Ego Iwegbu

Introduction and Growing Up Between Russia and Nigeria

Taryell Simmons: Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to another episode of Rise Urban Nation. It's Taryell Simmons in the building, and I have a special guest, Ego Iwegbu. For those of you who don't know Nigerian culture, Ego, tell them what Ego means.

Ego Iwegbu: Ego means money, as in cash, in Igbo.

Taryell Simmons: Before we jumped on, we talked about how my stepdad raised me and about Nigerian food. What is your favorite Nigerian food?

Ego Iwegbu: If I were on my deathbed, it would have to be egusi and pounded yam. Even though I'm mixed race, with a Russian mother and a Nigerian father, I spent my formative years in Nigeria, from nine to sixteen, so I feel very Nigerian.

Taryell Simmons: Those are two different cultures. Were you raised in both?

Ego Iwegbu: Yes. Russians feel they rule Eastern Europe and Nigerians feel they rule the whole of Africa, so you get two very strong characters. My father went to study medicine in Rostov-on-Don in the USSR and met my mom at university. I was born there, and so was my younger sister, before we moved to the UK and later to Nigeria. The first time my mom ever left Russia was to fly straight to what was then Bendel State in Nigeria. So I speak Russian, I eat Russian food, and Nigeria is me, me, and me.

A Math Degree, Ford, and the Idea for Nail Bars

Taryell Simmons: I want to take a journey through your career. You studied mathematics and graduated from King's College London. Did that have something to do with your Nigerian roots?

Ego Iwegbu: On the contrary. Doing a mathematics degree was to the horror and dismay of my parents, who needed me to be a doctor, of course. I really didn't want to do medicine. I actually wanted to start my own business, but since I had to have a degree, I chose a subject I found easy, and mathematics was easy for me. My father thought it was the biggest waste of time on the planet, but I filled out all my own university applications, quietly snuck it in, and went to London to study the one thing I thought was cool.

Ego Iwegbu: Math only gets hard when you miss a building block, like decimals or fractions, and then it turns into a foreign language. If a teacher makes sure you have the basics, it's one of the easiest subjects, because there's only right and wrong. You follow the structure and you get the answer. Boom.

Taryell Simmons: Numbers don't lie. So how does one go from a math degree to Ford Motor Company to a beauty business?

Ego Iwegbu: Had I been able to start a business at sixteen, I would have started anything social, because I love people, music, and seeing people have a good time. But I graduated in a recession, everyone was scared of never getting a job, and I ended up as a graduate recruit at Ford. On day two or three, I scribbled "nightmare" on my notepad: where am I and why am I here? I stayed three years. It's an amazing company, and I learned so much about how teams work. But as soon as I could figure out a business that would earn me a living, I was out.

Nail bars didn't exist in London then; to get your nails done you had to go to places like Brixton and Peckham. Then I visited America for the first time and saw that every woman, from cleaners to CEOs, had her nails done. I thought, I'm opening nail bars, a massive chain across the UK, starting in central London. You could get your nails done on Oxford Street, in Selfridges, my favorite store, and in Topshop on Oxford Circus, which had the highest footfall around. So I started writing business plans and pitching, all on the Ford computers. Yes, I said it.

Taryell Simmons: That's what an entrepreneur is: a creative problem solver who sees a need and finds the solution. Was Ford your first job?

Ego Iwegbu: No. I'm Miss Independent. When my sister and I moved to Birmingham to join my dad and study for our A levels, we'd come from quite a privileged life in Nigeria, and suddenly I was washing dishes and towels. When I asked for cinema money, my dad said I could only have money for books. So I got a job. My first paid job, at about £4.26 an hour, was at Perfect Pizza in Birmingham, rolling out dough.

Taryell Simmons: That is a Nigerian parent. Did anything from those first jobs stick with you in building your empire?

Ego Iwegbu: Honestly, I did those jobs because I wanted my own money, not because I had to. I waitressed through my A levels and university, and friends asked how I could stand serving people. I didn't mind. I wanted people to have a really good time. Being in service was a pleasure, and that's why my first businesses were salons. I love how beautification changes a person, especially women, who deal with so many confidence and body image issues.

