Entrepreneur of the Year (Beauty & Style):
(This is exclusively for the myriad of young entrepreneurs excelling in the fashion and style industry: clothes, make up, hair, designing etc: this award is for those who have managed to distinguish themselves in this sub-sector)

Full Name: Antonia Seun Payne
Date of Birth: April 8 1980
Description of business: ‘Toni Payne Cosmetics’ is an exclusive line of quality cosmetics that has been created for ‘today’s woman’. It consists of 2 lines called Element5 Mineral Makeup and Toni Payne platinum. Both were created with an understanding that people have different skin types, tones, and beauty needs.
‘Toni Payne Apparel’ is a line of casual apparel for men and women designed to be comfortable, unique and still affordable. In her words, “Our line of wearable art speaks to you in same language a piece of art would speak to you. Something you can relate to in your own words and it is catching on pretty fast and currently making waves in popular Hollywood boutiques.”
‘Hot’n’trendy’ offers clothing and accessories for today’s trendy woman at affordable prices - they also offer an online store where you can purchase all our items.
What distinguishes this: “Toni Payne is not just a business, it is a brand. We offer quality items at affordable prices. I don’t believe in exuberant prices in order to be successful, because quality doesn’t always equal very expensive. Innovation and our hands on approach make us unique in the way we do business. We have very high standards and continue to maintain that. Most importantly we listen to the consumer and try our best to fulfill their needs. We deal directly with our buyers on a personal level because to us our consumers and retailers are special. Toni Payne brand covers most things in the beauty& style sector from producing our makeup, to teaching people how to apply it. We also style people who wear our line, work with photographers and artists, monitor photo shoots and retouch the finished product for print. We are a one stop shop and our capability continues to grow.”
Why start this business: “I had $300 and a vision so I decided to go for it and start my own business while still working and going to school. At that time, It was the natural thing to do because the timing felt right. I have always known that working for someone wasn’t something I wanted to do long term. I felt it was limiting as far as creativity goes so the best thing was to start my own business doing what I love to do.”
Staff: 10 in house; and then a network of home party users, makeup artists and retailers well over 40.
Sustenance: Reinvesting profits and developing supplementary ideas to speed growth.
Challenges: “One challenge is letting go and letting others take care of the administrative aspects of the business. Starting out, I did a lot of things myself from coming up with names to developing the website and doing customer service, and now even though the company has grown I still find it hard to let go and stop being in the middle of everything. I am working on it but I secretly enjoy doing these things because I get to see for myself what needs to be done and the adrenaline rush is also nice. One challenge with cosmetics is getting people to trust a new brand, when I first started Element5 I would send out free samples to magazine and consumers so that they can try it, then I would ask for feedback, ideas etc. That really helped because a lot of the magazine editors I sent items to loved it and created a buzz about the products. Another challenge is getting people to understand that we are a private label brand and not as commercialized as lines like MAC or Iman etc. Since we don’t have the millions in advertising dollars they use to create a buzz we may not be as popular, this doesn’t take away from the quality, in fact, most private label brands have better quality end products than commercial brands. We rely on good old fashion quality items and letting them sell themselves. Clothing is an easier market because if you have cute things people will buy, the main challenge was directing traffic to the store and getting people to notice your things. Overcoming that was a matter of working on marketing ideas to bring people to you. We offered incentives like buy 1 get 1 50% off etc. Of course I had a lot of support from magazine editors and my public relations background helped a lot. Another challenge is trying to figure out how to deal with individual markets because I sell in different countries. It’s a learning process getting used to how things work in different places and being accommodating without hurting my business.”
Growth/expansion/changes:
Toni Payne platinum was introduced this year and the response has been great. She officially started selling the platinum items in Nigeria and opened more retail locations for both ranges. Toni Payne Signature apparel came out with the wearable art line this year; she also launched the official Toni Payne website at www.tonipayneonline.com to supplement the Element5 and Hot’n’trendy websites.
International highlights: Mentions in international magazines such as Cosmopolitian, Pinni (Finland), Life and Style Weekly, Les Nouvelles Esthetique, Skin In, and lots more.
Awards: Salon Plus Award for Cosmetics
Any other info:
New business ideas are still being formed. Hot’n’trendy for instance led to Element5, Element5 led to Toni Payne Platinum and Toni Payne platinum lead to other opportunities such as artistry, retouching etc. She also publishes an online magazine called Nigerian Entertainment .com
Why we chose her: We are most impressed by the fact of Toni’s initiative to expand her very successful business into the Nigerian market.

