Four years ago, Tara Fela-Durotoye attended The Platform Nigeria as a participant in a pastor’s conference. Today, she returned as a speaker, expressing her gratitude to Pastor Poju for hosting transformative events such as WAFBEC, pastor conferences, and The Platform Nigeria. She acknowledged her fellow attendees who have consistently shared these events with her each year.

Fela-Durotoye began her speech by identifying herself as an entrepreneur who wears three hats: the founder and CEO of a beauty company that serves as a platform for creating entrepreneurship opportunities in the makeup and beauty industry; an entrepreneur who has built an internationally recognised brand from scratch; and a leader of a committed team of intrapreneurs. Together, they have built 8,000 businesses in the industry, with many of these professionals going on to create their own brands and franchise businesses across Nigeria.

Tara Fela-Durotoye has successfully created over 500 products under the first indigenous makeup brand in Nigeria. She acknowledged the challenges of starting and building a brand or becoming an entrepreneur, attributing her success to a combination of grace and grit.

During her speech, she shared stories from different angles to highlight the importance of innovation for the future. Quoting Fela Duro-Toye, she said, “The future is not a date on a calendar that is yet to be revealed; the future is everything we can be but haven’t yet become, everything we can do but have not yet done, everything we can have but have not yet possessed. The future is not ahead of us; the future is inside of us.” She emphasised that innovation is the process of delivering that future.

Tara defined innovation as the process of transforming an idea or invention into a good or service that creates value and for which customers will pay. She encouraged entrepreneurs to see problems as opportunities and to constantly acquire knowledge.

Fela-Durotoye shared stories of innovation from her own experiences. In 1998, a law student with a talent for makeup turned that skill into a thriving business, creating an industry that had not previously existed in Nigeria. Another story involved a trip to a market with her mother, where she recognised the need for women to purchase beauty products in a more convenient manner. This realisation led her to create a store and train young makeup artists to meet the needs of the growing makeup industry. Lastly, she shared a story of a man from Ibadan seeking a franchise opportunity, demonstrating the power of intrapreneurship.

In closing, Tara Fela-Durotoye emphasised the importance of innovation, urging her audience to tap into their own potential and seek inspiration from God. She encouraged them not to wait for the world to teach them innovation, but rather to lead the world in innovative thinking.

Download and listen to Tara Fela-Durotoye message for Free at http://www.elibrary.insightsforliving.org/