Queening & Winning; They Made the Forbes 30 Under 30 List!

It’s not news that we stan for Phenomenal Women doing great things in their diverse industries and unique capabilities. Most Especially, in Nigeria our Home Country! Earlier this week, Forbes Africa released their annual list of exceptional youths under 30 and we are in awe of the incredible women shining their light and impact their immediate and extended communities.

A Huge Shoutout to all the Queens featured, keep grinding and doing what you do best. We see you and honor your light!

Scroll through to read their profiles and be sure to visit ForbesAfrica.com for the full list and profiles.

UNDER 30 TECHNOLOGY

Ink Eze, 28, Nigeria

Founder: Aso Ebi Bella

Ink Eze is the founder of Aso Ebi Bella, an online community connecting traditional fashion enthusiasts with SMEs in the fashion, beauty and wedding industry primarily in Nigeria with growing interests across Africa and beyond.

“The #AsoEbiBella journey started with a hashtag I created in 2013 while I was an employee of BellaNaija.com where I convinced my employer to launch a then bi-weekly, now weekly AsoEbiBella feature on their site as it garnered millions of website views, it became my side hustle.” she says.

This fashion tech startup has over 17 million organic weekly impressions, over 1.5 million followers across social media, while their platform, AsoEbiBella.com, has garnered over 600,000 page views in the last 11 months. The company has delivered campaigns and collaborated with Nigerian and international brands including Orijin, Renaissance (now Radisson Blu) Hotels and Unilever’s Sunlight detergent.

 

Nneile Nkholise, 29, South Africa

Founder: iMed Tech

Nkholise was an entrepreneur since primary school. She first sold a pig to make money for her school fees and made more money either selling goods or doing hair.

“I still remember when I was around eight, some lady who owned a tuck-shop in our street asked us [kids from the street] to go and sell bananas for her because she had bought a lot and no one was buying them and so they were about to go off. I took more than anyone in our group and somehow all the other kids didn’t know how or where to sell. I just went street to street, knocked on every door selling,” she says.

In 2015, she had a dream to start a medical design, engineering and technology company. She entered and won the SAB Foundation Social Innovation Award. At the time, she had nothing but a big dream and designs on paper.

 

UNDER 30 CREATIVES

Joyce Jacob, 28, Nigeria

Founder: Joyce Jacob Beauty

A renowned celebrity makeup artist with an eye for striking detail, she launched Joyce Jacob Beauty in 2009. She has worked on the sets of many local and international music videos, magazine photoshoots and TV commercials.

“The vision behind my brand is to empower women of all ages, of all backgrounds and race to feel beautiful at all times through the power of beauty and makeup. Part of that vision is to have a premium line all women can use and create a truly authentic African beauty brand,” she says.

Some of her notable clientele includes former British first lady Cherie Blair, African billionaire Folorunso Alakija, Angela Simmons, Alek Wek, Angelique Kidjo and Wizkid, among other notable names.

Beverly Naya, 29, Nigeria

Actress, Entrepreneur

Naya is an award-winning actress and budding entrepreneur. She studied script-writing and film-making at the University of Roehampton in the UK before relocating to Nigeria to join the Nigerian film industry.

She has acted in a number of well-received movies including When Love Happens, Before 30, Something Wicked, Catch.er, In Sickness and Health and The Wedding Party 1 and 2. She has also done theater in London and Nigeria, among them Stoning Mary and Crave (Psychosis 4:48). Naya is a brand influencer and has won many awards for her craft. Early 2018, she produced her first project under her company Be Naya LTD, a documentary titled Skin which focuses on colourism and empowering people to love themselves as they are.

Tania Omotayo, 26, Nigeria

Model, Entrepreneur

Omotayo is creative director of a fast-growing fashion brand, Ziva Lagos. With a dedicated in-house design team, her collections are on trend.

“Ziva Lagos is dedicated to boosting the Nigerian trade and labor market. Hence all fabrics are locally sourced and the clothes designed and produced in Nigeria.”

