She landed in China with $1,500 in her pocket. That money had to cover the flight she had already booked, somewhere to sleep, and the products she came to manufacture. The factory told her the minimum order was 12,000 pieces. She stayed anyway. She paid a $1,000 deposit on a $6,000 order, called her cousin and her father from a hotel room until they sent what they could, and flew back to Lagos still owing the balance. Then she signed her car papers over to a loan company. "Collect the car. Just give me the loan." Ten years later Beauty by AD makes 37 shades of foundation and sold out a three day London pop up on the first afternoon. Adeola Adeyemi, known everywhere as Diiadem, is the founder and CEO of Beauty by AD, one of the few Nigerian cosmetics brands that manufactures its own base products from scratch instead of buying and stamping. She joined The Real Housewives of Lagos in season 3, represented the Nigerian beauty industry at the UK House of Lords in 2025, and was one of the first Nigerian creators Snapchat ever paid. In this episode we get into the manufacturer who told her her money could not do anything for her, why 15 shades of foundation were not enough and 37 are, the blogger who accused her of sleeping with a sitting governor and what she did about it, the mother she only met once before a stroke took the answers away, the empty refill palette she designed while sitting on a toilet seat, why she hands every new product to working makeup artists before it ships, and the $3,000 to $5,000 she pulls off Snapchat every two weeks. Become a Member of The Room (Afropolitan Private Membership) Join our private community for deeper insights and exclusive content: https://www.patreon.com/c/Afropolitanpodcast EPISODE SPONSORS Zobo Money — Zobo is a money transfer app built for Africans in the diaspora. It lets you send money from the US, UK, and Europe to countries like Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana, and more. https://www.zobo.money/afropolitan BONUS OFFER: Use code AFROPOLITAN and get a $10 bonus when you sign up, complete your KYC, and send $50 or more to Africa. CONVO BY AFROPOLITAN Book 1:1 calls with Africa's boldest thinkers: https://convo.vip/ WHERE TO FIND ADEOLA DIIADEM ADEYEMI Snapchat: https://www.snapchat.com/@diiadem Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/diiadem TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@adeoladiiadem X: https://x.com/adeoladiiadem Threads: https://www.threads.com/@diiadem LinkedIn: https://ng.linkedin.com/in/adeola-adeyemi- Website: https://adeoladiiadem.com BEAUTY BY AD Website: https://beautybyad.com Shop: https://beautybyad.com/shop Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beautybyad TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@beautybyad Threads: https://www.threads.com/@beautybyad AFROPOLITAN Twitter/X: https://x.com/afropolitan Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afropolitanpodcast Newsletter: https://www.afropolitan.io/newsletter Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/Afropolitanpodcast TIMESTAMPS 0:00 "I will debunk it" 0:40 The $1,500 that had to cover everything 1:15 Her first 800,000, made by hand 1:38 Subscribe to the Afropolitan Podcast 2:09 Driving around Lagos with a makeup box in the car 2:57 Mixing shades by hand because nothing matched 3:25 "How long do you want to do this for?" 4:29 Why Western brands still miss African undertones 5:32 Building from customer feedback instead of trends 6:56 37 shades and the for us by us rule 7:42 Self funded, and why that is not an excuse 8:47 $1,500 for a flight, a factory and a bed 9:32 The manufacturer's verdict 11:02 Paying the $1,000 deposit anyway 12:13 Her cousin and her father borrowed the rest 13:13 Handing over her car papers for a loan 14:31 What the first production run actually cost 14:54 The first store in Lekki 17:26 Letting people go in peace 18:53 The Room on Patreon 19:45 Sponsor: Zobo Money 20:30 Joining Real Housewives of Lagos on purpose 23:48 Why every influencer needs an exit plan 27:19 Why she does not overpay influencers 28:34 The mother she never got to know 30:36 Refusing to blame her mother 33:26 The blogger who tied her success to a governor 36:11 "Even if a man is sponsoring me, what is your business" 38:33 The naira going from 318 to 1,600 42:15 Sephora versus a beauty brand in Lagos 44:44 The influencers abroad who would not touch African brands 45:38 The London fair that sold out on day one 48:27 What Nigerian women actually spend on beauty 51:52 People copying her products 52:59 The empty palette she thought up on a toilet seat 56:54 "Two things I can't keep are friends and men" 1:00:17 In no hurry to be married 1:04:53 Giving every makeup artist a sample 1:05:58 Why Snapchat builds cult followings in Nigeria 1:07:46 Getting verified, then getting paid 1:08:59 $3,000 to $5,000 every 2 weeks 1:11:52 Rapid fire 1:15:15 Her favourite product she makes 1:16:26 Who should be in this chair next
