Aishetu is a dedicated chief executive with a “lead from the front” mentality and the ability to inspire and motivate teams to surpass management targets and their own personal expectations.
She is the founder of Bossy Cosmetics, a hyper-growth independent beauty company that targets ambitious working women. Under her leadership, the company has grown from a purely digitally native footprint to retailing in up to 600 JCPenney retail doors across the country as well as on Amazon.com and on QVC.
In 2021, the brand was selected as one of the coveted ‘Oprah’s Favorite Things’ and has won honorable mentions and awards from Fast Company in Innovation by Design and various product awards from Self and Ebony Magazines.
In the 4 years since its founding, Aishetu has redefined the way beauty companies see professional women and has been featured in NPR’s How I Built Resilience, Forbes, W Magazine, InStyle, Refinery29, Essence Magazine, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, BET Networks, Fashionista Magazine, The Zoe Report, amongst others.
Aishetu Dozie is also a 20-year global finance and capital markets executive with transaction experience with Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers, Standard Chartered Bank, World Bank, and Rand Merchant Bank.
She has provided extensive strategic and financial advice to CEOs seeking to leverage public and private capital markets in their growth objectives across consumer products, non-Rx pharmaceuticals, banks and financial institutions, infrastructure, and oil and gas.
Aishetu is truly a global citizen and has worked/lived in New York, London, South Africa, Nigeria, and Central and South America. Her deal experience is both expansive and deep reflecting her ability to navigate cultures and regulatory jurisdictions with a keen focus on execution. Aishetu has worked on over $130 billion in M&A, private equity financings, IPOs, and public capital market transactions.
She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Cornell University, a Master of Business Administration degree from the Harvard Business School, she participated in the Leaders in Development Program at the John F. Kennedy School at Harvard University and was a Fellow in the Distinguished Careers Institute at Stanford University.
A mother of three superhero sons and the wife to a tech entrepreneur, she says her family life is the most beautiful thing about her.
Take us down memory lane of your early years
By all measures, I had a pretty great childhood. I was born in Boston, Massachusetts and lived in Cambridge for almost the first decade of my life. My parents separated when I was very young and so I have no recollection of my father until I was a teenager. My mum and maternal aunt raised me, and I was raised with love. I was also raised to value family and hard work.
My mum was studying, working, and raising me at the same time, and I look back in wonder! We lived in Section 8 housing, and I didn’t realize that meant that you were poor. I just thought that I lived in a massive high-rise tower that had a lot of children and we all had fun. In those days, children were pretty independent. I took the bus to school and back and played for hours in the playground with my friends until supper time. I had to be independent because my mum was either working or in school and so was my aunt. I learnt to keep myself busy and dream.
I was pretty great at building castles in the sky. I would make believe a lot and dream about what I would do and achieve in my future. My biggest influence in my childhood was undoubtedly my mother. As busy as she was, I never felt unloved. I learnt from her that you achieve your dreams through sheer hard work and relentless focus.
Share the BOSSY COSMETICS story
Ha! Where to begin with this one? Are you ready? The journey of founding Bossy Cosmetics is probably as long as my life itself. I don’t think that I stumbled upon this particular stage in my story. It’s all been building towards this exact thing – founding a company that is obsessed with championing women in the arena and igniting confidence in women who are ambitious!
Throughout my life, I have always been ambitious. I told you how I was a dreamer. I always wanted to more out of life and I knew that meant that I had to outwork everyone around me. I knew it meant sacrifice because I saw that my mum sacrificed everything so that I could have a better life than she did. Fast forward many years later, and I have a university and master’s degree and I am working on Wall Street in New York City. I still wanted more, and I worked even harder and harder.
Over the years, I had the opportunity to work on historic transactions totaling over $130 billion having worked with clients in the US, UK, Europe, Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, Central and South America. While personally, I got married and had 3 sons so you can imagine how busy I was over this 20year post-graduate period. However, inside, I wasn’t really fulfilled which came as a surprise to me. I pretty much had all that I had worked hard for but still didn’t feel happy.