The brand is becoming the go-to for the creative industry, being featured in music videos, magazines and even a movie. Since its inception in December 2016, it has had a number of successful pop-up sales. In June 2017, Ziva opened its first store in the heart of Lekki Phase and launched a second store early this year.

UNDER 30 BUSINESS

Anita Adetola Adetoye, 26, Nigeria

Founder: Anita Brows Beauty

Adetoye, popularly known as ‘Anita Brows’, is an Irish-Nigerian professional makeup artist, beauty educator, and entrepreneur. She is also the founder of Anita Brows Beauty based in Lagos. With over seven years of experience, she has single-handedly built an award-winning brand, creating jobs for young Nigerians.

“My move to Nigeria was the defining moment for me in the beauty industry. It was the moment my hobby became a livelihood and then became a business. I didn’t choose this path by faith, this path chose me. My goal is to change the face of makeup and beauty artistry.” she says.

She is sought-after worldwide. Over the years, she has featured and liaised with the founder of international brand ‘Iman Cosmetics’, and worked with numerous celebrities across the globe. She has also been recognized in Uganda as the best makeup artist in West Africa and won the Future Awards Prize for beauty. Adetoye employs 13 people and has several sold-out makeup classes in Europe, the US and East Africa. This year, Anita Brows will launch a cosmetic range.

Kene Rapu, 28, Nigeria

Founder: Kene Rapu

Through her first product line, ‘Slippers by Kene’, launched in 2011, Rapu became an entreprenuer who promotes the growth of Nigerian industry by using locally-sourced materials to make slippers and sandals. She says running a business is hard work, even more so in Nigeria.

“The odds are against us, as more businesses are expected to fail than to succeed. From lack of adequate power supply, to sufficient skilled man power, to the costs and scarcity of materials, the list goes on,” she says, adding that it’s harder for women.

“I remember on my hunt for property for my factory last year, I met a gentleman who made it extremely clear he would not, under any circumstances, rent his property out to women.”

Rapu holds a law degree from the University of Bristol and a Master’s in Fashion Entrepreneurship from the London College of Fashion. In 2016, she was selected by the Tony Elumelu Foundation as one of 1,000 African entrepreneurs whose idea could change Africa, and in 2017, was listed as one of 100 Most Influential Women in Nigeria by Leading Ladies Africa.

Bidemi Zakariyau, 28, Nigeria

Founder: LSF|PR

Growing up, Zakariyau watched her father build a taxi service and real estate company from nothing. She worked for him during holidays where she acquired skills in project management, sales and communications. Her father convinced her to study law. She interned in law firms for a few months but left to follow her passion in media.

She founded LSF|PR which started as a fashion PR agency.

“Securing my first client was very difficult because I had no public relations experience; I would visit different blogs in Nigeria and look for contact numbers in the article credits and call the designers requesting to work with them for free.” says Zakariyau.

When the door finally opened, she charged very little and worked hard. Client satisfaction led to referrals and new clients.

Six months after law school, she saw opportunities to scale and diversify her client portfolio to include corporate, consumer and lifestyle brands. She rented an office and started hiring workers. Today, the agency’s clientele consists of local and international brands including Philips, Rémy Cointreau, Godrej, William Grant and Sons, Brown-Forman, ARM, AfriOne, Ventures Platform. She employs eight women and runs an online magazine.

Gozie Coker, 29, Nigeria

Founder: Coker Creative

Coker is the ultimate planner.

“Planning events is something I have always done, so much so that growing up, I was nicknamed ‘the organ’, short for organizer. I derived joy planning all my family and friends’ celebrations, from vacations to birthdays, and even anniversaries,” she says.

She spent her holidays interning for event companies. Soon after graduating from Baylor University, with a degree in marketing, she interned with Kennedy Creative, a full-service event management company in Austin, Texas. A year later, she went on to pursue a master’s in Strategic Management from the Cass Business School in London.

“I used my graduation thesis to test my business plan for what we now know as Coker Creative.”

A boutique event company, since its launch almost four years ago, it has executed events for private and corporate clients in Nigeria and internationally. Its clients include Etisalat, Zippy, Redrick Public Relations, Access and Bella Naija.

View Full List Here