struggled to find high-quality extensions that matched her natural hair texture and allowed her to present herself professionally without changing that texture.
She recognised that other women shared the same need. Vivian launched KinkyCurlyYaki in 2012. According to her account, the business reached six-figure revenue in its first year and seven figures in 2016. It was acquired in 2022.
That origin gives her founder story a clear foundation: a specific need, personal understanding of the customer and a solution built around that experience.
Bringing the founder’s expertise into view
Vivian’s website presents her as a business and empowerment expert, keynote speaker and television personality, alongside her identity as KinkyCurlyYaki’s founder.
Her speaking and educational work covers entrepreneurship, e-commerce, confidence and empowerment. She also shares business knowledge through her YouTube series, Mind Your Business. Her website lists appearances and coverage across outlets including CBC Radio, Cityline, The Globe and Mail and The New York Times.
These activities give audiences several ways to encounter her work. Someone may discover her through a product, hear her in an interview or learn from her at an event. The distinction matters: running a business creates experience. Sharing that experience helps others understand where your expertise lies.
The visibility lesson for founders
Women of Rubies’ takeaway from Vivian’s journey is to make the knowledge behind your work more accessible. A founder’s story can explain why a business exists. Educational content can demonstrate how the founder thinks. Interviews and speaking opportunities can introduce that knowledge to people who may never have encountered the product.
This does not mean every founder needs to pursue every platform. It means choosing places where your experience can contribute something useful. If you understand a customer problem deeply, explain it. If you have learned from a difficult business decision, share the lesson. If you have developed a process that helps people, show what makes it effective.
These are practical starting points for communicating your value.
Start with one lesson you can share
Think about a challenge you have solved in your work. What did it teach you that another person could use?Turn that insight into a post, a short video, an article or a relevant speaking topic. Connect it to a concrete example so people can understand the experience behind your advice.
Vivian Kaye’s journey illustrates how a founder can have several dimensions to her public identity. Her business is part of her story, alongside the knowledge and perspective she brings to wider conversations.
For women building their brands, that is an invitation to share more of the expertise they already have.
Explore more founder stories and practical visibility lessons at womenofrubies.com.
Photo courtesy of Vivian Kaye’s official website.
