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.
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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
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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