After a scary diagnosis of severe hypertension, I decided that I would make a radical change and stop working just for money/power/privilege. Not that those were my sole goals, but I was driven by them if I am to be honest. My family and I moved from Lagos, Nigeria to Palo Alto, USA where I participated in the Distinguished Careers Institute Fellowship at Stanford University.
It was a completely transformational period in my life. I unlearned so many damaging beliefs, reconnected with my inner child, and embraced new concepts of building a life that I could be proud of, and that’s how Bossy Cosmetics came to be born.
I decided to focus on what I believed was my unique perspective – the intersection of my purpose and passion – and Bossy Cosmetics was founded. I believed quite fundamentally that beauty companies were not addressing the particular needs of working women and were only focused on how we looked. There was a shallowness to that approach because I knew as a successful executive myself that there was a multiplicity in how my beauty regimen had evolved.How I looked was deeply intertwined with how I felt and how I wanted to show up. This led to the Bossy Cosmetics mission statement – ‘Empowering Women to Look, Feel, and Do good.’
We have had so many trials in the short four years of our existence. Many of them really tested my faith and I can tell you that God has been beyond faithful in support of this company. My testimonies are endless. Some of the ones that shook me the hardest were, of course, the pandemic. We hadn’t even been in business for a year before the world was blindsided by this plague which grounded all supply chains to a halt. I had invested all of my money in ordering new products from Italy and the world had effectively shut down with no ETA on when it would reopen. As though that wasn’t bad enough, about a month into the pandemic starting, we received a cease-and-desist letter from a now defunct company threatening to sue the company and me personally for the use of the word BOSSY. It was a 5–6-page letter that would send chills through any novice entrepreneurs’ spine. I literally cried for 2 days straight. But as I said, God has been faithful, and He went before me and fought this enemy, and I am happy to say that we remain in business while they are not. I also don’t make this statement with glee. I hate that another woman-owned business has gone under, and I truly wish her well in her next endeavour. We’ve received similar legal overtures from HUGO BOSS but as we know, my God doesn’t fear big or small enemies and we are still in the game.
These are just some of the trials that we’ve experienced. There are probably 20 more that I could share but the point is that with every win you see on social media, just know that the company has fought at least 20 epic battles to get there. We generally post our wins and not those moments when we are doubled over and wailing in prayer asking God to save us from ourselves. I am chuckling now but it’s never funny when you are going through it.
As for successes, thankfully, there have been so many and those have also been by His doing. I consider every single customer order to be a success. There are millions of cosmetics companies in the marketplace so to pick us is a major win every single time. We’ve had numerous mentions in the most storied beauty and business publications such as Allure, Glamour, InStyle, Refinery 29, Byrdie,Cosmopolitan, Washington Post, Oprah Daily, NPR’s How I Built Resilience, and more. We’ve also been nominated for and won some of the most exciting beauty and design awards. I think my 10year old self would be in shock at some of the places that my name has shown up. All in all, the journey is still one that is in development. I am endlessly curious. I feel as though we have only just begun, and we are learning on the way. The brand continues to grow, and we look to do things quite uniquely with our core customers’ needs and desires top of mind.
Your product was listed among ‘Oprah’s favourite things’ in 2021. Share what that meant to you and how it has influenced your business
You want to talk about favour? This is a prime example. This was a great example of God blesses you when you are prepared and in the game. A few people have asked me what I did to get on ‘Oprah’s Favorite Things’ list and when I tell you that I was “discovered” by their team, I am being truthful. I got an email one day from someone with a @gmail.com email address telling me that she worked with the Oprah team and heard about my products and was impressed. I stopped reading after that. People are always writing us for free products. You can’t imagine how many emails in a day I get from people wanting free samples, so I chucked this one off as one of those. She did, however, ask if I had time for a call, which most people don’t do when they want free product so I replied her email with a very non-committal answer that went something like “Hi, my summer is really busy and so we can either speak today or in 3 months.Please let me know which works for you.” She was free right then and we spoke, and it turns out she was for real. I began shaking in the street as we were speaking as I was on my morning walk. I could not believe that this could be happening. Anyway, at this point, they are just learning about you and your business, and nothing is guaranteed. I think I didn’t hear back definitively for another few months whether we were selected or not. I prayed every single day to make it through and didn’t tell anyone but my immediate family that we were under consideration.