Name: Temi Ogunsanya:
Date of birth: 1977
Description of business: Tiger Tem, The Boutique is the ultimate accessory haven in Lagos, when you need that extra something for your outfit, be it a bag, some sparkly jewellery or a one of a kind t-shirt, we’re the one stop shop.
How long: Tiger Tem has been open for about 16 months.
How big: Tiger Tem has received a very significant degree of press. It’s been mentioned numerous times in all the daily papers and national magazines, and was picked up as a Global Hotspot in the UK Vogue’s Xmas Issue.
Staff: 7 members of full time staff.
Sustenance: “I make sure I take the time out to design my collections as it’s the unique nature of my product that makes the Tiger Tem item, a Tiger Tem item!
I make a consistent effort to make sure my products are seen on people and in the press to maintain a high degree of interest in Tiger Tem which translates to demand then its simple demand and supply. I do believe in offering limited supply as we live in a small society and I like my customers to know they have something unique that they won’t see the lady at the next table wearing.”
Challenges:
“As I moved away from Nigeria when I was 4, moving back to Nigeria was a huge challenge for me and continues to be so on a daily basis. Living, working and being an employer in our environment has been a huge challenge. I’ve had to become more flexible in my thinking and adapt to things being done differently. I feel my cosmopolitan experience has benefited me as it gave me the exposure and experience to come up with the idea and to create Tiger Tem.
Setting up the Boutique & Tea Room has been one of the biggest challenges in my life as I was ultimately working by myself for myself. As hard as it was to set up, the real challenge has been to introduce a totally new concept to the market and to get the people to believe in it. Making sure I take the time to design my collections while overseeing the staff has been a very tricky balancing act and I’m still learning as I go along.”
How has she overcome them: “I strongly believe that you live and you learn so while I have made mistakes as I’ve gone along, I’ve definitely learnt from them. I’ve re-structured and consistently re-trained my staff to create a more effective and symbiotic team.
And ultimately I’ve learnt so much in the year, its been a fantastic opportunity for me as an individual and as a Nigerian woman. Its definitely been a struggle with lots of sweat and tears but I feel glad I’ve been able to make a bit of a mark so far, but I’m also very aware that my journey has only just begun!
I’ve also learnt one of the most important things to learn is how to be flexible without compromising my vision or my standards. Some things are more important than others and there are always alternative paths to reach the same destination. I have not lost sight of my vision for one second and this has maintained my focus on my goals at all times. The clarity of my vision and my goals enables me to strike a balance with the flexibility necessary to get ahead in our society.”
Expansion/growth/changes: The business has grown in terms of reaching a wider audience and greater recognition of the name. She’s also expanded the range of items sold at Tiger Tem. I do a wider selection of styles of handbag: all her t-shirts are one offs as she now only creates one of each
Awards: Finalist, The Future… Awards 2006 for Best Use of Goodwill
Other info: Temi has written the double-page Tiger Bites for ThisDay Style for over a year now, she has also worked with the Style team in arranging in the Easter Fashion Show; she also writes for Exquisite magazine on a bimonthly basis and has assisted the editor organising bi-monthly Tea Parties in the Tiger Tem Tea Room to increase awareness of her magazine. She is also creative consultant on for an African lifestyle store in London.
Why we chose her: Put simply, Temi’s drive is inspirational!

Full name: Lisa Folawiyo
Description of business: Jewel by Lisa has grown from a bejewelled accessory seller to a stellar fashion label. Lisa is credited as one of the trendsetters who revamped Ankara and reintroduced it to us as the ‘must-have’ fabric; she is also well-known for her ability to garnish Ankara designs with delicate jewels, crystals and sequins to create unique and wearable pieces….

