Oke Maduewesi, Zaron Cosmetics’ CEO: A Life Committed to Empowerment & Beauty

BY OLAMIDE OLAREWAJU

Leaving the banking profession for uncharted waters, starting a business, building a makeup brand, did you ever anticipate that the brand would be a major beauty and now skincare brand in Africa?

Ileft banking not even knowing what exactly I was going to do. I just knew that there was more out there and I was hungry for more. I wasn't sure what it was, but I just knew there was much more I could do. And having built a successful banking career, and when I say successful I was in my 11 years, 10-11 years of working in the bank, when I became a senior manager, and that positioning gave me a lot of confidence and I knew that I was pretty good at the job because most of my promotions were exceptional promotions. I felt it was time to take on something new. And at the time I left banking, I still thought it was going to be in the financial sector. Because like I said, I was successful in banking, so I just thought that was what I was about to be in the financial sector.

I went to Leeds Business School to do an MBA just to really rediscover myself and rediscover what exactly it was I wanted to do. And it was while I was in the business school, I was reading case studies and the business idea jumped at me. And I always said I was not really about building a cosmetic brand, but building a global business from Africa. So building a business, female owned business from Africa that could travel out of Nigeria to Africa and other parts of the world. And it's just been really humbling to see where the brand has gotten to. And yes, that's how we started.

Zaron Cosmetics was first known for its beauty products before launching Skin By Zaron; what motivated the addition of the skincare line?

This is very interesting. It was the COVID. I remember COVID was the scariest time ever for most businesses as you can imagine. And it was a time where people were not thinking of beauty and just meeting our obligations became a threat. And as it was for most people. But I remember the word that was so common and so paramount during COVID was PIVOT. Everybody was talking about that. And we've always said Zaron is a beauty brand. So it's all been Zaron cosmetics.

Zaron had always started with makeup and we were very deliberate about calling it Zaron cosmetics because cosmetics give you that opportunity to really dive into different parts of the beauty business. So, but as COVID was and we were at home, not going anywhere, less people were wearing coloured cosmetics. So many people were taking care of their skin and skincare became a thing. And it was just so amazing how there were conversations around how we need to stay healthy at that time. Healthy with the kind of foods we eat, with the kind of liquids we take, vitamins. I mean, all of us got our vitamins shots and all the other things that we would. Vitamin C's and D's and all the works just to keep us safe. But there was also the conversation about feeding our skin, just being at home. It was such a global concern at that time. And we thought this would be a good opportunity to also do that. And be able to give to the African woman.

Because Zaron is about products made for the woman of colour by the woman of colour, so in the heart of everything we do, the woman of colour always comes first. So we thought this would be a great opportunity to give women of colour the best products, vitamins, vegetables and supplements, as you may call it, for our skin. So that was when the conversation really started. Research work started and we went full gear into making the best, absolutely best skincare products for the woman of colour. And it's just been amazing. And we're very thankful for that because it accounts for 30% of our market share right now. And the products have just been truly, truly, truly amazing.

How difficult is it to establish a (now) strong brand after quitting a similarly successful career? What were the experiences that nearly caused you to give up?

So this is such an interesting question. I get asked this question all the time. And the truth is there are 50 million challenges that will make you quit, especially when you work in an environment like this. And working in Nigeria, it's like I always say that business school teaches you to work smart. Smartest workers are the most successful workers in advanced economics. But in Nigeria, you must work smart and hard. It is hard work to survive in Nigeria, there must be a fusion of both and there are a million and one reasons. The main fact is that you wake up in Nigeria and you just don't anticipate your next move like traffic, if you have electricity, if you have water, if you have roads, if you have how to move your goods and services from one point to the other. It's more than enough reason to quit. So when people ask this question, I always say that there are more reasons to quit than not. But we need to focus on the gains.

Nigeria and Africa is also the place where the returns, the risk is high, but the returns are way higher. You just need to also understand the fact that most of us are running away from Africa, but the resources are here. And the Western economies are trying to take advantage of what we have. That means there's something here that we just need to believe and take advantage of. When you talk about challenges from the foreign exchange, to the free entry of counterfeit products and just human resources and all the work, there’s constant and daily challenges but like I said, I think it's the positivity of the gains. And I always say it's a thing of the mind. Right. And I hear mine. The power of the mind is 80 percent. What you do is 20 percent. So you just have to just be positive. And that's a strength we have in Zaron Cosmetics, me and my team, it's never about me, it's always about the team. I've been blessed with a rich and all wanting and giving team that we just always try to focus on positivity and just make sure that our mind is working for us. So we face challenges every, every, every day. But giving up is never an option.

