Jennifer Lisa Uloko is the Founder and CEO of YangaBeauty, a Nigerian beauty brand she founded in 2014 with women of African heritage in mind. With over a decade of experience as a beauty entrepreneur, makeup artist and business leader, Uloko earned a degree in Business Administration, and holds a certificate in Entrepreneurial Management from the Enterprise Development Centre at Pan-Atlantic University. In this interview, Uloko speaks on championing confidence, self-expression and inclusivity through beauty alongside empowering women.

What gap did you see in Nigeria’s beauty and makeup market that convinced you there was room to build something of your own?

At the time, I was working as a makeup artist, and like many makeup artists, I would test products on myself first. If I liked a product and it worked well, I would buy an extra for my clients and add it to my kit. I remember buying an eyeliner that turned out to be inferior and, unfortunately, I had a reaction to it. It affected me so badly that I could not do my work properly, and for someone whose work depended on being able to do makeup, it was a very painful and frustrating experience. During that recovery period, I started thinking beyond the pain and asking myself, “What can be done differently?” Around the same time, a colleague of mine had bought a lip gloss from a beauty market and had a reaction to it as well. Her lips were burnt, and that really stayed with me. I started thinking about how often we were buying beauty products without necessarily knowing enough about the quality or safety of what we were putting on our skin.

Then there was another challenge I experienced constantly as a makeup artist. I would have a client with a particular skin tone and have to mix different shades of foundation to get the right match. Sometimes you have an hour to complete a makeup booking, and you are spending valuable time trying to create a shade that should already exist. At the time, there simply were not enough products and shades that properly catered to our skin tones.

Those experiences made me realise there was an opportunity to create something better. I wanted to build a beauty brand that understood our skin, our needs and our reality, while giving women access to quality products they could trust. So, YangaBeauty did not start with me thinking, “I want to build a beauty company.” It started with me experiencing a problem, asking questions and deciding to look for a solution. And that solution eventually became YangaBeauty.

You recently opened Yanga Beauty’s newest store in Ikeja. What does this milestone mean to you personally, and what does it represent in the larger story of the brand?

Honestly, opening the Ikeja store was a very special and emotional moment for me. I grew up in Ikeja, and I remember being a young girl buying my first beauty product around Allen Avenue. So, years later, to be opening the doors to a YangaBeauty store in the same Ikeja felt incredibly full circle. But beyond the personal significance, it was also a significant milestone for YangaBeauty. It represents growth, not just in the number of stores we have, but in the team, we are building, the systems we are putting in place and the vision we have for where the brand is going. For me, it was a moment to pause and appreciate how far we have come, while also recognising that there is still so much more to build. More than anything, I am very grateful to God for the journey and for the opportunity to build something meaningful in a place that is such an important part of my story.

Beyond selling beauty products, what kind of beauty experience do you want a Yanga Beauty customer to have when she walks into one of your stores?

For us, the beauty experience starts long before a customer gets home with a product. It starts from the moment they walk through our doors. We want our stores to be spaces where people feel comfortable exploring beauty without feeling judged or pressured. Whether you are a professional makeup artist, a beauty enthusiast or simply curious about finding products that work for you, you should feel welcome. That is why we pay attention not just to our products, but to the entire customer experience. The way our team engages with you, the ability to test and discover products, the environment we create and the support you receive all matter.

What is your vision for taking the brand across Africa, and which markets do you see as the biggest opportunities?

My vision is to build YangaBeauty into a brand that is proudly local yet global. A brand that is deeply rooted in Africa, understands the African consumer and is still able to compete confidently on a global stage. We are already taking steps in that direction, and for me, expansion is not simply about putting YangaBeauty in different countries. It is about understanding each market, building the right partnerships, having the right distribution and creating an experience that feels consistent wherever our Jewels and Gems interact with us. I see huge opportunities across Africa because we have a growing beauty industry, a young and increasingly beauty conscious population and consumers who are looking for brands that understand them.

Nigeria will always be an important part of our story, but I want YangaBeauty to grow beyond being known as a Nigerian beauty brand. I want someone in Canada, United Kingdom, United States, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa or anywhere else in the world to experience and feel that this is a brand that understands them. Ultimately, I want us to build from Africa, serve Africa and take what we have built to the world. Local in our roots, global in our ambition.

What investments in people, innovation, distribution and brand identity are you making to position Yanga Beauty for continental growth?

I think one of the biggest lessons I have learnt as a founder is that you cannot build a great brand on products alone. As the business grows, you have to build the capacity to support that growth. For us, that means investing in our people, our systems, technology, product development, distribution and the overall customer experience. We are constantly looking at how we can become more efficient, how we can serve our Jewels and Gems better and how we can build processes that allow the business to scale sustainably. People are particularly important to me because you cannot build a growing company alone. I want to build a strong team with the skills, ownership and culture required to take YangaBeauty into its next phase. We are also very intentional about innovation. We want to continue creating products that solve real problems, while ensuring that our quality and standards remain consistent as we enter new markets. For me, continental growth is not about growing quickly just for the sake of growth. It is about building the right foundation so that when YangaBeauty enters a new market, we are equipped to deliver on the promise of the brand.

What would it take for Yanga Beauty to become synonymous with beauty for women across Nigeria and eventually Africa?

The real goal is not simply to become a household name. It is to become a trusted name. When people hear YangaBeauty, the association should be quality, innovation, inclusivity and an exceptional customer experience. Where our customers trust that choosing YangaBeauty means choosing products that have been thoughtfully created and a brand that genuinely understands their beauty needs. The impact also needs to go beyond the products we sell. As YangaBeauty grows, we want to create more opportunities, develop people, contribute to the beauty industry and have a meaningful impact in the communities where we operate. That kind of brand is built through consistency, excellent products, strong people, innovation and the discipline to keep getting better. So, the ambition goes beyond recognition. The goal is to build a trusted African beauty brand that people are proud to use, proud to recommend and proud to see represented on a global stage.

How has your faith influenced the decisions you have made as an entrepreneur, particularly during seasons when the future of the business was not certain?

Faith has been one of the biggest anchors in my entrepreneurial journey. Building a business comes with so many unknowns, and there have been seasons when I have had to make decisions without knowing exactly how everything would work out. My faith has taught me to do my part diligently while trusting God with what is beyond my control. There have been moments where the numbers did not make sense, the timing was unclear or the next step was not obvious, but I have learnt not to let uncertainty paralyse me.

It has also shaped the way I lead. I believe that business is not just about making money. There is a responsibility that comes with being given the opportunity to build something, employ people, serve customers and create value. Looking back, there are many moments in the YangaBeauty journey where I can clearly see God’s hand. Some doors opened that I could not have opened myself, and some things took a different path from what I had planned.

So, faith for me is not about waiting for things to happen. It is about working diligently, making wise decisions, trusting God and continuing to move forward even when I cannot see the entire picture.

As Jennifer Uloko, the woman behind the brand, what do you hope Yanga Beauty’s journey ultimately says about Nigerian women, African entrepreneurship and the power of building something from home that can serve the world?

I hope the YangaBeauty story says that Nigerian women are not limited by where they start. We can identify problems within our own environment, create solutions for them and build businesses that can compete anywhere in the world. For me, African entrepreneurship is about more than starting a business. It is about creating solutions that are relevant to our people, building strong companies around those solutions and creating value that extends beyond the founder. That means creating jobs, developing people, contributing to our industries and ultimately building something that can outlive us.