Why we chose her: For finding a path for herself in the beauty and style industry that no one else had and by growing into her own within a short period of time, establishing herself as a force to reckon with.
Full names: Omoyemi Akerele & Bola Balogun

Full Names: Omoyemi Akerele and Bola Balogun. Dates of Birth: Omoyemi Akerele – 13th of May 1978, Bola Balogun – 16th of October 1977

Before this: Omoyemi Akerele – LLB Lagos, BL, LLM Warwick, Counsel Olaniwun Ajayi and Co, Trained and Certified Stylist and Image Consultant. Bola Balogun – BSC Psychology, worked in Honey Magazine, Vanguard Media, Trained and Certified Stylist and Image Consultant.

Description of business: Exclusive styling and Image Consultants is a company carrying out fashion styling and image consulting business by working with and advising organisations and individuals on all aspects of styling, visual appearance and professional image. It is about creating individual images for people and the personnel of corporate clients after a consultation process which provides information on the knowledge of a client’s lifestyle, personality and requirements to produce an excellent image.

How old: A year and 3 months

What distinguishes this: “Our business is a unique one and the first of its kind in
Nigeria that distinguishes itself from other businesses by being the glue that sums everything together to make a unique whole. Exclusive Styling and Image Consultants work hand in hand with every business in the beauty and style sector to create the complete look. This is because after an initial consultation with a client, we discover with the help of the client the lifestyle, personality, body proportions, body lines, body scale, face shape, skin’s colour preference of the client which becomes the guideline the client uses in the beauty and style industry to help create the complete look. At all times therefore, we work with a team of seasoned fashion designers, hair stylists, make up artists, health and beauty instructors and accessories designers.”

Why Start this business: We chose to start our own business because we had a passion for putting people together and realised there was no Company in Nigeria rendering these services that we could work for so we started our own business. Plus we have always had a desire to empower ourselves by owning our own business.

Staff: 5

Others: At every point in time, they work with a team of different people depending on the size of the project - hair, make up, models, dressers, shop owners, fashion designers, health and beauty instructors, photographers etc

Sustenance: “Being the first business of its kind in Nigeria, we have no bench mark in the industry so we always have to check ourselves by setting goals and targets from time to time, build up our marketing skills, work on our communication and people relating skills, networking at every opportunity and most especially, praying.”

Challenges: “There are a lot of challenges that arise from running any business in Nigeria. The peculiar one to our business is creating awareness on the need for the services of a Stylist and Image Consultant. This we are overcoming by creating a medium through the styling in magazines and different television shows that people can see and actually notice the difference between the help of a professional and otherwise, through aggressive marketing and networking.”

Clients” (Please note that they work with a lot of clients mostly private and for reasons of confidentiality, will remain so. But their Corporate clients include:

• True Love Magazine
• Media 24
• Kick off Magazine
• Big Brother magazine
• This Day Style
• Genevieve Magazine
• First Funds
• Elizade Nigeria Limited
• Narita Learning Centre
• Rosabel Advertising
• JWT/LTC Advertising
• Mnet Africa
• Goldmine Global Services
• Lynkage Global Networks
• Storm Entertainment
• Endemol productions
• Fremantle media
• New world media
• Newbridge Finishing School
• Jewel by Lisa
• Tiffany Amber
• Deola Sagoe
• Odio Mimonet
• Adebayo Jones

Other projects:
• British Airways 70th year Anniversary show with Tiffany Amber
• Big Brother Nigeria
• First This Day Style Fashion Weekend in Nigeria
• The United Nations Catwalk the World Fashion for Food Nigeria
• Temptation Nigeria
• The United Nations Catwalk the World Fashion for Food Ghana

International Highlights – Interview on Mnet’s Studio 53

Why we chose them: What this duo has done is establish an absolutely new line of business in Nigeria, brushing aside competitors and growing to become perhaps the most respected team in that industry. When it comes to the beauty & style industry, these two young women are THE authorities. They set the pace, and dictate the trends.

Full name: Elorhor Isioho
Why we chose her: As with others, Elorhor decided to re-invent modeling agency and has built her brand into a major force