Tara Fela-Durotoye is a Nigerian top beauty entrepreneur and lawyer. She is the founder and CEO of the prominent make-up brand, House of Tara International. Tara Fela-Durotoye is one of the first pioneers of bridal makeup in Nigeria, and she has risen to the highest pinnacle in the makeup industry. She is also a role model and mentors to many makeup artists and young people looking to establish a business in the fashion world across Africa all these she does effortlessly through many platforms.
Tara’s official Instagram account is @taradurotoye with almost 300,000 active followers.
EARLY LIFE
Growing Up.
Tara Fela-Durotoye was born at St. Nicholas Hospital on March 6th, 1977, Lagos to John Ejegi Sagay, a commissioner at the Federal Civil Service, Nigeria, and Felicia Omaghomi. Her parents separated when she was still an eight-month-old baby, and being in a polygamous home, she was brought up by her stepmother, Modupe Agnes Sagay. Tara was raised in Lagos and her stepmother was the source of her inspiration in the fashion world as she is always nicely dressed with her face beautifully made up.
Education.
Tara Fela-Durotoye went to Command Children School, Victoria Island for her primary education and proceeded to Nigeria Navy Secondary School, Ojo to obtain her high school certificate. She studied Law at the Lagos state university then went to the Lagos Business School for her MBA.
How Tara’s Career Started.
Tara Fela-Durotoye’s early start in the business world and entrepreneurship was motivated by a marketer, who talked to her about being business-oriented whilst she was still in secondary school. He was in advertising and because he was smart and convincing enough, she found him interesting. He got her interested in business. She eventually went to university and she studied law as an undergraduate, while she was still in school she started a business with just N15,000.
Tara Fela-Durotoye began her career as an entrepreneur in the beauty industry when she was still an undergraduate law student at Lagos State University. She later trained as a makeup artist at Charles Fox.
Her early interest in makeup and fashion was inspired by her stepmother, a very stylish and elegant woman who used to work in the Ministry of Culture and studied Fine Arts. Tara says she used to love watching her stepmother getting dressed as she had all kinds of make-up products on her dressing table (vanity) she would paint her face in the morning, she never missed her hairdressing appointment, her nail polish was always perfect. She grew up seeing her adorn herself. Little did she know that a seed was being planted in her heart.
Tara’s focus was on doing what she loved, which is making women beautiful. She started from bridal make-up, and her clientele began to broaden, and gradually, she realized that she was becoming a big deal, and had gone far beyond a few random weddings and became a big business empire.
IMPORTANT LIFE EVENTS
Career Breakthroughs
House of Tara is a pioneer in Nigeria’s beauty and makeup industry and the main vendor, distribution channel, administration, and beauty learning center. The company is also one of the first to set up a beauty school in Nigeria with over 3,000 agencies spread across the country and 14 stores linked to the business.
She is also the founder of the Tara Orekelewa Beauty range, Inspired Perfume, and the H.I.P. Beauty range. She is deemed an important force in the Nigerian female entrepreneurship population, as she has built a business that has influenced thousands of beauty business owners through the Tara Beauty Entrepreneur initiative that creates an economical dominance world while developing their entrepreneurial skills for national change.
Personal Life
The beauty mogul is married to her forever sweetheart Fela Durotoye, a business strategist and corporate activist, chief executive officer of Visible Impact. The couple is blessed with three sons, Mobolurin, Demilade & Morolaoluwa.
AWARDS/RECOGNITIONS
Tara has made a remarkable impact in the Nigerian beauty business and has obtained awards and recognitions for her accomplishments. It includes the following;
- National Recognition award for social impact and job creation
- Most Outstanding Businesswoman of the Year 2018 by the African Economy Business Awards
- African Makeup Icon by Ghana Makeup Awards
- Leadership Award for Entrepreneurship by Harvard Business School Association of Nigeria in 2016
- Forbes’ 2013 list of 20 Young Power Women in Africa
- World Economic Forum nominee as a Young Global
- Leader
INTERESTING FACTS
Net Worth
Tara’s net worth has grown significantly over the years. Her net worth is estimated to be over a million dollars.
Other Interesting Facts
Tara faced so many challenges while building her beauty empire, being a woman, and starting a business in an uncharted territory came with its difficulty but with her relentless and persistence she overcame.