For me, the most beautiful act of God in this process is that I was 100% focused on launching a new collection on QVC as a ‘Big Find’ competition winner. I really believed that we could find millions of new customers through this channel and was focused on navigating financial and supply chain woes to launch. It was a brutal 5month period and I think my supply chain partners are angels for managing my disposition. I was completely stressed about getting the collection right and in on time. Two days before we were scheduled to go on air, I got a call from QVC that we had failed the delivery requirements and would not be able to go on air. This was on Friday, and I was meant to go on air on Tuesday. I had emailed everyone in my life to watch the show on Tuesday and have even posted on social media. I won’t pass the blame on this one because as the CEO, everything that goes wrong is your fault while everything that goes right is a team effort. I cried from Friday afternoon until Monday morning. I was even crying in my sleep. At one point my husband was like “It’s ok now!” because the crying was really hot. On Monday morning, I got up and started making calls to fix the situation. I was devastated because we had pretty much run out of cash. All of the money had been bet on QVC and I had failed.
Monday – Wednesday, I was calling companies that could help me fix the specific procedural issue that we had flouted and then on Wednesday I get the call that Lady O herself had selected our lipsticks to be one of her ‘Favorite Things.’ Goodness gracious, I cried just as hard as I had cried over the weekend because sometimes God watches you drag yourself through hot fire and then He comes from behind and provides a much-need lifeline – a pure miracle.
Getting on this list did so much for us. It tested our resolve as a company because we needed to meet the moment and we did. We designed a special box for the item and went into overdrive in kitting thousands of them to prepare for the Christmas holiday season. I was so happy and filled with joy. You can’t imagine your labour of love being seen in such a beautiful way. I felt validated given all of the doubt that I had carried whether I belonged in the beauty space or whether I could succeed. I sometimes doubt whether my dreams are valid and getting on this list was such a confidence-booster for me. We sold out the collection twice. We couldn’t even find 1 extra lipstick to sell. It was beautiful.
That list exposed us to thousands of shoppers who had never heard of the company before. We were catapulted into a stratosphere that you can’t pay more. Several magazines featured us which led to more exposure leading to more sales. It was a beautiful moment. One I will cherish forever. I am so glad that my husband, mum, and children got to celebrate it with me because they have seen the tears too. My boys got to see how building is hard but if you stick with it, miracles will come your way.
Your cosmetics are in 600 JcPenny retail stores, Amazon and QVC. What impact has it had on your business?
In business, distribution is king. Yes, having a great product is critical but if no one knows how to access your products easily then it’s pointless. In my case, distribution is really critical because I am not a celebrity nor am I an influencer, for all intents and purposes, I am nobody so getting access to distribution is a game-changer for us. My goal is to build a global billion-dollar beauty powerhouse and I’ll need to leverage platforms that reach my customer where she is. For me, QVC is about capturing the engaged shopper, JCPenney is about in-store shopping opportunities where women love to try on new beauty products, and Amazon is the nations’ biggest online retailer where everyone shops. The strategy for Bossy Cosmetics is to be an omnichannel player and to provide convenience for our customers so that she can find the product in any use occasion that suits her.
We have only scratched the surface on this strategy and still have a ton of work to do. We see ourselves growing into new geographic markets and new shopping segments. It’s an exciting time for us. With our current digital and IRL footprint, you can find us in many spaces but there is still quite a bit of ground to cover. I am hoping to share more news on this front before the end of this year.
How have you redefined the way beauty companies see professional women?
