At just 14, Sienna Jovcevski might be Australia’s youngest CEO.
The pint-sized entrepreneur is taking the beauty industry by storm with her skin care products for “tweenagers” selling around the world.
The Year 9 St Ursula’s College Kingsgrove student discovered a gap in the market for pre-teen products after experiencing changes to her own skin at the age of 11 and took things into her own hands and developed Tweeny Skin.
Following in the footsteps of her mother Sonja, who worked in the beauty industry for 25 years, Sienna experimented with some ingredients and learned about the power of turmeric. “The rest,” she says, “is history”.
Today she offers a range of products including face wash, deep cleaning and purifying serums, eye pads and face masks with teenage customers in Australia, New Zealand, the US, South Korea and Dubai.
And if you think it’s all just child’s play, Sienna has become one of the youngest ever finalists in the Australian Small Business Champion Awards 2023, nominated for both Online Business and Young Entrepreneur of the Year.
Struggling to keep up with demand, she has enlisted help from her older brothers to help deliver the packages from her parents’ garage-turned-miniature-warehouse to the local post office where she is now on a first name basis.
Sienna said balancing schoolwork with growing a business has taught her many things including the importance of being well organised.
“I started this when I was just 11, so school wasn’t as hectic as it is now,” she smiled.
“I’m in Year 9, have a lot of homework and I do dancing four afternoons a week so I have to plan my time carefully.
“It really did start with my own skin. I had tried so many products but nothing was working for me because they were either too harsh or too gentle.
“That sparked the idea and I decided to make my own range.
“Tumeric is known for its benefits when taken orally but not widely used as a topical treatment so I trialled it and after a while I could see some real differences in my skin which got me very excited—and I went from there.
“It’s been a lot of hard work and I have learnt a lot about myself and the business world.
“I will continue adding products to the range and my ultimate goal is to have Tweeny Skin selling in retail stores.”
St Ursula’s Principal Mary Leask said it is “fantastic to see Sienna’s courage and hard work recognised through the business awards.”
“Our college community is very proud of Sienna, who has continued to excel in her schoolwork while also building a successful business from the ground up—no easy feat,” she said.
“Sienna’s story so far demonstrates that you’re never too young to follow your passion and make your mark on the world.
“Her success is a great example of what happens when creativity and critical thinking are put into action and how the sky’s the limit when we take risks and have a go.”