Taryell Simmons: Being in service is a great leadership quality; it makes you a better leader and listener.

Pitching Selfridges and Topshop With No Experience

Taryell Simmons: What were the key steps that got your first nail bar launched?

Ego Iwegbu: It was very hard. I had no experience. I'd never managed people or run a real business. But it's typical of me to walk toward what I want, even when it seems out of reach and almost absurd. I was super young, with about 5,000 pounds on a credit card, a really good business plan, and the idea: we needed a nail bar in Selfridges and one in Topshop, and it was going to be the best thing since sliced bread.

People always ask how I got into Selfridges. I sent the business plan to the beauty buyer, called, left messages, got no response, and sent it again, this time printed in an electric pink envelope so it would stand out on her desk. Then I got a call: "Thank you, but we're not interested." I was completely deflated. An open-plan nail bar in the middle of the store, so while women pick out a dress for tonight, they can paint their nails purple to match. To me it was magic.

One week later the phone rang: "Hi Ego, we got your business plan. We really like it. Please come in for a meeting." That's how it started. Ground-floor space is premium, and every square meter has to perform, but the idea was novel. No one was doing it, and I guess the stores wanted to move with the times.

Taryell Simmons: I wonder if you're the reason high-end stores in the US now have little nail bars and cosmetic bars right in the middle of the shopping experience.

Ego Iwegbu: I want to tell you that I am the reason for it. The idea came at a beauty trade show, where women sat in the middle of the crowd getting henna tattoos and eyebrow threading. I thought, why can't I get my nails painted like that, instead of sitting in a boring salon? Nails don't need privacy. It's a social beauty experience, with champagne and loud music. For me, it was the party I always wanted, in a business format.

Taryell Simmons: Did you ever ask the buyer what made her call back?

Ego Iwegbu: When you get that call, nobody wants to press the wrong button. Yes, we're coming, anything you like. One buyer was less open and asked, "What experience do you have running nail bars? Where are your other locations?" I looked her dead in the eye and said, "This will be my first one." Take it or leave it.

Taryell Simmons: You're going to inspire so many independent women to say, "If she can do it, I can do it."

Ego Iwegbu: I am the number one person to follow in that line. If I can do it, anyone can, because I'm not your classic entrepreneur. It's all passion and flames with me. I just run in the direction my passion or dream is pushing me.

Lessons From Going in Head First

Taryell Simmons: What's one good lesson life has taught you?

Ego Iwegbu: Opening a chain of nail bars with zero experience taught me that I didn't need to be so afraid of being stopped. I'd defied my parents with the math degree, then left Ford to open a nail bar, so I felt I had to do everything fast or somebody would stop me. The lesson is: you don't have to run before you're ready to walk. If I could do it again, I might spend a year working in a salon to understand how salons work.

These stores are open seven days a week, until 10 p.m. in holiday seasons, and you have to be staffed the whole time. Technicians called in sick or argued with customers, and Selfridges came down on us about complaints. I learned a hell of a lot about people management, buyers, and my own limitations. I had no processes, so I set up and closed the stations myself, got home at midnight, fell asleep on the sofa, and rushed back in the morning. Then the second store opened with the same pressure. So: get a mentor, spend time working in a similar business, and then take it from there.

Taryell Simmons: What advice would you give someone who isn't ready for mentorship yet but wants to find their lane in the beauty space?

Ego Iwegbu: The beauty space is very saturated. Whether it's a salon or products, you have to offer something special, not just in the product but in your character, because people are interested in the founders now. Unless you happen to live somewhere without a salon, there are already a lot of services and products. So aim to be the best. Make it worth your customers' time and your own. If you're investing your money, your energy, or your family's savings, do it with the passion it deserves, because that passion and quality will shine through to your customer, and that's how you gain traction. Be good at it.

The Good Mineral and Building With Her Sister

Taryell Simmons: Now you have a new baby, The Good Mineral. What is it, and how did it come to be?