The most exciting aspect of what we are building is in the ‘how’. I often tell people that the Bossy DNA is best described as a three-legged stool – product, content, and services. If you’ve been listening to me along this journey, I am consistent on how I see this business as a mission-driven women’s empowerment company that ’masquerades’ as a beauty business. Our first and foremost thought is how our products will serve to ignite confidence in its ambitious users. This is our north star. Our products are named after attributes that we hope women will espouse when they use them such as Ambitious, Confident, Focused, Inspiring, Fierce, Unapologetic, Empowered, Purposeful and so on. We have an entire library of content that we have been creating over the years called ‘Bossy Chats’ where we interview amazing women in business and learn from their successes and failures. It’s on our website under the ‘Beauty Meets Wisdom’ tab. Speaking of Beauty Meets Wisdom, we launched this service in partnership with my Harvard Business School classmate to encourage women to work with leadership coaches to help them level up. Basically, if you purchase over $50 of products from us, you are eligible for a free coaching session with experienced professionals through our partner, ideamix. We are living out our mission statement of ‘Empowering Women to Look, Feel, and Do good’ through this 3-pronged strategy of creating high-performance products, engaging and topical content, and providing essential value-added services to our customers.
Tell us about being a 20-year global finance and capital markets executive
I had a really great career. Blessed, in fact. I pursued a finance career for two reasons: first, I was really good at math; and second, it’s where the money is. I mentioned earlier that I was not raised with money so having money was incredibly important to me as I began to assess my career prospects and interests. I was always super creative and would have loved to consider something more along the lines of my passion (fashion or beauty) but I was broke and in debt. I had taken out considerable loans to attend Cornell University, which isn’t unique to me but I still needed to find a way to pay those loans off.
So, I focused on excelling in a career on Wall Street. My first job was in the summer of 1995, which seems like ages ago, and I was hooked. I loved the fast-paced nature of the equities trading floor and the immediate transparency of whether you won or lost. It was exhilarating! This summer internship was at Credit Suisse First Boston (the entities both no longer exist) in New York City and it was a rarity in the mid-90s to find a Black woman on the trading floor but there I was. I came back every summer thereafter and was offered a full-time position with Goldman Sachs upon graduation. I remember on my graduation day being very excited and my mother whispering to me that one degree was not enough, so I always felt the need to return to school for a graduate degree. After 3 years of grueling analyst work with Goldman Sachs, I got into the Harvard Business School and had the time of my life, to be honest. I can’t tell you too much about what I learnt while I was there because I was really focused on having a good time. HBS was a transformative moment in my life because I got to spend time with people in my peer group that were doing different things around the world, and I wanted in on that action.
Following decade+ was a mix of successes and lessons. I got to work at storied organisations such as the World Bank Group, Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers, Standard Chartered Bank and others. I even did a 2-year stint work for the Nigerian government, which was a very terrible experience for me. Over my career, I got to work all over the world in a variety of capacities. I worked on sub-national municipal financing in Central and South America, capital market transactions in the US and UK, global mergers and acquisitions of iconic brands, hybrid funding in frontier markets, and public-private partnerships in Nigeria, to mention a few. In grew as a leader and manager. I grew in sophistication in a way that school can’t create in you. I met some of the most brilliant and successful people along my journey and I am forever grateful to have had the career that I had as a finance executive.
Having lived and worked in different parts of the world, where do you treasure to stay most and why?
Home. Wherever my home is, that’s where I prefer to be. Home is where I am most comfortable and it’s where my family is. It’s where I cook jollof rice and stewed oxtail. It’s where I entertain my friends. It’s where I am most relaxed. It’s where I find peace. No matter how beautiful any location is, it can never beat my home and, for now, my home is Palo Alto, California. I love traveling though. Some of my best memories are in Paris, Milan, Mexico City, Singapore, Bintan, Maldives, Sao Paulo, and New York City but none of them beats home.
What is the future of Bossy cosmetics?
Whatever God says it will be is what the future is. I have my own dreams and aspirations, but I am completely leaning into what God is doing through me with this company for His glory. I waver in faith often but I have no doubt that I am on His journey so the future will unfold as He desires.
How important is it for women to own their own?