What do you think has helped made Zaron a brand to reckon with across Africa

Oh, fantastic. That's a great question. I always say that the strength of Zaron is the intangibility of the business and the brand and what it has become. We have amazing products, but products can be easily copied. So you have to ensure that the things that cannot easily be copied and reached are the things that are most strengthened in your business. And we have an amazing culture in Zaron Cosmetics and you just come in here and you assume the culture. Like I said, it's not tangible but it's a culture where we have a really committed and dedicated workforce and we have built structure. Our slogan is play hard, work hard and fight hard. So everything we do is with passion. We're passionate about the business, about where it goes, about the community, about giving back and just about trying to really, really care for the people and the consumers that we are catering for. We are very mindful of how they relate to our products and the kind of products we are putting into the market, the quality of the product. And one of the strengths we have also in the market is that the quality of Zaron Cosmetics can compete with any quality in the world but it's affordable. So we came up with products that have high quality at affordable pricing, so we always say quality and affordable pricing. We've also managed to crack distribution networks and also to be able to build businesses through the business. So we have franchises and distributors. And I remember when we started, we had people that could pay their way through schools, students just by being able to sell Zaron products, just being able to transform the lives, truly transform the lives of Nigerians and Africa, because some of the franchises and distributors we have are people that were not really well equipped in the country before they came in contact with the business and then Zaron brand. So we have also been fortunate to be able to build enterprise in Nigeria and in Africa through the business and was super proud of that. We've also made brand reputation, we've gained brand reputation through just building this business and providing products that have become really trusted in Nigeria.

So I know you said that the idea came to you when you were in business school, but why makeup as a business and not something else? That's a beautiful question. Like I said, I always tell people that it could have been bottled water or it could have been just anything really. I'm not a makeup artist,I mean Rita just asked me if I can do my makeup and I can do it to survive, I'm good but I can't do third party makeup because I'm not an artist. However, it's two completely separate businesses. So it's fine.

But what I'm saying is that my friends see me and they go like, Oke seriously? it's not like I'm not passionate about the business, but my passion is not in beauty products. My passion is to succeed at whatever task that I'm given. So anything I take on in life, I must make sure that it becomes a success. So when I was thinking of the next products, I did my research and looked at all the sectors available, and I saw that beauty was very, very interesting, but one of the other things that made me really happy and jump at beauty products is also the way it makes people feel like the joy and the inner peace it gives to people. And just that satisfaction of just using a bit of beauty products and you're just truly, truly, truly happy. So I think that was also something that resonated and just said, okay, if I have to do business, it would be nice to do the kind of business that truly would make people feel better and feel good and give them joy and all of that.

So beauty came to me, that's what I always say, and I'm so proud. I mean, I've learned about the products and the business and all, but at the same time, I always tell people, especially people that have serious passion to make sure that if the passion is not their business, they have no business doing that business. There's a difference between being passionate and being a business person, so you must make sure that that passion becomes your business and you treat it like a business because people's passion is your business, basically. If you're passionate about something that only you like, then it can’t be your business because nobody else is going to buy into it. Your passion is about what people want and people would buy into. You always have to be mindful and just do that research and know that there are so many people that would buy into it, just the way that beauty makes them feel was just an opportunity that I knew I needed to take up.

What will you tell anyone interested in building a successful brand, what would you say helped you personally?

I have something I call the three roadmaps, right? The first is the power of the mind, which I've spoken about. And you have to believe in it, you have to trust it and you have to want to do it. It's the power of the mind, thinking of the fact that when I started out I did not have a plan B. People always ask that if it failed, what would I have done? That was not the thought in my head. It was the scariest thing to start, but there was no thought in my head that said it could fail. There was no plan B. My drive was the fact that I knew that it had to work. So even when I had challenges and stumbling blocks and all the work, I just didn't think it wouldn't work. You just have to keep going. And I always say I work from the end to the beginning. So I see the picture already and I start working from that picture as opposed to just seeing where I want to go and I start, I always see the picture. So at every point in time, if I have roadblocks and challenges, because I've seen that picture, I just keep going, it might take longer, some cases shorter, you know, but that picture is there and until I get to that picture, I'm not stopping. So the mind is really powerful,you have to truly believe in it. It's not just lip singing.

The second thing is take action. You really have to take action. I always say that I learnt this from a seminar I went for; where they said the difference between a goal and a dream is timelines. So you can have a goal and if you don't put timelines, then it becomes a dream for the rest of your life. You just have to put timelines, you just have to just keep doing. Don't think of what you don't have and just think of where you're going and just keep working towards it.

And then the last and final thing, which is probably the most difficult, is making it work. Only about 20% of businesses pass through year one. And making it work is from marketing to the Human resource to supply chain to all the work and every challenge that you have, so you just have to keep going, keep driving and just keep pushing. Regardless of what you see along the way.

What gives you fulfillment about your brand?

I think the number one thing about my team, though, is just the people I've met along the way, the people that have become family along the way, and the way that we have actually transformed lives. Like I always say that every person that has walked through the doors of Zaron did not leave Zaron the same. We've taken time to really train people because there's an obvious gap in our educational system, so one of the challenges that most SMEs and business owners face is they always complain about the quality of human resources. But I learned on time that the resources are the way they are because the schools were not good enough to train them. So when they come here, we take time to really build and train. And we've been so blessed to see how we have impacted on their lives and how they've transformed over the years,, and they are also giving back to the business passionately so I'll say that my team. And the second thing is just being that role model to so many people, to African women and especially my girls, because I have two girls.