Ego Iwegbu: The Good Mineral is a range of super clean makeup powders, meticulously hand formulated by my sister, Natasha Iwegbu, who spent years stopping women on the street to color match them. She created 12 adaptable foundation shades. I've suffered from severe acne in my teens and twenties, and traditional foundations make my skin flare up and itch. If you have acne, rosacea, or eczema and want to go out on a date, you put who knows what on your face for confidence, then suffer the next day. It's not fair. Natasha's formulations work on even the most sensitive skin.

We launched it in two of my salons in South Africa, and women went mad for it. The rave reviews and cult following were unbelievable, and we were on magazine covers. That brought us to venture capitalists, who offered to invest in launching the product online in the US. The Good Mineral launched in August 2021, directly online at thegoodmineral.com.

Taryell Simmons: Some people say don't go into business with family. How is it working with your sister?

Ego Iwegbu: Our skill sets are very different, so we don't overlap. She's a chartered mechanical engineer, an inventor, a product developer, a scientist, and she's passionate about making products that help women live a better life. The makeup was inspired by my skin issues and her own needs.

The Future of Beauty and Funding Black Women Founders

Taryell Simmons: What does the future hold for your industry, especially for women and women of color?

Ego Iwegbu: It's exploding. The beauty industry was valued at about $445 billion in 2020 and is estimated to reach $750 billion by 2025. That means more products, more services, and a lot more choice. Black women don't all have to wear lots of concealer and layers of makeup. We can choose minerals, amazing eyeshadows, more skincare, different hairstyles. The more informed we are, the better we can choose for ourselves. And The Good Mineral is at the forefront: there isn't another super clean makeup brand founded and formulated by Black women.

Taryell Simmons: I watched a documentary showing that Black people own a very small percentage of the beauty industry, even though Black beauty is a huge revenue generator. What's the potential for Black women to own a bigger piece?

Ego Iwegbu: Our investors wanted to market this as makeup for Black women, and my sister and I were against that. White people have made products for everybody for years, and we all jump on them. Being owned by Black women doesn't mean The Good Mineral is only for Black women. I'd love to see more Black women owning businesses in any industry that serve all people, because that's the bigger market. The people who decide what's on the shelves and what we buy are the people with power, and the people with power have the money.

Taryell Simmons: A study I saw on an investor panel showed Black women are now the most highly educated group and are starting businesses at record rates, yet they receive the lowest amount of VC funding. How can we change that?

Ego Iwegbu: The VC that invested in us is passionate about Black female-founded businesses, especially in Africa, and more VCs are waking up to this underfunded group. But VC funding isn't for a lifestyle business that buys you a nice house. It's for accelerated growth in a market that can seriously scale, with an experienced CEO pushing it forward. So aim for businesses like that. And being an entrepreneur is not for everybody. It's a life less ordinary, with hard knocks that not many people rise from.

Taryell Simmons: Thank you for being honest. It's a dream, but it's also tough and sometimes lonely.

Where to Find Ego Iwegbu and Closing

Taryell Simmons: I like to keep this to drive time. What are you working on, and where can people find you?

Ego Iwegbu: Every woman needs to try The Good Mineral. It's the purest, cleanest makeup you'll ever try, made with love over so many years, and the packaging is outstanding. Find us on Instagram at thegoodmineral, where you can DM us your selfies and we'll color match you instantly, and at www.thegoodmineral.com. We also just launched on Amazon.com, though we're still building our storefront. If anyone wants to talk to me personally about their business or entrepreneurial journey, I'm a motivational speaker and I've been in business a long time. Find me on Instagram at egoiwegbu, E-G-O I-W-E-G-B-U, and DM me. I'll get back to you.

Taryell Simmons: If you didn't get to write that down, I'll put everything in the show notes. Ego, any last words of inspiration?

Ego Iwegbu: All the answers are within you. If you're unsure what you want to do, how to do it, or where to go, be silent, listen to your heart, and don't be afraid to follow what it tells you.

Ego Iwegbu: Taryell, it's been a real pleasure. You asked really good questions and educated yourself on my story as we went. You have a real talent for this. Thank you so much for having me on your fabulous show.

Taryell Simmons: It was a pleasure.