I believe that women having their own money, independence, and wherewithal is as important as our access to oxygen. It is vital. I don’t really know how to say this otherwise. Having my own does not suggest that I don’t need a man. Not at all. I need my husband for plenty of things including his money, but I do have my own and it gives me such a strong sense of self that I am financially astute. What if something happened tomorrow where we couldn’t have access to his support? I can’t fathom a life where I did not have my own money so that I could be the captain of my own ship. It gives me such a strong sense of accomplishment to be able to build a business and a bank account on my own. And to be fair, it’s not entirely on my own because my husband is my number 1 supporter of everything I do. He supports me in deeds and words, so we are a firm partnership. We rely on each other. I think he probably values having a partner who can manage things on her own so that he doesn’t feel overburdened either. I was highly educated and accomplished before I got married. I see marriage as an enhancement not a detractor of your accomplishments. I have seen so many marriages end in tears where the woman is left destitute, and it breaks my heart. I strongly believe in partnerships with your spouse, but it is essential for me to have my own assets and activities that leave me feeling secure. These are not secret assets and activities either. My husband knows everything I am involved in as it should be. He is completely comfortable with me being a woman who earns her own money.
What is currently in your front burner?
Building the right team so that I can feel less lonely as I build. I have zero ego when it comes to ideas. I want smarter people around me. I love working with people who know more than I do. I am endlessly curious and want to keep learning and winning in the marketplace. I have some really strong team members who just dazzle me with their brilliance, and I am on the hunt for more.
If there is anything you wish for Nigeria, what would it be?
I wish that we would love Nigerians as much as we love Nigeria. I think we love our country, but we don’t love each other nearly enough. I don’t think that we see humanity in each other in the way that we should. We are too focused on how we are different and how we can maximise short-term outcomes. If we we love Nigerians as we love Nigeria, our leaders would do more to make the country function for the bottom of the pyramid which is the overwhelming majority of the people.
To “Boss Ladies” out there, top corporate executives, what advice do you have for them as they navigate the male dominated corporate world?
Most of my career was spent as the only or one of few women in the room. Again, it’s not easy but it’s not impossible to succeed in those environments. I will say that most men aren’t working to get women eradicated from the workforce. I never walked in male-dominated spaces thinking that I was different. I focused on how I was similar or complementary. I truly believe that diversity of opinions makes everything richer. I never tried to be anyone but myself. I did not put on a masculine front to be successful as an investment banker, I focused on my analytical strengths and my uniqueness on the team when it came to pitching companies that targeted women. Women are 50% of the population and overindexed in terms of how spending within households happen. Our insights are key. Don’t focus on how you’re different, focus on how you’re special and then lean into that. Make sure everyone you work with knows you’re brilliant and aligned with the companies goals. Thankfully, things have changed in finance since I started in the mid-90s. Things are a lot better today even though they remain hard. Stay focused and if you do run into clearly abusive tactics, deal with it head on.
To every young executive woman out there seeking direction, what do you have to say to them?
Keep pushing. Keep trying. Stay with it. It’s okay to rest, it’s okay to fail. Failure is a necessary part of the success journey. It’s okay to stumble, it’s okay to cry, it’s okay to throw yourself a pity party every once in a while. It’s okay to quit, it’s never too late to start something new. You too can pivot. Most careers aren’t linear in nature. There are ups and downs along the way. Embrace the journey. Celebrate every single win. Develop great relationships along the way but remember that some of them are for a reason, some for a particular season, and only few will be for a lifetime. Be eternally curious, be attentive to detail, be hungry and show that you are dependable. Success requires sacrifice and sacrifice requires discernment. Be wise in your decision-making. Listen to podcasts and read books by great leaders in your sector. You will learn tremendously this way. Go above and beyond. Say “I don’t know” if you don’t know. Don’t let people take advantage of you. Make sure you are protective of your time and your mental health. Find love so that you don’t become one dimensional in your life.
Concluding thoughts
I love being a woman. I love being a wife, a mother, and a daughter. It’s hard being all of those things at the same time and I don’t think that the world has quite figured out how to support working mothers yet. It is hard being an ambitious woman who has a family that she is supporting. I’d like women to give each other grace and give ourselves grace. It’s not easy for anyone even if they are billionaires. Stop waiting for a destination or singular goal that will make you happy. Enjoy the journey and find happiness in all of the little things.
