// BBC WORLD NEWS — MONDO
'I cannot teach you integrity': How employee theft is hurting small businesses in Africa
Kenyan food creator That Girl Boina shut her waxing studio due to employee theft
When popular Kenyan food creator That Girl Boina took a two-week holiday to Europe, she expected to relax. A week into the trip, an Instagram direct message exposed a problem that would ultimately lead to the closure of her business.
"I was at your studio, I liked everything. The only problem was that I was asked to send money to a different number. It wasn't the number on the wall," a customer wrote to her.
Boina had opened Waxaholic Studio, a waxing and hydrafacial parlour in Nairobi's central business district, on 1 September 2024. A year later, she had hired a receptionist and two specialists and felt confident enough to take a two-week holiday, her first international trip of the year.
"I trusted them. It's two rooms and a reception - how do you mess that up?" she recalls thinking.
"It never occurred to me that maybe I was getting clients and someone else was stealing from me," she tells the BBC.
The discovery prompted Boina to examine the business more closely. Although the business had made a profit in the first few months, revenue began to fall in early 2025. She initially dismissed the decline as a seasonal slump but then realised there was a problem.
"Everyone around was making money apart from me," she says in hindsight.
She had already considered closing because it was not making a profit, but her initial investment, three employees depending on the business and her vision for it kept her going. The customer's message became the turning-point.
"If I am not making money and I am willing to wait and see where this goes and you guys are not giving me the same energy, then why are we still open?"