And just seeing how fiercely and how forthrightly their mother fought through life and built a successful business just gives me that level of satisfaction, knowing that a lot of African women are just right behind me and are coming up. When we started the business, there were about two or three beauty brands owned by Nigerian females, and now there's, I mean, a couple of them and they're doing amazing products from the level of packaging to the filling to the marketing to the presentation of the products. It's just really grown tremendously and that gives me huge satisfaction for the future of Africa.

You’ve been creating and launching new products back to back, how do you get inspired to create new ones?

So it's very interesting. And like I said, one of the beautiful things we've managed to do in Zaron is solid structure and it's independent of anybody. What we've done is we've built structure and we've built a system where things work in a certain way. So if XYZ is not there, the next person comes and assumes the structure. We do have an accounts department, we have a marketing department, we have the business development team, we have the supply chain department because the business of Zaron really is likely about marketing and distribution. Then we also have the R&D department, that's a research and development department.

So we're actively working to make sure that we satisfy the market. So we are constantly seeing what the market wants and the look and feel of the products that are good enough for the market. So that's a constant and ongoing conversation in Zaron Cosmetics. So we are very, very passionate about just building and developing products for the market. Like I said, the business is all about the market, all about the consumers. We must satisfy them, so it's at the top of what we do on a daily basis.

Who are your dream muses for Zaron cosmetics and Skin by Zaron?

From the start, even when we were a brand that couldn't afford to do certain things, we've been very passionate about using the right people and working with the right people to project our brand. And one of the turning points for the business was when we engaged Rita Dominic as our brand ambassador. I mean, it's very cliche to say this because I'm saying this on her platform, but she was really the best. And the best because her attitude is just a hundred percent. And one of the best celebrities that we've ever worked with. And it's not because it's just Zaron. I've seen her outside the shoot and all that. And she just represents that human and as a good soul that she was and she carried the brand. In fact, I have conversations where people said, oh my God, Zaron doesn't belong to Rita Dominic? I'm like we all own it, it's fine and that's because she really carried it like it was hers. And we've been really blessed with some of those kinds of relationships. We recently worked with RMD, which was also a very good relationship. I mean my dream, it could be far, but I would say Beyonce as a showstopper for the business and I have people like Michelle Obama just shutting down and all that. I mean, you never know. A girl can dream. And dreams will come true.

(Our publisher decided to go personal with Oke by touching on an emotional part of her, asking about her late husband)

Do you mind if we bring up the past? Would you like to talk about losing your husband and partner? Many times dreams are born from grief. Would you say that losing your husband influenced your decision to start this business?

I mean, it's a tough question, but the truth is, it definitely did. I always say that women should turn their pain into gain. And I think that's what I did when my husband passed, and that doesn't mean you hurt less. That just means that you don't sit and dwell in the pain, but you can make something out of it for whatever it's worth.

When I lost my husband, I knew I had to fight more, I knew I had to kick more asses. I knew it would be a tough road down, and I had babies, I knew I was now a single parent, a single mom, I was a woman in the male dominated territory. All the odds were just against me and I recognized that very, very, very quickly, even before I started Zaron Cosmetics in my banking career. I always say I walked twice, thrice, four times more than I should have, because I knew the road ahead would be tough. It definitely propelled me to do way more. And also, just to meet and achieve those goals we set for ourselves before he passed, because we desired certain things and had certain dreams and goals and we talked about it all the time. And I was determined to carry on with whatever it was that we had agreed to do with each other. So yes, it did propel me to fight.

So what are the tips you would leave for us? Haven't the lessons you've learned building a business in Nigeria and the tips you can share with newcomers, people who are just starting out? Don't start because it's hard work. Laughs Yeah. Anyway, I remember when I was leaving banking, I told my daughters I was leaving so that mommy could have more time to spend with them at home and all that. But that was a big lie. Starting your business, it's hard work. Very, very hard work. And I say that because we don't often talk about things like that. It's good for the young people to know that there is work to be done because they dream and they want your life, but they don't know how much work you put into it.

However, I would not trade this for anything else in the world. This has given me the most satisfaction ever. And I will do this over and over and over again. And I'm so blessed. In fact, when people ask me how business is going even when it's so hard, I'm always saying I'm thankful regardless of the challenges. So I'm truly thankful, truly, truly blessed to do what I'm doing. And I like I said, I won't trade it for anything else in the world, so yes, please jump at it. We need more Nigerians, more Africans, more females that are just taking up some of these challenges. The only way to transform Nigeria is for more SMEs to really, really and not just start a business, but really and truly build a business that is reputable and sustainable. Because that's the only way you can get people off the streets and hire people. And the multiplier effect just keeps lingering on. So we need more people to really take businesses seriously and do the work to create long lasting business.